Overlapping services, events and private functions

Your schedule can have services that start and end at the same time, or overlap each other while using the same sections. Events and private functions can also overlap your services and use the same sections.

How an overlap behaves depends on what's overlapping:

Private function - can overlap a service and an event running at the same time. A private function will prevent its sections from being assigned to another service or event.
Event - can overlap service times and other event times, but only if it's been given different sections to those already in use. This removes the section from the service, so only the event can use it during that time. If two events overlap and use different sections, you also can't close a section on one of them.
Service - can overlap and use the same sections as other services, and run for the same times as them.

Because of this, you'll need to either close a section or set it to not used to control whether it's available to other services, events or functions during the overlap.

Section statuses

Closed

On a service: the section is closed for that specific service only, but stays available elsewhere for other overlapping services, events or functions. Customers won't see the radio button for that service.
On an event: the section is closed at the top level, meaning it can't be used anywhere else for that time.

Not used

Selecting Not used means the section isn't used by that service or event, but stays available elsewhere for other overlapping services, events or functions - so the radio button will still show on the widget.
If a section isn't used by an event or another service, and it isn't closed on the service you don't want to offer, it will still be shown as available.

Note: the widget treats a section marked Not used as available for the radio button. So if you've only set a section aside for an event, once that event finishes, those times become available to book again on the widget.

The section not used exception

If you have two events running at the same time and date but using different sections, you can't close the sections they aren't using - you'll need to set these to Not used instead. Trying to close them will give you an "Error saving" message, as it overlaps another event.

Keep in mind that setting a section to Not used doesn't guarantee a service will show on the widget. If your two events, combined, completely overlap your services' running times and use up all the availability in that section, the service radio buttons will still be hidden - simply because there's no time or space left for a booking, not because of the status itself.

When will service radio buttons show on the widget?

A service's radio button shows on the widget when there's also an event running, if the section(s) are used by the service, or the same sections are set to Not used on the event. So if an event isn't using all the sections your services normally use, make sure the event has those sections set to Closed.
To hide all service radio buttons and show only your event(s), the event needs to overlap the full time your services run for, and use the same sections your services would normally use - effectively using the space on the event's behalf.
You don't need the event's booking times to start this early. For example, you can set the event's start time to 8am (to match your first service) but set the first booking time to 11am. This still hides the underlying services, even though the event's own bookings only open later.

Worked examples

Example 1: a single event covering all your services

To make sure only the event shows on the widget and all underlying service radio buttons are hidden, create one event that runs for the full combined time of all your services. For example, if Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner together run from 7:00am to 9:00pm, your event needs to cover that entire window.

Create the event and set its time to cover all underlying services (e.g. 7:00am - 9:00pm).
On the Sections & layouts tab, either:
a. Assign the event all the sections your services use, or
b. Set those sections to Closed on the event.
Save the event.

With this setup, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will no longer appear as options on the widget for that day - only the event will. If you instead set the event's sections to Not used, both the event and the underlying services will be shown together.

Example 2: two events, back-to-back

This works the same way when two events run one after another but together cover the full duration of your services. For example, "Party time" runs 7:00am - 5:00pm and "Cocktail evening" runs 5:00pm - 9:00pm, together covering the same 7:00am - 9:00pm window as your services.

Create both events with times that, combined, cover your full service window.
On both events, set any sections not being used by that event to Closed.
Save both events.

This hides the underlying services and leaves only the two events bookable. If you instead set the unused sections to Not used on either event, the underlying services will be shown as well.

Example 3: two events running at the same time

You can schedule two or more events at the same time, on the same day, as long as each uses a different section - two functions can't share a section in Now Book It if they're running at the same time and date.

Create both events for the same date and time.
Assign each event its own section(s), with no overlap between the two.
Save both events.

Note: because these events overlap each other, you can't set their unused sections to Closed - this will give you an error, as noted above. Use Not used instead.

If your services use the same sections as the events, and the events span the entire time of all your combined services, only the two events will be bookable on the widget - the services won't appear. If you'd like the underlying services to still show, give them a section that neither event is using - that section (and the service) will then still be available on the widget during the same time as your events.

Venues with a gap or break between services

If all your timeslots and sections are used by events, the underlying services won't show on the widget - even if there's a natural break between them, like the gap between Lunch ending and Dinner starting.

To keep this gap in place and still hide the underlying services, set your event's start time to line up with the start of the break - not the end of the previous service.

For example, if Lunch ends and there's a gap before Dinner starts, set your afternoon event to start at the beginning of that gap (e.g. 11:30am), even if its first booking time is later (e.g. 5:30pm). In the Diary, the first available timeslot for that event will still show as 5:30pm.

Note: if you instead set the event's start time to match its first booking time (e.g. 5:30pm), Now Book It will treat the earlier gap as free time. This means the underlying services' radio buttons will reappear on the widget, even though there may not be any timeslots actually available to book.

Good to know

Services can always share the same sections and times as each other - there's no restriction between services.
Events need their own sections when overlapping a service or another event, unless you're deliberately hiding the service.
Private functions always block their sections from being used elsewhere for the time they're running.
When in doubt: use Closed to fully block a section from being used elsewhere, and Not used to free it up for other services, events or functions during that time.