CraftRoq Schedule guide

Take your first booking and run your first event, step by step.

This guide shows how to let people book an appointment with you, or sign up for an event, from your own WordPress site. It starts with one service and one working week, and ends with bookings arriving on your dashboard. You do not need to write any code.

Chapter 1 of 12

Before you start

What the plugin does, and what you need.

CraftRoq Schedule adds a booking form to your site. A visitor chooses what they want (a service), who with, a day and a time. They are only shown times that are free. You then see the booking in WordPress and can confirm it, move it or cancel it. The plugin also runs events: a class or workshop with a set date and a limited number of places.

You would use it when you:

  • take appointments, such as consultations, treatments or lessons;
  • have more than one person, each with their own working hours;
  • run classes, workshops or talks that people sign up for;
  • want reminders and confirmations sent by email for you.

You need: a WordPress site (6.3 or newer, PHP 7.4 or newer) that you can log in to as an administrator.

No payment is taken

The price on a service is a label shown to customers, such as “$85” or “Free”. The free plugin does not take money online.

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Chapter 2 of 12

Install the plugin

This is done once, from inside WordPress.

  1. Get the ZIP file

    On the plugin’s page, press Download free and save the ZIP file. Do not unzip it.

  2. Open the upload screen

    In the menu on the left of WordPress, go to PluginsAdd NewUpload Plugin.

  3. Choose the file

    Choose the ZIP file you saved, then press Install Now.

  4. Switch it on

    Wait a moment, then press Activate.

What you should see

A new entry called Schedule in the menu on the left, with Dashboard, Bookings, Calendar, Services, Events, Registrations, Staff, Customers and Settings under it. The plugin has also made two pages for you: Book an Appointment and My Bookings, and one staff calendar in your name.

Found it by searching instead?

If CraftRoq Schedule appears when you search under PluginsAdd New, you can press Install Now there and skip the ZIP file.

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Chapter 3 of 12

Add your first service

A service is one thing people can book, such as a 30-minute consultation.

  1. Open Services

    Go to ScheduleServices and press Add Service.

  2. Name it

    Type the name customers will see, for example Initial Consultation, and a sentence about it underneath.

  3. Say how long it takes

    In the Service Details box, set Duration (minutes), for example 30.

  4. Leave time between appointments

    If you need a gap afterwards, set Buffer time (minutes), for example 15. Leave it at 0 if you do not.

  5. Show a price

    In Price (display only), type what customers should read, such as $85 or Free.

  6. Say who provides it

    In the Staff box at the side, tick at least one person. A service nobody provides cannot be booked.

  7. Publish

    Press Publish.

What you should see

The service in the list under ScheduleServices, with its duration and the staff who provide it.

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Chapter 4 of 12

Set your working hours

Customers can only book inside the hours you set here.

  1. Open Staff

    Go to ScheduleStaff and press Edit on a person.
    A staff member.

  2. Tick the days they work

    Under Working hours, tick each working day. Untick a day to close it.

  3. Set the times

    For each ticked day, choose when they start and when they finish.

  4. Add days off

    Under Days off, type the dates this person is away, written like 2026-12-25, one per line.

  5. Check their services

    Under Services, tick what customers can book with this person.

  6. Save

    Press Save changes.

More than one person?

Go back to ScheduleStaff and press Add staff member for each of them. When more than one person provides a service, customers can choose who they see, or pick Any available.

Rules for the whole site

Go to ScheduleSettings. Under Booking rules you can choose:

  • Start times offered: how far apart the times are, for example every 30 minutes;
  • New bookings are: Pending, if you want to approve each one, or Confirmed automatically;
  • Minimum notice: how many hours ahead someone must book;
  • Book up to: how many days ahead people can book.

Press Save settings when you have finished.

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Chapter 5 of 12

Take your first booking

Try it yourself first, the way a customer would.

  1. Open the booking page

    Go to Pages, find Book an Appointment and press View.
    Choose a service.

  2. Choose a service

    Press the service you made.

  3. Pick a day and a time

    Days with free times are highlighted. Press one, then press a time.
    Pick a date, then a time.

  4. Fill in your details

    Under Your details, type a first name and an email address.

  5. Confirm

    Press Confirm booking.

What you should see

A message that the booking has been received, with a View or change this booking button and an Add to calendar button. The same links arrive by email.

The confirmation.

Putting the form on another page

In the block editor, add the Booking Form block. Anywhere else, type [craftroq_booking].

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Chapter 6 of 12

Look after your bookings

Everything that needs you is on the Dashboard.

  1. Open the Dashboard

    Go to Schedule.
    The Dashboard.

  2. Approve a request

    Under Needs attention, press Confirm to accept a booking, or Decline to turn it down. The customer is emailed either way.

