Available in update 10.1 of Booking Calendar Business Large and Booking Calendar MultiUser versions.

Search Availability Overview

This feature allows you to easily customize search availability for booking resources. Personalize search visibility and attributes by customizing options like summary text and thumbnail images to enhance user engagement in search results. Additionally, configure specific parameters for resource filtering in search forms, providing users with targeted and relevant search options. You can check example of search availability on this page.

Search for Specific Time Slots

Now you can search for specific time slots on particular dates or even a range of dates. This is a fantastic feature for appointment-based businesses, allowing clients to find available time slots for different service providers. Imagine searching for an available hair stylist, doctor, or other service provider on a specific date and time. You can even set an approximate date range (+/- N days from the desired date) to find appointments within a specific time slot. You can check example of search time availability on this page

Search Availability Configuration

The Booking Calendar plugin provides a flexible system for search available booking resources (your properties or services) on specific dates. You can filter search results using various parameters, such as the maximum number of persons or additional attributes, which you can define in the search form as select boxes.

Capacity Feature

Before starting the configuration of search form availability, you should review the "Capacity Concept" for booking resources. The Capacity feature allows you to set capacities for your booking resources, either for the entire day or for specific times within a day. This means you can control the number of bookings allowed for each day or for specific time slots.

For example, you could specify that your booking resource (calendar) can accommodate up to 10 bookings per day. Alternatively, if you use time fields in the booking form, each time slot can accommodate up to 10 bookings per day.

For detailed instructions on configuring capacity and availability for booking resources and to watch a video about this feature, refer to this guide.

Configuration of the Search Form

To configure the Search Form, please go to WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Search. A basic Search form might look like this:

<div class="well">
    <r>
        <c> <l>Check-in:</l> [search_check_in]
            <spacer>width:4em;</spacer>
            <l>Check-out:</l> [search_check_out] </c>
        <c>[search_button "Search"]</c>
    </r>
</div>

This example uses the shortcodes: [search_check_in] and [search_check_out] for selecting check-in and check-out dates, and [search_button "Search"] for the Search Button.

Please use the Help section on the right side of this page to find other available shortcodes you can use in the search form.

Publishing the Search Form

To publish the Search form, create a new page (or use an existing page) and insert the "Search Form" shortcode into this page.

You can refer to this general instruction on how to insert the Booking Calendar shortcodes into posts or pages in the standard WordPress editor or custom editors, such as Elementor.

A detailed description of the "Search Form" shortcode and the parameters you can use can be found on this page.

Example: [bookingsearch]

This shortcode will show the search form, and if you click on the "Search" button, the search results will be shown on the same page, as in this example.

If you need to display the search results on another page, you should use a shortcode like this:

[bookingsearch searchresults="https://your-server.com/search-results/"]

This parameter, searchresults='https://your-server.com/search-results/', defines the URL of the page where search results will be shown. Note that on this new page, you need to insert the search results shortcode. Please refer to the next section.

Publishing Search Results Shortcode

If you want to display the search results on a different page than the one with the search form, insert the following shortcode on the new page: [bookingsearchresults]

Configuring the Search Results

You can configure the search results on the WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Search page.

Please use the help section (located on the right side) for available shortcodes that you can use in the Search Results.

Enabling Booking Resources to Appear in Search Results

To show booking resources in search results, enable them on the WP Booking Calendar > Resources > Search Availability > Searchable Resource Setup page.

Open the WP Booking Calendar > Resources > Search Availability > Searchable Resource Setup page and, for each specific booking resource you want to show in search results, enable the toggle and click the "Save changes" button.

Note that on this page, you can define the URL to the existing pages with booking forms for each specific booking resource. This URL should direct users to the pages where they can find the booking form for a specific booking resource, where visitors can make bookings. This is essentially the URL of the page where visitors will be redirected after clicking the "Book Now" button in search results.

Use this shortcode for the "Book Now" button on the WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Search page: [search_result_button "Book Now"]

Configuring Title, Excerpt, and Image for Booking Resources in Search Results

To configure the image, title, and excerpt (a small description) shown in search results near each booking resource, open the WP Booking Calendar > Resources > Search Availability > Searchable Resource Setup page and click on the "Excerpt / Image" tab.

