Simple PTA Setup Guide

Admin UI Overview
When you first log in to your pickAtime account, you will automatically land on the Administrative User Interface, with the Event Reports displayed by default. 
 Profile & Sidebar Navigation 
 
 
 Profile Settings : In the top-left corner, your name is displayed. Click the back arrow (<) to edit your profile, change your password, or log out. 
 
 
 Minimize Sidebar : Click the "X" in the green ribbon to collapse the sidebar and expand your workspace. 
 
 
 
 
 Multi-Account Users : Use the Vendor drop-down menu to toggle between different accounts. 
 
 Left-Hand Navigation Menu 
 
 
 Reports : View both account-wide and event-specific data. 
 
 Account Reports : Select this button to view billing and global data. 
 
 Event Reports : Select this button to view data for specific events. Use the Event drop-down to switch between events, and the Report drop-down to switch between specific report types. (See the Reports section for more details). 
 
 

 
 Events Preview : Create, view, and manage your scheduled events. 
 
 
 Appointments List : View all upcoming appointments globally, or filter them by date/event. From this page, you can delete appointments and send one-off emails to participants. 
 
 
 Contacts : Manage all users linked to your account (Administrators, Teachers, Parents, and Students). 
 
 
 Students: View their enrolled classes. 
 
 
 Parents: View scheduled appointments, history logs (bookings, cancellations, emails sent), or manually reset parent passwords. 
 
 
 Teachers: View and adjust administrative access levels. 
 
 

 
 Importer : Upload your roster and data files. 
 
 
 Global Setup: Manage your sitewide configurations across two tabs: 
 
 
 Business Setup : Update your school’s name, address, and core account settings. 
 
 
 Contacts Setup : Create custom prompts and forms for parents to complete when they first register on your scheduling site. 
 
 

 
 Calendar Sync : Authorize administrators to sync their Google and/or Outlook calendars with the platform. 
 
 
 Online Scheduler : A quick-access link to the live booking page (also known as the Customer User Interface or CUI). 
 
 
 Add New Account : Opens a new window to set up a brand-new business or sub-account. 
 
 
 User Manual : Opens the comprehensive Online User Manual in a separate window. 
 
 
 Tour This Page : Launches an interactive, step-by-step guided walkthrough with helpful on-screen popups.

Previous Users of pickAtime
If you have previously created an account with pickAtime, you will not need to create a new account for new conferences. Once you log in to your account, you should create a new event on your account, for example, a "Parent Teacher Conferences 2026" event. Then you can delete the previous semester or the previous year's event. By creating the new event prior to deleting the old event, you will retain the settings (UI Setup / Notification Setup / CUI Messages) from your previous event. 
 Contact Information 
 The contact information from your previous parent‐teacher conference is retained in the pickAtime system and is not removed when you delete an event. The contact information contains the login information from your parents and teachers. This means that your parents can log in again using the email address and password that they set up the first time they used pickAtime. If your parents have forgotten the password, they can select the Forgot Password   button on the login page. 
 Schools that have multiple conferences a year may find this simplifies the process for parents. However, if your conferences are only once a year, or if you think that it would be easier for parents to create a new account for each conference, you can delete the old contact information. To remove all previous contact information, select the  Global Setup  /  Contacts   page, click on the  Show advanced options...   at the top of the page. You will see a button labeled Remove all customers . Selecting this button will bring up a pull‐down that will allow you to delete your contacts based on their access level. The five access levels are: 
 only Customer access   ‐ parents and students Admin Level ‐ Appointment Viewer   ‐ teachers Admin Level ‐ Appointment Maker   ‐ any administrators with Appointment Maker access Admin Level ‐ Resource Administrator   ‐ any administrators with access to only a select group of Resources (teachers) Admin Level ‐ Event Administrator   ‐ any administrators with access to an Event or Events 
 Deleting an access level will delete the level that is listed above it on the list as well. For example, if you select  Admin Level ‐ Resource Administrator   as your level to delete, it will also delete those with  Admin Level ‐ Appointment Maker, Admin Level ‐ Appointment Viewer,   and those with  only Customer access   (parents). 
 Note that removing the contacts will not remove any contacts who have logged in during the previous two months or any contacts who have created an appointment in the last two months. 
 Note that removing the contacts will not remove any contacts who have logged in during the previous two months or any contacts who have created an appointment in the last two months. The "remove all contacts" will not remove any students who have enrollment in any events on your account. 
 IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you have any changes to key fields (for example, if new teachers will be using departing teachers' teacherIDs), then you will also want to have your previous conference contact information deleted. Or if your student ID's have changed for each student, you will want to remove the stored students.

