rdev-calendar

Professional booking calendar for WordPress with availability management, temporary holds, booking requests, admin approval workflow, and email notifications.

Description

rdev-calendar is a standalone WordPress booking calendar designed for service businesses (photo/video events, sessions, appointments, etc.).

PHP compatibility: 7.1 or newer.

Main capabilities:

• Visual availability calendar with statuses (available, tentative, booked)
• Frontend booking form for available days only
• Temporary hold logic (configurable hold duration in minutes)
• Automatic hold expiration cleanup (WP-Cron + traffic fallback)
• Booking requests stored in wp-admin as a custom post type
• Approve / Reject actions for each booking request
• Optional client emails:
  • after initial booking request
  • when hold expires
• Configurable frontend style presets:
  • theme presets
  • background styles
  • font presets
• No ACF Pro required

Booking status state machine

Request statuses:

• hold
• approved
• rejected
• released
• expired

Allowed transitions:

• hold -> approved
• hold -> rejected
• hold -> expired
• approved -> released
• rejected -> approved
• expired -> approved
• released -> approved

Reference:

• See STATE_MACHINE.md in plugin root for full details.

Installation

1. Upload the rdev-calendar plugin folder to /wp-content/plugins/.
2. Activate the plugin in Plugins > Installed Plugins.
3. Go to Calendars and create a new calendar.
4. Configure settings and availability.
5. Save the calendar and copy the shortcode shown in the admin notice.

Usage

Shortcode:

[rdev_calendar id="123"]

Alias:

[rdev_booking_calendar id="123"]

Replace 123 with your calendar post ID.

Booking Workflow

1. Visitor clicks an available day and submits the booking form.
2. A booking request is created in Booking Requests.
3. The selected day becomes tentative (hold active).
4. Admin can:
   • Approve -> day changes to booked
   • Reject -> day returns to available
5. If not approved in time, hold expires automatically and day returns to available.

Security

The plugin includes:

• Nonce validation for form submission and admin actions
• Honeypot anti-spam field
• Input sanitization/validation for all submitted fields
• Capability checks for admin-only actions

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it require ACF Pro?

No. The plugin is fully standalone.

Will expired holds clear automatically?

Yes. Cleanup runs via WP-Cron and also has a fallback trigger on regular traffic.

Can I change hold duration?

Yes. Set it per calendar in minutes in calendar settings.

Can I customize labels and email texts?

Yes. Most form labels, notices, and email templates are editable in calendar settings.

Changelog

1.0.0

Initial public release.

Highlights:

• Booking workflow with temporary hold, approve/reject, release, and expiration cleanup.
• Hybrid date/time availability model:
  • default hours
  • per-date hour overrides
  • full-day mode and per-day mode overrides
• Slot-level reservation consistency (hold/booked), including server-side conflict validation.
• Frontend privacy model: public view shows only Available / Unavailable statuses.
• Frontend booking constraints:
  • past date/time blocking
  • lead time (hours)
  • time buffer (minutes)
• Admin availability manager with time preview, date locks, and safer slot remove behavior.
• Automatic historical data retention cleanup (configurable in days).
• Configurable client email templates and toggles (initial/expired/approved/rejected).
• Responsive, sectioned admin settings layout.