# STEP THREE: Create Slots

### **Create Slots Function**

The Create Slots function is used to generate appointment dates, times, and appointment durations for your event.

#### **Accessing the Create Slots Function**

1. Navigate to **Events / Preview** from the navigation menu.
2. Select your event from the list.
3. Click the **Appointments** button.
4. Select the **Appointments** tab.

On the left-hand side of the page, you will see a calendar. Select the date you would like to create slots for. If your event spans multiple days, begin with the first date.

On the right-hand side, you will see a list of your resources.

- If all resources will use the same schedule, you do not need to select individual resources.
- If resources will have different schedules, select the resource(s) you would like to create slots for before continuing.

#### **Slot Menu Options**

The **Slots** drop-down menu includes the following options:

- Create Slots
- Delete Time Slots
- Update Slots
- Copy Slots
- Move Slots

Select **Create Slots** to open the Slot Generator window.

#### **Creating Appointment Slots**

##### **Step 1: Select Resources**

Choose whether the slots should be created for:

- Selected resource(s) only
- All resources

##### **Step 2: Configure Time Settings**

**From -** Enter the start time of the first appointment slot.

**To -** Enter the ending time of the final appointment slot for the day.

**Duration -** Enter the length of each appointment in minutes.

**Travel Break -** Optionally enter a break duration between appointments.

Example:

- Duration: 10 minutes
- Travel Break: 5 minutes

This creates:

- 8:00–8:10
- 8:15–8:25
- 8:30–8:40
- etc.

#### **Appointment Types**

Select the appointment format you would like to offer.

##### **In-Person**

- Participants will receive the room/location information in their confirmation and reminder emails.
- Slots display with a **P** indicator.

##### **Virtual**

- Participants will receive the virtual meeting link in their confirmation and reminder emails.
- Slots display with a **V** indicator.

##### **In-Person or Virtual**

- Participants may choose either meeting format during scheduling.
- Slots display with a **PV** indicator.

#### **Slot Types**

Select how the slot should appear to participants.

##### **Visible for Customer**

The slot is visible and available for booking on the Online Scheduler (CUI).

##### **Hidden from Customer**

The slot is hidden from participants but remains visible in the Admin UI. This can be used for reserved appointments.

##### **Shown with “Call” Status**

The slot is visible, but participants are instructed to contact the school directly when selecting the appointment.

##### **Make Unavailable**

The slot appears in the Admin UI but cannot be booked online. This is commonly used for:

- Lunch breaks
- Planning periods
- Meetings
- Staff availability blocks

You may optionally enter a custom message for unavailable slots.

#### **Maximum Appointments Per Slot**

Use the **Maximum allowed appointments per slot** field to determine how many appointments can be booked during each time slot.

This is commonly used for:

- Group sessions
- Open lab hours
- Multi-family events
- Camp or roster scheduling

### **Creating Multiple Days of Slots**

If multiple days will use the same schedule:

- Enable the **Multiple Dates** option
- Select the additional dates
- Create slots for all selected dates simultaneously

If each day has a different schedule:

1. Create slots for the first day
2. Select the next date from the calendar
3. Repeat the slot creation process

#### **Creating Different Schedules for Different Resources**

If resources require different schedules:

1. Select the resource or group of resources
2. Create their slots and click save
3. Select the next resource/group
4. Repeat as needed

To select multiple resources:

- Hold the **Ctrl** key while selecting additional names. Continue this process until you have a group of resources collected that you would like to create the same time slots for.

<p class="callout success">Note that if you have created the same slots for all your resources, you will not see the individual slots displayed unless you select one of the resource names from the right-hand side. This allows you to create identical schedules for selected groups of resources.</p>

#### **Viewing Resource Slots**

If slots are created for all resources at once, individual appointment slots may not immediately display.

To view a specific resource’s slots:

- Click on the resource’s name from the right-hand panel

#### **Time Increment Display**

The time increments displayed on the Appointments page automatically adjust based on your slot durations.

Examples:

- 10-minute slots → 10-minute display increments
- 15-minute slots → 15-minute display increments

If multiple slot durations exist, the display will use the lowest common denominator.

Example:

- 10-minute slots
- 15-minute slots

Result:

- Display increments become 5 minutes

To manually adjust display increments:

1. Navigate to **Settings / Vendor UI Setup**
2. Modify the **Draw Time Every** setting

If using Travel Breaks, you may also want to adjust this setting to align with your break duration.

<p class="callout info">Important Notes: Create Slots Does Not Replace Existing Slots</p>

The Create Slots function only adds new slots. It does not automatically overwrite or remove existing slots.

Example:

- Existing slots: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
- Desired schedule: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

You must either:

- Delete the unwanted 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM slots
- Or delete all slots and recreate the schedule

### **Updating Slots**

The Update Slots feature allows you to update the characteristics of existing slots. This feature allows you to:

- Increase the number of allowed appointments per time slot
- Change appointment types
- Make slots unavailable
- Hide slots from participants

#### **Accessing Update Slots**

1. Select **Events / Preview** from the navigation dashboard.
2. Select your event from the list.
3. Click the **Appointments** button.
4. Select the **Appointments** tab.
5. Select the appropriate date from the calendar on the left-hand side.
6. Select the resource name on the right-hand side.
7. Select **Slots &gt; Update Slots**.

This will open the **Slot Updater** dialog box.

The dialog box allows you to enter a range of times and apply updates to existing slots.

The option **Keep existing slot type on slots being updated** allows you to change the appointment type (for example, from In-Person to Virtual) without changing the existing slot type.

