People who aren't your clients yet can request a booking from your Walkies website. They sign up, add their own details and pets, and send you a booking request. Here's how it works, and how to accept them.
Turn new client bookings on or off
Tap the menu button on Home. On iPad, it's in the sidebar.
Scroll down and tap Client booking.
Under New clients, turn Allow new client bookings on or off. It's on to start with, and only shows while Allow client booking is on.
Tap the ✓ to save.
In the web app, it's in Settings > Client booking, and changes save straight away.
What new clients do
On your website's home page, they tap Request a booking.
They sign up, or sign in if they already have a Walkies Journal account. The page uses your brand color, and your logo if you've added one.
They add their name, email, phone number, address and emergency contact, and answer any custom questions you ask clients.
They choose a service, the date and the time, add their pets, and send the request. If you ask clients to pay when they book, the payment is held and only taken when you accept.
For your new client's side, see How do I book with a new pet sitter from their website?
What you see
You're notified with "New client booking request", and the email says it's their first booking with you.
The request is in Inbox > Requests, like any other.
When you open it, a New client banner sits above the date. Tap it to see where the client came from.
The client is at the top of Clients, under Pending. Their profile says "This client is pending approval.", and each new pet says "This pet is pending approval." Tap the banner to see what it means.
You can book pending clients and their pets yourself, like any other client.
Accept a new client
Open the request and tap Accept. The booking is confirmed, and the client and the pets on that booking become active. See How do I accept or decline a booking request?
If you decline, the client and their pets stay pending, and they can send you another request.
Make a client active without a booking
Tap Clients and open the client.
Tap ... at the top right, then Mark as active.
Tap Mark as active to confirm. Their pending pets become active too. Existing appointments and invoices stay unchanged.
To make one pet active, open the pet, tap ... and choose Mark as active. If you don't want to work with them, choose Archive instead.
When new clients can't book
With Allow new client bookings or Allow client booking off, your website has no Request a booking button.
With Allow new client bookings off, anyone who goes to your booking page is told you aren't taking new client bookings online, and asked to contact you directly. Your clients can still sign in and book there.
On the Free plan, which includes up to 4 clients, new visitors can't sign up once you have 4 clients. They're asked to contact you instead.
Good to know
A new client's first booking always needs you to accept it.
You can make a new client's first booking a service you choose, like a meet and greet. See How do I make new clients book a specific service first?
You don't get the usual "Journal connected" notification when a new client signs up this way. You're told about their booking request instead.
If a new client is connected to another pet sitter in the Walkies Journal app, they're asked to change their connection to you. Their old pet sitter keeps their records.
New clients start with emails turned on. They don't need the Walkies Journal app: the links in their emails open in a web browser.