The Directorist Booking & Reservation Extension enables administrators and listing owners to accept and manage online bookings directly from the dashboard and admin panel. It enables visitors to check availability, schedule appointments and make reservations seamlessly.  The extension has been fully revamped with a modern, intuitive interface designed to deliver a seamless user experience. 

This makes it ideal for service-based businesses such as Hotels & accommodation providers, Salons & Wellness Centres, Event Venues, Rental Agencies, Tour & travel operators, Consultants and service professionals. 

Key Features

• Seamless Booking Management: Admins and listing owners can manage appointments and reservations directly from the dashboard.
  
• Real-Time Availability: Visitors can check available slots and book services or rentals instantly.
  
• Multiple Booking Types: Supports Service and Rental/Event bookings, with the flexibility to enable one or both types.
  
• Guest Booking Option: Allow users to book without creating an account, or restrict bookings to registered users.
  
• Commission Management: Set a commission percentage for the site owner on each booking.
  
• Booking Visibility Control: Choose to enforce or allow hiding of booking functionality per listing type.
  
• Customizable Labels: Rename fields such as Booking Type, Booking Hiding, Weekend Price, and Calendar Labels.
  
• Booking Widgets: Add booking forms to listing sidebars for easy access.
  
• Instant Booking: Enable automatic booking confirmation without manual approval.
  
• Single Listing Integration: Fully integrated with listing pages, both frontend and backend, for a smooth user experience.
  
• Flexible Form Builder: Customise the Add Listing Form and Single-Page Layout (Contents) to match your site’s requirements.

Installation 

Follow the steps below to install and activate the Booking & Reservation Extension:

1. Install the Extension

1. Navigate to Directory Listings > Themes & Extensions.
   
2. Locate “Appointment & Booking” in the extensions list.
   
3. Click Install, and once completed, select Activate

2. Enable the Extension

1. Go to Directory Listings > Settings > Extensions > Extension General.
   
2. Toggle Booking to enable the extension.

Click Save Changes to apply the settings.

Configuration 

After activating the Booking & Reservation Extension, Directorist automatically creates a Booking Confirmation page containing the shortcode:
[directorist_booking_confirmation] 

This page is required to process and display booking confirmation details.

Assign the Confirmation Page

To ensure proper functionality, verify that the page is correctly assigned:

1. Navigate to WP Admin Dashboard ➝ Directory Listings ➝ Settings.
   
2. Go to Page Setup ➝ Pages, Links & Views.
   
3. Locate the Booking Confirmation Page setting.
   
4. Select the page containing the shortcode.
   
5. Click Save Changes.

Setting the Sidebar

To enable users to initiate bookings directly from a single listing page, you must add the Directorist – Booking widget to the listing sidebar.

Add the Booking Widget

Follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Appearance → Widgets in your WordPress admin panel.
   
2. Locate the widget named Directorist – Booking.
   
3. Drag and drop it into the Directorist – Listing Right Sidebar area.
   

This widget provides the booking form and simplifies the process for users to schedule services, appointments, or events.

After adding the booking widget, it will appear in the single listing page “Directorist Listing Right Sidebar” 

Additional Notes

To ensure the booking widget appears on the Single Listing Page, navigate to the Directory Builder and adjust the following layouts as needed:

• Add Listing Form 
• Single Page Layout

Booking Settings

This helps you set global booking preferences, labels, and behavior for all listings across your directory. These settings ensure consistency while giving you the flexibility to customize how booking fields appear on the Add Listing form. After completing the configuration, listing owners can fine-tune their own booking options with confidence.

Path: Directory Listings > Settings > Extensions > Booking

Note: These settings only reflect on the add listing form.

Guest Booking Option: This option allows you to enable and disable the guest booking option.

Commission Rate: You can set and define the commission percentage of using the option. If the percentage is 10%, that means 10 of 100 will get the site owner and the rest 90 will get the listing owner.

Booking Type
Choose which booking types are available for your listings.

• Service Booking – for services or appointments.
• Event Booking – for event-based reservations.
• Rental Booking – for rentals or time-based bookings.

Booking Type Label
Customize the label text that appears on the form for booking type selection.

Booking Timing Type
Enable this if you want to allow time-based bookings (e.g., hourly, daily).

Payment Type
Select the payment system to be used for bookings. By default, it uses Directorist default system.

Service Fields

This section allows you to customize the label text used for service-based bookings. These settings only change the wording shown on the Add Listing form. They do not affect the booking logic or functionality.

