Photographer Availability

Availability drives scheduling. Each team member sets their working hours and (optionally) connects Google Calendar so Photeria knows when they're free. This guide covers where and how.

Availability is per-user. Each team member manages their own. Admins can adjust Accepting Orders and service areas on behalf of others.

Where availability lives

Availability is on My Profile → Schedule tab. Click your avatar or name in the bottom-left of the sidebar, then switch to the Schedule tab.

Two cards:

• Working Hours - weekly schedule
• Google Calendar - optional integration

Working Hours

Define your regular weekly schedule.

Controls

Each day has:

• Toggle switch - Working / Off. Days set to Off won't show any bookable slots.
• Start time
• End time

Setting up

1. My Profile → Schedule.
2. On the Working Hours card, set each day's toggle and times.
3. Click Save Changes.

Defaults: Monday-Friday 9 AM-5 PM, Saturday and Sunday Off. Adjust to match reality.

Google Calendar

Connecting Google Calendar lets Photeria check your existing events so jobs don't get scheduled on top of them.

Connecting

1. My Profile → Schedule.
2. In the Google Calendar card, click Connect Google Calendar.
3. Sign in with Google and grant the requested permissions.

After connecting, the Google Calendar icon appears next to your name on the Team → Members page.

Block Availability From

Controls which of your Google calendars block scheduling. Toggle on calendars whose events should prevent new jobs:

• Turn on your primary calendar so personal events block scheduling
• Turn on any shared team calendars with blocking events
• Leave off calendars like birthdays or holidays that shouldn't affect your work schedule

Save Jobs To

Pick which Google calendar new job appointments write to. Usually your primary, but any of your calendars works.

Click Save Changes after adjusting preferences.

Refreshing calendars

Click Refresh next to Save Changes to pull an updated list from Google.

Disconnecting

1. My Profile → Schedule.
2. Click Disconnect on the Google Calendar card.
3. Confirm.

Working hours still apply after disconnect. Google events no longer block availability.

Re-authorization

If your Google Calendar connection stops working, the Schedule tab shows a warning. Click Reconnect to fix it.

Accepting Orders toggle

Controls whether a member appears in the photographer dropdown at all. Set per-member on the Manage Team Member dialog (Team → Members → edit):

• On - available for assignment
• Off - hidden from the dropdown (good for non-shooting staff, long leaves, etc.)

This is separate from working hours. Off means "don't offer me for any jobs right now," regardless of schedule.

Service Areas

Service areas restrict where a member works. Configured on the Manage Team Member dialog (admin task, not on your own profile).

• All Areas (default) - available everywhere
• Specific areas - only available for jobs that fall inside assigned areas

To update:

1. Team → Members → click edit on the member.
2. In the dialog, scroll to Service Areas.
3. Turn off All Areas and click area badges to assign.
4. Click Save Changes.

Manage the area catalog under Settings → Service Areas.

What affects availability

For a team member to show up as available for a job, they need to have:

• Accepting Orders turned on
• Working Hours that cover the job time
• Google Calendar free of blocking events (if connected)
• Service Areas that cover the property location
• Service Types that match the job's services

Where this shows up

These settings come together when an appointment is being scheduled. When a client books through your order flow, Photeria offers only the time slots that work, factoring in working hours, Google Calendar busy times, service areas, and the drive time between a photographer's other stops that day, and greys out dates that have no workable slot. When you add an appointment to a job yourself, you choose the date, time, and photographer, and Photeria warns you of any scheduling conflicts.

The Appointments calendar itself is a read-only view of what's already booked, so you don't schedule from it. See The Appointments Calendar.