---
title: Adding a Booking in the Diary
description: Adding a booking in the Diary
---
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1. [Knowledge Base](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base?hsLang=en)
2. [Venue](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/venue?hsLang=en)
3. [Bookings](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/venue?hsLang=en#bookings)
# Adding a Booking in the Diary
## How to manually create a booking, and what information you'll need
The **Diary view** gives you a linear view of your venue — tables listed down the left, with a timeline of seating times running across the top.
The **Floor Plan view** shows your tables grouped into sections, with times and customers displayed on each table.
Any booking made online or by staff will appear in both views.
### To start a new booking
There are two ways to open the booking form:
1. Double-click a timeslot on the timeline, or a table on the Floor Plan view. This opens the booking form with the time and/or service already selected, based on where you clicked.
2. Select **+ Booking**. This opens a blank booking form for you to fill in manually.
### To enter the booking details
1. **Check the date**
- The date is automatically set to the day you're viewing.
2. **Select the number of covers.** To add more, select the plus button then choose 1-19 in the picklist or for more than 19, type the number in **Enter number of guest** field.
3. **Check the duration**
- The duration is prefilled based on your venue's default settings — adjust this if needed.
4. **Select the service and section**
5. **Check the status**
- The status can be changed manually here, though it normally updates automatically as the customer moves through the booking process.
6. **Select the time**
7. **Choose a table**
- Automatic table selection uses your venue's saved parameters to suggest a suitable table. You can change this manually from the table dropdown.
8. **Join tables (optional)**
- To join tables on the spot, tick **Manual Join**, then select the tables you'd like to combine.
### To add the customer's details
1. **Search for the customer**
- Scroll to **Customer Search**.
2. **Select an existing customer**
a. Enter the customer's mobile number first, if possible — phone numbers and emails are unique to each customer, so searching by these is more reliable than searching by name.
b. As you type, matching customers will appear. Select one if there's a match, or keep typing to create a new customer profile.
3. **Create a new customer**
a. Select the **+** icon.
b. Enter **first name**, **last name**, and either a **mobile number** or **email address** — these are required to create a booking.
c. Select or deselect the communication and marketing options.
4. When a booking is saved, a confirmation email can be sent to either or both of:
- The **customer** being booked in
- The **Booked By** contact
Whether each person actually receives it depends on two things: whether they have a valid email address, and their individual **Do not send emails or SMS** setting.
**A few things to know about valid details:**
- An invalid phone number or email will stop you from saving until it's corrected.
- You don't need a phone number or email to create a booking — unless a payment type other than **No Payment** is attached. In that case, a valid mobile number or email is required.
### Recording who made the booking (Booked By)
Some bookings are made by someone who won't be at the table themselves — for example, a company booking for a group. **Booked By** lets you record these as two separate people: the customer (who'll be seated) and the person who made the booking.
Booked By can be turned on for your venue in one of two ways:
- On the Diary only, or
- On both the Diary and the Widget.
Once it's turned on, you can add or edit Booked By details on any new or existing booking, view them on the booking summary, and see them in a dedicated Booked By column when you export the runsheet.
### Suppressing emails and SMS for a booking
Tick **Do not send emails or SMS** to stop all communications for that booking. This only affects that one booking, not the customer's profile.
- If the booking has a **Deposit**, **Full Payment**, or **Pre-Authorisation** payment attached, you'll be asked to confirm or update the customer's email and phone number before saving. The **Send Email** and **Send SMS** buttons are disabled while this is ticked.
- You can turn this on or off after the booking's been created. If you turn it off on an existing booking, only future notifications (like reminders) will be sent.
### Booking Options
Services with Booking Options (including Additional Upsell Options) will prompt you to select what options apply to the booking. If you want to save the booking without any selected, use the toggle to disable.
### Saving the booking
Once all required fields are complete, select **Save**. The booking will appear in your Diary, showing its start and end time (end times aren't shown for bookings of 60 minutes or less).
- [Getting Started](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/getting-started?hsLang=en#main-content)
- [Organisation Settings](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/getting-started?hsLang=en#organisation-settings)
- [Venue Settings](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/getting-started?hsLang=en#venue-settings)
- [Customisation](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/getting-started?hsLang=en#customisation)
- [Today](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/getting-started?hsLang=en#today)
- [Venue](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/venue?hsLang=en#main-content)
- [Bookings](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/venue?hsLang=en#bookings)
- [Diary](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/venue?hsLang=en#diary)
- [Tables](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/venue?hsLang=en#tables)
- [Take Away](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/venue?hsLang=en#take-away)
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- [Gift Cards](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/payments-and-gift-cards?hsLang=en#gift-cards)
- [Payments](https://help.nowbookit.com/knowledge-base/payments-and-gift-cards?hsLang=en#payments)
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