This is especially useful if resources have already blocked portions of their schedules.

<p class="callout info">Important: Update Slots only changes the characteristics of existing slots. It does not change the slot duration, start time, or end time.</p>

---

### **Removing Slots — Individual Scheduling Exceptions**

1. Select **Events / Preview** from the navigation dashboard.
2. Select your event from the list.
3. Click the **Appointments** button.
4. Select the **Appointments** tab.
5. Select the correct date from the calendar.
6. Select the resource name on the right-hand side.
7. Select the slot you would like to remove.
8. Select **Slots &gt; Delete Time Slots**.

This will open the deletion dialog box.

The dialog box will ask for details about the deletion. Review the information carefully to ensure you are only deleting slots for the correct:

- Date
- Resource
- Time range

You may also delete all slots that occur during a specific time across all resources.

Example:  
If you would like to create a lunch break for all resources, you can enter the lunch break start and end times and remove all slots during that period.

You can also create breaks by using the **Update Slots** feature instead of deleting slots.

<p class="callout success">**Important Note: Deleting Slots with Existing Appointments:** If the slots being deleted already contain appointments, an additional dialog box will appear. This dialog box provides several options for handling the affected appointments.</p>

#### **Option 1: Do Not Cancel Appointments**

If you choose not to cancel the appointments:

- The slots will be deleted
- The appointments will move to the red **Appointments List**

This list acts as a holding area for unresolved or “problem” appointments.

You must then either:

- Delete the appointments
- Or recreate the appointment slots

#### **Option 2: Cancel Appointments Without Sending Email**

Appointments will be canceled without notifying participants.

#### **Option 3: Cancel Appointments and Send Cancellation Email**

Appointments will be canceled, and a cancellation email will be sent.

The cancellation email configured in the **Notification Setup** section will appear automatically and may be edited before sending.

### **Blocking Slots**

You can block a slot by turning an existing slot red and optionally entering a custom message, such as:

- Lunch Break
- Staff Meeting
- Unavailable

On the **Appointments** page in the Admin UI:

1. Click the **X** in the corner of the slot.
2. The slot will turn red.
3. The message **Blocked** will appear in the slot.

You may leave the default message or replace it with your own custom message.

Blocked slots:

- Will not appear on the scheduling page for participants
- Remain visible in the Admin UI

At any time, you may unblock the slot by clicking the **X** again. The slot will return to blue and display the status **Available**.

### **Making Changes to Slot Start Times, End Times, or Duration**

To modify:

- Slot start times
- Slot end times
- Appointment durations

You must first delete the existing slots.

The Create Slots process does **not** overwrite previously created slots.

Example:

Existing schedule:

- 10-minute slots
- 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Desired schedule:

- 10-minute slots
- 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM

You cannot create the new schedule on top of the existing slots.

Instead, you must either:

- Delete only the unwanted slots
    
    
    - 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
    - 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

OR

- Delete all existing slots
- Recreate the schedule using the new times

### **Move Slots**

The **Move Slots** feature allows you to move existing slots and appointments (if any) to a new date.

Selecting **Move Slots** opens a dialog box where you can:

- Choose a destination date
- Move slots for all resources
- Move slots only for selected resources

If appointments already exist, you will also have the option to send an explanation email to affected participants.

<p class="callout success">Important Note: New calendar invitation emails are not automatically generated after moving appointments. Participants should be advised to manually update any personal calendar entries they have saved.</p>

### **Copy Slots**

The **Copy Slots** feature allows you to:

- Copy one day of slots to another date
- Copy slots from one resource to another resource

This is useful when:

- Multiple resources share the same schedule
- Multiple event days use identical availability
- You want to quickly duplicate an existing schedule

### **<span class="rvts71">FAQ on Creating Slots</span>**

##### **<span class="rvts71">I created slots on the wrong date</span>**

<span class="rvts36">On the Appointments page, select the Slots drop-down and then select the Move Slots option. This will allow you to move all slots (and any appointments) to a new date. You will have the option to send an email to any appointment holder whose appointment was moved. </span>

##### **<span class="rvts36">My slots are 20 minutes in duration, but I wanted a 30-minute break for lunch</span>**

<span class="rvts20">If your break will not have the same duration as your slots or is not a multiple of your slots (e.g., you have time slots of 20 minutes, and you want a 40-minute break), you will need to create your slots in sections. First, create the slots BEFORE your break time, and then create your slots AFTER your break time. </span>

##### **<span class="rvts38">Why are my time slots yellow? </span>**

<span class="rvts20">Yellow indicates that the time has passed.</span>

##### **<span class="rvts38">I created time slots with the wrong duration, but my customers have already booked appointments.</span>**

<span class="rvts20">Time slots can not be changed from one duration to another. If you need a different duration than what you originally created, you will need to delete your time slots with the incorrect duration and create new time slots with the correct duration. When you delete the time slots, the system will ask you what you want to do with the appointments. You can cancel them and send an email to each customer requesting that they rebook their appointment. Or you can put the appointments "on hold" and then cancel and manually rebook each appointment. </span>

##### **<span class="rvts20">After selecting the </span><span class="rvts21">Delete Time Slots</span><span class="rvts20"> option, you will see a new dialog box telling you the number of appointments on your soon-to-be-deleted slots:</span>**

<span class="rvts20">The default option is set to move the appointments to a holding area on the </span><span class="rvts21">Appointments List</span><span class="rvts20"> page. If you choose this option, you will have a list of the appointments that you need to either cancel or cancel and rebook.</span>