Appointments - How to Create and Manage Event Types

Event types in ClickFunnels help streamline the scheduling of various appointments and meetings with clients. By integrating your calendar, you can automate the booking process and ensure seamless synchronization with your schedule. This article will guide you through the process of creating and managing event types in ClickFunnels.

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Requirements

• An active ClickFunnels account

• The Appointments app added to your workspace

• A calendar (Google, Outlook, iCloud, Office365, etc) connected to the Appointments app

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What is an Event Type

An event type in ClickFunnels is a customizable appointment category designed to meet different scheduling needs. To organize and manage client interactions efficiently, you can create various types of events, such as one-on-one meetings, round-robin sessions, and collective events.

This feature is needed when you want to automate and simplify the appointment scheduling process. Whether you’re a consultant, a coach, or a business owner, event types help you manage your time effectively, reduce manual scheduling tasks, and enhance client experience by providing a streamlined booking process.

Example:

Imagine you are a business consultant offering individual coaching sessions and sales calls handled by your team. By using ClickFunnels’ event types, you can create a one-on-one meeting type for personalized coaching and a round robin type that distributes sales calls evenly across your team. Clients can book these appointments directly through your scheduling link, which syncs with your calendar to avoid double-booking and ensures that your availability is always up-to-date.

ClickFunnels offers a comprehensive solution for managing your appointments:

• Customizable Event Types: Create and tailor different types of events to meet specific needs.

• Calendar Integration: Sync appointments with your Google, Outlook, iCloud, or Office365 calendar to ensure real-time availability.

• Automated Scheduling: Allow clients to book appointments based on your predefined availability, reducing back-and-forth communication.

• Flexible Booking Options: Set rules for booking intervals, buffer times, and guest allowances to fit your scheduling preferences.

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Step 1 - Creating a New Event Type

1. From the left-hand main menu, click the Appointments app.

2. Select Event Types.

3. Click the Add Event Type button to create a new event.
   

4. Choose the Event Type you wish to create. The available options are:
   

   • One-on-One: This event type is ideal for 1:1 interviews, sales meetings, or casual coffee chats. It involves one host and one invitee.

   • Collective: Perfect for group interviews or group sales calls, this event type involves multiple hosts meeting with one invitee.

   • Round Robin: Ideal for evenly distributing incoming sales calls, this event type features one rotating host meeting with one invitee.

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Step 2 - Setting Up the Event

Event Detail:

1. Event Name: Enter the name of the event.

2. Domain: Select the domain for the event.

3. Scheduling Link URL: Enter the path name of the scheduling link URL. For example, if you choose the path name book-now, the scheduling link URL will become https://yourdomain.com/schedule/book-now.

   

4. After Booking: Choose what happens after booking. The available options are:

   

   • Display Confirmation Page: After booking, present the invitee with the integrated confirmation page. Choosing this option will lead them to a confirmation page created by ClickFunnels, which will convey the confirmation message.

   • Redirect to a Funnel: After booking, redirect the invitee to a specific funnel. In the “Redirect Location” field, select a funnel. The visitor will land on the first step of the funnel.

   • Redirect to a Page: After booking, redirect the invitee to a specific page. You will have to select a page (Landing page) available in your workspace in the “Redirect Location” field.

   • Redirect to a Custom URL: After booking, redirect the invitee to a custom URL. Copy and paste your desired URL in the “Redirect Location” field.

5. Description: Add a brief description of the event. The description will appear on the event scheduling page.

6. Scheduling Page Primary Color: Choose a theme color for the scheduling page.

7. Scheduling Page Image/Logo: Upload an image or logo for the scheduling page.

8. Hide ‘Scheduling by ClickFunnels’ badge?: Toggle this option if you prefer to hide the ClickFunnels affiliate badge. The badge appears centered below the booking form on the scheduling page. Hiding it also removes “ - Scheduling by ClickFunnels“ from the scheduling page’s title.

