How Do I Configure the Appointments and Filters Settings for the Customer Portal? (Other Settings) – iClassPro Support

IN BRIEF:
The Appointment Registration and Appointments Filters sections of the Customer Portal settings control how appointments are displayed, booked, canceled, charged, and filtered in the Customer Portal/Mobile App. Administrators can define booking rules, approval behavior, automated email notifications, Charge Category assignment, and which search filters are available to customers. This allows organizations to tailor the appointment experience to operational needs while ensuring accurate communication and billing.

Overview
Accessing the Feature
Step-by-Step Instructions
Troubleshooting & FAQs
Related Articles

Overview

The Appointments and Appointment Filters settings define how customers interact with appointment booking options in the Customer Portal/Mobile App. These settings determine:

Whether appointment booking is enabled
How bookings, cancellations, and reschedules are processed
When appointments are auto-approved and whether associated charges are applied
Which email notifications are triggered for appointment-related actions
How Charge Categories are assigned to appointments created through the Customer Portal
Which filters customers can use to find available appointments

These settings ensure the Customer Portal reflects accurate availability, communicates updates to instructors and customers, and follows your policies for scheduling, canceling, and billing.

Accessing the Feature

Appointments feature and filter settings for the Customer Portal/Mobile App are configured in three primary areas under SETTINGS>CUSTOMER PORTAL>OTHER SETTINGS:

General Settings
Appointment Registration
Appointment Filters

Step-by-Step Instructions

Enabling Appointment Bookings

To allow customers to view and register for appointments via the Customer Portal/Mobile App:

Go to SETTINGS>CUSTOMER PORTAL>OTHER SETTINGS>GENERAL SETTINGS.
Enable Show Appointments And Allow Visitors To Register For Them.
Save your settings.

Appointment Registration Settings

These options define how customers can book, cancel, and reschedule appointments in the Customer Portal.

Navigate to: SETTINGS>CUSTOMER PORTAL>OTHER SETTINGS>APPOINTMENT REGISTRATION

General Appointment Settings

These settings govern booking availability and approval behavior. Note that the minimum/maximum start date limits only apply to new bookings. (Rescheduled appointments may fall outside of these ranges.)

Limit booking start date to at least X days/hours/minutes from today - sets the minimum number of days/hours/minutes in the future that customers can book an appointment. (e.g., setting this value to "2 days" means they can only book 2 or more days in advance.)
Limit booking start date to at most X days from today - Sets the maximum number of days in the future that customers can book an appointment. (e.g., setting this value to "14 days" means they cannot book more than 2 weeks in advance.)
- NOTE: The maximum allowed value for this field is 365 days.
Auto Approve Appointments - Automatically approves bookings if an opening exists and the student meets age and gender requirements. (NOTE: enabling this setting is required for the system to charge and collect payments via the Customer Portal/Mobile App.)
- Send Email Notification Upon Auto-Approved Appointment Booking To Email Address Of Appointment Location - Sends a notification email to the Location where the appointment will be held when an appointment booking is auto-approved. (NOTE: uses the "Notification of Appointment Booking" template.)
  - Send Confirmation Email to Instructor - Sends a notification email to the Instructor associated with the appointment when an appointment booking is auto-approved. (NOTE: uses the "Notification of Appointment Booking" template.)
Allow Customers to cancel appointments - Grants customers the ability to cancel an appointment via the Customer Portal/Mobile App.
- Cancellation Timeframe (Days/Hours/Minutes) - Defines how far in advance a cancellation must be made. (Note: If Charge Cancellation Fee is enabled for Appointments, a cancellation fee will apply.)
- Send Email Notification Upon Auto-Approved Appointment Cancellation To Email Address Of Appointment Location - Sends a notification email to the Location where the appointment will be held when an appointment cancellation is auto-approved. (NOTE: uses the "Notification of Appointment Cancellation" template.)
  - Send Confirmation Email to Instructor - Sends a notification email to the Instructor associated with the appointment when an appointment cancellation is auto-approved. (NOTE: uses the "Notification of Appointment Cancellation" template.)
Allow Rescheduling - Grants customers the ability to reschedule an appointment via the Customer Portal/Mobile App.
- Rescheduling Timeframe (Days/Hours/Minutes) - Sets how far in advance a reschedule request must be made.
- Auto Approve Rescheduled Appointments - Automatically approves requests to reschedule appointments if submitted within the allowed timeframe. (Note: If Charge Cancellation Fee is enabled for Appointments, a cancellation fee will apply.)
  - Send Email Notification Upon Auto-Approved Rescheduled Appointment To Email Address Of Appointment Location - Sends a notification email to the Location where the appointment will be held when an appointment reschedule request is auto-approved. (NOTE: uses the "Notification of Appointment Booking Reschedule" template.)
    - Send Confirmation Email to Instructor - Sends a notification email to the Instructor associated with the appointment when an appointment reschedule request is auto-approved. (NOTE: uses the "Notification of Appointment Booking Reschedule" template.)
Charge Type - Determines how the customer will be charged for auto-approved appointment bookings. (NOTE: Open-ended bookings always charge for the first active month, regardless of selection):
- Charge for First Active Month (default) – Charges only for appointments in the first month of booking.
- Charge for all Appointment Timeslots (Fixed-length Enrollments Only) – Charges for all scheduled appointments if an end date is set.

