The short version
Switch on approval in the event editor and every booking becomes a request that holds the time for you. You answer with Approve or Decline from the Bookings page or from the notification, and you are reminded before the time to answer runs out.
Turning it on
Open the event, choose Scheduling in the editor and switch on Ask for my approval first. Then pick the Time to answer, from 1 hour up to 7 days. New events start with 24 hours.
Approval is not available for events that take payment yet. An event that charges books straight away.
What the booker sees
The booker picks a time as usual, but the page says they are sending a request and tells them how long you have to answer. They get an email receipt with the same information. The time is held for them while they wait, so nobody else can take it.
Until you answer, the booker can withdraw the request from the page their email links to. If you decline or the time runs out, they get an email and the time is free again.
Where you answer
Open the event and look at the Requests card on the Bookings page. The list shows the request that runs out first at the top, with the time left, and an Approve and a Decline button on each row.
You can also answer from the notification. The notification for a request has the same two buttons, so you can answer without opening the event.
Approving confirms the booking. The booker gets the confirmation email, and the meeting goes to your connected calendar like any other booking.
Declining with a message
Select Decline and you can type a short reason, up to 500 characters. The booker reads it in the email. You can leave it empty. Declining frees the time at once.
One answer for every notification
A request can have more than one notification: the first one, and a reminder or two. Once you answer from any of them, all of them stop offering the buttons and say how the request ended, for example You approved this request. A request can only be answered once, so you cannot approve it from one place and decline it from another.
Reminders before it runs out
Under the approval switch, Remind me lists the moments you want to hear from us: 24, 12, 6, 3 or 1 hours before the request runs out. New events remind you 6 hours and 1 hour before. Only moments shorter than your time to answer can be chosen.
At each moment you get a notification with Approve and Decline, and an email. Every reminder is sent once. If two come due at the same time, for example because you shortened the time to answer, you get one reminder that says how long is really left.
If you do not answer
When the time is up the request expires, the time is free again and the booker is told by email. You find it under Closed on the Bookings page.
FAQ
Is a booking I make for a client also a request?
Can I change how long I have to answer?
Can I turn the reminders off?
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