Checklist
In order to set up your Parent‐Teacher Conference event using the PTA scheduler you will need to follow these steps: 
 1. SETUP YOUR EVENT 
 You will need to create your conference event and name it appropriately for your conference (e.g. Fall 2026 Conferences) 
 2. ADD OR IMPORT YOUR TEACHERS 
 Our system will need information a new teacher file 
 3. CREATE SLOTS FOR THE EVENT 
 After verifying your data you can create the time slots (including the dates, times and duration of appointments.  
 4. CONFIGURE SETTINGS  
 Appointment Settings 
 There are several appointment settings that you can modify for the specifics of your event. 
 Configure Notifications (optional) 
 The pickAtime system offers the capability of sending out email confirmations and email reminder notices. You may choose to modify the default settings for these emails. 
 5. TRY IT OUT

STEP ONE: Setup Event
Create Your Event 
 When you first log in to your account from the pickAtime home page, you will be in the Admin tool and on the  Event Reporting  page.  
 
 Select the  Events/Preview   button on the pickAdminUI sidebar (left side).  
 Click on the green Add button. 
 Enter in a name for your event, for example, "Fall 2026 Conferences." 
 Select type of  Simple   PTA 
 If you have previously used pickAtime, you will then have a pull down where you can select a template from one of your previous events. The template will determine the starting settings (from the UI Setup, Notification Setup, and CUI Messages pages) for your event. 
 Select the event time zone. 
 Optionally, you can add the Date and Location for your event. 
 
 You will then see a row listed for your event. The date and location column can be left blank. They are used to differentiate the different events when more than one event is available. The date field is simply a label. If your conference has multiple dates, you can list all dates in this column, or you can leave it blank. 
 For any event, you can also use the Event Details box on the screen to fill in any event-specific information that you may want to use in the display of your scheduler or in your emails for this event. Any text that you add in the Event Details box will be available as a macro field that you can use in your CUI Messages or in your Notification Setup. The macro for the Event Details is $(E_DESCRIPTION). 
 If you've used the system before and you will be importing new data, you can now delete the previous event(s). To delete an event click on the button. Doing so after you have created the new event will allow you to use your previous conference event as a template for your new conference event. Please also confirm that your new event is of type Simple PTA. 
 If you have multiple dates for your Parent‐Teacher Conferences, you do not need to create multiple events. Any event can have any number of dates on it. 
 Deleting your Contacts 
 To remove all contacts (parents, teachers, and students) from your account, go into the  Global Setup / Contacts Setup   tab. At the bottom of the page, you will see a button  Remove all customers . This will remove all contacts from the database. Selecting this button will bring up a pull‐down where you will have the option of deleting your contacts by administrative access level. You would use this button if you would like to remove all previous login information from your parents. Note, that this will not remove any contact with full-powered Administrative access. Also, it will not remove any parent who has logged in during the previous month.

STEP TWO: Add or Import Teachers
Manually Add in Teachers 
 On the Event Management page of the Admin UI, select the Appointments tab. 
 To copy your teacher roster from last time: 
 
 Select the Teachers drop-down 
 Then select Copy Teachers 
 
 Once you have copied your teacher data from the old event, you can delete the old event. 
 To start with a new roster, you will add each teacher one by one.  
 To add a teacher: 
 
 Select the Add Teacher option from the Teachers drop-down. 
 A Select Person dialog box will come up. Here you can search for an existing teacher name by entering the teacher's name in the Search control area. If you locate the teacher, select the teacher's name. When you see the correct information on the right-hand side, press Select. 
 
 To add a new teacher: 
 
 Enter the teacher's Last Name, First Name, and email address on the left-hand side and press the Add New button in the Select Person dialog box. Then press Ok. You should now see the teacher's name listed on your teacher list on the right-hand side. Continue this process until you have added all your teachers. 
 
 OR Import a Teacher File 
 Create the File 
 This file lists all the teachers. The teacher file must contain the following fields:  
 TeacherID identifies the teacher 
 First   contains the first name of the teacher 
 Last  contains the last name of the teacher 
 Email contains the teacher's email address. Only one email address should be entered here. 
 Room   is where the teacher will be at the parent‐teacher conferences. This does not have to be the same room that the class is held in. This field can be helpful for reporting purposes. If you use this field, you can then produce a report by room number. 
 