Available Label Options

• Timing Type Label – Update the label for the timing selection field.
• Enable Instant Booking Label – Customize the text for the instant booking toggle.
• Maximum Guests Label – Change the label for the field where listing owners define the maximum number of guests allowed per booking.

Event Fields

Customize the labels shown on the Add Listing form: Available Ticket Label (total tickets available) and Tickets Allowed Per Booking Label (maximum tickets a user can book per reservation).

Rent Fields

Customize the labels shown on the Add Listing form: Weekend Price Label, Availability Calendar Title Label, and Availability Calendar Description Label used to guide listing owners when setting rental availability

Single Listing

Customize the labels shown on the listing details page: Request Booking Label, Book Ticket Label, Login for Booking Label, and Reservation Fee Label used to control booking-related text on single listing pages.

Confirmation Page

Enable or disable showing a refund policy on the confirmation page, and customize the Refund Policy Label to control how the refund policy text appears to users.

After updating your settings or labels, click Save Changes to apply all modifications.

The Google Calendar integration helps you automatically sync your Service and Rent bookings with your Google Calendar. It also checks for conflicts in your other calendars to prevent double bookings.

Step 1: Create Google API Credentials

• Go to Google Cloud Console and sign in with the same Google account you use for bookings.
• Create or select a project.

• Enable the Google Calendar API:
  • Navigate to APIs & Services → Enabled APIs & Services → + ENABLE APIS AND SERVICES
  • Search for “Google Calendar API” and enable it.

• Create an OAuth client ID:
  • Go to APIs & Services → Credentials → + CREATE CREDENTIALS → OAuth client ID

If asked, configure the consent screen first.

• Provide basic App information (App name, email, etc.).
• Set User Type (Audience type) to External.
• Add your contact email and agree to the Google policies.
• Click Create to continue.

• You will land in Overview section and from here click Create 0Auth Client

• Choose Web application as the application type and provide a Name.
• Add this redirect URI:https://your-site.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=bdb_google_oauth_callback Replace your-site.com with your actual domain.

• Copy the generated Client ID and Client Secret. You’ll need them later.

• Now you have to publish the app. Go to Audience and Hit the Publish app button.

Step 2: Connect Google Calendar in Directorist Booking

• Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.

• Open the Booking Dashboard and click Connect Google Calendar (Step 1 modal).
• Enter your Client ID and Client Secret and click Connect Calendar.

• Click Connect, then approve the permissions in the Google pop-up.

• After successful connection, the button changes to Calendar Setup, and click on that

Step 3: Calendar Setup

After connecting your Google account, the next step is to configure your calendar preferences.

1. Primary Booking Calendar
   • Choose the calendar where new bookings will be automatically added.
2. Conflict Prevention (Recommended)
   • Select calendars that should be checked for schedule conflicts before accepting a booking.
   • You can select multiple calendars.
3. Once your selections are made, click Complete Setup to save.

You can return to this screen anytime to update or disconnect your Google Calendar by clicking Disconnect at the bottom left.

Once setup is complete, your bookings will automatically appear in Google Calendar, keeping your schedule up-to-date and preventing double bookings.

Step 4: How Syncing Works

• When a Service or Rent booking is Confirmed:
  • Directorist refreshes your Google tokens if needed.
  • It checks selected calendars for time conflicts.
  • If no conflict is found, it creates the event in your Primary Calendar with guest details.
• When the booking is Cancelled, the corresponding Google Calendar event is automatically removed.
• To remove all Google data and tokens, click Disconnect Google Calendar.

Note: Google Calendar sync works only for listings with booking types Service or Rent.
Event-type listings are not synced

Adding a service type booking listing

Enable Booking

Turn this option on to allow bookings for the listing. When disabled, all booking fields remain hidden, and users cannot request or schedule a service.

Booking Type

Choose Service as the booking type to access the fields shown in this section. Other types—Event and Rent—have their own separate configuration.

Timing Type

Define how customers choose their appointment time:

• Time Slot – Allows fixed start/end time slots (e.g., 10:00 AM–12:00 PM).
• Time Picker – Lets users select custom times.*

*You can also toggle Display availability text and customize the availability label shown to users. The time picker will automatically display available times.

Configure Time Slots

This is where you set your weekly availability. You can configure availability for each day of the week:

• Toggle each weekday on or off.
• Set start time and end time.
• Choose the number of slots available for that time.
• Use the icons to:
  • Duplicate a slot,
  • Add a new slot,
  • Delete a slot.

