The Staff Portal
A trainer between sessions or a therapist walking to the next room doesn’t want to log in to wp-admin on a phone. The staff portal is a fast, phone-first page where staff see today’s agenda, mark outcomes, reschedule, add notes, check people in and update their hours.
Turn on Staff portal in Bookings → Settings → Modules, then configure it in Bookings → Staff → Staff portal.
Choose the Portal Address
The portal needs an address before staff can use it. You have two options, and both can be on:
- Standalone address: tick Serve the portal at
https://yoursite.com/?cb_staff_portal=1. It’s on by default. - A page of your own: add the shortcode below to a published page, then choose that page in Portal page. Agenda emails and check-in links then use this page.
[core_bookings_staff]Click Save portal settings. Portal pages are private: they’re never cached or indexed, and every form works without JavaScript on a weak connection.
Who Sees What
- Logged-out visitors get a Log in link that brings them back to the portal.
- Logged-in users who aren’t staff are told the page is for staff members.
- Staff see and change only their own appointments, plus collective meetings they co-host.
- Managers see everyone, can filter by staff member and can act on any appointment.
Try it on the Staff Portal demo with the login bookings-demo and password demo.
Run the Day
The Agenda opens on today, with Day and Week views and previous and next buttons. It shows confirmed, awaiting approval, awaiting payment, payment review, completed and no-show appointments, with a Checked in badge where it applies. Tap one to see the service, time, guests, location, tappable email and phone, and customer notes. Then:
| Action | What happens |
|---|---|
| Mark completed / Mark no-show | Records the outcome of a confirmed appointment. A reason is required. |
| Reopen as confirmed | Corrects a mistaken outcome. The time must still be free, and the customer isn’t emailed. |
| Reschedule | Pick a date, tap Show available times, then choose one of the same times customers see. The customer is emailed the new time. |
| Record check-in | Marks a confirmed or completed appointment as attended, once. |
| Internal notes | Add a note visible to staff and managers only. Staff delete their own; managers delete any. |
The portal never overrides availability. To move an appointment outside published times, a manager uses Appointments in the workspace.
Update Hours From a Phone
Staff who may manage their own availability get a My hours tab with Weekly hours, Date-specific hours and Time off, plus an optional reason saved in revision history. Click Save hours. The portal never changes a person’s timezone, video host or whether they’re available for bookings. Those stay in the staff profile.
Daily Agenda Email and Home Screen
In the portal’s Settings tab, each staff member can tick Email me my appointments each day and pick a send time in their own timezone. Days without confirmed, awaiting-approval or payment-review appointments send nothing. The email links back to the portal.
The same tab explains Add to your home screen. Open the portal on the phone, then choose “Add to Home Screen” from Safari’s share menu or “Install app” from Chrome’s menu. The portal then opens like an app, with your site icon when one is set. It has no offline mode, so it always shows live data.
Check People In
Tap Record check-in on an appointment when the customer arrives. The check-in also shows in the workspace appointment panel. For a group session with the Classes module on, one check-in covers every booked seat and appears in the class roster.
Class tickets carry their own QR check-in code, covered in Attendee Names, Rosters and QR Check-in. If you print your own codes, the For developers: check-in links section on the Staff portal screen shows how to create a signed link. Scanning it opens a check-in screen in the portal that warns when the booking isn’t today and records nothing until staff tap Confirm check-in.
Good to Know
- Staff can check in only their own appointments. Managers can check in any.
- The agenda shows up to 300 appointments at once. Pick a staff member or a single day to see more.
- If someone saved the same hours from another screen, the portal refuses the older form. Reload and try again.
- Calendar connections stay in My calendar in wp-admin. The portal links there.