 
 
 
 
 TeacherID 
 
 
 First 
 
 
 Last 
 
 
 Email 
 
 
 Room 
 
 
 
 
 234 
 
 
 Angela 
 
 
 Frank 
 
 
 a@school.com 
 
 
 106 
 
 
 
 
 225 
 
 
 Bobby 
 
 
 Smith 
 
 
 b@school.com 
 
 
 Library 
 
 
 
 
 
 This table must be provided in a  tab‐delimited text  file (MS Excel ‐> *.txt (Tab delimited); Google Sheets ‐ > *.tsv (Tab delimited).  
 The first row should contain the column titles. The column titles must be labeled exactly as listed above. Notice that none of the column titles have spaces in them. 
 TeacherID   is the key field on this file and must be unique. 
 Email   must also be unique. 
 Password is an optional field

 
 Other Optional Columns 
 Password   creates an initial password for your teachers. If you do not import a password when the teacher logs in they will be prompted to create a password. The password must be at least 6 characters in length. 
 Once the teachers have taken ownership of their account and created a password the import will not change the password. However, on the Global Setup / Contacts Setup page, you can reset the password for all your teachers. This is the reset administrative password button. 
 Virtual Room   is used to import an online meeting link for the teacher if you are having Virtual Conferences or allowing a choice of In‐Person or Virtual conferences. It is only used when you are creating your own meeting links for your teachers. If you are using the pickAtime integration for online meetings, the link will be generated automatically. 
 AccessLevel   allows you to set the Admin level for your teachers. An AccessLevel of 3 will provide your teachers with Resource Administrator access, and they will then be able to block their own schedule. The default access level for a teacher is Appointment Viewer. 
 GroupName   allows you to classify a teacher with a GroupName (e.g., Middle School Teacher, Science Teacher). This is useful if you want to create different slots for different groups of teachers. For example, if all your Middle School Teachers needed 15-minute slots and all your High School Teachers needed 20-minute slots, you might set a group name for your teachers, and then create slots for the entire group. The Group Name can also be used on the parent scheduling page to display teachers under the Group Name. 
 A column called  Action   can be created in order to delete an existing entry. If you need to delete previously uploaded data, you could resubmit the data file with this column title and the word delete entered in each row. This column defaults to "update" if the column is not present.  The Action column is only needed if you will be deleting data. 
 Import your File 
 Once you have created your teacher file, you are ready to import this file to your pickAtime account. The file must be a  tab‐delimited text file . Locate the  Importer  under Main Navigation on the left side. 
 
 After logging into pickAtime, click  Importer . 
 Select Data Type of School. 
 Select your event from the Event pull‐down. 
 Set the File Type to teachers 
 Click Browse and locate your teacher file on your computer 
 Click on Import 
 
 If you leave out some data, you can simply import the missing data. 
 Error Messages on Import 
 Found contact with teacherid of ABC and a different contact with the email of betsy@noemail.com 
 This message indicates that you have a row in your teacher file with teacherID ABC and email address betsy@noemail.com. 
 However, in the Admin UI, you already have a contact with a teacherID of ABC and a different email address than betsy@noemail.com, AND a contact with the email address of betsy@noemail.com and a different teacherID than ABC. 
 For example, on your import file, you have this: 
 TeacherID Email ABC betsy@noemail.com 
 But in the Admin UI, you have two different contacts. 
 TeacherID Email ABC annie@noemail.com  
 DEF betsy@noemail.com 
 You need to correct your data in the Admin UI and then re‐import your teacher file. In the Admin UI, search for the contact with that email address that was flagged. If the contact you locate has a different teacherID than on your teacher file, and is an old contact, then delete that contact and re‐import your teacher file. 
 During the teacher file import, we look for a matching teacherID record or a matching email address record. If we find a match on either, we update the rest of the information. For example, if we find a matching teacherID, we update the email address and name of the teacher. If we find a matching email address, we update the teacherID and the name of the teacher. However, if we find two different contact records, one with a matching teacherID and one with a matching email address, we do not know which one should be updated, and we flag this error. 
 View Your Data 
 Once you have imported your data, you should go to the Appointments  page to confirm that your teacher list on the right-hand side is correct.

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 
 
 
 Navigate to Events / Preview from the navigation menu. 
 
 
 Select your event from the list. 
 
 
 Click the Appointments button. 
 
 
 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 teachers/resources. 
 
 
 If all teachers will use the same schedule, you do not need to select individual teachers.  
 
 
 If teachers will have different schedules, select the teacher(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 Teachers 
 Choose whether the slots should be created for: 
 
 
 Selected teacher(s) only 
 
 
 All teachers/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 
 
 
 Parents will receive the room/location information in their confirmation and reminder emails. 
 
 
 Slots display with a P indicator. 
 
 
 Virtual 
 
 
 Parents will receive the virtual meeting link in their confirmation and reminder emails. 
 
 
 Slots display with a V indicator. 
 
 
 In-Person or Virtual 
 
 
 Parents may choose either meeting format during scheduling. 
 
 
 Slots display with a PV indicator. 
 
