Scheduling & booking
A scheduling request is the link you send to an invitee so they can book time with you based on your real availability. This article covers creating and editing requests, how available time slots are worked out, using templates to speed up repeat bookings, and setting up public links.
What is a scheduling request?
At its core, a scheduling request is a link you generate and send to your invitee, they then can choose a time to book based on what you offered.
You can choose when, what times and who you would like to participate.
With Cronofy you can schedule your own appointments as a host, or act as a coordinator to manage scheduling for others, maximizing your team's time and productivity.
How do I create a scheduling request?
You can start by opening your cronofy extension, the overview in your dashboard or your integration icon, then you click on the create a new request .
Choose if you want to create a single event or a multi-event link. Multi-events are not enabled by default, you can request them through our support.
Single events: One link for one event to be booked.
Multi event: One link for up to five events to be booked.
We recommend you create your first link using guided mode that will teach you the basics of creating a scheduling request. You can toggle this anytime on or off by using the slider.
Next, you are going to pick the events participants.
Who can you schedule for?
After selecting the event type, it's time to choose the participants. WHO are you creating the request for and who should participate?
Generally you need a HOST that offers time and an INVITEE that will pick the time. Attendees are optional. Simply paste or type their emails in the field to add them. You can also add a selection rule as a host or attendee.
Schedule as option appears if you have multiple OUs in Cronofy, you can then switch between OUs from there, matching therefore any branding you have setup.
You can schedule for yourself or click on the turning arrow icon and schedule for someone else in your organization. Other attendees can have their calendars synced as well, if they are in the same OU as you.
You always can hover over the ? icon to get more information about what each field in a request means.
Synced Calendars: The green calendar icon next to someones name indicates that the calendar is synced and their availability is being taken into account.
Ignore availability: this is if you want us to ignore all events on someone's calendar, giving the ability to schedule over other events. Hover over a participant's calendar icon and select the option; the calendar icon will then be grayed out. This only works for users in your Cronofy OU.
What type of availability can I share?
Finally you choose the time you would like to offer, this will be based on your needs and the type of event you want to have. They are broken down to:
- Availability preferences: these are based on the preferences you have set in your account and are available as:
- Working hours or Interview times
- Custom hours: are time-blocks you can choose in the availability preview to green to make them available.
- Specific slots: as the name suggest these are specific time slots you can offer to invitees.
Offer slots during selected times, is an option offered with custom hours and specific slots and you will be able to choose from:
Only when I'm free: Cronofy will only book free slots in you calendar.
Whether I'm busy or not: we will book over busy slots in your calendar, except other Cronofy created events.
You can allow the invitee to reschedule the event by revisiting the scheduling link.
Can I edit a scheduling request once it's created?
You can now edit a request by following these steps:
- Go into the Cronofy dashboard.
- Select the Requests tab from the left hand menu.
- Click on any scheduled request to open it.
- You can edit the request by clicking the pencil icon next to the request.
- Remember to click Save once done. After this the calendar invite(s) will be updated.
❗ Please note that the title of a separate invite for an invitee cannot be updated yet. So if the old host name is in the title, it is better to cancel and create a new request with the new host.
Editing the title, event description, date/time
You can edit any of these fields on the page and save them directly on the page. The changes will be pushed to the calendar events.
Who can edit?
- The creator of the request and the person the request was scheduled on behalf of.
- Scheduler admin and owner: edit any event.
Any preferences such as limits, buffers, or working hours are not taken into account when editing the date and/or time.
How do I create a scheduling request the easiest?
- Templates are a great way to standardize your invites. They act as scheduling rules that you can reuse to schedule a high volume of similar events in one go.
After you create a template you can use it multiple times or make a unique public link. More information you can find in the Templates Article.
- After you have created more scheduling requests, they will be saved for you, for up to 10 recent requests. These saved requests can be reused for scheduling recurring or similar interviews, allowing you to have the following fields pre-filled:
- Host of the meeting
- Event details: title, location, duration, and calendar invite text
- Tags: if interviewer limits are set up
- Custom hours or specific time slots you previously selected.
- Rescheduling option: whether the "Allow Rescheduling" checkbox is enabled or disabled
You can access the 10 most recent scheduling requests you created. Simply select one, and we’ll copy all its details into your new request, saving you time and effort.
Can I attach files to a scheduling request?
Yes — you can attach a file to a request if your invitee needs to review something ahead of the event, such as an agenda, briefing document, or CV. You can attach up to 5 files per request.
Can I create a scheduling request for someone else without being part of the meeting?
Yes, using Schedule On Behalf Of. Click the swap icon on the request form to change the host to another member of your Organizational Unit — their availability is used for the request and they'll have full ownership of the calendar event once it's booked. You can only do this for people in your own Organizational Unit.
As the coordinator, you'll still be notified by Cronofy if the event is moved or canceled, even though you're not an attendee. This is controlled by the “Availability Sharing” and “Schedule on Behalf of One Another” options in your OU's Scheduling settings, both on by default.
How do I schedule from my browser extension?
Our web extension enables you to easily create a request from any browser tab. It works with our ATS integrations and automatically detects the invitee's email.
Available for:
Click the links above to install the extension on your browser. If your IT department manages extensions, admin approval may be required.
Once installed, sign in to the extension as you would for your account. This only needs to be done once.
How do I schedule with an integration?
Depending on the integration, we recommend you visit the integrations page for detailed steps.
How can I instantly schedule a meeting with an invitee?
Book now is a feature that lets you instantly book a meeting for someone when you need to without needing an invitee to choose a slot. You create a scheduling request as usual and then select your preferred slot to instantly book the meeting.
