Booked - Appointment Booking for WordPress 2.4.4

Booked is a powerful and popular premium appointment booking plugin for WordPress, known for its clean, user-friendly interface and "set it and forget it" functionality. It is widely used by hair salons, law firms, personal trainers, and any service-based business that needs a simple, elegant calendar for clients to book time slots.

Unlike some modular plugins that require dozens of paid add-ons, Booked comes as a robust core package with several key features included.

## Key Features & Capabilities

Booked focuses on providing a professional booking experience with minimal configuration:

Registered & Guest Booking: Allow users to create an account to manage their appointments or enable "Guest Booking" for a faster checkout process.

Custom Time Slots: * Standard: Create recurring weekly schedules (e.g., Mon–Fri, 9 AM to 5 PM).

Custom: Add specific time slots for one-off events or holiday dates.

Buffered: Set "Add to" or "Subtract from" times to ensure you have breaks between appointments.

Multiple Calendars: Create separate calendars for different employees, locations, or services (e.g., "Main Studio" vs. "Private Consultations").

Profile Pages: Includes a "front-end" profile shortcode so customers can log in, view their upcoming appointments, and manage their personal information without seeing the WordPress backend.

Custom Fields: A built-in form builder allows you to collect specific information during booking (e.g., "What is your hair type?" or "Reason for visit").

## Included Add-ons (Free with Purchase)

One of the best values of Booked is that it includes three essential add-on plugins in the main package:

Booked Payments with WooCommerce: Use the power of WooCommerce to charge for appointments. This allows you to use any payment gateway (Stripe, PayPal, Square, etc.) supported by WooCommerce.

Booked Front-End Agents: Allows your staff/employees to manage their own appointments and schedules from the front end of your website without needing admin access.

Booked Calendar Feeds: Syncs your website’s appointments with external calendars like Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook via an iCal feed.

### Technical Details (2026 Standards)

Responsive Design: The calendar is fully mobile-friendly and touch-sensitive, making it easy for clients to book on their smartphones.

Developer Friendly: Includes plenty of hooks and filters for developers to extend functionality or customize the behavior.

PHP Compatibility: Modern versions are optimized for PHP 8.1 and 8.2+ for maximum performance and security.

Shortcode System: Easily place the calendar anywhere on your site using the [booked-calendar] shortcode.

### How to Set Up Your First Calendar

Install: Upload the booked.zip file via Plugins > Add New.

General Settings: Go to Appointments > Settings to choose your primary color, set your time zone, and choose whether guests can book.

Define Slots: Go to Appointments > Time Slots. Select a day of the week and add your available hours (e.g., 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM).

Display: Create a new page and paste the shortcode [booked-calendar]. Your clients can now start booking!

### Comparison: Booked vs. Amelia

Feature

Booked

Amelia

Interface

Minimalist / Calendar-focused

Modern / Wizard-focused

Pricing

One-time purchase

Subscription or Lifetime

Staff Management

Via Front-End Agent Add-on

Deeply integrated in core

Best For

Simple time-slot scheduling

Complex service businesses

Would you like me to show you how to customize the "Booking Confirmation" email that gets sent to your clients?