 
 Slot Types 
 Select how the slot should appear to parents. 
 Visible for Customer - The slot is visible and available for booking on the Online Scheduler (CUI). 
 Hidden from Customer - The slot is hidden from parents but remains visible in the Admin UI. This can be used for reserved appointments. 
 Shown with “Call” Status - The slot is visible, but parents 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: 
 
 
 Create slots for the first day 
 
 
 Select the next date from the calendar 
 
 
 Repeat the slot creation process 
 
 
 Creating Different Schedules for Different Teachers 
 If teachers/resources require different schedules: 
 
 
 Select the teacher or group of teachers 
 
 
 Create their slots and click save 
 
 
 Select the next teacher/group 
 
 
 Repeat as needed 
 
 
 To select multiple teachers: 
 
 
 Hold the Ctrl key while selecting additional names. Continue this process until you have a group of teachers collected that you would like to create the same time slots for. 
 
 
 Note that if you have created the same slots for all your teachers, you will not see the individual slots displayed unless you select one of the teacher names (from the right-hand side). This allows you to create identical schedules for selected groups of teachers/resources. 
 Viewing Teacher Slots 
 If slots are created for all teachers at once, individual appointment slots may not immediately display. 
 To view a specific teacher’s slots: 
 
 
 Click on the teacher’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: 
 
 
 Navigate to Settings / Vendor UI Setup 
 
 
 Modify the Draw Time Every setting 
 
 
 If using Travel Breaks, you may also want to adjust this setting to align with your break duration. 
 Important Notes: Create Slots Does Not Replace Existing Slots 
 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 will allow you to update the characteristics of existing slots. This feature will allow you to: 
 
 Change appointment types 
 Increase or decrease the maximum appointments allowed per slot 
 Hide slots from parents 
 Make slots unavailable 
 Convert in-person appointments to virtual appointments, or vice-versa 
 
 Note: The Update Slots feature does not change the start time, end time, or duration of existing slots. 
 Accessing Update Slots 
 
 Navigate to Events / Preview from the navigation menu. 
 Select your event from the list. 
 Click the Appointments tab. 
 Choose the appropriate date from the calendar on the left-hand side. 
 Select the teacher/resource name on the right-hand side. 
 Select the Appointments drop-down menu. 
 Select Slots /Update Slots . 
 
 This will open the Slot Updater dialog box. 
 The dialog box will allow you to enter a range of times. You will have several options for making changes to an existing slot. 
 The "Keep existing slot type on slots being updated" checkbox allows you to change the appointment type (i.e., from in-person to virtual) without changing the slot type. It is very helpful if all teachers have already blocked their schedules. 
 Update Slots will only change the characteristics of existing slots. It does not change the duration, start, or end time of existing slots.  
 Removing Slots -  individual scheduling exceptions 
 The Delete Time Slots feature allows you to remove existing appointment slots for: 
 
 Individual teachers 
 Specific times 
 Entire groups of teachers/resources 
 
 This is commonly used for: 
 
 Lunch breaks 
 Staff meetings 
 Schedule changes 
 Teacher absences 
 Emergency closures 
 
 Accessing Delete Time Slots 
 
 Navigate to Events / Preview from the navigation menu. 
 Select your event from the list. 
 Click the Appointments tab. 
 Choose the appropriate date from the calendar on the left-hand side. 
 Select the teacher/resource name on the right-hand side. 
 Select the Appointments drop-down menu. 
 Select Slots > Delete Time Slots. This will open the deletion dialog box. 
 The dialog box will ask you for details on the deletion. Please read carefully to ensure that you are only deleting slots on the correct date/teacher/time combination. 
 
 You will be able to delete all slots that occur at that time for all teachers. For example, if you want to schedule a lunch break for all teachers, you could enter the start and end times of the lunch break and delete any slots during that time.  
 You can also create breaks by using the  Update Slots feature.   
 IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you are deleting slots with appointments on them, a second dialog box will come up. 
 This dialog box will provide you with several options for the appointments that are on your soon-to-be-deleted slots. 
 
 You will have the option of not canceling the appointments. As the slots will be deleted, these appointments will be moved to the red Appointments List . From here, you will need to attend to these appointments by either deleting them from the red Appointments List  or by recreating the appointment slot. This red  Appointments List  is a holding area for "problem" appointments. 
 
 
 You will have the option of canceling the appointments and not sending a cancellation email. 
 
 
 You will have the option to cancel the appointment and send a cancellation email. The cancellation email that you have set up in the  Notification Setup section will display, and you will be able to edit this or send it as is. 
 
 Best Practices 
 
 Use Update Slots for temporary availability changes whenever possible. 
 Use Delete Time Slots only when appointment slots should be permanently removed. 
 Review deletion settings carefully before confirming changes. 
 If appointments already exist, determine whether parents should receive cancellation notifications before proceeding. 
 
 Blocking Slots 
 How to Block a Slot 
 
 Navigate to the Appointments page in the Admin UI. 
 Locate the appointment slot you would like to block. 
 Click the X in the corner of the slot. 
 