Invite Settings

The Invite Settings section allows you to customize the event invite that displays on the calendar when a customer schedules an event. By tailoring the event title and description, you can provide clear and detailed information to your invitees, ensuring they know what to expect.

• Calendar Event Title: Enter the desired title for the event as it will appear on the calendar invite. If left blank, the event name will be used by default.

• Calendar Event Description: Provide a description of the event that will appear in the calendar invite. This can include details about the event to help invitees prepare. If left blank, the event description will be used by default.

• Merge Tags: Use merge tags to personalize the title and description with dynamic information, such as the invitee’s name or custom attributes.

Booking Questions

ClickFunnels allows you to customize the appointment scheduling form with various fields to gather information from your invitees. You can include essential details like name, email address, and phone number, along with custom fields to capture specific requirements. These custom fields can be existing contact attributes or new ones created directly within the event type settings.

• Add Booking Question: Click the Add Booking Question button to add a new question to the booking form.

  • Add a Contact Attribute: Click the Add Contact Attribute button to create a new custom field or select an existing contact attribute.

  • Field Details:

    • Label: Enter the field value to add to the booking form (e.g., “reason for booking”, “enter your message”, etc)

    • Field Types: Choose between text fields and select fields for your custom questions.

      • Text Field: Use this type when you need detailed, free-form responses from the user. For example, you might ask, “What specific goals do you hope to achieve with this training?” This allows the invitee to provide a comprehensive answer.

      • Select Field: Use this type when you want to provide a predefined list of options for the user to choose from. For example, you might ask, “How did you hear about us?” with options like “Social Media,” “Referral,” “Search Engine,” and “Other.” This helps standardize responses for easier analysis.

  • Set Required Fields: Toggle the required switch to make fields mandatory.

• Reorder Fields: Drag and drop fields to change their order.

• Phone Field: The Phone question can be set as required or optional. If you delete it, you can add it back with the Re-add Phone button.

  When an invitee books through the scheduling link or the embedded booking form, the phone field’s country code is automatically preselected based on the invitee’s location (e.g., a visitor from the United Kingdom sees the UK flag and +44). Invitees can still pick a different country from the dropdown. If their location can’t be detected, the field defaults to the United States.

Important:

The Name and Email fields are mandatory and cannot be deleted. You can only arrange them in your preferred order (e.g., name first, email second, or vice versa).

Booking Availability

• Date Range Type: Choose how invitees can schedule this event. The options are:

  • Relative: This option allows invitees to schedule the event within a relative date range from the current date (e.g., the next 30 days).

  • Specific Date Range: This option lets you specify the exact start and end dates during which the event can be scheduled (e.g., June 1st - June 30th).

  • Indefinitely (no end date): This option has no end date. Invitees can book the event up to 200 days into the future.

• Duration: Specify how long the event will last. For example, you can set the duration to 30 minutes to ensure that each appointment is scheduled for a specific length of time, providing clarity for both the host and the invitee.

When an invitee selects a time, that time slot is held for 5 minutes while they enter their details, so no one else can book it. For Round Robin event types, other invitees can still book that time while another host is available. If an invitee selects a time that’s already being held or booked, they see the message “This time slot has already been reserved. Please select another time.”

Event Host(s) and Location

• Host: Select who will host the event from the available options. The host’s name will appear in the dropdown from calendar connections. If your event type is “Collective” or “Round Robin”, you can add multiple hosts to the event. Click + Add a Host and select the host in the dropdown.

  Important:

  Only team members who have a default calendar connected in this workspace appear in the host list. To add more than one host, each team member must connect their own calendar in the Appointments app. Each team member gets one default calendar where their appointments will be scheduled. Team members can still connect multiple calendars (the extras are used for conflict checking only).

  Learn more: Appointments - How to Connect and Manage a Calendar

• Availability Schedule: Choose the availability schedule for the selected host. You can create a new schedule from Appointments > Availability Schedules > Add New Schedule.

