I have installed the Appointment Slots widget into a form I'm building, but I still don't understand how to configure it.

  • jimchicago
    Asked on August 7, 2015 at 2:32 PM

    I have installed the Appointment Slots widget into a form I'm building, but even after reading the dialog box on this page:

    http://widgets.jotform.com/app/appointment_slots 

    I still don't understand how to configure it. The dialog box on the above page (which REALLY needs to provide clearer, more specific instructions) says:

    "To list the number of slots available, Just type them on different lines in the configuration menu; for example - Monday, 10.30Am {10} - Where {10} is the number of slots available."

    I am planning a Friday-Saturday-Sunday event. On each day I want to offer 15 half-hour appointments, the earliest being 9 AM (with no app't available at 12:00 to 12:30). Sorry to have to ask this, but: Exactly what should I enter into the widget's wizard to make this happen?

    Thanks in advance.

  • David JotForm Support
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 2:44 PM

    Hi,

    The widget is actually easier to setup than you think.  The explanation makes it seem much more difficult.  For each time you have available, that is what you label the entry in the widget.  For example, for your first slot of Friday, 9am with one slot, you would enter:

    Friday, 9am{1}

    I have installed the Appointment Slots widget into a form Im building, but  I still dont understand how to configure it Screenshot 20

    You would set up each other slot in the same manner.  Since your appointments are every 30 minutes, it would look like this:

    Friday, 9:00am{1}
    Friday, 9:30am{1}
    Friday, 10:00am{1}
    Friday, 10:30am{1}
    Friday, 11:00am{1}
    Friday, 11:30am{1}
    Friday, 12:30pm{1}
    Friday, 1:00pm{1}
    Friday, 1:30pm{1}
    Friday, 2:00pm{1}
    Friday, 2:30pm{1}
    Friday, 3:00pm{1}
    Friday, 3:30pm{1}
    Friday, 4:00pm{1}
    Friday, 4:30pm{1}

    Here is what your form would look like with this entered in the widget:

    http://form.jotformpro.com/form/52186162309959

    You can clone the form if you would like:

    http://www.jotform.com/help/42-How-to-Clone-an-Existing-Form-from-a-URL

    The setup would be the same for your appointments on Saturday.

    If anything is unclear, let us know and we will be happy to help.

  • jimchicago
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 2:50 PM

    Thank you, David (again, your promptness is outstanding). Before posting my issue here, I actually did type into the wizard exactly what you show. The only problem is, after doing so I previewed the form and found it listed all 15 timeslots on the page, rather than compacting them into a clickable "Friday" box.

    If I repeat what you recommend for Saturday and Sunday, how can I get form to display three clickable boxes (one for each day), rather than a long list of 45 (total) appointment slots?

  • jimchicago
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 2:52 PM

    And, assuming I can get the three "day boxes" to appear, how can I ensure that each of them states the number of appointments currently available for that day?

  • David JotForm Support
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 3:00 PM

    You are very welcome, we are here to help.  I would recommend conditionally showing each widget using form field conditions:

    http://www.jotform.com/help/57-Smart-Forms-Using-Conditional-Logic

    Specifically the show/hide form field condition.  Add a dropdown with the days available, then show the appropriate widget when the day is selected:

    I have installed the Appointment Slots widget into a form Im building, but  I still dont understand how to configure it Screenshot 30

    One condition for each day:

    I have installed the Appointment Slots widget into a form Im building, but  I still dont understand how to configure it Screenshot 41

    The resulting form with the widgets set up for all 3 days would work like this:

    http://form.jotformpro.com/form/52186162309959

     

     

  • jimchicago
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 3:05 PM

    So it's not possible to simply have a "Friday" box, a "Saturday" box, and a "Sunday" box appear all neatly stacked together on the form, and whichever one of them you click, it lists the remaining app't times available to select on that day?

  • jimchicago
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 3:17 PM

    If what I'm suggesting is harder to do than your conditional-logic solution, that's OK, I'll use your recommendation. I'm just curious.

  • David JotForm Support
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 3:24 PM

    The appointment slots widget cannot be collapsed.  It displays the full set of appointments available in the widget.  As far as I know, none of the inventory widgets can be collapsed similar to what you are looking form.  Having individual ones that are conditionally show would be your best bet. 

    You could also hide them in form collapses if you would like:

    I have installed the Appointment Slots widget into a form Im building, but  I still dont understand how to configure it Screenshot 20

    They could then click on the appropriate collapsed section to show the widget.  Add a form collapse for each day, then put an appointment slots widget under each one.

  • jimchicago
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 3:31 PM

    OK, thanks. I was able to make the conditional logic work as you proposed.

    But go to http://widgets.jotform.com/app/appointment_slots and look at the first four slides in the dialog box. They all show what appear to be clickable, expandable boxes, with text such as "Monday ...  5 available" on them. Why are these (expandable-looking) boxes showing on the slides if the widget doesn't provide such functionality?

  • David JotForm Support
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 3:35 PM

    The boxes shown are the same as yours except they are labelled as days.  The widget in the preview is setup like this:

    Monday {6}
    Tuesday {10}
    Wednesday {23}
    Thursday {24}
    Friday {24}

    So they have appointments for the day, not for the specific time.  Selecting one will no show more appointments.  It just means that 6 people can select Monday before there are none left.  There are no specific times for Monday.

  • jimchicago
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 3:41 PM

    OK, understood. Once a user selects a day and time (i.e, in a form such as I'm building), and later tell me they need to re-schedule, is it possible for me to cancel their app't and create a new one for them? If so, how?

  • David JotForm Support
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 3:47 PM

    You can't necessarily cancel the appoint through the widget.  When an appointment is taken, it decrements the counter by 1.  So if Monday 9:00am is selected, it would go from Monday 9:00am {1} to Monday 9:00am {0} in the widget.  You can update the values at any time to close or open different slots.  So if they cancel, you set the appointment slot they took back to {1}, then set whichever other slot they took to {0}.

     

  • jimchicago
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 3:55 PM

    Great . . . I assume I would do the updating you mention--i.e, editing of the number in { }--in the widget's wizard?

  • David JotForm Support
    Replied on August 7, 2015 at 3:57 PM

    100% Correct.