For anyone who sets up or watches the calendar at a center. Takes about four minutes.

Lunch, a staff meeting, a holiday, a room being cleaned. You can put them right on the calendar, with a title and a repeat, so everyone sees them and clients can't book over them.

• Open Schedule and choose one location. The Closed & meetings band sits above the calendar on the Day, Work week and Week views.

• To add or change a block you need permission to edit appointments at that location. Without it you can still see blocks.

• A block is not an appointment and not an announcement. See "Blocks, announcements and Availability Blocks" below.

1. In the Closed & meetings band, click Block under the day you want. (If the band is a thin line, click Block time.)

[Screenshot: the Closed & meetings band with the Block button]

2. Type a Title, like Lunch, Staff meeting or Jane out.

3. Set From and Until. It starts as 12:00 to 1:00, and the end must be after the start.

4. Under What it closes, choose one:

• The whole location: nothing can be booked then.

• One room or row: that room can't be booked then. Pick it from Choose a room or row. This choice is greyed out if the location has no rooms.

• People only: it shows on the calendar, and booking stays open.

[Screenshot: the What it closes choices]

5. Choose How often:

• Just {the date you clicked}

• Every {weekday}

• Every other {weekday}

• One {weekday} a month: the same week of the month as the day you clicked.

The repeating choices are for Scheduler admins. Everyone else adds one date at a time.

6. Click Save.

Think about what you'd tell a client on the phone.

• "We're closed for lunch": The whole location.

• "The ultrasound room is being cleaned, but we're open": One room or row. Appointment types that use that room can't be booked then. If an appointment type can use two rooms, it can still be booked in the other one.

• "Jane is out" or "Advocate training": People only. It's a note for your team and doesn't stop anyone booking.

Each block shows its title, its time and what it does, for example Lunch 12pm–1pm · Location closed, Ultrasound room closed, or Booking stays open. Blocks that don't close anything have a dashed outline. A room block shows in that room's column when you group the calendar by room.

Holidays you set in CoolFocus 3 show in the band as Closed all day, with a dashed outline. They already closed booking, and now you can see them. You can't change them here. Change them where you set them. A holiday your location has reopened with its own date exception isn't shown, because that day is open.

1. Click the block in the band.

2. Change the title or times, or click Remove.

3. If the block repeats, Apply to asks how far to go:

• Only this day: just the day you clicked, like skipping lunch closure for one holiday week.

• This and following: this day and every one after it.

• Every {weekday}: every one in the repeat.

To change what a repeating block closes, choose This and following or Every {weekday}. Only this day can't change it.

4. Click Save.

• Block (this article): has a time, can repeat, and can close the location or a room. Use it for lunch, meetings, cleaning and holidays.

• Announcement: a note for the team about a day, with no time. It never closes anything. Use it for "board visit today" or "send clients to the side door". See Announcements.

• Availability Blocks (Settings > Schedule) and Block Time… on an empty calendar time: the earlier way to close time. They still work, and they don't repeat. See Availability, Closures, and Scheduler Blocks.

I made a People only block and clients can still book. That's what it's for. Choose The whole location or One room or row if you want booking to stop.

Will a block cancel appointments already booked? A block closes the time for new bookings. It doesn't move or cancel a client's appointment, so check the day after you save and reschedule anyone who needs it.

Why can't I click a block? You need permission to edit appointments at that location.

A time looks closed and I'm not sure why. On the Week view, click the time and choose an appointment type. Why can't I book this? tells you in plain words.