Customising Your Calendar - Colours, Views, and Filters

10-15 minutes

Tutorial 12.3: Customising Your Calendar - Colours, Views, and Filters

Introduction

The appointment calendar is the heart of your salon operations. Luminate offers multiple ways to view and customise your calendar to suit your workflow. You can switch between day, week, and list views, colour-code appointments by service type, and access powerful features like the waitlist panel and clipboard.

This guide covers making the calendar work for you - from choosing the right view for your needs to understanding the visual cues that help you manage appointments efficiently.

Who this is for: All staff members who use the appointment calendar daily.

What you'll learn:

Switching between Today, Week, and List views
Understanding appointment colour-coding
Using the sidebar panels (Waitlist and Clipboard)
Navigating dates and time slots
Interpreting staff roster and availability indicators
Using keyboard shortcuts for quick navigation

Time to complete: 10-15 minutes

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

Access to the Appointments page
At least some appointments and staff in the system (for visual examples)
Services set up with colours assigned

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Choose Your Calendar View

Luminate offers three calendar views, accessible via buttons in the top-right of the Appointments page:

View	Best For	Features
Today	Reception desk, daily overview	All staff columns, real-time "now" line, drag-and-drop
Week	Individual stylist schedule	Single staff member, weekly overview, shift indicators
List	Searching, filtering, bulk review	Table format, filters, pagination

To switch views:

Go to Appointments in the sidebar
Click Today, Week, or List in the button group

Your current view is highlighted. The URL updates to preserve your selection (you can bookmark specific views).

Step 2: Navigate Dates in Today View

In the Today view:

Date navigation:

Click the left arrow to go to the previous day
Click the right arrow to go to the next day
Click Today to jump to the current date
Click Select (calendar icon) to open a date picker for any date

Current date display: The selected date appears prominently (e.g., "Friday, 02/01/2026").

Now line: When viewing today's date, a red horizontal line shows the current time, helping you see at a glance what's happening now versus later.

Step 3: Navigate in Week View

The Week view shows a single staff member's schedule for the week:

Staff selection:

Click the staff dropdown at the top of the calendar
Select the staff member whose schedule you want to view
The calendar updates to show their appointments for the week

Week navigation:

Click the left arrow to go to the previous week
Click the right arrow to go to the next week
Click This Week to return to the current week

Week display: Shows Monday to Sunday with the date range displayed (e.g., "Dec 30, 2025 - Jan 5, 2026").

Step 4: Use Filters in List View

The List view presents appointments in a searchable table:

Available filters:

Filter	What It Does
Customer	Search by customer name or booking reference
Service	Search by service name
Staff	Filter to a specific staff member
Status	Show only certain statuses (scheduled, confirmed, etc.)
Deposit	Filter by deposit status (Pending Deposits, Paid Deposits, All with Deposits)
From Date	Filter from a specific date
To Date	Filter to a specific date

To apply filters:

Enter values in the filter fields at the top of the list
Results update automatically as you type
Click Clear Filters to reset all filters (this button appears when you have active filters)

Pagination: The list shows 25 appointments per page. Use the pagination controls at the bottom to navigate through results.

Step 5: Understand Appointment Colours

Appointments display two types of colour indicators:

1. Status colours (background):

Status	Colour
Scheduled	Yellow/amber background
Confirmed	Green background
Arrived	Blue background
Completed	Grey background
Cancelled	Red background
No Show	Orange background

2. Service colours (left border): Each service can have a colour assigned. This appears as a coloured left border on appointment cards.

To set service colours:

Go to Services in the sidebar
Click Edit on a service
Find the Colour field
Select a colour from the picker
Save the service

Using service colours helps you quickly identify appointment types at a glance (e.g., all colour services in purple, all cuts in blue).

Step 6: Use the Waitlist Panel

The calendar includes a Waitlist panel on the left side:

Click the Waitlist tab (shows count of waitlist entries)
The panel displays customers waiting for appointments
Each entry shows:
- Customer name
- Priority badge (HIGH priority entries show a red "HIGH" badge)
- Requested service and duration
- Preferred staff (if specified)
- Preferred time range (morning, afternoon, evening, any)
- Contact preference (SMS, email, phone)
- Notes indicator (amber icon appears if notes exist)

Drag to book: You can drag a waitlist entry onto an empty calendar slot to quickly create an appointment for that customer.

