Admin Appointment Panel

The admin appointment panel is the default way to create, view, and edit appointments in the WordPress admin (since 5.3.0). It opens beside the calendar or list instead of a full-page modal.

Before you begin

How it works

Click an appointment or empty slot on the calendar or Appointments list to open the panel. View shows a summary; Edit changes fields with availability checks; Create runs a staff booking flow aligned with storefront checkout data.

What you need

• WooCommerce Appointments 5.3+
• Permission to manage appointments (admin, or staff with the right Staff Permissions)

What you can do

1. ✅ Create from calendar slots, list Add New, or staff portal
2. ✅ Pick from a calendar - mini-calendar and slot chips on create/edit
3. ✅ Attach or create orders, deposits, add-ons, and multi-currency (when configured)
4. ✅ Edit in WordPress - jump to the classic edit screen when needed

Important

• Enabled site-wide by default - disable with wc_appointments_admin_panel_enabled (return false)
• Classic Appointments → Add Appointment and the legacy modal remain for compatibility
• Recurring series show a sessions list and scoped actions - see Recurring packages

Setup order: Open the panel → Panel modes → Create flow → View & edit

See also: Calendar View · Managing Appointments

Open the panel

Action	Result
Click an appointment on the calendar	View mode for that appointment
Click an empty slot on the calendar	Create mode with date/time prefilled
Drag across empty cells (week/day view)	Create mode with selected range
Add New on the appointments list or calendar	Create mode

The panel prefers anchoring to the right of the selected event, then the left, then centered when neither side fits.

Panel modes

View

Read-only summary: product, schedule, staff, customer (with muted attendance beside the name), location and resources when used, Join Meeting for Meet/online links, order, status, and notes. Appointment status is the primary control; attendance is display-only here. Header actions:

• Edit - switch to edit mode in the same panel
• More - Edit in WordPress opens the classic appointment edit screen in a new tab

Edit

Change status (filter chips), date/time, staff, location, resources, quantity, add-ons, and other fields. Attendance is a select beside Customer (about one-third width). Availability is checked when you change schedule fields (the current appointment’s own slot stays selectable for that product). Location and Resources tabs follow the same picker-and-rows pattern as Staff when Locations & rooms is enabled or the product already uses them.

Create

Full booking flow for staff: product, customer (search or guest details), schedule, staff, location, resources, order options, and add-ons - aligned with the storefront checkout data model. With Customer selects and two or more venues, staff and date/time stay hidden until a location is chosen.

After a successful create, a confirmation step shows product, schedule, and IDs, with a button to load the new appointment into edit mode in the panel.

Create flow (step by step)

1. Product

• Instant select from preloaded appointment products (duplicate titles append SKU or #id)
• Switch product to change selection (no clear × on create/edit)
• Quantity field when the product allows more than one seat per slot
• Staff and add-ons fields appear or hide from preload as soon as you pick a product

2. Customer

• One Customer card: open Edit to search or enter guest details (name, email, phone, address, timezone)
• Existing pick prefills the same card; timezone uses the shared timezone dropdown (Default = site)
• Timezone is saved for customer emails / My Account; schedule entry stays in your admin timezone
• Create an account for this customer when booking a guest (new order only)
• Create as a Customer - header toggle to book as the logged-in staff member (see Screen Options for legacy behavior)
• Attendance stays at Expected on create (hidden); set it after the appointment exists

3. Date & time

• Outlined Start / End fields for timed products; date or month range for day/month products
• Availability uses a fixed trailing status icon (no layout jump from helper text)
• Required date/time validation shows below the fields with an error outline until valid
• Calendar slot or date-only pick prefills schedule; date-only picks auto-select the first time on that day
• Add New without a calendar prefill leaves date/time empty until you choose them (no automatic first-available fill)
• Create and edit block unavailable times by default. To allow an override, enable Allow booking unavailable times under Screen Options on the calendar (confirm-and-proceed). Out-of-sight date/time notices scroll into view.

4. Pick from a calendar

Use Pick from a calendar to open the browse mini-calendar and slot chips instead of typing a time manually. Closed, it is a compact text trigger; open, it expands as an outlined card.

