=== Circumflex Booking ===
Contributors: sutregutt
Tags: booking, appointments, scheduling, availability, calendar
Requires at least: 6.8
Tested up to: 7.1
Requires PHP: 8.3
Stable tag: 1.6.8
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Flexible appointment booking with manual approval, service selection, and email notifications.

== Description ==

Circumflex Booking is a self-hosted appointment booking plugin for treatments,
consultations, and other scheduled services. Customers request an available
time, and authorized staff approve or reject each request manually.

= Adapt booking with free add-ons =

Circumflex Booking is the shared foundation. Its built-in setup is designed for
appointments, treatments and consultations. Separately installed add-ons
specialize it for another purpose. Core remains required, and one booking setup
is active on each WordPress site.

* [Circumflex Booking Airspace](https://wordpress.org/plugins/circumflex-booking-airspace/)
  reserves flight-training areas, schedules quiet periods and spreads activity.
* [Circumflex Booking Meeting Rooms](https://wordpress.org/plugins/circumflex-booking-meeting-rooms/)
  helps people find and reserve rooms by location, capacity, facilities and
  exact start and end time.

Need another kind of booking? [Tell us how it should work](mailto:support@circumflex.no).

= Customer booking =

* Let customers choose one service or combine several, according to the
  standard-profile setting.
* Present related choices in optional expandable groups with one shared
  description and either one or several allowed choices, while ungrouped
  services remain direct choices.
* Show a practitioner choice or "first available" when several practitioners
  qualify. The choice is hidden automatically when only one qualifies.
* Present available dates and start times in accessible calendar and list views.
* Show the chosen treatment, practitioner, date, and time together with contact
  details on one final step, with direct actions to change a choice.
* Collect name, email address, phone number, and an optional practical comment.
* Reserve a requested time while the booking is pending, preventing another
  customer from taking it.
* Send customer and staff notifications for booking events and reminders.
* Give confirmed customers a private link to view the booking, request another
  time, or cancel within the configured deadline.

= Administration =

* Choose appointments or a validated add-on workflow without changing stored
  services, resources, hours, or bookings. Returning from an add-on to the Core
  default is kept behind a deliberate, confirmed control.
* Configure services, optional expandable groups with shared customer
  information and a one-or-several choice rule, durations, buffers, prices,
  deadlines, displayed duration, drag-and-drop order, and whether buffers must
  fit opening hours.
* Configure practitioners and assignments; inactive, unused catalog items can
  be permanently deleted while booking-linked history remains protected.
* Add date exceptions below the weekly schedule, with one checkbox to close or
  add extra opening hours for either the selected practitioner or every
  practitioner across an inclusive date period; manual blocks remain available.
* Review bookings across all services in a day/week time grid with resource
  tracks, continuous publicly bookable periods and visibly distinct Pro-held
  online capacity; month view remains a compact booking overview.
* Optionally let linked practitioners decide only requests assigned to them.
* Configure and preview email identity and templates.
* Use WordPress privacy tools, retention, diagnostics, configuration transfer,
  and the selected privacy policy.

= Add the booking form anywhere =

Circumflex Booking does not create or reserve a booking URL. Create or edit a
WordPress page and insert the Circumflex Booking block, the
`[circumflex_booking]` shortcode, or optional Elementor widget. Publish it and
share that page's URL with customers. Elementor, WooCommerce, and customer
accounts are not required.

All included functionality is available without payment or a license key.
Payments and recurring bookings are outside scope. Email uses `wp_mail()`; a
separate SMTP plugin is recommended.

= Optional Pro add-on =

The free plugin works on its own with account-free booking, email verification,
manual approval, email confirmations and reminders, and WordPress.org updates.

Circumflex Booking Pro is an optional add-on. It can add:

* Optional sign-in and access rules through Microsoft, Google or another provider.
* Automatic approval and completion for selected booking types.
* SMS confirmations and reminders in addition to email. Sendberry is supported
  today and requires its own subscription; ask about other providers.
* Telegram or browser notifications for responsible staff.
* Follow-up, feedback requests and anonymous booking-process insight.
* Email support and official Pro updates with an active subscription.

[Compare Free and Pro](https://circumflex.no/en/circumflex-booking/pro/#cfx-pro-compare-title).

Booking and diagnostics stay on the site. Optional Cloudflare Turnstile is
disabled by default and disclosed below.