• Weighting (Round Robin events only): This option appears when the event type is set to “Round Robin” and influences how appointments are distributed among multiple hosts. Assigning a weighting priority helps balance appointments according to your business needs:

  • High Priority: When multiple hosts are available, the host with this weighting will be prioritized and selected more frequently.

  • Medium Priority: The host will be selected moderately.

  • Low Priority: The host will receive fewer appointments than hosts with higher weighting.

  Setting appropriate weighting ensures efficient distribution of workload among your team members.

• Assignment Mode (Round Robin events only): Controls how hosts are assigned to new bookings. The options are:

  • Weighted Random: Selects a host randomly, based on each host’s weighting.

  • Equal Distribution: Assigns the booking to the host with the fewest meetings.

  • Maximize Availability: Selects a host by priority, then by who was least recently booked.

• Location Type: Specify the type of location for the event (e.g., Conferencing, In-person, and Custom). If you select an in-person or custom location, add a location description.

  Important:

  Collective events support only one location. You cannot assign different locations to multiple hosts in this event type.

• Conferencing Type/Connection: When the location type is set to Conferencing, select the platform (e.g., Zoom, Google Meet) you intend to use for your virtual appointments. Learn more about the conferencing connection in the article Appointments - How to Add a Conferencing Connection.

• Allow Staff Selection (Round Robin events only): This option allows invitees to choose a specific staff member for the appointment. If disabled, the system assigns the appointment to an available host automatically.

• Reschedule Round Robin: When enabled, rescheduling an event will assign it to the next available host in the round robin rotation. If disabled, the original scheduled host remains assigned to the event.

Payments (Optional)

Enabling the Require Payment option ensures that invitees pay before their appointment is confirmed. Follow these steps to set up the payment requirement:

Note:

The Require Payment option is available only when Payments AI is set up in your workspace. If it isn’t, the option is disabled and a Payments AI Not Configured message appears in the Payments section. Learn more in Accepting Payments: Introduction to Payments AI.

1. Turn on the Require Payment option to mandate payment before confirming the appointment.

2. Select a Product and specify the Price required for payment.

How Payment Processing Works During Appointment Scheduling:

• After the invitee selects a time, enters their details, and clicks Book Appointment, the page shows Payment Pending with a Time remaining: countdown and a Pay Invoice Now button. Clicking Pay Invoice Now opens the invoice in a new tab.

• The system creates an order and invoice for the selected product and price, and the appointment is reserved for 10 minutes to allow for payment. Until it’s paid, the appointment appears in the Pending tab of Scheduled Events.

• If the invoice remains unpaid after 10 minutes, the appointment is cancelled and the order is voided. The page shows Reservation Payment Window Expired with a Back to Scheduling button so the invitee can choose another time.

• Until payment is complete, the page tells the invitee: “A calendar invite will be sent to your email address once your payment is complete.”

  

Warning:

Event types that require payment can’t be attached to a funnel step, so they can’t be used with the Calendar element. In the funnel step’s Attached Event Types sidebar, they’re greyed out with the tooltip “Event Types with paid booking can not be added to Funnels at this time.” Use one of the following methods to publish a paid event instead:

1. Embed the booking form directly on your webpage.

2. Share the direct event link with your audience for seamless access.

💡 Learn more: Appointments - How to Publish Your ClickFunnels Appointments.

Additional Rules

• Allow Guests: Decide if attendees can bring guests. Enabling this option allows invitees to add additional guests to the event, which is useful for group meetings or consultations.

• Buffer Before and After: Specify buffer time around each booking to ensure you have enough time for preparation and follow-up activities. Bookings of this event type need this much free time around them.

  • Buffer Before: Time blocked off before each booking. This gives you time to prepare for the meeting.

  • Buffer After: Time blocked off after each booking. This allows time for any follow-up tasks or to transition to your next appointment.

