How notifications work

A notification is a message sent automatically when something happens. Bookables calls each one a moment.

Find them under Settings, then Notifications.

Everything is off until you turn it on

This is the most important thing on this page.

Every moment ships switched off. A brand new account sends nothing to anybody. Nothing goes to your customers until you have been to the Notifications page and said so.

That is deliberate. These messages reach real customers' inboxes under your name, and an account that has never opened this page has never agreed to that.

So if you are wondering why your customers are not getting confirmations: they are not switched on yet.

Two audiences

Customer notifications go to the people you serve: confirmations, reminders, receipts.

Internal notifications go to you and your team: a booking came in from your page, a job was assigned to you, somebody did not turn up.

They are listed separately, because the questions you ask about them are different.

Two channels

Email, to the customer's inbox.

In-app, meaning the message also appears in the conversation thread with that customer, or as an alert for your team. See The inbox.

Most customer moments use both, so the customer gets an email and you can see what was sent without leaving the app.

Timing

Some moments fire immediately when something happens: a booking is confirmed, a job is cancelled, a payment is received.

Others are on a countdown relative to the booking: a reminder a day before, a return due notice on a hire, a session reminder before a class. Where a moment counts down, you can set how far ahead it goes out.

Previewing

Every moment has a Preview, showing the email and the in-app version as your customer would see them. There is also a test send, which goes to your own email so you can see the real thing land.

Use it before you switch anything on. It is quicker than the alternative, which is finding out from a customer.

What is next

Next: Choosing what gets sent.