Manage availability and avoid double-bookings

Check at a glance whether a space is free, block dates, import your closure days and catch conflicts before they become a problem.

For a venue, the worst mistake is promising a date that's already taken. Joinways keeps every space's availability up to date so you can answer fast, with no risk of a double-booking. This article explains how to read that availability, how to hold a date without an event, how to close your non-working days in one move, and how to decide when two inquiries overlap.

The key idea: a date has only three useful states — free, taken or blocked. The whole point is that these three states mirror reality at every moment, so you can say "yes" or "no" without hesitating.

What you'll learn

Check whether a space is free on a date
Block dates without creating an event
Import your public holidays and closures
Spot and resolve a booking conflict

The three states of a date

First, let's settle the vocabulary. Every space, on every date, sits in one of just three states. Knowing them removes any ambiguity when you answer a client or read the calendar.

Free: no confirmed event, no block and no closure covers the date. The space can be offered without reservation.
Taken (occupied): a confirmed event holds the space on that slot. It's the most reliable state — it rests on a real file, not on an intention.
Blocked: you reserved the date by hand (option, internal use, closure). The space behaves as "taken" for availability, but with no file or quote behind it.

For availability, "taken" and "blocked" produce the same effect: the space is no longer offered as free, and any overlap triggers an alert. The difference is in their nature, not their behaviour: an event carries a file, a block does not.

Types of closure

A closure is a date you close to booking because the venue isn't open. There are three families, by their rhythm.

Public holidays: imported in bulk for your region, they renew each year and need no manual entry.
Recurring closures: a weekly day off or an annual leave period that comes back at a fixed time.
One-off closures: a private event, building works, an exceptional day — placed case by case like a block.

Whatever their family, all closures then behave like blocks: the date drops out of your availability and can no longer be offered by mistake.

Check a space's availability

This is the most frequent move: a client asks for a date and you need to answer right away. From the calendar view, you can see at a glance which spaces are free, taken or blocked on a given date — a single screen is enough to decide.

Open the calendar and pick the date the client asked for. The grid lands on that period and shows the state of every space.
Filter on the relevant space to see only its availability. Handy when you manage several rooms and only one interests the client.
A space held by a confirmed event shows as taken — answer with confidence, it's reliable information, not a guess.

Availability updates automatically: as soon as an event is confirmed on a space, its date turns to taken. You have no side list to maintain by hand.

Block dates

Not every date you want to hold matches a confirmed event: a hesitating client, maintenance, internal use, an option taken over the phone you need to secure for 48 hours. You then block the date so it no longer shows as available.

What a block is for: it behaves like a confirmed event for availability (the space turns to taken, any conflict is flagged) but with no file or quote. It's exactly the tool to hold a date "just in case" without opening a full event.

Open the calendar, select the space then the date(s) to block — the cell highlights to confirm your selection.
Add a meaningful reason (option, private, works), for example "Smith option — chase June 12", visible to the team so you recognize it later.
Confirm: the date flips to "blocked" and is no longer offered as free.

Lift a block: if the option falls through, reopen the block and delete it, and the date becomes available again at once. You can unblock any time, with no delay.

Import public holidays and closures

Some dates are never bookable: public holidays, annual leave, a weekly day off. Rather than blocking them one by one, close them in one move so they never show as available — not to you, and not in your answers to clients.

Import your region's public holidays in one click: Joinways adds them in bulk, with no manual entry.
Add your recurring closures (annual leave, weekly day off) to cover the periods specific to you.

Once imported, these dates behave like blocks: they drop out of your availability and stop you from accidentally offering a day the venue is closed.

Spot and resolve a conflict

If two events target the same space in the same slot, Joinways flags it as a conflict. The tool doesn't decide for you: you stay in control of the call, because only you know each file's sales priority.

Open the conflicts list to see the records involved, side by side, with their space and slot.
Decide: switch one to another space, shift the time, or set one inquiry aside. The conflict clears as soon as the two records no longer overlap.

How it works

Availability isn't a manual entry but the result of whatever actually occupies the space: a confirmed event, a block, or an imported closure. As soon as one of these exists on a date, the space turns to taken there.

