Setting Up and Editing Availability

Availability Feature Overview:

The availability functionality is designed to indicate which times in each calendar are marked as available (displayed in white or a custom color) and which are unavailable (displayed in grey).

This visual distinction allows users to quickly assess availability within the calendar. Additionally, practitioners' availability is crucial for determining when and where they can accept appointments booked by clients through the Client Portal.

These availability settings act as a visual guide; however, receptionists still have the flexibility to schedule appointments during "greyed out" (unavailable) times if necessary.

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• When appointments for clients are scheduled in a practitioner's calendar, the availability settings determine the appointment location. If a client is booked at a time that falls outside of the designated available hours, the appointment will automatically default to the practitioner's pre-set location. You can find this default location by navigating to Settings > Team > Practitioners.
• If your clients have access to the client portal, they will be able to schedule appointments only during the time slots designated as "available." This is determined by the availability settings and the 'Client can book online' option being enabled. 

In this article:

• Setting Up and Editing Standard Weekly Availability
• Understanding the Availability Management Screen
• Using the 'Availability Override' feature
• Using Availability with Multiple Locations
• Cloning Availability

Setting Up and Editing Standard Weekly Availability

1. Navigate to Settings > Team > Availability.
2. Select the calendar from the left-hand side menu.
3. If there is an existing Weekly Availability, click 'Edit', otherwise click "Add New Availability".
4. Set the Period of the availability. This will require a start date of when this Availability will commence in the calendar. You can either enter an end date or leave it as 'Ongoing' so that the Availability is implemented for all future dates.
5. Add an optional Description (this is only shown on the Availability page for your own reference).
6. Set the Location for the Availability (new appointments booked during the available period will be linked to this location).
7. Set the frequency that you would like this to recur (i.e. repeat after one week, two weeks (fortnightly), three or four weeks (monthly)).
8. Under Days and Times, you can go through each day and add your availability. To add a block of availability for a day click "+ Add Availability" and then use the filter to set the start and end time of the block.
9. If you use the client portal and would like to allow your clients to book in during this available time tick 'Clients can book online' and this will display this time block as available for the client. If this is not ticked, this time block will show as unavailable in the client portal.
10. Click 'Save'.

• The availabilities whose end date is in the past will be hidden from the list of availabilities. Use the 'Show Past Availability' switch at the top-right to see the list of past availabilities and edit them if necessary.

 

Understanding the Availability Management Screen

This section of the Availability page gives you a clear, structured overview of a practitioner’s regular weekly schedule as well as any one-off changes. It’s designed to help you quickly understand where, when, and how a practitioner is available, and how these settings affect client bookings through the Client Portal.

Regular Weekly Availability

The top panel lists all active weekly availability schedules for the selected practitioner. Each row represents a repeating block of availability linked to a specific location—for example, a clinic site, a telehealth service, or a phone consultation calendar.

Here’s what each column provides:

• From / To - Indicates the start date of the availability period and whether it is ongoing. This helps you manage long-term schedules or prepare for future roster changes.

• Location - Specifies the location the practitioner will be working from during these available times. This determines how the appointment is categorized and where it appears on reports.

• Description - A simple internal note to help you identify the purpose of the schedule (e.g., “weekly in-person sessions” or “Telehealth consultations by demand”).

• Available Days - Shows which days of the week this availability block repeats and includes visual indicators for each day. Admins can quickly confirm the practitioner’s weekly rhythm at a glance.

• Clients Can Book Online - Indicates the days clients can self-book through the Client Portal. When a day is highlighted, it means this availability is visible and open to clients for online scheduling. This allows practices to fine-tune online booking options without restricting internal scheduling flexibility.

• Actions Menu (⚙️) - Provides tools to: 

  • Edit an existing availability

  • Clone it to another practitioner or location

  • Delete it if no longer needed
    This directly supports efficient schedule management across teams and multiple locations.

Availability Overrides

The second panel displays any temporary or one-off changes to a practitioner’s schedule, such as public holidays, leave, or special extended hours.

• If no overrides exist, you’ll see a clear message stating “No Current Availability Overrides.”

• Clicking Add Availability Override lets you mark specific dates or hours as available or unavailable.

• The Show Past Overrides toggle allows you to review or edit past exceptions if needed for auditing or record-keeping.

Overrides always take priority over weekly availability, giving practices complete control when the standard schedule needs to be adjusted.

Why This View Is Valuable

This consolidated layout gives Zanda users:

• Full visibility at a glance — instantly see the practitioner’s weekly schedule across all locations.

• Confidence in online booking rules — clearly identify which days clients can and cannot book through the portal.

• Simplified schedule management — edit, clone, and manage availability without navigating multiple pages.

• Operational flexibility — add overrides to handle last-minute changes while keeping the core schedule intact.

• Accurate calendar behavior — availability determines calendar colours, booking rules, and location assignment, helping reduce errors and streamline admin work.

This view becomes especially powerful for practices managing multiple practitioners, hybrid telehealth/in-person schedules, or complex location rotations, offering both clarity and control in one place.

Using the 'Availability Override' feature

The Availability Override allows you to enter one-off exceptions to the main Availability for situations such as Public Holidays and Annual Leave. Availability settings in the Availability Override take priority over the main Availability settings:

1. Settings > Team > Availability.
2. Select the practitioner.
3. Select "Add New Availability Override".
4. Select whether you will be Available or Unavailable.
5. Enter the Period and Time. 

6. Select the Location.

7. Enter an optional " Description" details for your reference.

8. Click Save.

Using Availability with Multiple Locations

If you have more than one location you would create a Standard Weekly Availability linked to each location. This will allow you to reflect your availability at each location. Each location can have a colour attached which is reflected in the calendar to help you easily identify which location you are working in each day. To associate a colour with each location please follow these steps:

1. Access the location via Settings > Practice > Locations.
2. Edit an existing location, or click "Add Location".
3. Use the colour picker provided to select the desired colour for the location.

Once you have created an Availability for each location, your calendar would then be displayed with the background colour indicating which location they are available in for that time slot.

Cloning Availability to the Same and Other Practitioners

Zanda's Clone Availability feature is designed to make it easier to manage and set up availability schedules for sole practitioners and practices with multiple locations and practitioners. This tool is especially useful in scenarios like duplicating availability for telehealth sessions and in-person appointments, or when adjusting weekly schedules, such as removing a day. Practitioners can quickly replicate their existing availability and apply necessary changes with ease. Additionally, this feature is a valuable asset for practice managers or administrative teams responsible for coordinating schedules across multiple practitioners and locations*.
The following steps outline how to effectively use the Clone Availability feature:

1. Navigate to Settings > Team > Availability; 
2. If you just started setting up a practitioner, create a new availability or an availability override for them, or
3. Locate the availability or the availability override schedule you'd like to replicate for this or other practitioners; 
4. Click on the cog icon for this availability; 
5. Select the 'Clone to...' option;
   
   
6. A pop-up window will appear to allow you to select which practitioner(s) to clone this availability to, giving you the options to select 
   a) the same practitioner and/or other practitioners; 
   b) all practitioners in your account. To prevent duplication, when cloning availability to all practitioners, the system will automatically exclude the practitioner whose availability is being cloned.
7. Once the practitioners are selected and you are ready to proceed, click on the 'Clone' button, or select 'Cancel' to cancel the action. 
8. If you chose 'Clone', this will make an exact copy of the availability for the selected practitioners. 
   
   
9. Make any necessary adjustments (for example, you can change the Location of the cloned availability schedule) and save those changes.