Configuring link availability

Each scheduling link has its own rules for when people can book. Open the link and click Availability to set them:

• Buffer Before and Buffer After keep time free around your other events.
• Minimum Notice stops people from booking too close to the current time.
• Start Time Increments sets how often a meeting can start.
• Limit how far out people can book stops people from booking too far ahead.
• Limit scheduling frequency caps how many meetings the link takes per day, week, or month.
• Limit by fixed date range only offers times inside the dates you choose. See Limit availability by fixed dates.

Click Save when you're done. These rules work on top of each person's schedule and calendar. See how SavvyCal decides when you're busy.

To set the buffers, minimum notice, and increments that new links start with, go to Settings > Links. The Buffers section has Before Events, After Events, and Minimum Notice, and Start Time Increments has its own section. See Default settings for new links.

What do buffers and minimum notice do?

• Buffer Before: the minimum amount of time to keep open before a new event, from 0 minutes to 4 hours.
• Buffer After: the minimum amount of time to keep open after a new event, from 0 minutes to 4 hours.
• Minimum Notice: the minimum amount of lead time required before a new event starts, from 0 minutes to 4 weeks. It's counted from the moment someone views your link, around the clock, not in working hours. With 24 hours, someone looking at 3 PM on Tuesday can book 3 PM on Wednesday or later.

Suppose you want 10 minutes of free time before a call to prepare, and 30 minutes after it in case it runs over. Set Buffer Before to 10 minutes and Buffer After to 30 minutes:

Each booked meeting keeps the buffers its link had when it was booked. Changing a link's buffers doesn't change meetings that are already booked. When you save new buffers and some upcoming meetings on the link have different ones, SavvyCal asks Sync event buffers? so you can update them too. See Can I change the buffers on a booked event?

How do start time increments work?

Start Time Increments sets how often a time slot can start: every 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or 60 minutes.

Start times line up with the clock. With 30 minutes, meetings start on the hour and the half hour, such as 9:00 and 9:30. If your open time starts at 9:10, the first start time offered is 9:30.

Increments don't change how long the meeting is. A 60-minute meeting with 30-minute increments can start at 9:00 or 9:30.

How do I limit how far out people can book?

Turn on Limit how far out people can book and enter a number of days. People can book today and that many days ahead. The window rolls forward each day.

For example, with 14 days, someone looking on Monday, June 2 can book through the end of Monday, June 16. On Tuesday, June 3, Tuesday, June 17 opens up.

• The days are calendar days. Weekends and holidays count toward the limit, even when you aren't available on them.
• Days follow your time zone. Each day ends at midnight in the time zone set in Settings > Profile. On a team link, SavvyCal counts each person's days in their own time zone. See Setting your time zone.
• 0 days means people can only book later today.
• New links start with this turned on, set to 60 days. Turn it off to let people book as far ahead as your schedule allows. There's no default for it under Settings > Links, so change it on each link.

How does it work with fixed date ranges?

When you turn on both Limit how far out people can book and Limit by fixed date range, a time has to pass both. For example, with a range of "On or after September 1" and a 30-day limit, people only see times from September 1 up to 30 days from today. If 30 days from today is before September 1, the link shows no times at all.

For a set window of dates, like a conference week, use a fixed date range and turn the rolling limit off, or make the limit long enough to reach the end of the range.

Does a from date in the URL get around the limit?

No. Adding ?from= to your link only changes which week the booking page shows first. If that week is past the limit, it shows no times.

Do overrides follow the limit?

No. Time you open with an Allow override, on a schedule or on the link, is offered even when it's past the limit or outside your fixed date ranges.

How do I limit bookings per day, week, or month?

To cap how many meetings are booked through your link on a given day, week, or month, turn on Limit scheduling frequency and add one or more limits, such as 3 per day.

To cap meetings across all your links, use the Frequency Limits section of Settings > Links. See Frequency limits.

FAQs

Wait, are my buffers appearing backward?

Buffer settings can be a bit confusing! Here's an elaborate explanation.

Suppose you have a non-SavvyCal-initiated event on your calendar called "Busy Event" and you've configured your link to have 10 minutes before and 30 minutes after buffers. Since this "Busy Event" doesn't have any buffers of its own, this is how it will be padded on your scheduling link:

Initially, this looks backward: why is my 30-minute "after buffer" occurring before the event? The reason is because the buffers apply to the (hypothetical) new event that someone might schedule in those spots, so the 30-minute after buffer applies to the range of time before that already-existing event.

What about meetings booked through SavvyCal?

Those meetings have buffers of their own, so SavvyCal uses whichever gap is bigger. Before the meeting, it keeps free the larger of the meeting's own Buffer Before and your link's Buffer After. After the meeting, it keeps free the larger of the meeting's own Buffer After and your link's Buffer Before.

Why can't people book more than 60 days out?

Limit how far out people can book is turned on and set to 60 days, which is where new links start. Open the link, click Availability, and raise the number or turn the setting off. See How do I limit how far out people can book?