Booking calendar plug-in suggestions?

[Wirebird]

Hello, I have been looking for a user-friendly booking calendar plugin for a long time. I'd prefer one that takes payments through PayPal if possible.

There are ongoing discussions in various places - including the Gravity Forms and WooCommerce forums - about this topic but there doesn't seem to be any kind of real, practical solution.

Can anyone recommend a booking calendar they have used and like? I'm currently building a site for a bed and breakfast and need a solution.

Thanks!

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Sara @ Wirebird Media – WordPress and Genesis web developer based in Bend, Oregon

[nutsandbolts]

I have purchased and/or downloaded dozens of booking plugins and have never found one that really did what I needed it to do. I'm basically responding so I can be notified of other responses - I keep hoping someone will come up with a solution I haven't tried yet!

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Andrea Whitmer, Owner/Developer, Nuts and Bolts Media
I provide development and training services for designers • Find me on Twitter and Google+

[Summer]

I've been researching this for over 6 months, in preparation for updating 2 hospitality websites myself, and WordPress based solutions are stunning in how much they lack in quality, in ease of use and in general, just plain working.

There's a thread in the Gravity Forms forums that's been lamenting about a booking option that was initally hinted at over 3 years ago. There are prmuim options on Code Canyon, but nothing that truly fits the bill, and there are a few premium themes with built-in options, but I truly don't want to be tied down to that option forever either.

So instead, we're going 3rd party, with a service called Availability Online.

If someone serious ever created a well-built WP plugin for hospitality bookings, they would make several fortunes, given how long how many people have been searching for this solution. Every few months I see people posting freelance coding jobs on various sites, asking for coders to make them a booking plugin/solution for WordPress. I'm guessing there have never been any successful takers, since we've never seen anything awesome come out yet.

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WordPress / Genesis Site Design & Troubleshooting: A Touch of Summer | @SummerWebDesign
Slice of SciFi | Writers, After Dark

[nutsandbolts]

I emailed Andrew Norcross over the weekend - he asked me for some feedback on what I'd be looking for in an appointment scheduling plugin (which I think can and should be separate from reservations). His company, Reaktiv Studios, has created several plugins, including the new Genesis Design Palette Pro. So you guys might reach out to him with your suggestions as well - I'm sure he wouldn't mind hearing from others who desperately need this kind of functionality.

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Andrea Whitmer, Owner/Developer, Nuts and Bolts Media
I provide development and training services for designers • Find me on Twitter and Google+

[Summer]

Definitely, appointments should be an entirely separate plugin from reservation bookings. WPMU has a good start with Appointments+, but it's needed a few issues ironed out for a while now, otherwise it'd be perfect.

Wonder how Andrew'd react to a handful of people saying that you sent us to him with suggestions for a new project? 😉

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WordPress / Genesis Site Design & Troubleshooting: A Touch of Summer | @SummerWebDesign
Slice of SciFi | Writers, After Dark

[nutsandbolts]

Honestly I think he'd be glad for more input since only a handful of people will see this thread. Or he may fly down here and strangle me, which would be okay too as long as he gets the plugin done first! 😀

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Andrea Whitmer, Owner/Developer, Nuts and Bolts Media
I provide development and training services for designers • Find me on Twitter and Google+

[eamonmoriarty]

I have installed Booking System PRO WordPress Plugin on a website I am developing. It seems to have all the functionality I require for booking accommodation etc. The site is not yet live so it remains to be seen how it works for real but I am hopeful.

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Eamon Moriarty
EM Dzine

[Wirebird]

Thanks all. I've been looking at Booking System Pro for a while now but am a bit wary of Code Canyon plugins as I've read a couple of horror stories about developers selling half-baked solutions and then not supporting them.

Since this seems to be an area of high demand, I'm particularly wary as I think a truly solid booking/appointment plugin would have people flocking to it!

Maybe Andrew or someone else will take this on...

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Sara @ Wirebird Media – WordPress and Genesis web developer based in Bend, Oregon

[nutsandbolts]

I own Booking System Pro and found it to be extremely buggy. Actually, I've purchased several booking plugins from Code Canyon and none of them worked well. There are good plugins to be found there, but since anyone can stick anything up for sale, it's hard to know what you're getting. If I had back all the money I spent on plugins that didn't work, I could probably take a vacation or two!

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Andrea Whitmer, Owner/Developer, Nuts and Bolts Media
I provide development and training services for designers • Find me on Twitter and Google+

[Wirebird]

Thank you Andrea for confirming my worst suspicions (and saving me $!). I'm sorry you've lost so much.

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Sara @ Wirebird Media – WordPress and Genesis web developer based in Bend, Oregon

[nutsandbolts]

Meh, it's just an occupational hazard. 🙂

I did have *some* luck with a script from PHP Jabbers - it was a pain to get it set up, but I used it for awhile and the payment piece worked correctly. They have one for appointments and one for reservations I think. So that might be worth a look. I ended up taking it off the site because it conflicted with a plugin I needed, but it worked okay until then.

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Andrea Whitmer, Owner/Developer, Nuts and Bolts Media
I provide development and training services for designers • Find me on Twitter and Google+

[Summer]

Just as an update, Availability Online turned out to be lacking a few key features, and while they said they had plans for adding one of them, there was no ETA since they hadn't gotten to the drawing board with them yet.

So we're going with Sirvoy instead. The actually have a WordPress plugin and widget that connects with their system, so I'll be playing with that soon... we'll see how it goes.

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WordPress / Genesis Site Design & Troubleshooting: A Touch of Summer | @SummerWebDesign
Slice of SciFi | Writers, After Dark

[eamonmoriarty]

Has anyone here any experience of the Booking plugin from templatic.com? I have played around with the demo and it looks OK.

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Eamon Moriarty
EM Dzine

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