Looking for an unbiased opinion on the Simply Schedule Appointments plugin? If that’s the case, let’s get started.

Simply Schedule Appointments is a simple but effective appointment scheduling plugin for WordPress, as the name suggests. Using this plugin, you can set up your scheduling calendars in 5 minutes and accept your first booking. It’s also feasible with the free version.

 

You’ll gain a collection of special features with the premium version that will benefit your developing company. However, you may wonder, ‘Is it the greatest appointment booking WordPress plugin for your site?’

 

Don’t be concerned! Here’s an in-depth look at the Simply Schedule Appointments plugin. So, have a look at its features, benefits, drawbacks, support, and so on to get the answers to your questions.

 

Let’s get started.

 

IN THIS ARTICLE: conceal

A) Simply Schedule Appointments – A Quick Overview

B) Highlights of Simply Schedule Appointments

C) How Do You Install and Configure the Simply Schedule Appointments Plugin?

D) How to Use the Setup Wizard to Schedule an Appointment

E) How Do You Put a Booking Calendar on Your Website?

F) Simply Schedule Appointments Pricing Plans

G) Simply Schedule Appointments Customer Support Options

H) The Benefits and Drawbacks of Simply Scheduling Appointments

I) Final Thoughts – Is it the Best WordPress Appointment Booking Plugins?

Conclusion

A) Simply Schedule Appointments – A Quick Overview

Simply Schedule Appointments (SSA) is one of the finest and most user-friendly WordPress plugins for appointment scheduling. This plugin is simple to install and use to create several booking calendars on your website. You may also indicate the day and time you’re available for appointments on each one.

 

Simply Make Appointments Plugin for WordPress

Simply Make Appointments

You may also restrict the amount of daily appointments on your calendar. You may also allow your clients to plan phone conversations, meetings, in-person meetings, or coaching sessions.

 

To show the booking calendars, just add simple shortcodes to the page you want to retain. It’s so easy that anybody can use it to build a fully working booking system.

 

SSA also includes two useful WordPress elements. One displays all of your appointment kinds, while the other displays impending appointments. You may also use modules to combine it with page builders like as Elementor, Divi, and Beaver Builder to further personalise your booking site.

 

Not to mention that the calendars are completely responsive and will look great on any device. You’ll also receive a plethora of customization choices to make your calendar look fantastic.

 

Furthermore, your consumers will find it easier to schedule appointments. They may look at your availability and choose a day and time to book an appointment with you.

 

As a result, this plugin is best suited for consultants and small organisations. It’s also perfect for scheduling client meetings, events, patients, and services.

 

To be more precise, the SSA plugin is already used by over 10,000 websites. It also has a positive user review with an average 5-star rating.

 

Let’s move on to the following part of our Simply Schedule Appointments review for more information on its features.

 

B) Highlights of Simply Schedule Appointments

In this part, we’ll go through the essential features of the Simply Schedule Appointments plugin (both free and premium). So, let’s have a look at them right now.

 

1. Appointment Types Are Unlimited

We noted before that you may build and show numerous booking calendars on your website. This is due to the fact that you may have an endless number of distinct appointment kinds set up on your site. This may be tailored to your specific company or requirement.

 

You may, for example, enable new customers to arrange appointments on an intro call calendar. Allow your existing clients, on the other hand, to plan a lengthier booking using a different calendar.

 

Simply Schedule Appointments has an unlimited number of appointment types.

Appointment Types Are Endless

Similarly, you might have separate calendars for each service you provide. A freelance barber, for example, might have distinct calendars for each service they provide. For example, one for the haircut and another for the hair colour.

 

Furthermore, each sort of appointment is reliant on the other. Assume a consumer reserved a time slot from one appointment type. The same time slot that was previously reserved for other appointment types is thus automatically reserved for the new booking.

 

However, it is also possible to disable this default behaviour in order to create distinct calendars. If you have various appointment kinds linked to distinct independent meeting rooms, you may do so. In such instances, there is no need to be concerned about duplicate booking.

 

Take a peek at their documentation to learn how.

 

2. Distinctive Blackout Dates

Adding ban dates is a one-of-a-kind feature of SSA that we like. You may use it to block off certain days when you won’t be able to attend any appointments.

 

Blackout Dates for Special Events and No Appointment

Dates with a Blackout

Simply put, you may mark work holidays, birthdays, vacation days, and other special days. That is, you will be unavailable and desire to shut the firm on certain days.

 

3. Integrate with Google Calendar

The subscription edition of SSA also lets you connect your booking calendars with Google Calendar. And this is useful in a variety of ways.

 

To begin, you may use Google Calendar to organise your calendar. So you may not want to loose it if you use this plugin. Thus, synchronising the two calendars will allow them to collaborate in harmony.

 

Syncing Google Calendar with SSA

Google Calendar Synchronization

Following that, including Google Calendar into your website will make it easier to validate your genuine appointments and availability. It also prevents overlapping meetings from being scheduled.

 

4. Advanced Scheduling Possibilities

Another fantastic benefit of this plugin is that it includes some complex scheduling settings for free. And there’s much more in the premium version. These choices will assist you in creating feature-rich booking calendars.