 The slot will: 
 
 
 
 Turn red 
 Display the message Blocked 
 
 
 
 You may leave the default message or replace it with a custom message, such as: 
 
 
 
 Lunch Break 
 Staff Meeting 
 Unavailable 
 
 
 
 This slot will then not be displayed on the scheduling page to your parents. At any time, you can "unblock" the slot by clicking on the x in the corner and returning the slot to blue with the word Available listed in the slot. Blocked Slots will display on your reports when the "show all slots" option is checked. 
 As an alternative to blocking slots, you can always delete slots. 
 Blocking Slots vs. Deleting Slots 
 Blocking Slots 
 
 Temporarily removes availability 
 Preserves the original slot structure 
 Can easily be reversed 
 Recommended for short-term schedule changes 
 
 Deleting Slots 
 
 Permanently removes the slot 
 Requires recreating the slot later if needed 
 Recommended for permanent schedule adjustments 
 
 In most cases, blocking slots is the preferred option for temporary scheduling changes. 
 Changing Slot Start Times, End Times, or Duration 
 If you need to modify: 
 
 Slot start times 
 Slot end times 
 Appointment durations 
 
 You must first delete the existing slots before creating new ones. 
 The Create Slots feature does not overwrite or replace existing appointment slots. 
 Example 
 Existing Schedule: 
 
 
 
 10-minute slots 
 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM 
 
 
 
 New Desired Schedule: 
 
 
 
 10-minute slots 
 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM 
 
 
 
 You cannot simply 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 entire schedule using the new times 
 
 
 
 Best Practices 
 
 Use Blocking Slots for temporary schedule changes. 
 Use Delete Time Slots for permanent scheduling changes. 
 Review existing appointments before deleting slots. 
 Recreate slots only after unwanted slots have been removed. 
 
 Move Slots 
 The  Move Slots  feature will allow you to move all your slots and appointments (if any) to a new date. 
 This feature is commonly used when: 
 
 A conference day changes 
 A school closure occurs 
 Teachers become unavailable 
 Events need to be rescheduled 
 
 The  Move Slots button will bring up a dialog box where you can enter a destination date for your slots and appointments to be moved to. You will have the option of sending an explanation email to all parents with an appointment. You also have the option to move the slots only for a selected teacher or teachers. 
 Accessing Move Slots 
 
 Navigate to Events / Preview from the navigation menu. 
 Select your event from the list. 
 Click the Appointments tab. 
 Choose the appropriate date from the calendar on the left-hand side. 
 Select the teacher/resource name on the right-hand side. 
 Select the Appointments drop-down menu. 
 Select Slots > Move Slots.  
 This will open the Move Slots dialog box. 
 In the Move Slots dialog box: 
 
 Select the destination date 
 Choose whether to:
 
 Move slots for all teachers/resources 
 Move slots only for selected teachers/resources 
 
 
 Confirm the move 
 
 All selected slots and any associated appointments will be transferred to the new date. 
 
 
 When slots are moved: 
 
 Existing appointments are transferred to the new date 
 Parent scheduling information remains attached to the appointment 
 Appointment times remain the same unless otherwise adjusted 
 
 Important Note : New calendar notification emails will not be sent, so participants should be advised to update any calendar entries they have set. 
 Parent Notification Options 
 If appointments already exist on the slots being moved, you will have the option to send an informational email to affected parents. 
 This email can be used to explain: 
 
 Why the event was rescheduled 
 The new appointment date 
 Any additional instructions 
 
 Best Practices 
 
 Send notification emails whenever appointments are moved. 
 Clearly explain why appointments were rescheduled. 
 Encourage parents to verify their updated appointment dates and times. 
 Review the new schedule after moving slots to ensure all appointments transferred correctly. 
 
 Copy Slots 
 The  Copy Slots feature will allow you to copy one day of slots to another day. You can also selectively copy slots from one teacher to another teacher. 
 The Copy Slots feature allows you to duplicate existing appointment slots from one date or teacher/resource to another. 
 This is useful when: 
 
 Multiple conference days use the same schedule 
 Teachers share identical availability 
 You want to quickly recreate schedules without manually rebuilding slots 
 
 Common Uses for Copy Slots 
 Copy One Day to Another Day 
 Example : Copy Monday’s conference schedule to Tuesday 
 Copy Slots Between Teachers 
 Example : Copy one teacher’s availability setup to another teacher/resource 
 Reuse Standard Scheduling Templates 
 Example : Recreate standard office hours or conference blocks across multiple days 
 Accessing Copy Slots 
 
 Navigate to Events / Preview from the navigation menu. 
 Select your event from the list. 
 Click the Appointments tab. 
 Choose the appropriate date from the calendar on the left-hand side. 
 Select the teacher/resource name on the right-hand side. 
 Select the Appointments drop-down menu. 
 Select Slots > Copy Slots 
 
 This will open the Copy Slots dialog box. 
 Copying Slots 
 In the Copy Slots dialog box: 
 
 Select the destination date 
 Optionally select destination teacher/resource(s) 
 Confirm the copy action 
 
 The selected slots will be duplicated to the new location. 
 Important Notes 
 
 Copy Slots duplicates the slot structure and settings. 
 Existing appointments are not copied. 
 Slot visibility, appointment type, and availability settings are preserved during the copy process. 
 