To enable this feature in your OU you need to head to your OU's Settings and the Scheduling Tab. Scroll down until you find Show Book Now button checkbox, then click save.
You will now have the button show up when creating a new request on the bottom of the page.
Which apps does the browser extension auto-fill invitee details on?
Our browser extension automatically detects and fills in your invitee's name and email address when you open it inside certain apps, saving you from retyping their details. We're working on rolling this out to more email providers, but it currently works on Gmail, HubSpot, and Zendesk.
What decides what slots are offered in a booking link?
Your calendar availability is the most important factor in a slot offering. Other than that you need to check your preferences (buffers, minimum notice, etc). If you included people from your Cronofy OU then their availability will also be taken to account.
How can I extend or offer more slots?
You can make sure that you maintain good calendar hygiene. Remove any unwanted busy events. Check your preferences to see if you are offering enough times and if buffers and minimum notice make sense. Lastly you can choose, to override or ignore availability.
"No more slots available" is displayed, what now?
If you are the host, check that you have offered the correct times and that your calendar is indeed free then. Make sure you have selected your timezone correctly as well.
If you are an invitee and get this message it means that the host doesn’t have any more times to offer you. You need to reach out directly to them, so that they amend the offered time range.
How far in advance can I offer Custom hours or Specific slots?
With Custom hours and Specific slots, you can offer times up to 6 months in advance, and share a window of up to 35 days at a time. This gives you more control than the standard Working hours option if you want to plan further ahead.
How do I create templates?
To create a template you need to click your OU on the left-hand panel and select Scheduling and then the Templates tab.
- (Name of your OU) Settings -> Scheduling -> Templates.
From here you can see and edit your already created templates or click on the Create template to get started and name your new template.
Now that you have created the template you will be taken to the page to fill out any information. You can start from the name.
Template types: there are three types of templates you can select from, depending on how you intend to use them. The main thing to remember here is that only Scheduling Request type can have no host. We will look further into why below.
A host can be set pre-selected here as an individual user or a selection rule with multiple people. You need to set them up beforehand or you can click create selection rule right there, more info here.
The rest of the template is set up pretty much the same way a scheduling request is, and includes the additional information prompts at the end for Public link conversion.
What are the template types?
There are three template types:
Public links: this will always require an individual host and/or selection rule(s) and can be used to send to a bulk of people. E.g. for sourcing.
Scheduler requests: this is the standard template you can use to get details for specific meeting types pre-filled in the request form where you create a link.
Scheduling triggers: this will require an individual host and/or selection rule(s) and can be used in stage transition automation with your ATS integration (SmartRecruiters, Greenhouse, Lever, SAP).
How do I edit or delete templates?
To edit an already created Template, go to the Templates tab and click Edit Template.
You can also now simply click the public link icon next to the template to instantly copy the link to your clipboard.
You always need to save so that the changes you've made will apply. Any issues or conflicts will be displayed after clicking save on the top of the page. If you have any issues please reach out to our Support.
Delete Templates
You can delete any template by clicking edit as explained above and scrolling to the bottom and click "DELETE".
How can I use templates with integrations?
Some integrations can use templates, you can visit the Integrations page for more.
Can I use placeholders for my templates?
You can use placeholders now in both titles and descriptions on all scheduling requests, but templates use this feature best.
Placeholders will automatically populate information in a request like host name, attendee name, organization name and more. Always ensuring that the events have the necessary information at a glance (in titles) or a customized description, for a personalized candidate experience.
To insert a placeholder simply click the button as shown on the right side screenshot or type the { symbol and then choosing the desired placeholder. To remove a placeholder simply use the backspace <- to delete the text.
Can I schedule a series of back-to-back events with one link?
Yes, using Sequence Templates. A Sequence Template chains together your existing Templates as steps in a sequence — for example, scheduling a coding interview and an engineering interview back-to-back for the same candidate.
Steps can be ordered, meaning each one must happen in a set sequence, or unordered, meaning they can happen in any order relative to each other.
Create one from (Your OU) Settings → Scheduling → Templates, scroll to Sequence Templates, and select “Create New Sequence Template.” Your invitee then books the whole block of times in one go.
What is a Public Link?
A Public link is a generated link that allows anyone to book an event with you according to your preferences in Cronofy. Anyone visiting the link will be able to book a slot with you and can be required to enter their details before their meeting is scheduled.
You can add this link anywhere, as a hyperlink within an email signature for example, this is perfect if you need to reuse it for multiple bookings.
Where do I find and how do I set up my public link?
When you sign up with Cronofy, your account will auto generate a public link that is only shared with you.
This link can be found on your main page and can be edited in preferences.
Navigate to the public link tab and edit the required field.
Preferences > Public Link
You can edit:
- Primary Organization Unit: This will determine the branding of your Public Link. If you have multiple Organizational Units (OUs), please ensure you select the correct one.
- Data Capture: You can have users provide their phone number and email before completing a booking and you can specify whether these fields are required, optional, or hidden. Additionally, you can set up an Additional Information prompt if you need to collect more specific details.
Please note, the “Additional Information” prompt will be limited to 128 characters and your attendee’s response to 360 characters. That includes spaces.
You can also include your branding in your public link.
Can I have a custom public link?
You can create a custom public link by generating it from a template. Simply head to Scheduling -> Templates and when creating the template, make sure the public link option is ticked. It's important to know that a public link always requires a host to work.
After creating the template you can copy its public link from the templates overview, by clicking the templates icon.
