Building dynamic links

Learn how to create dynamic link to prefill information for your clients

This guide explains how to build and format dynamic links. To learn what dynamic links are and how to use them, visit Dynamic linking.

Recommended tools

We recommend you build dynamic links in a text editor (ideally one that won’t try to autocorrect your URL as you work on it).

Each dynamic link has three components:

• The base link to your public scheduler
  
• Parameters, which are additional pieces of information you add to the URL
  
• Punctuation to connect the other parts of the link together
  

The steps below will walk you through combining those three elements to build a working dynamic link.

Step 1 - Find your scheduling page link

Dynamic links always begin with the link to your general scheduling page. To find the link to your general scheduling page:

1. In Acuity, click Scheduling Page, then click Link.
2. In the Direct Links & Embedding section, the dropdown menu will default to your general scheduling page.

For example, your general scheduling page URL might be exampletestscheduler.as.me (if you’d customized your scheduling page link) or acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=18047438 (if you hadn’t).

Step 2 - Add your first punctuation

If you’ve customized your scheduling page URL (in which case it ends in .as.me), add a question mark to the end. For example, exampletestscheduler.as.me?

If you haven’t customized your scheduling page URL, it ends with a number. In this case, add an ampersand to the end. For example, acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=18047438&.

Step 3 - Add your first parameter

To learn where to find the parameters you can add to a dynamic link, visit Parameters for dynamic links.

Each parameter will have a field and a value. To add the parameter to your URL, add the field, then an equal sign, and then value.

For example, your URL might be acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=18047438&appointmentType=10870139 or exampletestscheduler.as.me?appointmentType=10870139.

Step 4 - Test as you go

As you add parameters to your link, test it to be sure that everything’s working as you expect.

Dynamic links can preload information for your clients, but they can’t complete the booking process, so you can test links as much as you want without creating appointments in Acuity.

When you test links, check closely that the information you’ve added to the URL is being reflected on the scheduler. An incorrectly formatted parameter will be ignored, but the scheduler will still load.

Some parameters, like coupons and form answers, aren’t visible until later in the booking process. You may have to go a couple of steps into the booking process to verify everything’s working. As long as you don’t click to confirm or pay, no appointment will be booked.

Step 5 - Keep adding

You can keep adding more information to your URL. Insert an ampersand before each additional piece of information. For example, you might have acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=18047438&appointmentType=10870139&firstName=John&lastName=Doe&certificate=FIRSTFREE or exampletestscheduler.as.me?appointmentType=10870139&firstName=John&lastName=Doe&certificate=FIRSTFREE.