Step 7: Use the Clipboard Panel

The Clipboard stores appointments you've cut for pasting elsewhere:

To cut an appointment:

Hover over an appointment card in the calendar
Click the scissors icon that appears in the top-right corner of the card
The appointment is now "cut" and appears in the Clipboard panel

To paste an appointment:

Click the Clipboard tab to see cut appointments
Navigate to the new date/time where you want to move the appointment
Drag the appointment from the Clipboard panel onto an empty calendar slot

Note: Cut appointments appear greyed out with a dashed border on the calendar until you paste them. Click "Cancel" on a clipboard item to restore it to its original position.

The clipboard is useful for rescheduling appointments without losing them.

Step 8: Understand Staff Columns (Today View)

In the Today view, staff appear as columns:

Rostered staff:

Staff who have shifts on the selected date appear as normal columns
Their rostered hours are clearly visible

Non-rostered staff:

Staff without shifts show "(Not rostered)" below their name
Their column appears with a striped pattern and reduced opacity to indicate they're not scheduled to work

Leave indicators:

Staff on approved leave display "On {leave type}" in purple text below their name (e.g., "On Annual Leave")
Their column uses the same visual treatment as non-rostered staff (striped pattern)

Step 9: Dynamic Calendar Hours

The calendar automatically adjusts its time range based on:

The earliest shift start time
The latest shift end time
Existing appointment times

Default hours are 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, but this expands if:

Staff shifts start earlier or end later
Appointments exist outside the default range

This ensures you always see all relevant time slots.

Step 10: Keyboard Shortcuts for Quick Navigation

Luminate includes keyboard shortcuts to help you navigate quickly between key areas of the application:

Global shortcuts (work on any page):

Key	Action
d	Go to Dashboard
a	Go to Appointments calendar
w	Go to Appointments calendar (Week view)
t	Open QuickPOS for a new transaction

Calendar navigation shortcuts (only on Appointments page):

Key	Today View	Week View
← (Left Arrow)	Previous day	Previous week
→ (Right Arrow)	Next day	Next week

Important notes:

Shortcuts only work when you're not typing in a text field, search box, or form input
Shortcuts are disabled when holding Ctrl, Cmd, Alt, or Shift keys (so they don't conflict with browser shortcuts)
A salon must be selected for shortcuts to work

These shortcuts are especially useful when navigating the calendar quickly or switching frequently between the calendar and point of sale during busy periods.

Common Pitfalls

"I can't see all my staff in Week view"

Week view shows one staff member at a time. Use the staff dropdown to switch between staff. For a multi-staff view, use the Today view.

"Appointment colours all look the same"

You may not have set service colours. Go to Services and assign distinct colours to each service type. The background colour shows status, while the left border shows service type.

"The calendar hours don't show my early appointments"

The calendar should automatically expand to show appointments outside default hours. If not, the appointment might be on a different date than you're viewing - check the date.

"I can't drag appointments"

Drag-and-drop requires click and hold on the appointment card body (not on the action buttons). Also, the calendar must be in Today or Week view - List view doesn't support dragging.

Tips and Best Practices

Use distinct service colours - Assign a unique colour to each service category (cuts, colours, treatments) for quick visual identification
Start with Today view - It gives the best overview for a busy salon with multiple staff
Use Week view for planning - When scheduling a specific stylist's week, switch to Week view
Use List view for searching - If you need to find specific appointments by customer or date range, List view's filters are most efficient
Keep the Waitlist visible - Regularly check waitlist priority levels and book high-priority customers first when slots open
Learn the keyboard shortcuts - Press a for appointments, w for week view, t for transactions, and d for dashboard. On the calendar, use arrow keys to quickly navigate between days or weeks

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change the default calendar view?

The calendar opens to the view specified in the URL. Bookmark your preferred view (e.g., /appointments?view=today) for quick access. The system remembers your last view during a session.

Can I hide certain staff columns in Today view?

Not directly. All rostered staff appear as columns. However, non-rostered staff are visually de-emphasised with "(Not rostered)" labels. Use Week view to focus on a single staff member.

Can I customise the time slot intervals?

The calendar uses 15-minute intervals by default. This is not currently configurable per salon.

Can I print the calendar?

You can use your browser's print function (Ctrl+P or Cmd+P), but a dedicated print layout isn't available. For printed schedules, consider exporting appointment data from List view.

Why don't I see the "now" line?

The now line only appears in Today view when viewing the current date. If you're looking at a past or future date, or using Week or List view, it won't display.

Can I change the calendar colours for status?

Status colours are system-wide and not customisable. However, you can customise service colours to help distinguish appointment types.

What are the keyboard shortcuts?

Press d for Dashboard, a for Appointments, w for Week view, and t for QuickPOS. On the Appointments page, you can also use the arrow keys to navigate: left/right arrows move by day in Today view or by week in Week view. These shortcuts only work when you're not typing in a form field. See Step 10 above for full details.

Last Updated: January 2026