Bookings Use Case: Custom availability with date and hour range

Offer bookings during weekly opening hours while keeping a one-off closure unavailable. This example opens one-hour sessions on Mondays from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with one Monday closed.

Scenario

↑ Back to top

A photography session has these booking requirements:

• Each booking lasts one hour.
• Customers can start a session on Mondays from 8:00 AM through 3:00 PM. The last session ends at 4:00 PM.
• Monday, November 9, 2026 is closed.

Before you begin

↑ Back to top

Activate WooCommerce and WooCommerce Bookings, and sign in with permission to edit products. Choose a future Monday for your own closure date and use it in both date fields. The dates below illustrate this example.

Set up the product and availability

↑ Back to top

Create a bookable product

↑ Back to top

1. Go to Products > Add new product, then enter a product name and description.
2. In Product data, select Bookable product.
3. Select Virtual because the session does not require shipping. Leave Has persons and Has resources unchecked for this example.

Configure the General tab

↑ Back to top

1. In General, set Booking duration to Fixed blocks of 1 Hour(s).
2. Set Calendar display mode to Calendar always visible.
3. In Costs, enter the price for a session as the Base cost and leave Block cost at 0. The example below uses a base cost of $40.

Configure the Availability tab

↑ Back to top

1. Open Availability. Set Max bookings per block to 1, Minimum block bookable to 0 Day(s), and Maximum block bookable to 6 Month(s). Your closure date must fall within the booking window to test it.
2. Leave Require a buffer period of at 0. Set All dates are… to not-available by default, so only the hours opened by your rules can be booked.
3. Set Check rules against… to All blocks being booked and First block starts at… to 8:00 AM. Leave Restrict selectable days? unchecked.
4. Select Add Range. Set Range type to Every Monday (Set time), the time range to 8:00 AM–4:00 PM, Bookable to Yes, and Priority to 10.
5. Select Add Range again. Set Range type to Specific Dates (All day). Enter 2026-11-09 in both date fields, set Bookable to No, and set Priority to 9.

A lower priority number takes precedence. The closure at priority 9 overrides the weekly Monday hours at priority 10.

6. Select Publish for a new product or Update for an existing product.

Check the customer calendar

↑ Back to top

Open the product on your store and navigate to the month containing your closure. In this example, November 9 is unavailable, while November 2, 16, 23, and 30 can be selected. Other days of the week remain unavailable.

Select an available Monday. With the form displaying your store’s time zone, it should offer eight hourly start times from 8:00 AM through 3:00 PM. A 4:00 PM start is unavailable because the one-hour session would finish after closing. Select a time to check the booking cost and enable Book now.

If availability does not match

↑ Back to top

• If the closure can be selected, confirm both date fields contain the same date, Bookable is No, and the closure’s priority number is lower than the weekly rule’s number.
• If other weekdays can be booked, check that All dates are… is not-available by default and review any additional availability rules.
• If a regular Monday or expected time is missing, check the booking window, existing bookings, buffer period, and any store or resource availability rules. Check the time zone shown on the form too.