 Best Practices 
 
 Use Copy Slots to save time when building large schedules. 
 Verify copied schedules after completion. 
 Review teacher/resource selections carefully before copying slots. 
 Use Move Slots instead of Copy Slots when appointments must also transfer to a new date. 
 
 
 FAQ on Creating Slots 
 I created slots on the wrong date 
 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.  
 My slots are 20 minutes in duration, but I wanted a 30-minute break for lunch 
 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.  
 Why are some of my slots grey? 
 Grey time slots indicate that the teacher is booked elsewhere and is not available at that time. Either the teacher is having meetings as part of a team, or the teacher has booked her own appointments in her role as a parent. If you click on the grey time slot, a message will display telling you where the teacher is booked. 
 Why are my time slots yellow?  
 Yellow indicates that the time has passed. 
 I created time slots with the wrong duration, but my parents have already booked appointments. 
 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.  
 After selecting the  Delete Time Slots option, you will see a new dialog box telling you the number of appointments on your soon-to-be-deleted slots: 
 The default option is set to move the appointments to a holding area on the  Appointments List page. If you choose this option, you will have a list of the appointments that you need to either cancel or cancel and rebook. 
 FAQ on Slots 
 I created slots on the wrong date 
 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.  
 My slots are 20 minutes in duration, but I wanted a 30-minute break for lunch 
 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.  
 Why are some of my slots grey? 
 Grey time slots indicate that the teacher is booked elsewhere and is not available at that time. Either the teacher is having meetings as part of a team, or the teacher has booked her own appointments in her role as a parent. If you click on the grey time slot, a message will display telling you where the teacher is booked. 
 Why are my time slots yellow?  
 Yellow indicates that the time has passed. 
 I created time slots with the wrong duration, but my parents have already booked appointments. 
 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.  
 After selecting the Delete Time Slots option, you will see a new dialog box telling you the number of appointments on your soon-to-be-deleted slots. The default option is set to move the appointments to a holding area on the  Appointments List page. If you choose this option, you will have a list of the appointments that you need to either cancel or cancel and rebook.

STEP FOUR: Adjust Settings
UI Setup 
 Event Settings 
 On the   UI Setup  ( Events Management, Settings/UI Setup )  page, you can adjust various settings specific to your event. 
 
 From the  Admin UI  on the  Events/Preview page, select your event .  Click on the Go To Event button to open the Event Management page. 
 Select the  Settings  tab and then the  UI Setup  tab. 
 
 From the top of the page, work your way down 
 Scheduler Availability 
 
 Open scheduler to customers on   - Enter the date and time that you would like the scheduler to open for your parents. 
 Close scheduler to customers on - Enter the date and time that you would like the scheduler to close for your parents. 
 Check the box to allow Admins access to the CUI at all times, allows Administrators access to the parent scheduling page when the scheduler is not open to your parents. When this box is checked, when you log into the Online Scheduler, you will see a page that says that the event is closed to parents but not to admins.  
 
 Appointment Number Limits 
 
 Maximum Appointments per Event - This allows you to limit the number of allowed appointments per event.  
 Maximum Appointments Per Resource per Day - Allows you to set a limit of how many appointments per resource can be booked on any day. For example, you can create 15 slots on a day, but set this to 10. As soon as the 10th appointment is booked at any time on that day, no more appointments can be booked. 
 One appointment per teacher -  If this box is checked, then the parent will only be able to schedule one appointment with the same teacher, even if their student has more than one class with that teacher. 
 Allow back-to-back - If the "allow back-to-back" is not checked, the system will not  allow a parent to make an appointment immediately following their previous appointment unless the two appointments are with the same teacher. This setting is used to prevent parents from making appointments with two teachers one after the other, so that parents will have time to travel from one appointment to the next. The system allows back-to-back appointments when the two appointments are with the same teacher, regardless of this setting. It will also allow back-to-back appointments when travel breaks have been added. 
 
 Appointment Cancellations 
 
 Customer cannot cancel their appointment closer than x hours/days/weeks - If you want to prevent participants from cancelling their appointment within some amount of time before the appointment, alter this setting. Set this to 0 if you don't care if participants cancel a minute before they show up. Set this to a large value if you don't want them to be able to cancel the appointment. NOTE : Closing your scheduler does not prevent participants from cancelling an appointment.  
 
 Close Appointment Booking 
 
 Close Appointment Booking - Allows you to make slots become unavailable some amount of time before the appointment. There are 3 options. Close appointment booking at XX time XX days before the appointment date. Close appointment booking XX hours/days/weeks/months before the appointment time. Close appointment booking XX hours before the first appointment time of the day.  
 