== Installation ==

1. Install and activate Circumflex Booking.
2. Add at least one service under Booking > Services.
3. Add a practitioner, assign services, and configure recurring hours under
   Booking > Practitioners and Booking > Availability.
4. Review deadlines, notices, retention, recipients, and email templates under
   Booking > Settings.
5. Select the site's privacy policy under Settings > Privacy.
6. Create or edit a normal WordPress page, add the block, shortcode, or Elementor
   widget, publish it, and share its URL.
7. Check Tools > Booking status, then make and process a test booking before
   opening the page to customers.

The tested and supported database baseline is MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.11 and
newer. Older versions may work, but they are not tested or supported. Use HTTPS
and configure the site's mail or SMTP setup before accepting real bookings. The
database version alone does not deactivate the plugin.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Does Circumflex Booking create a booking URL? =

No. Add the block, `[circumflex_booking]` shortcode, or Elementor widget to a
normal page you create. Publish it and use that page's URL. All three use the
same booking flow and settings.

= Can analytics measure a successfully submitted booking? =

Yes. The receipt stays visible and the URL gains `booking-received=1`. For
exact GA4 measurement, trigger Google Tag Manager on the Custom Event
`circumflex_booking_received` and send `generate_lead`. It fires once per
accepted response and contains no booking or customer data. The plugin does
not load analytics; site owners configure analytics and consent.

= Are notification emails sent immediately? =

An asynchronous worker starts as soon as a message is queued. WordPress cron
remains as fallback and for retries. Inbox delivery depends on the site's
`wp_mail()` or SMTP setup.

= Can customers change or cancel an appointment? =

Confirmed customers can receive a private link to request a new time or cancel
before the deadline. Treat the link as a secret access key.

= Can practitioners approve assigned requests? =

Yes, when enabled. An active practitioner needs a notification email and linked
Practitioner account. Access is limited to their own requests; managers retain
access to all requests.

= Should customers enter health information in the comment field? =

Configure the warning beside the optional comment to tell customers not to
submit health or other sensitive data that is not needed for scheduling.

= What happens when the plugin is deactivated or removed? =

Deactivation and normal uninstall preserve data. Permanent deletion requires an
authorized administrator to enable and confirm the uninstall deletion option.

== Screenshots ==

1. Customers start by choosing the configured number of services.
2. Calendar and list views show available times.
3. The dashboard summarizes pending and upcoming work.
4. Staff review, approve, or reject a booking.
5. Weekly hours, exceptions, and blocks control availability.
6. Notification previews show HTML and plain text.

== Privacy and External Services ==

The site's database stores customer contact details, optional practical
comment, services, practitioner, appointment time, and customer-notice
snapshot. Internal notes are visible only to authorized roles.

By default, personal data is anonymized 365 days after a terminal status; the
period is configurable. Contact details, free text, customer tokens, and
identifying notification and audit data are removed. WordPress privacy export
and erasure are supported. Erasing an active booking keeps its reserved time.

Authorized administrators can generate local diagnostics that omit personal
data, free text, tokens, secrets, IP addresses, and site URLs. Nothing is sent
to Circumflex AS.

= Cloudflare Turnstile =

[Cloudflare Turnstile](https://developers.cloudflare.com/turnstile/) is an
optional anti-spam service. It is disabled by default and requires Cloudflare
keys plus explicit administrator activation.

When enabled, the browser loads `https://challenges.cloudflare.com`. Cloudflare
processes signals including IP address, TLS fingerprint, User-Agent, site key,
and origin. WordPress sends the secret and response token to Siteverify but
does not explicitly add the visitor IP. Bookings fail closed if verification
cannot finish.

Review Cloudflare's
[Turnstile Privacy Addendum](https://www.cloudflare.com/turnstile-privacy-policy/),
[Privacy Policy](https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/), and
[Terms](https://www.cloudflare.com/policies/terms/) before enabling the service.
The site owner must reflect this processing in the site's privacy information.

== Source Code ==

Source and build instructions are in the
[public GitLab repository](https://gitlab.slettene.com/gvar/circumflex-booking).

== Support ==

Use the Support tab for help. Product information is at
[circumflex.no/circumflex-booking](https://circumflex.no/circumflex-booking/).
Never post customer data, private links, credentials, or health information.

== Changelog ==

Changes since public 1.5.19 are documented in `changelog.txt`.

= 1.6.8 =

* Remove the repeated review screen from standard appointment booking while
  retaining a compact, editable summary on the final contact step.
* Keep all authoritative availability, conflict, access, consent, verification,
  and abuse checks in place when the request is sent.
* Use a clear final action for either booking an automatically confirmed
  appointment or sending a request for approval.

== Upgrade Notice ==

= 1.6.8 =

Shortens standard appointment booking by one step without changing stored
services, schedules, bookings, or add-on workflows.
