The purpose of this article is to help you understand: 

  • Reasons why a booking form is not behaving as expected
  • How to correct common form issues

 

Why is my booking form not working? 

Based on previous issues others faced with their forms, we put together a guide to help you solve the problem(s) you are experiencing.  

 

General Loading Issues

  • "I made some changes and when I went to view my booking form, things were missing on the form (such as frequencies, service categories, packages, etc)."
  • "I went to view my form and see a blank/white screen."
  • "I went to view my form and the screen didn't load."

The most common reason why forms will not load is due to server speed, causing the page to "time out".  This can be fixed by refreshing the page. If you are still having difficulties, you can also try logging out and back in, or clearing your browser's cache.

  1. Refresh the window/tab. There are a few different ways to do this depending on your device and browser type.
    • Press Command + R simultaneously (for Mac devices)
    • Press CTRL + R simultaneously (in most web browsers) 
    • Press the F5 key (for Windows PCs)
    • Press CTRL + F5 simultaneously (for Windows laptops)
    • Press fN + 5 simultaneously (keyboards without the F5 key)

  2. Log out and back in again.
    1. Click on your name in the top right corner of your dashboard. 
    2. Select "Logout" at the bottom of the drop-down menu.
    3. Close the window or tab.  Be sure to exit any additional tabs or windows you have open that are associated with your account.
    4. Open a new tab or window in your browser.
    5. Log back into your admin dashboard.
      • Click here to learn how to log into your account. 

  3. Clear the browser's cache.  Sometimes, your cache will try to show you an older version of your site and forms. Please note it can take up to a minute or two for your browser to clear the cache.  

    1. Chrome
      1. Click the "three dots" menu icon at the top right corner of the page.
      2. Select More Tools > Clear browsing data. 
      3. Check the boxes next to "Browsing History", "Cookies", and "Cached images and files".  
      4. For the time range, we recommend selecting "All time".
      5. Click the "Clear Data" button at the bottom of the pop-up.  

    2. Safari
      1. Go to Settings > Safari > Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data.
      2. Click "Clear Website History".
      3. Select your BookingKoala domain if it is listed, then click Remove.
      4. If you want to remove all website data from Safari, you can click Remove All instead.

    3. Microsoft Edge
      1. Click on the "hamburger" menu icon.
      2. Go to Settings > Settings > Privacy > Privacy, Search, and Services > Clear Browsing Data.
      3. Click "Choose What To Clear".
      4. Check the boxes next to "Browsing History" and "Cookies".
      5. For the time range, we recommend selecting "All time".
      6. Click on the "Clear Now" button at the bottom of the page.  

    4. Firefox
      1. Click on the "hamburger" menu icon.
      2. Go to Options > Privacy & Security.
      3. Scroll down to the "History" section and click the "Clear History" button.  

    5. Opera
      1. Click on the "clock" icon in the left sidebar.
      2. Click on the "Clear Browsing Data" button.
      3. Check the boxes next to "Browsing History", "Cookies", and "Cached images and files".  
      4. We recommend selecting "All time" for the time range.
      5. Click the "Clear Data" button at the bottom of the pop-up.  

If your browser is not listed here, please search the internet using the phrase "[Browser Name] clear browsing data".

 

Missing Forms and Industries

  • "My booking page says 'Under Maintenance'."
  • "I added a second form but it is missing from the 'Book now' page."
  • "An entire industry is missing from the booking form." 

If your form shows an "Under Maintenance" message, it is most likely in test mode. Test mode can be turned off in the form's settings section.  If the form is not displaying at all, you may have not finished setting up a form combination.  If an entire industry is missing, the industry has likely been disabled for customers or disabled for all users. 

  1. Disable test mode. Your form can go into "test" mode so it will not display on the front end of your website.  If this option was enabled by mistake, you could easily disable it under the form's settings.