• Show Available Start Times in Increments of..: Set the interval at which start times are shown to invitees. For example, setting this to 30 minutes will show available start times at 30-minute intervals (e.g., 9:00 AM, 9:30 AM, 10:00 AM).

• Minimum Appointment Schedule Buffer: Set the minimum amount of time required between now (when the invitee is booking) and when an appointment can be scheduled. For example, if you set this to 4 hours and an invitee books at 10:00 AM, they cannot schedule an appointment that starts before 2:00 PM on the same day. This ensures you have sufficient notice before any new appointments.

• Maximum Per Day Per Contact: Limit the number of times a contact can book this event per day. This helps prevent any single contact from booking multiple appointments on the same day, which can be useful for managing your schedule. Leave this field blank or set it to 0 for no limit. When a contact reaches the limit, they see the message “You have already scheduled the maximum number of events for this day.”

• Automatic Timezone: Choose Automatically detect and show the times in the invitee’s timezone to ensure everyone meets at the correct time regardless of their local time zones. For in-person meetings, choose Lock the timezone and select the event location’s time zone in the Locked Time Zone field. For example, if your event is held in New York, lock the time zone to New York so the scheduling page shows times in New York time.

Event Notifications

Adding event notifications allows you to send your invitees timely reminders or follow-up messages. This helps ensure that they are well-informed about the event details and any necessary preparations.

Note:

• The Event Notifications section will only appear once you finish creating the Event Type and save it.

• The MessageHub app must be added in the workspace and an email or SMS Chat Inbox must be connected. If MessageHub is added but no email or SMS inbox is connected, the section shows “You must connect an inbox in MessageHub before you can add Event Notifications.” with a Connect an Inbox button.

• The Marketing Contact Address and Company Email Address must be added in the Email Settings.

Click the Add Event Notification button. A pop-up will appear where you can configure the notification’s details.

• Transition Type: Choose when the notification should be sent in relation to the event. The options include:

  • Before Event: Send the notification before the event starts.

  • After Event: Send the notification after the event ends.

• Time Offset: Enter the amount of time before or after the event when the notification should be sent. For example, setting this to 10 with “Minutes” will send the notification 10 minutes before or after the event.

• Offset Type: Select the unit of time for the offset (e.g., minutes, hours).

• Sending Chat Inbox: Choose the email or SMS inbox from which the message should be sent. Web widget inboxes aren’t listed. Learn more about creating a chat inbox in the article MessageHub: How to Create a New Inbox.

• Subject (email inboxes only): Enter the subject line of the message. This field is used only when the sending inbox is an email inbox. You can personalize the subject line by including the merge tags. Click on the blue “Merge tags” link to view the available merge tags and select the appropriate merge tags for the subject line, such as the contact’s first name, last name, etc.

• Message: Enter the body of the message that will be sent to the invitees. This could include reminders, additional information about the event, or follow-up details. You can also personalize the contents by including the merge tags. Click on the blue “Merge tags” link to view the available merge tags and select the appropriate merge tags for the message body, such as the contact’s name, event date and time, custom questions they answered during the application, etc.

Once you have set up the Event Type, click the Create Event Type button to create the event.

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Step 3 - Publishing the Event Type

There are now three ways to publish an event type:

Option 1: Use the “Calendar” Element in a Funnel Page

1. Navigate to the funnel step where you want to display the booking form.

2. Click the three-dot icon on the funnel step and select Manage Event Types.

   

3. In the Attached Event Types sidebar, click Attach event, select the event type you want to use, and click Save. Then enter the Page Editor.

4. Click the orange + Plus or Add New Element icon to insert a new element.

5. From the Misc (Miscellaneous) category, select the Calendar widget. Once added, the form will automatically display the selected event type.

