Availability & blackout dates
Availability is generated from your setup whenever a storefront searches; it is not a saved calendar of prebuilt slots. litecommerce combines recurring service and resource windows, then removes buffers, blackouts, active holds, and bookings that already occupy capacity.
Add recurring availability
In Bookings → Setup → Recurring availability, choose New rule.
Each rule targets one service or one resource and covers one weekday. Set:
- start and end time;
- an optional timezone override (otherwise the target or organization timezone applies);
- optional effective start and end dates; and
- an optional capacity override.
Create one rule for each weekly window. Split days with a break into separate rules — for example, 9:00–12:00 and 13:00–17:00.
A blank capacity override uses the target's normal capacity. A value of 0 closes that recurring window without changing the resource or service itself. Use 24:00 only for midnight at the end of the selected day.
If a service requires resources, both sides must be available. A service rule by itself does not make a slot bookable when the required room, staff member, or equipment is closed.
Add blackouts
Use Blackouts for exceptions to the weekly pattern:
- Entire organization closes all booking capacity.
- Service closes only one offer.
- Resource removes one staff member, room, vehicle, or pool.
Choose start and end times, add a reason your team will recognize, and choose no recurrence or daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly recurrence. Recurring blackouts need an explicit timezone and may have an end date.
Examples include holidays, maintenance, staff leave, and a venue closure.
How a customer slot becomes a reservation
A search result is a current answer, not a promise. The storefront must create a temporary hold before checkout. Hold creation checks the same rules and capacity again under a transaction, so two customers cannot rely on the same last unit.
If a customer reports that a slot disappeared, first check:
- the service and every required resource are Active;
- their recurring windows overlap;
- buffers do not consume the requested edge;
- lead time and maximum advance allow the date;
- no organization, service, or resource blackout overlaps it; and
- an active hold or existing booking has not used the remaining capacity.
Timezone and daylight-saving changes
Weekly rules are anchored to their configured IANA timezone, such as
America/Boise. Storefronts may request another presentation timezone, but
that does not move the underlying business hours. Avoid fixed UTC offsets for
rules that must follow daylight-saving changes.