Auto Charge Scheduler Options

The Auto Charge Scheduler determines how the system selects the Charge Category for auto-generated appointment tuition charges through the Customer Portal/Mobile App. Manual charges (e.g., from the Ledger or Appointment Tuition Charges task) still require staff to select the appropriate Charge Category.

You must choose one of three methods:

Single Select

Select a single Charge Category to apply to all auto-generated charges.

NOTE: If the selected Charge Category is deleted or expires, the system will continue using it until manually updated to prevent failed checkouts.

Month to Month

Assign a different Charge Category to each calendar month. The system applies the correct Charge Category based on the first billable booking date.

NOTE: If the selected Charge Category is deleted or expires, the system will continue using it until manually updated to prevent failed checkouts. Staff members will be required to manually select a Charge Category for manually-created charges.

Custom

Define your own schedule by date range. The system applies the correct Charge Category based on the first billable booking date.

From/To – defines the date range during which a specific Charge Category should be used for appointment tuition charges automatically created from the Customer Portal/Mobile App.
Charge Category – Choose which Charge Category to apply for bookings beginning within this date range.
Add New Row – Add additional date ranges with unique categories.
Choose Backup Charge Category – select a Charge Category to be used when the first billable booking date falls outside of a defined date range.

Appointment Filters Settings

These settings determine which filters customers can use when browsing appointments via the Customer Portal.

Available filter options include:

Age
Gender
Program
Start Time
Day
Instructor
Search

Use the checkbox next to each option to enable or disable it. Be sure to Save Settings after making changes.

Customizing Appointment-Related Emails

The following system-generated email templates are used for appointment-related actions performed in the Customer Portal/Mobile App. You can customize them under: SETTINGS>SETUP>GENERAL SETTINGS>COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES>“Customer Portal”.

Appointment Booking (Approved) - An email sent to customers for each appointment booking processed through the mobile app or Customer Portal. Includes the booking details and a transaction summary from checkout.
Appointment Booking (Request) - An email sent to customers for each appointment booking processed through the mobile app or Customer Portal that was submitted as a request. Includes the booking details.
Appointment Booking Canceled - An email sent to customers to confirm the cancellation of an appointment via the Customer Portal. Includes the booking details.
Appointment Booking Rescheduled (Approved) - An email sent to customers to confirm that an appointment was rescheduled via the Customer Portal. Includes the booking details.
Appointment Booking Rescheduled (Request) - An email sent to customers for each appointment booking rescheduled via the mobile app or Customer Portal that was submitted as a request. Includes the booking details.
Notification of Appointment Booking - An optional email sent to the location email address for new appointment bookings in that location made via the Customer Portal.
Notification of Appointment Cancellation - An optional email sent to the location email address for appointment bookings in that location that have been canceled via the Customer Portal.
Notification of Appointment Reschedule - An optional email sent to the location email address for appointment bookings in that location that have been rescheduled via the Customer Portal.

Troubleshooting & FAQs

Why are customers unable to book appointments even though they appear in the Customer Portal?
- Confirm that Show Appointments And Allow Visitors To Register For Them is enabled under OTHER SETTINGS > GENERAL SETTINGS and that booking start date limits do not prevent selection.
Why is billing not occurring for appointments booked online?
- Auto-approval must be enabled for the system to charge customers. Check Auto Approve Appointments and ensure a valid Charge Category is selected in the Auto Charge Scheduler.
Why are instructors not receiving appointment notifications?
- Verify that the corresponding “Send Confirmation Email to Instructor” option is enabled for bookings, cancellations, and reschedules.
Customers say they cannot cancel or reschedule. What should I check?
- Confirm that Allow Customers to cancel appointments or Allow Rescheduling is enabled, and confirm the timeframe settings are not preventing changes.
Appointment Filters are not appearing in the Customer Portal. Why?
- Ensure each desired filter is enabled under Appointment Filters Settings and that settings were saved.