6. After booking, what the invitee sees depends on the event type’s After Booking setting. If it’s set to Display Confirmation Page, the next funnel step is displayed. If it’s set to a redirect option, the invitee goes to the Redirect Location instead.

Important:

Event types that require payment can’t be attached to a funnel step, so they can’t be used with the Calendar widget. For paid events, use Option 2 (embedding the form) or Option 3 (sharing the direct event link).

Option 2: Embed the Booking Form Using the Embed Code

1. Navigate to the event type you wish to embed.

2. Click the Copy Embed Code (</>) icon. In the Event Type Embed Code dialog that opens, click the copy icon to copy the code.

   

3. In the page editor, add a new element and select HTML / JS.

4. Paste the embed code into the HTML / JS element within the page editor to display the booking form.

Option 3: Share the Event Type URL

1. Navigate to the event type you want to share.

2. Copy the unique scheduling URL provided by ClickFunnels.

   

3. Share the link with your audience via email, social media, or other communication channels, allowing them to book directly.

Learn detailed steps about the event type publishing process in the Appointments - How to Publish Your ClickFunnels Appointments article.

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Adding Quick Actions to an Event Type

ClickFunnels now allows you to add quick actions directly to your event types, enhancing the automation and functionality of your appointment scheduling process. Quick actions can be triggered when a specific event occurs, such as scheduling an appointment.

Note:

The lightning bolt icon for quick actions appears only when the Automations app is added to your workspace.

Steps to Add a Quick Action:

1. From the left-hand main menu, click Appointments and select Event Types.

2. Locate the event type to which you want to add a quick action and click the lightning bolt icon (⚡) next to the event name.

3. A new pop-up labeled Quick Actions will appear. Click the Add Quick Action button.

   

4. Click the Add Trigger to add a trigger that will initiate the quick action. For scheduling appointments, select Schedules appointment as the trigger.

5. Then, click Add Effect to choose an effect. Options include sending a MessageHub message, sending an asset, triggering a workflow, and more. Select the effect that best suits your event’s needs.

6. After selecting the desired trigger and effect, click the toggle bar to activate and deactivate the automation. Blue means it’s active, and gray means it’s inactive.

Your quick action is now added to the event type and will automatically execute when the specified trigger condition is met.

Learn more about Quick Action in the article Automations: How to Manage Quick Actions.

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Cloning an Event Type

Cloning an event type allows you to create an exact copy of an existing event along with all its settings. This feature is useful for quickly setting up similar events without the need to reconfigure every detail.

1. From the left-hand main menu, click Appointments and select Event Types.

2. Find the event type you wish to clone.

3. Click the Clone icon next to that event type.

4. Click Proceed to confirm and create the duplicate event type.

The duplicate event type will now appear in your event list, retaining all the original settings and configurations. This makes it easier to manage multiple events with similar setups.

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Editing an Event Type

Editing an event type lets you update the event details and configurations as needed. Follow these steps to edit an event type:

1. From the left-hand main menu, click Appointments and select Event Types.

2. Find the event type you wish to edit. You can click either the Event Title or the Gear ⚙️ icon next to it.

3. Modify the event details as needed.

4. After updating the information, click the Update Event Type button to save your changes.

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Archiving an Event Type

Archiving an event type removes it from your active list. Archived event types can be restored later from the Archived tab. Existing appointments already scheduled with the event type are not affected, but any workflow triggers attached to it are removed and are not restored. Follow these steps to archive an event type:

1. From the left-hand main menu, click Appointments and select Event Types.

2. Find the event type you wish to archive. Click the Trash Can (Archive) icon next to that event type.

3. Alternatively, you can access the event type by clicking on the event title or the Gear ⚙️ icon and then clicking the Archive button on the edit page.

4. In the confirmation pop-up, type the event type’s name to confirm, then complete the archive.

To restore an archived event type, open the Archived tab on the Event Types page and click the Restore icon next to the event type.

By following these steps, you can keep your event list organized and up-to-date.