Creating and editing appointment types

Enable visitors to choose a service that your business offers when booking time with you.

Appointment types are the services you offer in Acuity. You can use appointment types for one-client services and classes. Clients usually begin the scheduling process by choosing which appointment type they want to book.

This guide reviews how to create, edit, and customize appointment types. If you get started and decide you want more hands-on help setting up Acuity Scheduling, you can hire a vetted expert. 

Tip: Depending on the services you offer, you may want to offer service products through Squarespace Commerce instead of appointment types in Acuity. Appointments work well for services scheduled for specific times. If clients don't have to book for specific times, use service products instead.

Add an appointment type

Note: The instructions below include links to Acuity settings separated by the kind of account you use to log into Acuity. Which kind of account do I have?

You can create as many appointment types as you like. To create a new appointment type:

1. Open the Appointment types panel: I log in with an Acuity account | I log in with a Squarespace account.
2. Click New type of service.
3. Enter the Name, Duration, and Price of the service, and other details. Clients will see some of this information when they book. For information on each field, see Appointment type settings.
4. If you have more than one calendar, use the Calendars section in the right sidebar to choose which calendars offer this appointment type. To learn more about setting up calendars, visit Managing availability and calendars.

Tip: You can organize appointment types into groups with their own availability settings and scheduling limits. This is useful if some services are only offered at specific times. To learn more, visit Setting availability.

5. Click Create appointment type.

Note: If you've created packages, gift certificates, or subscriptions that your clients can redeem to pay for your services, each time you create a new appointment type, you need to update the package, gift certificate, or subscription so it applies to that new appointment type. 

Edit an appointment type

To edit an existing appointment type:

1. Open the Appointment types panel: I log in with an Acuity account | I log in with a Squarespace account.
2. Scroll down to an appointment type.
3. Click Edit.
4. Make your changes, then click Update appointment type.

Duplicate an appointment type

To make a copy of an existing appointment type: 

1. Open the Appointment types panel: I log in with an Acuity account | I log in with a Squarespace account.
2. Next to the appointment type you want to duplicate, click Duplicate. 
3. The original appointment type's settings will be copied over to the new appointment type. You can update the Name, and any other settings, if needed.  
4. Click Create appointment type. 

Appointment type settings

When creating or editing an appointment type, use these fields to add information:

Note: If you edit an appointment type's duration field, the updates will apply to both new and existing appointments. However, changes to the price will only apply to new appointments booked moving forward. 

Setting	Use
Name	Set the title of the appointment type you're offering.
Duration	Enter a number of minutes between 1 and 1440 (24 hours). All appointments of this type will be scheduled for this duration.
Price	Decide how much your appointment type should cost. If you leave this blank, your scheduler won't list a price for this appointment type and clients will be able to book without paying, even if you have payment enabled.
Description	Click Add a longer description... to add a description of the service that will display below the appointment type name.
Message Shown on Confirmation Page	Click Show a message after scheduling... to add a custom message that displays on the confirmation page after booking. For example, you can add instructions on what to bring to the appointment.
Padding	Click Block off extra time before or after... to add extra time before or after an appointment. Padding is useful for adding employee breaks or preparation time between appointments.
Category	Select an existing category of appointment types, or click Create a new Category to add a new category.
Color	Choose the color used to display this appointment type on your calendar.
Picture	Choose an image to display with the appointment type. Review the recommendations below for formatting images.
Access	Set the appointment type as public (visible to everyone) or private (visible only with direct links).
Group Class	Check This is a class or group event to turn this appointment type into a group class. This setting will only appear when creating a new appointment type. You can't turn an existing appointment type into a group class.
Forms	This setting is located at the top right. Choose which intake forms clients see when they book this appointment type.

Format images

When uploading an image to an appointment type, you can use the same image file types used in the rest of your site. However, keep these differences in mind when formatting your images:

• The file size limit is 1.5 MB, which is less than the limit for website images. 
• Acuity automatically resizes images larger than 600px x 600px when they're uploaded as the image for an appointment type.
• For the best visual results, we recommend using images with a square shape or 1:1 aspect ratio.

Delete an appointment type

To delete an appointment type:

1. Open the Appointment types panel: I log in with an Acuity account | I log in with a Squarespace account.
2. Scroll down to an appointment type.
3. Click Edit.
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Delete appointment type, then click Ok. 

After you delete the appointment type, existing appointments will still appear on your calendar. 

Add a class

Use classes to allow multiple people to book a service for a specific time. Unlike regular appointment types, which are offered whenever you’ve set your availability, classes are available only at specific times and dates you choose.

To create a class or group event:

1. Open the Appointment types panel: I log in with an Acuity account | I log in with a Squarespace account.
2. Click New type of group class.
3. Enter the class details, such as the class name and duration.
4. Enter the maximum number of participants in the Max number of people field. Leaving this field blank or entering 0 will revert the class to a regular, non-class appointment type.
5. To create a class series requiring clients to sign up for all times (for example, a six-week pottery class), check Clients must sign up for all the times this is offered.
6. Click Create appointment type to save the class.

Now you can offer and schedule your class. Next, set the date and time when your class is available:

1. On your new class page, click Offer Class.
2. Choose the date and time you'll offer the class. If you have more than one calendar, first choose the calendar where you want the class to appear.
3. Click Recurring... to expand options for offering this class more than once or as a series.

Tip: To offer a class at an interval not shown in the Recurring menu (for example, every six weeks), use Offer Class to schedule each date individually.

4. Click Save Class.

Edit or review a class

After a class is on your calendar, you can cancel or reschedule it. You can also see other details like the list of attendees and if they've paid.

To see the class details:

1. Open the Appointment types panel: I log in with an Acuity account | I log in with a Squarespace account.
2. Select the Today or Week view.
3. Click the class to open the details.
4. On the details page, you can delete the class, add attendees, reschedule attendees, or edit an attendee’s details.

Delete a class

To delete a class:

1. Open the Appointment types panel: I log in with an Acuity account | I log in with a Squarespace account. 
2. Click Edit next to the class type.
3. Use the right sidebar to select the classes to delete, then click Delete selected classes.
4. In the prompt that appears, enter DELETE, then click OK.

Keep in mind:

• Deleted classes can't be restored.
• If you delete a class, all reservations for that class will also be canceled.
• When you cancel a class before its start time, or within 24 hours after the start time, a cancellation email will be sent to the affected clients.  

Classes and third-party calendars

If you sync with a third-party calendar, each class attendee appears on that calendar as an individual appointment. For example, a class with eight attendees will show in your third-party calendar as eight appointments.

Public and private appointment types

Every appointment type, including group classes, is either public or private:

• Public appointment types are listed on your scheduler, and clients can book them without any action from you.
• Private appointment types are hidden from your scheduler. You and your staff can book private appointment types on clients' behalf. Clients can book private appointment types if you send them a direct link.

To control whether an appointment type is private or public:

1. Open the Appointment types panel: I log in with an Acuity account | I log in with a Squarespace account.
2. Click Edit for the appointment type you want to change.
3. Use the radio buttons in the Access section and select either Public or Private.
4. Click Update this appointment type.

Tip: Clients can see private appointment types when they open a direct link to a private appointment type, a category of private appointment types, or a calendar that only offers private appointment types.