For each booking resource, enter:

• Title: The title corresponding to the shortcode [search_result_title] used in the search results form on the WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Search page.
• Excerpt: A small description shown next to the booking resource in search results, corresponding to the shortcode [search_result_info] used in the search results form.
• Image: Paste the Image URL or click the "Configure" button next to the "Image URL" field to upload a new image or select an existing one.

At this point, the basic setup for search availability is complete. You should have already published the search form and be able to see the search results with images and descriptions. After clicking the "Book Now" button next to a specific booking resource in the search results, you should be redirected to the page with the booking form for that specific resource.

Advanced Configuration of the Search Results

Searching Booking Resources with Specific Capacity

This section explains how to configure and use search results for booking resources with specific capacities.

For a detailed guide on configuring capacity for specific booking resources, please refer to this guide.

If you have booking resources with specific capacities, such as several rooms of the same type in a hotel or several available slots for a meeting, you can use this shortcode in the search form (at WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Booking Form page):

[search_quantity "1" "2" "3" "4"]

This will display a select box in the search form.

For example, if you need to search for two available rooms of the same type for specific dates or need to book two available spaces for a meeting, you can use this shortcode along with booking resources with specific capacities. When you select the option "2" in the search form, the system will show booking resources with at least two available slots (rooms or spaces, etc.).

This shortcode is useful only for booking resources with a specific capacity higher than one. If you have only single booking resources (where capacity = 1), you can omit this shortcode.

Example of showing search results when searching for two available rooms in booking resources with specific capacity (e.g., a hotel with several rooms of the same type):

Searching Booking Resources by Custom Parameters

If you need to search for availability based on custom parameters, such as location or other custom search filters, follow these steps:

For example, if you have several properties in different locations and need to search for available properties in a specific location:

1. Define a custom parameter with a value (such as location) on the WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Search page in the "Search Filter" tab for each booking resource. Click the "Configure Search Filter" button next to each booking resource.
2. Create a new search filter named "location" (this name must be the same for all booking resources) with values like "USA," "France," etc.
3. Repeat this step for all booking resources and save changes.

4. Open WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Search page. Add the new search filter selectbox with the name "location" and values such as "USA," "France," etc. Example: <c><l>Location:</l> [selectbox location "Any@@" "Spain" "France" "United States@@USA"] </c>

   

Now, you can search by specific location in your search form. Note that it can be any other parameter configured in the search form and on the WP Booking Calendar > Resources > Search Availability > Searchable Resource Setup page.

Search Filter Parameters: Tips and Tricks

When configuring search filter parameters on the WP Booking Calendar > Resources > Search Availability > Searchable Resource Setup page for specific booking resources, you can add several search parameters with the same name but different values. This way, a booking resource will appear in search results if any of the specified values match the user's selection.

For example, you might have a search filter for "amenities" with several values like "wifi," "parking," etc.

If you need to show booking resources that can accommodate an exact number of visitors, you need to define the search filter parameter for the specific booking resource like this: visitors_number = 2

If in the search form you use the filter select box to show booking resources with visitors_number = 4, the system will not show the booking resource from the previous example. Only when you select "2" in the search parameter will the system show the search result from the previous example, which has the search filter configured as visitors_number = 2.

What if we need to show all booking resources where the number of visitors can be 2 or more?

In this case, for all booking resources, define the search filter as greater than or equal to a specific value: visitors_number >= 2

Example of configuration for several booking resources:

Additional Parameters for the Search Form

Some additional useful parameters that you can enable and configure at the bottom of the WP Booking Calendar > Settings > Search page include:

• Sort Search Results By: Select the sorting method for search results.
• Date Format: Choose the date format for check-in/out fields in the search form.
• Disable Days Auto Selection: Check this box to prevent automatic selection of days in the calendar after redirection from search results.
• Auto-open Checkout Calendar: Automatically opens the checkout calendar after selecting a date in the check-in calendar.
• Check-in/out Dates Required: Requires users to select check-in and check-out dates in the search form. If disabled, searches will proceed based on other criteria, even if no dates are chosen.
• Search Results Title: Set a title for the search results. Use [result_count] to display the number of search results.
• Nothing Found Message: Message displayed when no search results are found.
• Extended Search Results Title: Set the title for additional search results outside the selected dates, showing matches within a range of +/- N days from the search dates. Use [result_count] to display the number of search results.