 

Here are some of the sophisticated scheduling options provided by the plugin:

 

You’ll be able to see your availability by day, hour, and appointment type.

Use the localised timezone to display the date and time according to the user’s geographical location.

Limit the amount of time slots available or access to your booking calendars, for example.

Advanced Scheduling Options for Appointments on a Simple Schedule

Options for Advanced Scheduling

Overall, these solutions enable you to make the most of your time while still growing your company.

 

5. Complete Customization Possibilities

This plugin provides a plethora of customization possibilities for your booking calendars. You may entirely personalise them to meet your company requirements by altering the colours, fonts, and so on. It also aids in attracting and satisfying your clientele for easier scheduling.

 

Simply Schedule Appointments Customization Options

Options for Customization

In addition, you may add your own fields or questions to your scheduling form. This allows you to gather unique and important information about your appointments.

 

Not to mention that you may design and automate appointment confirmation emails and SMS reminders or alerts. You may decrease missed appointments by doing so.

 

6. Elementor, Divi, and Beaver Builder integration is seamless.

Using a page builder plugin or Gutenberg blocks makes form editing and modification much easier. Furthermore, this plugin is free and fully compatible with popular page builders like as Elementor, Divi, and Beaver Builder. You may then simply drag and drop the items into your form.

 

It also includes more Beaver Builder modules, Elementor widgets, and Divi components. That’s ideal for a booking page or website. It includes the following:

 

Make New Appointments.

Show Upcoming Appointments, and so forth.

7. Compatibility with other popular WordPress plugins and tools

The paid edition of SSA also works nicely with a variety of other popular WordPress plugins. Some of the most crucial for a booking website are:

 

To accept payments, the payment gateways PayPal and Stripe are used.

Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Segment, and other tools may be used to monitor conversions and objectives.

LifterLMS is a WordPress Learning Management System (LMS) plugin.

WordPress plugins for email marketing, such as Mailchimp.

Twilio is used to receive and deliver SMS alerts.

WordPress form builder plugins such as Gravity Forms, Formidable Forms, and others.

Web meetings may be held using Zoom and Google Meet.

Other Premium Benefits

Other premium features are available in addition to the ones listed above. As an example:

 

Capable of scheduling courses and group activities.

Multiple reservations in the same time window are supported.

Allows you to utilise an infinite number of webhooks.

You’ll be able to schedule your team and do other things.

Let’s move on to the next area of our Simply Schedule Appointments review.

 

C) How Do You Install and Configure the Simply Schedule Appointments Plugin?

It’s time to walk you through the procedures of installing and configuring the SSA plugin. We’ll go through the processes for both the free and premium versions of Simply Schedule Appointments in this section.

 

It should be noted that if you wish to utilise the premium version, you do not need to install the free plugin. As a result, follow the procedures precisely.

 

1. Download and install the free version.

The installation and activation of the free version of this plugin is really straightforward. It’s the same process as installing any other WordPress plugin. We’ve put up a quick guide to help you out.

 

To begin, go to your WordPress dashboard.

 

Login Page for WordPress

Login Page for WordPress

Then, on your dashboard, go to the Plugins > Add New option. Then, in the search field, put the phrase ‘Simply Schedule Appointments.’ Then, for the plugin, click the Install Now option.

 

Activate the SSA WordPress Plugin.

Simply Schedule Appointments Installation

Finally, click the Activate button to start using the plugin.

 

That’s all there is to installing and activating the free plugin. As a result, a new Appointment option has been added to your dashboard.

 

If you have any questions, please read our extensive guide on how to install and activate a WordPress plugin.

 

2. Buy and install the Premium Version

To utilise the premium version of SSA, you must first buy a plan and then install the plugin on your dashboard. Then all you have to do is install and activate it.

 

As a result, we’ve put up a step-by-step guide to help you get started.

 

Step 1: Buy the Plugin

To begin, go to the Pricing page on the plugin’s official website. There, you can view the three price options that are offered. There are three of them: Plus Edition, Business Edition, and Professional Edition.

 

Select the plan you wish to utilise for your website. Click the Get Started button on the selected plan. In this case, we went with the Business Edition plan.

 

Purchase an SSA Pricing Plan

Activating the Get Started Button

You will be routed to the checkout page as soon as you do so. There, you can see that the plan you selected has already been added.

 

There’s also an opportunity to enter a discount code if you have one. If you have one, all you have to do is input the code in the empty space and press the Apply button. And you can see that the price of the plugin changes once you enter the discount code.

 

The next step is to choose a payment method, which may be either a credit card or PayPal. Then you must enter your personal and payment details. Finally, click the Buy button.

 

Purchase the Simply Schedule Appointments Premium Plugin.

Getting the Premium Version

After you complete the purchase, you will get access to your dashboard, where you will see a buy confirmation page. You’ll find the licence key there, which you’ll need later. So, keep it secure.

 

You may also find a link to download the premium plugin at the bottom. So, click it to save the ZIP file to your device.

 

Install the SSA Premium Plugin.

Obtaining the ZIP File

Step 2: Upload the plugin, install it, and activate it.

