Setting up Availability is what makes self-booking work in Session. You tell Session which services (session types) are bookable and when, and we show that to your clients on your Booking site.
The key idea: Availability groups.
Any session type that’s inside an availability group = clients can pick a date/time and book on their own.
Any session type that is not in a group = shows as an inquiry (client can ask, but you approve the date).
1. Go to Availability
- Go to Manage > Availability.
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You’ll see:
- Your self-booking groups (these control what’s bookable)
- Inquiries (session types not in a group)
- Booking limits (global rules like lead time, and max number of bookings)
2. Create or edit an availability group
- Click + New availability group (or open an existing group).
- Select the session types that should share the same calendar — e.g. “Family Session” and “Lifestyle” if you want them bookable on the same days.
- This is what makes those session types show on your Booking site with a calendar.
3. Set your weekly hours
In the group editor:
- Click on each day (Mon, Tue, Wed…) and add start times you want to offer.
- You can add more than one time per day.
- Don’t want to work a day? Leave it blank.
4. Fine-tune month by month
Scroll down to Overwrite hours for specific days:
- Click on a date in the monthly calendar to add/remove times for just that day.
- Great for holidays, mini busy seasons, or one-off openings.
5. Add Golden hour (optional, but fun ✨)
Inside the group you’ll see Golden hour:
- Set your location and lead time.
- Then, on any day, you can click Golden hour and Session will drop in that day’s sunset-friendly start time.
- Times are rounded to keep your calendar tidy.
6. Save
Click Save on the availability group. Now, when clients visit your Booking site, they’ll see:
- Only the dates/times you made available
Important notes
- If a session type isn’t in an availability group, it becomes an inquiry. Clients can request it, but can’t self-book it.
- You can have multiple availability groups if you run different services on different days (e.g. studio on weekdays, outdoor on weekends).
- Global rules like lead time, gap between sessions, max bookings live at the bottom of the Availability page.