These settings let you define exactly when customers can book your service.

Reservation Fee

Set a fixed one-time fee that customers must pay when making a booking (e.g., USD 20). This is optional and can be set to 0 if no fee is required.

Maximum Number of Guests

Specify the maximum number of people allowed per booking. For example, if your service supports only 3 people per session, set this value to 3.

Enable Payment

Turn this on to allow users to pay for the booking directly. When disabled, bookings will be request-only without payment collection.

Enable Instant Booking

Enable this if you want bookings to be automatically approved without admin or listing owner review. When disabled, bookings require manual approval.

Refund System

Turn on the refund system if you want to allow refund requests for booked services.

You can define:

• Refund policy description (example text is shown in the field).
• Refund days – how many days after payment a refund can be requested.
• Refund amount (%) – percentage of the booking amount that will be refunded.
• Add multiple refund rules if needed.

Users will see these rules during booking.

Additional Listing Fields

Below the booking fields, you will find:

• Short Description/Excerpt – A brief summary of the service.
• Tagline – A short motto or catchphrase for the listing.
• Pricing – Set a single price or enable price range options.

These fields help customers understand the service better and compare listings.

How to book a service

The service booking options you configure in the admin panel or individually within a listing directly control what customers see on the single listing page. The availability schedule, timing type, number of slots, reservation fee, and maximum number of guests all shape how users select their date, choose a time slot, and submit a booking request. This ensures the booking experience is always aligned with the rules defined by the listing owner.

How to Book a Service (User Flow)

1. Open the listing
   The visitor goes to the single listing page and scrolls to the Booking section.
2. Select a date
   They click inside the Select date field and choose a date from the date picker.
   • Only dates with available time slots (based on your schedule) are bookable.
3. Choose an available slot
   Under Available slot, all time slots for the selected date are listed.
   • The user selects one slot (for example, 12:15 am – 12:10 am | 1 Slot Available).
4. Review booking summary
   A summary card shows:
   • Service provider name
   • Selected date and time (with duration)
   • Total Cost based on your price and reservation fee.
5. Submit the booking request
   The user clicks Request Booking to send the booking.

Review and confirm the booking

After clicking Request Booking, the user is taken to the Review & Confirm Booking page. They enter their personal details (name, email, phone), add optional notes, and review the booking summary showing the selected date, time, duration, and total cost.

Submit the final confirmation

The user clicks Confirm Booking to complete the reservation. Based on your settings, the booking is either confirmed instantly or sent for manual approval.

Approval and status

• If Instant Booking is enabled, the booking is confirmed immediately.
• If not, the booking goes into a pending state until the listing owner or admin approves it from the dashboard.

How Listing Owners Manage Bookings

Listing owners can manage every booking request from Dashboard → All Bookings. Bookings are organized into Approved, Pending, Cancelled, and Refund Request tabs, making it easy to navigate.

In the Pending tab, each booking card displays key information:

• Customer name and contact
• Booking date and time
• Request date
• Any booking notes

Listing owners can take quick actions using the buttons on the right:

• Approve Order to confirm the booking
• Reject to decline the request

Once an action is taken, the booking automatically moves to the appropriate status tab, keeping everything organized and easy to track.

Rental Booking Settings

Enable Booking

Turn this on to activate rental booking for the listing.

Booking Type

Select Rent to unlock all rental-specific configuration options.

Weekend Price

Enter the exact price you want to charge for weekends.

Availability Calendar

This calendar allows listing owners to control daily availability and pricing.

• Click a date to mark it as Unavailable
  (useful when the rental is already booked or not offered on certain days).
• Click the displayed price to set a custom price for that specific day
  (helpful for peak days, holidays, or promotional pricing).

The calendar automatically shows each day’s price and reflects weekend pricing rules unless overridden manually.

Reservation Fee

Set a fixed one-time fee that customers must pay when making a booking (e.g., USD 20). This is optional and can be set to 0 if no fee is required.

Maximum Number of Guests

Specify the maximum number of people allowed per booking. For example, if your service supports only 3 people per session, set this value to 3.

Enable Payment

Turn this on to allow users to pay for the booking directly. When disabled, bookings will be request-only without payment collection.

Enable Instant Booking

Enable this if you want bookings to be automatically approved without admin or listing owner review. When disabled, bookings require manual approval.

Refund System

Turn on the refund system if you want to allow refund requests for booked services.