    1. Go to Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Settings > Form Settings.
    2. Look for any forms that say "Test" under the "status" column.  
    3. To update the form to "Live" mode, select "Options" then "Edit" to view the form's settings.
    4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and look for the "Form Status" toggle button.
    5. Click the button to change it from "Disabled" to "Enabled".  
    6. Click the blue "Save" button at the bottom of the page to update your form.

  2. Add/finish setting up a form combination.  If you have more than one booking form added to an industry, only the default form will be shown.  This can be remedied by creating a form combination.  If you started setting up a form combination but have not selected options for each form, this will also lead to one or more forms being hidden.

    1. Go to Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Settings > Add/Combine Form. 
    2. If you see a single tab on this page that says "Combine 2 Forms", you will need to create a new combination.  Click here to learn how to combine two or more forms.  
    3. If you already have a form combination, click the "View All Combinations" tab.
    4. Select "Options" then "Edit" next to the combination.  
    5. Look under each option and make sure that the missing form is selected for at least one of these options.
    6. If the form has not been selected anywhere, click the bullet icon next to the missing form to select it for an option.  You can also click the blue "Add Option" button if you have 3+ forms. 
    7. Once you are finished making changes, click the blue "Update" button at the bottom of this section.  

  3. Enable the industry's status.  If an entire industry is missing, it has likely been disabled for customers or all users.  You can enable it again by going to the "Add/Delete Industry" section.  

    1. Go to Settings > Industries > Add/Delete Industries.
    2. Click on the "Added Industries" tab at the top of the page.
    3. Look for the missing industry and check the "Customer Status" and/or "Status" columns to see if one or both say "Disabled".  
    4. To enable the industry, click the toggle button(s) to change them from "Disabled" to "Enabled".  

 

Missing Sections or Services

  • "My form is missing an entire section (such as frequencies, service categories, packages, etc)."
  • "My form is missing one or more options under a section."
  • "Customers cannot see my service options even though I can see them on the admin-end."
  • "Whenever a customer tries to book they see the message 'Either a service category, frequency, location, package, or variable is missing from the form. Please check your industry settings to continue."

If you are missing sections or options for your form, they may not have been added, or the "display to" settings have been disabled for customers.   Certain sections require at least one option for the form to function correctly.  There are a few places you can check to resolve these issues.

  1. A section is missing an option. Every form needs at least one option saved under the frequency, service category, and pricing sections (variables parameters, packages, items, etc).  If you have locations enabled, you must also have at least one location added to this section. 

    1. To check that you have at least one frequency set up, go to Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Form [#] > Frequencies. 
    2. If the page says "Frequencies not found", you will need to add one by clicking the blue "Add New" button at the top right corner of the page. 
      • Click here to learn how to set up one or more frequencies for your form.  
          
    3. To check that you have at least one service category set up, go to Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Form [#] > Service Categories. 
    4. If the page says "Service categories not found", you will need to add one by clicking the blue "Add New" button at the top right corner of the page. 
      • Click here to learn how to set up one or more service categories for your form.  
    5. To check that you have at least one variable set up, go to Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Form [1 or 4] > Pricing Parameters. 
    6. If the page says "Pricing parameters not found", you will need to add one by clicking the blue "Add New" button at the top right corner of the page. 
      • Click here to learn how to set up one or more variables for your form.  

    7. To check that you have at least one package set up, go to Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Form 2 > Packages. 
    8. If the page says "Packages not found", you will need to add one by clicking the blue "Add New" button at the top right corner of the page. 
      • Click here to learn how to set up one or more packages for your form. 
         
    9. To check that you have at least one item set up, go to Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Form 3 > Items. 
    10. If the page says "Items not found", you will need to add one by clicking the blue "Add New" button at the top right corner of the page. 
      • Click here to learn how to set up one or more items for your form. 

