Creating Private Booking Links with Restricted Calendar Access

Modified on Tue, 5 May at 7:14 PM

Creating Private Booking Links with Restricted Calendar Access

Close your calendar to general bookings while still letting selected people book through a private link. Useful during busy periods when you want to control who can schedule time with you.

TL;DR

Step 1: Add a special date with a very short window (e.g. 07:00–07:20) — regular booking forms can't fit a 60-min appointment, so they show "no times available". Step 2: Create a new booking form. Under "On days" set custom hours (e.g. 09:30–14:00). Under Times → Force available hours, set "Yes, force available hours defined by booking form". Share this form's URL only with selected people. Toggle off: Change URL access to "Authentication required" to pause access without deleting the form.

Get started in 5 steps

Restrict the calendar with a special date

Go to Calendar → Settings → Special dates → Add special date. Set the date range for the restricted period. Set opening hours to a very short window such as 07:00–07:20. This prevents normal booking forms from showing available slots — a 60-minute meeting cannot fit in a 20-minute window.

Create a private booking form

Go to Campaign → Campaign settings → Booking forms → Create new booking form (or duplicate an existing one). Give it a name like "Private booking — VIP access".

Set custom availability hours and force them

In the booking form settings, under "On days" change from "Default" to custom hours (e.g. "Mon–Fri, 09:30–14:00"). Then under Times → Force available hours, select "Yes, force available hours defined by booking form". This is the critical setting — it makes the form ignore special dates and use its own hours instead.

Test both scenarios

Public test: Open your normal booking form — it should show "no available times". Private test: Open the private form — it should show slots during your configured hours (e.g. 09:30–14:00). Make a test booking to confirm it works end-to-end.

Share and manage access

Copy the booking form URL and share it only with selected people. To pause access without deleting the form: edit the form, click the green "Public" button, change URL access to "Authentication is required to open URL". Toggle back to Public when you're ready to accept private bookings again.