  3. Record what happened

    After an appointment, press Completed, or No-show if the customer did not come.

Find, change or add a booking

  1. Open the list

    Go to ScheduleBookings. Use the buttons across the top to show only Pending, Confirmed and so on, or type a name in the search box.
    All bookings.

  2. Add one yourself

    Someone booked by phone? Press Add booking, choose the service, date and time, type the customer’s name and email, and press Create booking.

  3. Keep a copy

    Press Export CSV to download the list as a file you can open in a spreadsheet.

See the whole month

ScheduleCalendar shows bookings and events by Month or Week, for everyone or one person.

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Chapter 7 of 12

Run an event

An event is a class, workshop or talk with a date and a number of places.

  1. Start a new event

    Go to ScheduleEvents and add a new event. Type its name and describe it, as you would write a post.

  2. Open Event Details

    In the panel at the side, open Event Details.
    Event Details.

  3. Say when it is

    Set Starts and Ends. Leave Ends empty for a one-hour event.

  4. Say where it is

    Type a Location. For an online event, paste its link into Online event URL: it is only sent to people who register.

  5. Limit the places

    Set Capacity to the number of places. 0 means there is no limit.

  6. Publish

    Leave Allow registration switched on and press Publish.

What you should see

The event has its own page with a Register for this event form, and is listed with your other events at /events/. When the last place is taken, the form closes and the event shows Sold out.

An event’s page.

See who is coming

Go to ScheduleRegistrations and choose the event. You can add someone yourself with Register attendee, mark people as Attended, and press Export CSV for the list.

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Chapter 8 of 12

Check the emails

The plugin writes to customers and to you. Make sure the messages say what you want.

  1. Open Notifications

    Go to ScheduleSettingsNotifications.
    Notifications.

  2. Set who they come from

    Fill in From name and From email, and where Admin notifications go to.

  3. Set the reminder

    Under Reminders, type how many hours before an appointment the reminder is sent. 0 switches reminders off.

  4. Edit a message

    Under Email templates, open an email and change its Subject or Message. Press a placeholder such as {customer_name} to copy it: it is replaced with the real name when the email is sent.

  5. Save, then test

    Press Save settings. Then, under Send a test, press the button to send yourself a sample.

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Chapter 9 of 12

Match your site

Change the colour, corners and font without code.

  1. Open Appearance

    Go to ScheduleSettings and find Appearance.

  2. Pick a colour

    Choose an Accent colour, or tick Use my theme’s colours.

  3. Choose the shape and lettering

    Set Corners and Font. The Preview changes as you go.

  4. Save

    Press Save settings. Emails use the same colour.

Asking your own questions

Under ScheduleSettingsForm fields you can add questions to the booking and event forms, such as “How did you hear about us?”, and choose whether an answer is required.

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Chapter 10 of 12

See bookings in your own calendar

Each staff member can follow their bookings in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook.

  1. Open the person

    Go to ScheduleStaff and press Edit on them.

  2. Copy their link

    Under Calendar feed, press Copy.

  3. Add it to the calendar app

    In Google Calendar, add a calendar “From URL” and paste the link. Apple Calendar and Outlook have the same option, called subscribing to a calendar.

Keep the link private

Anyone who has the link can see that person’s bookings and customer names. If it gets out, press Regenerate link: the old link stops working.

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Chapter 11 of 12

If something is not right

No days can be picked on the booking form
Check that the service has at least one person ticked in its Staff box, that this person has Working hours, and that Minimum notice and Book up to in Settings leave some days open.
A service does not appear on the form
It must be published and have at least one staff member assigned.
Customers cannot cancel or reschedule
Look under Changes & cancellations in Settings: both can be switched off, and the Cut-off stops changes close to the appointment.
Emails are not arriving
Send yourself a test from the Notifications tab. If it does not arrive, the site’s own mail is not getting through: ask your host, or use an SMTP plugin.
The events address shows the wrong page
Another page may be using the same address. Change Events URL in Settings; the plugin warns you when a page already uses it.

Still stuck?

Tell us what you did and what the screen said. For free plugins we help when we can.

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Chapter 12 of 12

Words used in this guide

Attendee
Someone who has registered for an event.
Block
A piece of a page in the WordPress editor, such as a paragraph, a picture or the Booking Form.
Buffer time
Minutes kept free after an appointment, before the next one can start.
Calendar feed
A private link that lets a calendar app show a staff member’s bookings.
Capacity
The number of places at an event.
CSV
A simple file of rows and columns that opens in any spreadsheet program.
No-show
A booking where the customer did not turn up.
Pending
A booking that is waiting for you to confirm or decline it.
Service
One thing people can book, with a set length.
Shortcode
A short piece of text in square brackets that WordPress replaces with something, here the booking form.
Staff member
A person who provides services and has their own working hours.

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