Browse behavior:

• Month strip or expanded month view
• Slot chips in a grid; remaining capacity shown (e.g. 1 available)
• Day/month products: pick start date or month; availability dots on the mini-calendar
• Browse does not auto-open when a slot is unavailable; open it yourself, or focus the date/time fields
• Loading keeps the calendar header and shows skeleton cells (not a faded whole calendar)

5. Staff

• Assign staff or leave unassigned when the product allows it
• On create, logged-in staff with product assignment are auto-selected when applicable
• Staff-filtered availability respects product rules
• Clearing Staff after a location change does not leave a stale name under the floating label

5b. Location & resources (Experimental)

• Location and Resources tabs use the same assign-until-Update pattern as Staff when Locations / Rooms apply
• Capacity checks honor the selected venue; Customer selects with two or more venues hides staff and date/time until a location is chosen
• Resource select filters by location when venues exist; save keeps an existing pick instead of blind re-auto
• Recurring create writes location onto the series; view shows Join Meeting from the calendar event with Location before Meeting

6. Order

• Create a new order or attach to an existing order
• New order: payment method and transaction ID sit with Order; contact/address/timezone live in the Customer card
• Existing order: Customer card is search-only (the order already has contact data)
• WooCommerce Deposits: pay deposit vs pay in full when the product requires it
• WooCommerce Payments multi-currency: currency selector on create when configured

7. Add-ons

• Product add-ons load after product (and currency) selection (outlined Edit card, quiet label / value rows)
• File upload add-ons supported on create

8. Price

• Footer shows calculated price; optional inline override on create
• Tax display matches catalog settings (incl./excl.)
• Line Total appears in pricing meta only when it differs from order total (multi-line orders)

Click Create when availability passes. Errors stay in the panel until resolved.

View & edit details

Section	View	Edit
Status	Filter chips; cancel confirms	Same
Attendance	Muted text beside customer name	Select beside Customer
Product / staff / duration	Display (duration on the When row)	Editable where allowed
Location / resources	Snapshot titles; Join Meeting when present	Tabs when product uses them
Schedule	Timezone abbreviation in header	Browse + manual fields
Customer	Name, email, links	Search / guest fields
Order	Link to WooCommerce order	Attach or create
Notes	Read + add note	Read + add note
Add-ons	Read-only list	Editable

Timezones

The header always shows the active timezone abbreviation. When staff or customer timezone differs from the site, labels and slot times follow Timezone rules for admin display.

On create, set the customer's timezone in the Customer card (saved on the appointment and on the linked account). Schedule entry stays in your admin timezone. The field is hidden only when Timezone Display is disabled everywhere.

Overnight & multi-day

• Timed appointments past midnight show a +Nd indicator on the end time
• All-day / multi-day edits support end-date changes
• Addon duration extends the computed end time (same as storefront)

Recurring series (5.4+)

When viewing or editing an appointment that belongs to a package/series, the panel can show a series badge and sessions list. Scoped actions (this / following / all) apply to status changes and related operations. Pay-first packages may show Package balance actions on the order.

Full series setup (prepaid, pay-first, balance orders, My Account): Recurring appointment packages.

Screen Options

On Appointments → Calendar, open Screen Options (top right):

Option	Purpose
Allow booking unavailable times	Lets create/edit proceed outside open hours after confirm (off by default)
Use legacy calendar temporarily	Switches back to the pre-5.1 calendar UI
Use legacy Create as a customer temporarily	Restores older “create as customer” behavior on the panel header

These are per-user preferences stored in your profile meta.

Legacy modal & Add Appointment page

If the panel is disabled via filter, or you rely on older workflows:

• The Backbone appointment modal may still be used on some screens
• Appointments → Add Appointment remains reachable by direct URL but is hidden from the menu

tip

Prefer the panel for calendar work. Use Edit in WordPress only when you need the full classic edit screen (meta boxes, revisions, etc.).

Developers

• Panel config filter: wc_appointments_admin_panel_config
• Redirect after create: woocommerce_appointments_add_appointment_page_redirect (includes $context for calendar vs legacy)
• JavaScript hooks for calendar UI: Developers → full hook list after developer login

Related

• Calendar
• Managing appointments
• Recurring packages - series badge and scoped actions