That's also why conflicts surface on their own: Joinways constantly compares what targets the same space at the same moment. You have nothing to check by hand — the system warns you before you confirm one too many.

Edge cases

Option held over the phone: no file yet, but you want to secure the date. Place a block with a dated reason ("X option — chase June 12") rather than trusting your memory.

Several rooms, only one requested: a conflict isn't always resolved by setting a client aside. Often, moving one of the two events to another free space is enough to sign both.

Block placed too early: if you blocked a date "just in case" and the client backs out, remember to lift the block — otherwise the date stays artificially taken and you risk wrongly turning another client away.

Multi-day event: a seminar spread over three days holds the space for the whole period, not just the first day. Check availability across the full slot before promising anything.

Two spaces, one shared slot: if the same client books the main hall and the orangery on the same day, each space turns to taken independently. Freeing one does not free the other.

Closure overlapping an option: if you import a public holiday onto a date already blocked for an option, the date stays closed. Remove the holiday first if you genuinely want to sell that day.

💡 Tip: before sending a quote, glance at the space's availability. A "free" mistakenly announced to a client is very hard to walk back.

Best practices

Place an option (blocked date) as soon as a serious client mentions a date, so you don't lose it while they think it over.
Import your closures at the start of the year and forget about them: your availability stays accurate all year.
Handle conflicts the same day: the longer you wait, the trickier it gets with the client.
Give each block a clear, dated reason: that's what tells a live option apart from a forgotten date.
Give your options a deadline: "48h" or "until June 12" in the reason. An option with no expiry always ends up forgotten and blocks a date for nothing.
Check availability across the whole period for multi-day events, not just the arrival date.
Review your blocks once a month: it's the best moment to clear expired options and free up sellable dates.

Troubleshooting

A date shows as taken even though no event exists?

Cause: a block or an imported closure covers that date. Solution: open the date, identify the block by its reason, and lift it if it's no longer justified.

A conflict stays shown after you fixed it?

Cause: the two records still target the same space in the same slot. Solution: check that the space or time actually changed on one of them; as long as they overlap, the alert rightly persists.

A public holiday still shows as available?

Cause: the holiday import wasn't run, or the recurring closure wasn't added. Solution: re-run the public holidays import and add your missing closures.

A block lifted but the date stays taken?

Cause: another element still covers the date — a second block, a confirmed event or an imported holiday. Solution: open the date to list everything occupying it, and remove whichever is no longer warranted.

Real-world example

Two weddings ask for the same Saturday in June. The conflicts view warns you before you confirm: instead of turning one away in a hurry, you look at your available spaces.

You offer the main hall to one and the orangery to the other, and sign both instead of losing one. The conflict clears as soon as each event is attached to its own space.

Second example: an option that lingers

A client calls in March for a seminar in September. Nothing is signed, but they want to "hold the principle". You place a block on the space with the reason "Martin seminar option — chase Apr 30".

At the end of April, reviewing your blocks, you find that dated reason. You chase the client: if they confirm, you turn the block into an event; if they pull out, you delete the block and the date goes back on sale the same day.

Without that dated reason, the option would have stayed invisible until September, blocking a sellable date. The dated-reason discipline makes all the difference between a managed option and a lost date.

FAQ

Does availability update on its own?

Yes. As soon as an event is confirmed on a space, its date flips to taken, with no action from you.

Can I block a date without creating an event?

Yes, with date blocking: ideal for holding an option or reserving for internal use, without opening a file or a quote.

Does a block really prevent double-booking?

Yes. A blocked date behaves like a taken date: the space shows as occupied there and any overlap is flagged as a conflict.

How do I lift a block that's no longer needed?

Reopen the block and delete it: the date becomes available again at once, with no delay or extra step.

What happens if I delete a confirmed event?

The space it occupied becomes free again on that date, automatically. If another file was waiting for that slot, remember to check that no conflict had formed in the meantime.

Can I block several dates at once?

Yes. Select the range of dates on the calendar before confirming: a single reason then applies to the whole period, handy for leave or works that last several days.

Is a block visible to the whole team?

Yes. The reason you enter shows for everyone, which stops a colleague from offering a date you were holding as an option without knowing it.