    11. To check that you have at least one add-on set up, go to Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Form 3 > Add-ons. 
    12. If the page says "Add-ons not found", you will need to add one by clicking the blue "Add New" button at the top right corner of the page. 
      • Click here to learn how to set up one or more add-ons for your form. 
    13. To check if you have locations enabled for your form, go to Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Form [#] and look for a "Locations" option at the top of the drop-down menu. 
    14. If there is no "Locations" section, you do not need to take any further action.
    15. If there is a "Locations" section, select it from the drop-down menu and check to see if the page says "Locations not found".  
    16. If this is the case, click the blue "Add New" button at the top of the page to add a location for your form. 
      • Click here to learn how to add a location to your form.
    17. You can also disable locations if you do not want to use them at all.
      • Click here to learn how to disable locations for your industries or booking forms.  

  2. Your "Display" settings are set to admin only.  This is a very common reason why an admin or staff can view an option but the customer cannot.  You can fix this by updating the "Display" section of the missing option.  

    1. Open the form section with the missing option by going to Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Form [#] > [Locations/Frequencies/Service Categories/Pricing Parameters/Packages/Items/Add-Ons/Extras].
    2. Locate the missing option in the list.  
    3. Select "Options", and "Edit" to open up the settings for that option. 
    4. Scroll down to the "Display" or "Display On" section and select "Customer frontend, backend, & admin".
    5. Click the blue "Save" button at the bottom of the page.
       
  3. Dependency selections are missing.  If you use "dependencies" (such as the pricing depending on which location the client picks), it is important to check that these services have at least one option selected.

    1. Open the form section with the missing option by going to Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Form [#] > [Frequencies/Service Categories/Pricing Parameters/Packages/Items/Add-Ons/Extras].
    2. Locate the missing option in the list.  
    3. Select "Options", and "Edit" to open up the settings for that option. 
    4. Look for the question "Should the [Frequencies/Service Categories/Pricing Parameters/Packages/Items/Add-Ons/Extras] be based on the [Frequencies/Service Categories/Pricing Parameters/Packages/Items/Add-Ons/Extras]?"
    5. Make sure at least one box has been checked next to the options listed below.  
    6. Click the blue "Save" button at the bottom of the page.

 

Payment Method Issues

  • "The debit/credit or cash/check option is missing from the form."
  • "I went to book an appointment and when I tried booking with a credit/debit card, I got an error message and/or couldn't complete my booking."

If you or your customers are experiencing any booking form issues regarding the add card/payment section, you should first check to see if you have enabled at least one payment method for customers. If customers are receiving an error message when they try to enter a debit or credit card on the booking form, you will need to check your payment processor settings.

  1. Enable your customer payment methods.  If one or both of the payment options are missing from the form, they have likely been disabled in your general store options.  

    1. To check, please go to Settings > General > Store Options > General. 
    2. Click on the "Store Info" subcategory to display the settings in this section.  
    3. Scroll down to the "Accepted Forms of Payment" section.
    4. If the boxes next to "Credit/Debit Card" and/or "Cash/Check" are unchecked, check the box(es) for the option you'd like to enable.
    5. Click the blue "Save" button at the bottom of the page.  
  2. Check your payment processor connection.  If you or your customers receive a red error message when trying to enter credit card information into the booking form, there is likely a problem with how the payment processor has been connected.
    1. Use the following links to review your payment processor connection.  
      • Click here to review the setup guide for payments via Stripe.
      • Click here to review the setup guide for payments via Square.
      • Click here to review the setup guide for payments via PayPal (via Braintree).
    2. Check that the entire key as displayed in the payment processor dashboard has been pasted in the connect payment processor section in BookingKoala.  
    3. Most API keys and/or account numbers consist of many characters.  
    4. Some keys, especially secret keys, may require you to click on an option to reveal the whole key.  Generally, the preview for a secret key will only display the first several characters with an ellipse (...) after it. 

 

Availability and Scheduling Issues

Click here if you are experiencing any issues relating to booking spots, no dates/times, or provider availability with your form.