You can define:

• Refund policy description (example text is shown in the field).
• Refund days – how many days after payment a refund can be requested.
• Refund amount (%) – percentage of the booking amount that will be refunded.
• Add multiple refund rules if needed.

Users will see these rules during booking.

Additional Listing Fields

Below the booking fields, you will find:

• Short Description/Excerpt – A brief summary of the service.
• Tagline – A short motto or catchphrase for the listing.
• Pricing – Set a single price or enable price range options.

These fields help customers understand the service better and compare listings.

How to Book a Rental Service

Users can book a rental by selecting their desired date range, choosing the number of guests, and reviewing the booking preview. The system automatically calculates the total cost based on daily prices, weekend rates, and any custom pricing set in the availability calendar.

1. Select the date range
   Choose the start and end dates for the rental period.
2. Select the number of guests
   Pick how many people will be included in the booking.

Review and confirm the booking

After clicking Request Booking, the user is taken to the Review & Confirm Booking page. They enter their personal details (name, email, phone), add optional notes, and review the booking summary showing the selected date, time, duration, and total cost.

Submit the final confirmation

The user clicks Confirm Booking to complete the reservation. Based on your settings, the booking is either confirmed instantly or sent for manual approval.

Approval and status

• If Instant Booking is enabled, the booking is confirmed immediately.
• If not, the booking goes into a pending state until the listing owner or admin approves it from the dashboard.

How Listing Owners Manage Bookings

Listing owners can manage every booking request from Dashboard → All Bookings. Bookings are organized into Approved, Pending, Cancelled, and Refund Request tabs, making it easy to navigate.

In the Pending tab, each booking card displays key information:

• Customer name and contact
• Booking date and time
• Request date
• Any booking notes

Listing owners can take quick actions using the buttons on the right:

• Approve Order to confirm the booking
• Reject to decline the request

Once an action is taken, the booking automatically moves to the appropriate status tab, keeping everything organized and easy to track.

Enable Booking

Turn this on to activate booking for the event listing.

Booking Type

Select Event as the booking type to display all event-specific fields.

Available Tickets

Set the total number of tickets available for this event. This is the overall ticket capacity for the listing.

Display Available Tickets

Enable this toggle to show the remaining number of tickets on the frontend event page.

• When enabled, users will see the live ticket count (e.g., “50 Tickets Available”).

Tickets Allowed Per Booking

Define how many tickets a single user can book in one reservation.
For example, setting this to 5 means a user can book up to five tickets at once.

Refund System

Turn on the refund system if you want to allow refund requests for booked services.

You can define:

• Refund policy description (example text is shown in the field).
• Refund days – how many days after payment a refund can be requested.
• Refund amount (%) – percentage of the booking amount that will be refunded.
• Add multiple refund rules if needed.

Users will see these rules during booking.

Additional Listing Fields

Below the booking fields, you will find:

• Short Description/Excerpt – A brief summary of the service.
• Tagline – A short motto or catchphrase for the listing.
• Pricing – Set a single price or enable price range options.

These fields help customers understand the service better and compare listings.

How to Book an Event

Users can book an event by selecting the number of tickets they want, reviewing the total cost, and clicking Book Ticket to complete the reservation.

1. Enter Ticket Quantity
   Choose how many tickets you want to book. The system will show the maximum number allowed per reservation.
2. Check Ticket Availability
   If enabled, you’ll see how many tickets are still available for the event.
3. Book Ticket
   Click Book Ticket to move forward to the confirmation or payment step and complete your reservation.

Review and confirm the booking

After clicking Request Booking, the user is taken to the Review & Confirm Booking page. They enter their personal details (name, email, phone), add optional notes, and review the booking summary showing the selected date, time, duration, and total cost.

Submit the final confirmation

The user clicks Confirm Booking to complete the reservation. Based on your settings, the booking is either confirmed instantly or sent for manual approval.

Approval and status

• If Instant Booking is enabled, the booking is confirmed immediately.
• If not, the booking goes into a pending state until the listing owner or admin approves it from the dashboard.

How Listing Owners Manage Bookings

Listing owners can manage every booking request from Dashboard → All Bookings. Bookings are organized into Approved, Pending, Cancelled, and Refund Request tabs, making it easy to navigate.

In the Pending tab, each booking card displays key information:

• Customer name and contact
• Booking date and time
• Request date
• Any booking notes

Listing owners can take quick actions using the buttons on the right:

• Approve Order to confirm the booking
• Reject to decline the request

Once an action is taken, the booking automatically moves to the appropriate status tab, keeping everything organized and easy to track.