Let’s look at how to install Simply Schedule Appointments pro version now that you have it on your local device.

 

Log in to your dashboard and go to the Plugins > Add New option.

 

Then, at the top, click the Upload Plugin button. Then, click the Choose File option. Upload the plugin’s ZIP file and then select the Install Now option. Your plugin will be installed on your site in a few seconds.

 

Install the Premium SSA Plugin.

Installing and Uploading the Premium Plugin

It’s worth noting that if you were previously using another version of the plugin, you’ll be given the opportunity to replace it instead. However, your data will be protected and will not be deleted.

 

After installing the plugin, you must activate it by clicking the Activate Plugin icon. The premium plugin is now installed and enabled on your site.

 

Simply Schedule Appointments Pro Plugin should be activated.

Using the Premium Plugin

As a result, the new Appointments option appears on your dashboard. However, the processes are not yet complete in order to begin utilising the plugin right immediately. So, let’s get started.

 

Step 3: Paste in the License Key

You must activate the plugin’s licence in order to get future updates. To do so, browse to the Plugins > Installed Plugins tab on your dashboard.

 

Then, on the installed plugin list, choose the License for Updates option for the SSA plugin.

 

Update License – Simply Schedule Appointments

Including a License for Updates

You will now be routed to a new page where you may add the licence key on the Settings tab. So, in the empty area, insert the plugin’s licence. Then, beside it, click the Validate button.

 

SSA License Key Adding

Including a License Key

Step 4: On the Settings page, enable the Required Features.

After you’ve entered the licence key, go to the Settings menu. By doing so, you may access the settings for all of the plugin’s capabilities.

 

You may now activate or disable all of the features included in your package. In our instance, we purchased the Business Edition subscription, which allows us to activate and utilise all of the plugin’s features.

 

Enable the Simply Schedule Appointments features.

Activate Features

After you’ve enabled them, it’s a good idea to go through the settings for each one. However, it is preferable to first construct and show the booking calendars before configuring these options to meet your requirements. After that, all you have to do is choose the Edit option for the specific feature.

 

Let us now move on to the next portion of the Simply Schedule Appointments review.

 

D) How to Use the Setup Wizard to Schedule an Appointment

We’ll teach you how to arrange your first appointment type in this Simply Schedule Appointments review part. That is, by utilising the plugin’s setup wizard.

 

It should be noted that not all of the features or phases are accessible in every plan. As a result, you may not be able to receive some of them on the alternative plan you choose. That’s what we’re doing here with the Business Edition.

 

Now, without further ado, let’s get started.

 

Step 1: Launch the Setup Wizard

To begin, go to your WordPress dashboard and choose the Appointments option. This will lead you to the plugin’s setup wizard.

 

Select Appointments from the menu.

Select Appointments from the menu.

There will be a welcoming message there. Below that is an option to receive assistance getting started with the setup. There are buttons to accept and decline assistance: ‘Yes, please help me!’ and ‘No, thanks.’ ‘I got this,’ and so forth.

 

So, to get started quickly, click the first button.

 

Use the Setup Wizard to Assist You

Using the Setup Wizard

The plugin identifies certain information depending on your geographical location by requesting assistance. If you wish to utilise the precise data for your reservations, click the ‘Looks Good!’ button. The ‘Let’s Go!’ button. Alternately, click the Needs Some Adjustment button to make adjustments.

 

Information Obtained via SSA Help

Helped Detected Information

Step 2: Integrate with Google Calendar

Following that, you’ll be given the opportunity to sync the plugin with your Google Calendar. If you don’t need this step right now, click the Skip This For Now option.

 

To sync the two calendars, provide the Google Calendar client id and client secret. After that, click the Save and Authorize button.

 

Sync Simply use Google Calendar to schedule appointments.

synchronise with Google Calendar

Click the Show Me How option if you don’t know how to retrieve your client id and client secret key. It will direct you to the plugin’s simple documentation.

 

Create Your First Appointment Type in Step 3

Following that, you will see various forms in separate tabs. Filling these out will result in the creation of your first appointment type. It also features complex scheduling options in a variety of areas.

 

So, let’s take them one at a time as stages.

 

Step 1: Fundamentals

In this section, you must provide basic information about your appointment type. So, here they are:

 

Name: Enter the name of the appointment type that you and your guests will see on your site.

Keep in mind the maximum amount of time that the appointment may last.

Units of time: Select whether the duration unit should be in minutes, hours, days, or weeks.

Label: To identify your current appointment type from others, provide a colour.

Booking View: Specify whether your visitors will see your calendar on a weekly or monthly basis.

If necessary, provide instructions to your consumers about the appointment.

After you’ve completed the essential information, click the Continue button.

 

The Fundamentals of the SSA Setup Wizard

Step 1 of the Setup Wizard’s Basics

Step II: Accessibility

You may enter the day and time you’ll be available for this appointment type on this tab. So, initially, you get to choose how you want to mention them. And the methods are as follows:

 

Blocks that are available

Set start times.

Depending on your choices, a separate day and time selection diagram will appear below this option. There is another alternative before going over them briefly. And the graphic indicates the appointment start time in 10, 15, 20, 30, or 60 minutes.