 Scheduler Settings 
 Scheduling Link 
 The Scheduling link for the selected event lists the site address for the selected event that you can either use on your school web page or provide to participants in an email to use when booking an appointment. If you click on this link, a new browser window will open up that is the Customer User Interface (CUI) for your event. You can also enter a customised event name. This will then be appended to your account URL. For example, if you have customised your event URL to https://pickatime.com/HowardSchool , your custom event URL might look something like this: https://pickatime.com/HowardSchool/LS  or   https://pickatime.com/HowardSchool/US .  Note that when using the custom event URLs, the participant will still have the option to toggle to any other open event on the account.  
 IMPORTANT NOTE: The event URL you see listed on this page will take the customer directly to the event. However, if you have any other open events on your account, the event table will be displayed to the customer, and they will be able to toggle to the other events. You can use the Category Option if you want to direct a parent to a certain event without an option to toggle to the other opened event on the account. The  Scheduling link for the category  would display a scheduler for the event(s) that fall in the category. 
 Scheduler Display 
 
 Display in a Condensed/Expanded mode -   pickAtime offers both  Condensed  and  Expanded  scheduler views, so users can choose the experience that works best for their scheduling style and screen space.
 
 Condensed View -  Best for users who want to see more availability with less scrolling. The Condensed view uses variable time steps, creating a cleaner and more compact layout. This option is helpful for smaller screens or users who want to quickly browse open times without focusing on exact interval spacing. 
 Expanded View -  Best for users who prefer a traditional scheduling layout with fixed time increments. Expanded view displays fixed time slots in consistent intervals, making it easier to visually search for appointments of a specific length or compare gaps between appointments. This view closely matches the classic scheduler experience and can be preferred by long-time users familiar with the original CUI. 
 
 
 
 Users can switch between views at any time using the toggle button located in the top-left corner of the scheduler. 
 
 
 Display multiple dates with a Paginator or a Calendar . The Paginator option will allow the parent to see multiple dates on the same page. The Calendar option will display one day at a time to the parent, with a small calendar displayed where the parent can select a different date.  
 
 
 Scheduler Display Limits 
 
 Display X weeks of slots  xxx slots on the scheduling page - This setting determines how many days or weeks are shown on the parent scheduling page at one time. This only applies if Paginator was selected under the Scheduler Display. 
 
 Teacher Display 
 
 Display resource description - If you have added a description to the Resource Name, then it will be displayed on the parent scheduling page. This displays when the small info icon above the teacher's name is clicked.  
 Display class names -  If you have added Class Names to the Appointments page, then checking this box will show the class names on the parent scheduling page. This displays when the small info icon above the teacher's name is clicked.  
 
 Teacher's Group Name 
 
 Sort by Group Name - This section allows you to group your teachers. For example, you might want to group all your Lower School teachers together, and then have a grouping for Middle or Upper School teachers. Enter your group names in this section, then go to the Appointments page on the right-hand side, where you can see the list of teachers. There is the Group Name column, from which you can select a category from a drop-down, so you can assign each teacher to a Group. 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 Require parents to select their student name from a drop-down when booking an appointment (requires that students have been imported to the account) - This is used when you want a parent to attach a pre-imported student to their account.  
 
 Advanced Settings 
 Online Meeting Provider 
 
 Use 'X' for online meetings - Select from the drop-down menu which Online Meeting Provider you want to use for this event.  
 
 Multiple Appointment Booking 
 
 Allow a parent to make conflicting appointments for themselves - If this box is checked, the parent will be able to make more than one appointment at the same time.  
 
 Appointment Changes 
 
 Allow customers to see and cancel past appointments   - Check this box to allow your customer to see and cancel past appointments   
 Don't allow customers to change appointment time - Check this if you do not want the participant to have the option to change the time of their appointment.  
 
 Notification Setup 
 The  Notification tab in the Settings section allows you to toggle between the following options: Confirmation Email / Cancellation Email / Reminder Email /Custom Email / Follow-up Email / Resource Notification Email / Calendar Event Notification . 
 Confirmation Email 
 Subject  - Allows you to change the text in the subject line of the email. 
 Header  - Allows you to change the text in the header line of the email. 
 Body   - Allows you to change the text in the body of the email. 
 Footer   - Allows you to change the text in the footer of the email.  
 Send Confirmation and Cancellation Emails - Check this box if you would like a confirmation email sent after the appointment is made. This is generally left unchecked for schools.  
 Support Email   - Enter an email address in this box, and you will receive a reply when your customer selects "reply" in the confirmation, reminder, or cancellation emails. If you leave this blank, any replies will receive an automated email response directing them to contact the scheduling organisation.  
 Replace the Email Body with the Printable Schedule - the recommended option is to check this box. Then your parent will receive an email with a table of their appointment schedule, instead of an individual email for each appointment.  
 Reminder Emails 
 Send Reminder Emails 
 Select Add and enter the time (in hours) prior to the appointment for which you would like an email reminder to be sent. You can add multiple times. The duplicated values are not allowed and would be removed automatically. 
 There are two ways reminder emails are sent: 
 
