# Dates and Availability

Section: Events · Page: https://artsvp.com/docs/events/dates-and-availability

(Plans: All plans)

Availability answers two questions for every event: when can guests come, and
how many places are there? You set it in the create-event wizard's Basics &
Schedule step, and change it any time under the event's **Settings** →
**Availability** tab, the same controls in both places.

## The three schedule formats

The choice that shapes everything else is which of the three formats fits the
occasion:

| Format | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| **Single Slot** | One continuous booking window with a start and end. | An opening night, a one-off talk |
| **Daily Slots** | One bookable option for each day in a date range, with default opening and closing times you can adjust per day. | Exhibition runs, fair days |
| **Custom Slots** | You build each bookable option yourself, one row per slot. | Timed entry, appointments, tours |

One thing to be aware of with Custom Slots: each row must have a unique start
date and start time on this event. If you see *"Two slots can't start at the
same time on the same day"*, it means two rows on this event share the same
start, it is not a conflict with other events. Edit your slots under
**Settings** → **Availability**, or in the create-event wizard's Basics &
Schedule step.

### Building a run of hourly slots

There is no bulk generator, but you can build a sequence quickly. Enter your
first slot, then keep clicking **Add slot**: each new row copies the previous
row's date, starts where it ended, and ends 60 minutes later (capped at 23:59).
If the previous row has no end time, the new row keeps the previous date but
falls back to 10:00 to 11:00, so adjust its times before saving. Check each row
as you go, then click **Save availability** on the Availability tab, or
**Next** in the wizard.

Every event has a time zone. It defaults from the venue and can be changed on
the Availability tab.

One thing to be aware of: a booking window cannot end at midnight. An end time
of *"00:00"* is read as the start of the same day and produces no bookable
slots, use *"23:59"* instead.

A slot stays bookable until it ends, not merely until it starts. Guests can
still take a *"12:00"* place at *"12:30"* if that slot runs until *"13:00"*.
Once it has ended, it leaves the booking page.

## Capacity

With **Limit Capacity** off, places are unlimited: guests are only limited by
any per-ticket quantity you set. Switch it on and two controls appear:

- **Capacity per Slot**: how many guests each slot can take.
- **Max per booking**: how many places one booking may take, up to 100 (100 is
  also the "no limit" value).

Capacity applies per slot, so a Daily Slots event with capacity 200 admits up to
200 guests each day. **Capacity per Slot** is a single number that applies to
every slot on the event; Custom Slots rows do not have their own capacity
fields. For per-ticket limits (a ticket's total quantity across the event, or
its minimum and maximum per booking) see
[Tickets and pricing](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/tickets-and-pricing).

One thing to be aware of: if different options need different limits (for
example, two panels with separate seating), create a ticket type per option with
its own **Total quantity**: that limit applies across all slots in the event.
Alternatively, run separate events.

## When the event is full

An event is fully booked when no open slot has room for the smallest booking
the tickets still on sale allow, or when every active ticket has a **Total
quantity** and all of them are gone. A ticket with a blank **Total quantity**
never runs out. A leftover place smaller than that booking counts as full. A
pair ticket (**Guests per ticket** of 2) cannot take a single leftover
place, even when **Min per booking** is 1. Tickets whose **Total quantity** is
gone no longer set the minimum. **Limit Capacity** can be off and the event
still fills through ticket quantities.

The booking page then shows your **Sold Out Message**. With **Enable Waitlist**
on (see [Booking settings](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/booking-settings)), guests see
**FULLY BOOKED** and can queue for a place instead.

On a [collection page](https://artsvp.com/docs/collections/collection-pages#fully-booked-events),
a full event stays listed and is tagged **Fully Booked** or **Waitlist**.

## Display formats

At the bottom of the Availability tab you control how dates and times appear on
your booking page, emails, and tickets. Two controls shape the public wording
to match your house style:

| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| **Date Format** | *DD-MM-YYYY*, *MM-DD-YYYY*, *YYYY-MM-DD* |
| **Time Format** | *24 hour*, *12 hour*, *Do not display times* |

When **Time Format** is set to *12 hour*, times appear in lowercase am/pm
notation (e.g. *2:00pm*, *10:30am*). The *24 hour* format shows *14:00* and
*10:30*. *Do not display times* hides times entirely, showing only the date.

Each event stores its own **Date Format** and **Time Format**. When you create
a new event, it inherits your organisation's defaults, which you set under
**Settings** → **Info** in the **Event defaults** section: **Default time
format** and **Default date format**. Events created before you changed a
default keep the format they were created with.

> **Tip:** If some events show am/pm after their times and others do not, open
> each event's **Settings** → **Availability** tab and set **Time Format** to
> the style you want. To have all new events match, update your organisation's
> defaults under **Settings** → **Info**.

Slots on the booking page show start times only; if guests need to know when a
slot ends, add that information in the Event Information field under
**Settings** → **Details**.

## Editing a live event

Edits on the Availability tab apply to the live event when you click
**Save availability**. Changing the schedule updates what new guests can book;
existing bookings keep their original times. Reducing capacity below what is
already booked does not cancel anyone. Guests are not notified automatically.

### Changing the time zone

If the event already has bookings, changing **Time zone** and clicking
**Save availability** opens **Update existing bookings?**

| Choice | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Save and update bookings** | Bookings move to the same clock time in the new zone. A *7:00pm* booking stays *7:00pm*, so tickets still match the slots. |
| **Save without updating** | Bookings stay at the moment they were made. Their displayed time may change, and may no longer match the slots. |
| **Cancel** | Nothing is saved. |

One thing to be aware of: guests are not notified either way. If you move the
bookings, tell anyone who already holds a ticket.

A venue's **Time Zone** is edited from **Settings** → **Details** →
**Edit location**. That change reaches only events that still inherit the
venue's zone. Events with their own time zone are unaffected. When the
inheriting events have bookings, the same **Update existing bookings?**
choice appears.

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Keep reading: [Creating events](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/creating-events) ·
[Tickets and pricing](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/tickets-and-pricing) ·
[Booking settings](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/booking-settings) ·
[Collection pages](https://artsvp.com/docs/collections/collection-pages#fully-booked-events)

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