automatically change booking status / booking requests non-blocking

[Sabine Bissegger]

Hi there,
is there a way to set up the plugin so that a booking request really is just a request? It should not block the dates in the calendar and not appear in the ical-export until the booking is confirmed (manually by us).
The only way I found to avoid blocking is by changing the booking status to abandoned – is it possible to make a booking have that status automatically after booking? (but still sending booking request confirmation mail)
But there should be some more elegant way, like a settings option to block only confirmed dates?
Thanks a lote in advance!

[Jonathan Keller]

What you’re asking for (a booking request that doesn’t block dates or show up in the iCal until it’s confirmed) kind of goes against how MotoPress Booking Plugin is designed to work. It’s meant to be a real booking engine — so even “pending” bookings block the calendar on purpose, to prevent two people from requesting the same dates while you’re reviewing.

Using “Abandoned” as a status to avoid blocking kind of misuses the system — and there’s no setting to make new bookings default to “Abandoned” and still send emails, since that status is really for guests who didn’t finish the process.

If you want to fully control everything manually without affecting the calendar at all, you might be better off with a form plugin like Ninja Forms and just enter the bookings yourself after confirming them. That skips the whole availability-checking logic but gives you the manual process you’re looking for.

Not saying that’s better — just depends on what kind of workflow you’re going for. If you want MotoPress to manage availability and sync calendars, you kind of have to let it do its thing.

Hope that helps.

[Author]

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