How 10Seat decides which times guests can book

Included in all packages (pacing, order priority and Capacity Booster are add-ons)BackofficeFor managers

Needs: Any staff user can read this; changing the settings needs Owner or Admin (see each linked article)

The booking widget only offers a time when every rule below allows it. Use this checklist when a guest says "I can't book at 19:30" or the widget shows no times at all. Your team can still book any time manually from the Host App: most of these rules apply to online booking only.

Where to find it

The rules live in several places:

  • Backoffice › Settings › Location hours and shifts (shifts)
  • Backoffice › Planning › Service Calendar (single dates, holidays, widget active dates)
  • Backoffice › Planning › Booking Rules (booking window, cut-offs, durations, table release)
  • Backoffice › Settings › Widget Management › Booking Rules tab (party sizes, time slot interval, guest limits per service, closed slots)
  • Backoffice › Table Management (tables, table groups, online-bookable tables)
  • Backoffice › Planning › Pacing (only with the Pacing Management add-on)

What it does

10Seat checks a date and time in this order. If any step says no, the time is not offered.

  1. Date is in range. The date can't be in the past or beyond the booking window (60 days by default). If you set Widget Reservation Active Dates, dates outside that range are also blocked.
  2. The day is open. A day override can close the day or set it to Closed for Reservations (waitlist only). Without an override, the weekday's opening hours apply. A weekday with no shifts is closed.
  3. The shift produces times. Times run from the shift's start, one step per time slot interval (30 minutes by default), and stop before the shift's closing time. If you set a Last Booking Slot Time, no time after it is offered. Slots you closed are removed.
  4. Cut-offs. For today (or the day before, if you use "Day before at time"), the booking cut-off removes times or the whole shift. A time that has already started is never offered.
  5. A table fits for the whole duration. The booking duration comes from your duration rules. 10Seat looks for one free table that fits the party, or a free combination from a table group. Only tables marked as online bookable (auto-assignable) count, and only tables that are released online (table release rules), open that day (section and table closures), and visible in that day's floor plan version.
  6. Limits. Pacing (arrivals per slot), online caps per party size, "Max guests at the same time" and "Max guests per service in total" can each close a time. The strictest limit wins.
  7. Experiences. If the guest picked an experience, its own days, shifts, hours, fixed start times, party sizes, areas and duration also apply.

In tableless mode (beta), step 5 is skipped and the guest limits per service decide instead.

Good to know

  • Party sizes are limited by Minimum Party Size and Maximum Party Size in the widget settings. Larger groups can use the bigger group request form if you switch it on.
  • Every online booking is checked again at the moment the guest confirms it, so a time that filled up a second ago is refused instead of double-booked.
  • After you change a setting, the widget's availability is refreshed in the background. See the "Updating booking widget availability" article.

Troubleshooting

The widget shows no times on any day Usually no shifts are set up, or no table is online bookable. Check Settings › Location hours and shifts, then Table Management › Capacity Planning › Online Reservable. Also check the booking window and Widget Reservation Active Dates.

One day shows as closed Open the day in Planning › Service Calendar. Look for a holiday, "Closed" or "Closed for Reservations" status, or a closed shift.

Later times today disappeared A booking cut-off or Last Booking Slot Time has passed. See "Set booking cut-offs and the last booking time".

Small parties can book but large parties can't No single table seats them and no table group combines enough tables, or the table type rules, section closures or "Max guests at the same time" block the party. See "Combine tables for larger parties".

A time is free on the floor plan but not in the widget The free table may not be online bookable, may be held back by a table release rule, or the booking's duration overlaps the next reservation on that table. A pacing limit or a guest limit per service can also close the time.