---
title: Online booking — turning it on and controlling what clients can book
slug: online-booking-setup
category: Appointments & Scheduling
url: https://alaga.io/help/article/online-booking-setup
audiences: business_owner, manager
updated: 2026-09-05
source: Alaga Help Center
---

# Online booking — turning it on and controlling what clients can book
Sidebar: **Customer Portal**. Your booking address is on that page.

**There is no "enable online booking" switch, and you do not need to look for one.** Your portal is live from the moment your account exists. What clients can actually book follows from how you have set the business up.

## What decides whether clients can book

- **Appointments** become bookable when you have at least one **active service that is not an add-on**. One active service is enough; no services means the booking page has nothing to offer and says so.
- **Boarding** becomes bookable when you have active **boarding capacity** configured.
- **Daycare** becomes bookable when you have active **daycare capacity** configured.

Capacity, not your business type, is the signal. A groomer who later adds kennel runs starts taking boarding bookings the moment that capacity exists — and a business registered as a kennel that never configured capacity cannot take a reservation at all, whatever its type says.

That is the answer to most "why can't my clients book boarding" questions: set up your runs under **Facility Settings** first.

## Controlling what appears

You control the booking page through your catalog, not through booking settings:

- **Deactivate a service** and it stops being bookable online. This is how you keep a service you offer by arrangement — a puppy first groom, or anything needing a conversation first — off the public page while still being able to book it yourself from the dashboard.
- **Add-ons are not independently bookable.** They attach to a main service, which is what makes a nail trim an extra rather than a standalone booking.
- **Prices and durations shown come from the service**, so fix them in **Services** rather than looking for a separate booking price.

Staff booking from inside the dashboard is never restricted by any of this. You can always fit someone in.

## Requiring a deposit

Set deposits under **Business Settings → Payment Settings → Booking Policies**. A deposit is taken when the client books and comes off the final bill.

Deposits are the most effective control you have over speculative bookings. They are also the one most likely to reduce booking volume, so introduce them deliberately rather than by default.

## Vaccination requirements

If a pet's vaccinations are missing or expired, the booking page shows the client a notice and will not let them complete a self-booking until it is sorted. Your team can still book that pet from the dashboard.

This is worth knowing before you chase a client who says the site will not let them book — check the pet's Health tab first.

## Sharing the link

Your booking address is on **Customer Portal** and looks like `alaga.io/b/YOURCODE`. Put it in:

- Your website's Book Now button
- Your email signature
- Your social profiles
- Your voicemail greeting, spelled out

A booking page nobody can find takes no bookings, and this is the single most common reason a new account sees none.

## Checking it works

Open your booking address in a private browsing window, where you are not signed in, and walk through a booking as a client would. That is the only way to see what they see. Cancel the test booking afterwards from the calendar.