 If the ' Replace the Email Body with the Printable Schedule of Appointments ' option is turned on, all your appointments will be grouped into one reminder email, sent a set number of hours before your first scheduled appointment. If you have appointments on multiple days, you will get a reminder email each day, listing all your upcoming appointments. For example, if reminders are set for 24 hours and 12 hours before the appointment time, you'll get two reminder emails, 24 and 12 hours before your first scheduled appointment. 
 
 
 If the ' Replace the Email Body with the Printable Schedule of Appointments ' option is turned off, you will get one reminder email for all appointments booked within the same hour. For example, if you have appointments at 9:00 AM, 9:15 AM, and 9:30 AM, they will be grouped into one reminder email. If you book more appointments at 10:15 AM and 10:30 AM, you will get two separate reminder emails: one for the 9:00 AM, 9:15 AM, and 9:30 AM appointments, and another for the 10:15 AM and 10:30 AM appointments. 
 
 Subject for combined email - When a combination email will be sent, for example, when an appointment is cancelled and immediately rescheduled, the text here will be in the subject line of the combined email.  
 Recommended Option 
 On the Confirmation and Reminder emails, you have the option to insert the printable schedule or appointments as the body of the email. The printable schedule or appointments is a table that summarises all the appointments a parent has booked. To include this option, check the "Replace the Email Body with the Printable Schedule or Appointments" box. When you check this box, your email will contain the Header text, the printable schedule, and the Footer text. See the CUI Messages / Print Schedule section for the formatting of the printable schedule.  
 The format of the table of appointments that is included is referred to as the printable schedule, as this table will be the same as the table a parent would see if they clicked on the Printable Schedule link on the parent scheduling page. The information included in this table is set on the  Settings /CUI Messages page under the Print Schedule section. 
 When the "printable schedule or appointments" option is selected, one email will be sent containing the schedule of appointments made by the parent. The parent will not receive one email per appointment booked. 
 Configure CUI 
 The pickAtime system allows you to customise many of the display settings that your parents will see when booking appointments. 
  To modify the CUI messages: 
 
 From the  Admin UI, select the  Events / Preview option on the dashboard. Then select your event from the list and click on the button .   
 Select the  Settings   tab and then the  CUI messages   tab .   
 On the left-hand side, you see many different labels that you can optionally modify. When you select a label, the right-hand side will display the text that will show up on the CUI. The text on any of these labels can be changed.  
 To edit the title on the login page for your scheduler, select Sign In page / Welcome message* and edit the text on the right-hand side.  
 To add a logo to your scheduler, go to the Global Setup / Business page . Under the Account Level Settings / Account Logo , click on the Upload icon to upload your logo. 
 
 To edit (or view) the HTML, select the HTML icon (<>) on the toolbar.

STEP FIVE: Try it Out
From the Admin UI on the Events / Preview page, select your event. Click on the Go To Event button to open the Event Management page.  
 Select the  Settings   tab and then the  UI Setup   tab. 
 To turn on the online scheduler so parents can use the website and schedule appointments, modify the Open scheduler to customers on   and the Close scheduler to customers on .  Any days that you want to make available for parents to schedule appointments should be within the start and end dates specified. 
 
 To allow yourself (and other Administrators) access to the scheduler when it is closed to your parents, check the box "allow Admins access to the CUI at all times". 
 View for yourself the appointment booking web page. The appointment URL is listed in the Account URL section at the bottom of the Global Setup / Business   page. To test out the system, you can click on the URL or copy and paste this URL into another browser window and try out the site as if you were a customer. You can customize this URL by checking the box Set custom URL  and entering in your preferred URL name in the white box. 
 The  Appointment URL will change to reflect your selection, and the new URL will be available in approximately 5‐10 minutes. 
 Additional Checks 
 Is the URL that I've provided to my parents correct? 
 You can confirm your link by going to the Global Setup / Business page of the Admin UI. Under the Appointment URL for customers section, you will see the unique scheduling link for your school. Here you also have the option to customize your link. 
 Are my slot durations correct? 
 The duration of your time slots can not be changed. If your slot duration is incorrect, you need to delete the incorrect slots and create slots with the correct duration. 
 For example, if your parents start booking appointments every 15 minutes, and you then discover that you need 10‐minute slots, you will need to delete the 15‐minute slots and cancel the appointments. Then you will be able to create slots with a duration of 10 minutes.