INTRODUCTION
Feature Summary: Create one or more unique schedulers tailored to meet the club's booking and facility requirements, focusing on hours and waitlist options.
Use Cases: System users can create a custom scheduler to organize a subset of courts (e.g. only display pickleball courts) or run different operating schedules and waitlist rules (e.g. provide members with extended hours and customized wait list options).
PREREQUISITES
If you haven’t yet reviewed the Overview: Custom Schedulers article, we recommend starting there to understand the basics and how Custom Schedulers work.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at a common scenario where a club wants to display different hours for different types of courts, depending on the member viewing them.
Special Notes on Hours of Operation
Custom Schedulers must follow your organization's standard hours of operation.
System users cannot create time slots outside of the club’s current operating hours. To offer non-standard hours, you must first update your organization's Hours of Operation by going to:
SETTINGS > ORGANIZATION SETTINGS > Hours of Operation.
Creating different schedules for different membership types:
For example, if you want to offer extended weekend hours to a specific membership type, you'll need to create two separate Custom Schedulers:
Extended Hours Scheduler – e.g., 6 AM to 11 PM for the designated membership type.
Regular Hours Scheduler – e.g., 6 AM to 9 PM for other memberships.
This setup ensures each group sees the correct schedule while staying within your club’s configured operating hours.
🔔 Reminder: Custom Scheduler Options
Custom Schedulers in CourtReserve offer flexible configuration options, including the ability to:
Restrict members to specific courts
(e.g., the club has 12 courts, but only 6 are available for member bookings)Limit visibility to system users only
(e.g., create internal-use schedulers for admin or staff)Restrict by reservation type
(e.g., only the “Solo Play” reservation type can be booked on the practice court)Restrict court access based on membership type
Restrict court access by time of day or day of the week
Create a scheduler tied to a specific instructor
In the example below, we’ll create a Customized Scheduler for Tier 2 members that displays only pickleball courts and offers extended evening hours on weekends. As you follow along, imagine how this setup would apply to your club’s specific members, courts, and programs.
SETUP REQUIREMENTS
Log in to the admin dashboard.
Go to the side menu and click SETTINGS. A new page displays.
Go to the COURT & BALL MACHINE SETTINGS heading.
Click the Custom Schedulers icon.
Create a Custom Scheduler
Click the Create Custom Scheduler button.
On the next page, fill in the fields (see details for each field below).
Click Save.
Fill Out the Fields
First, give your scheduler a name and define what is shown.
Scheduler name - This name is visible on the admin dashboard.
Navigation name in Member Portal - CourtReserve shows this name on the member portal if the system user enables this feature with the adjacent checkbox. Example:
Show Navigation Name on Portal - Check the box to display the navigation name on the member portal. Example:
Allowed Reservation Types - Restrict the scheduler to show certain reservation types. This optional field might be useful if the system user creates multiple custom schedulers for different club facilities. In this example, we will show Pickleball Reservation Types only.
Scheduler Type - Choose Consolidated or Expanded. Consolidated is used if you want your courts to be auto-assigned (for example, the players don't get to choose their court number, the system auto-assigns the player(s) to a court). See information on auto-assign here. If you are not auto-assigning courts, choose Expanded.
Build Fixed Duration(s) - When checked, system users can create detailed duration customizations at the court level for any day of the week. Fixed durations will override the general scheduler settings. This feature is intended for advanced use cases where you need precise, day-by-day or court-specific scheduling automation. Note: You must first save the scheduler before these customization options become available. See step-by-step information on fixed durations below.
Court Types - Create a custom scheduler for one or more specific court types (optional). For example, only show Pickleball Courts.
Courts - Select the specific courts to show on this custom scheduler. For example, only show Pickleball Courts 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Next, you’ll choose who should be able to see this scheduler.
Display
Is Private - If checked, only the system user can see the custom scheduler. The default setting is not checked. Click here to learn more. In this example, we want all system admins to access this view, so it's left unchecked.
Show on Member Portal - If checked, CourtReserve displays the custom scheduler on the member portal navigation menu if the site visitor has the required membership type.
Show Scheduler to Following Membership(s) - Limit access to the custom scheduler by adding one or more membership types to the field. If left blank, all memberships can see it. In this example, we will restrict access to the Tier 2 members.
Show Scheduler to Following Members Groups - Limit access to the custom scheduler by adding one or more member groups to the field. In this example, we are not limiting it to certain member groups, so we keep the default of ALL.
Override Time In Advance a Court can be Booked - Use this check box to override settings on the General Settings page (SETTINGS > BOOKING SETTINGS > General). If checked, the page displays new override fields you can customize for this schedule. Optionally, enter a clock time in the Time to Open field if the club wants to close online bookings at midnight and then reopen at this time. For example, for this scheduler, we will override the General Settings and have special customizations for these bookings.
Show on Admin Side - If checked, this scheduler will show on the left navigation sidebar for all Admins and Organizers. See Admin Perspective below for example. In this setup example, we do want all system users to see this on the admin panel navigation so this is checked.
Next, determine if any times should be modified for this schedule view.
Show Times on Reserve Button - check this box if you would like the ‘reserve’ button to be replaced with the time of day. For example, rather than just saying "Reserve" it will say Reserve plus the time. In this example, we are OK with the traditional Reserve button, so leave this unchecked.
Schedules
Scheduler Interval (minutes) - Use this feature to create booking blocks. Use this feature to create booking blocks. For example, if the system user sets the interval to 60 minutes (and the day starts at 6am), CourtReserve creates blocks starting at 6am, 7am, 8am, and so on. In this example, we want 60 minute schedule blocks for our court bookings.
Show Custom Scheduler From/To Dates - Show the custom scheduler during a specific date range (e.g. winter scheduler, summer scheduler, etc.). After the end date, CourtReserve hides the custom scheduler.
Scheduler Starting/Ending Reservation Dates - Set the period when members can enter a booking on the custom scheduler. In this example, we are only showing the summer of 2025 and members can book within these same dates.
Operating Hours
The next group of fields allows you to set the daily open and close times—these are your operating hours, pulled from your General Settings. You can adjust them to display specific hours for the group using your Custom Scheduler, as long as they fall within your facility’s standard operating window. If your club doesn’t operate seven days a week, you can check the Is Closed box for any day you're closed. In this example, we want the displayed courts for Tier 2 members to remain open two hours later on Saturdays and Sundays. To accommodate this, the schedule is adjusted so the last 60-minute booking block will be at 10:00 PM, with the club closing at 11:00 PM.
Finally, decide if alternate waitlist settings should apply to those using this Customized Scheduler.
Court Waitlisting
Optionally, system users can configure custom court waitlisting settings. These settings override the system defaults (if the system user enables the add-on).
If the system user enables the court waitlisting override, the default setting is any person on the waitlist, or any member/player who can see the custom scheduler on the member portal can book an open spot. The other options are under development.
Check the Allow Players on Member Portal / APP to Register for Waitlist box to display more custom settings.
Allow Players on Member Portal / APP to Register for Waitlist - If this box is checked, players can add their names to a waitlist on the member portal. If not checked, players cannot waitlist themselves. Instead, system users must add players to a waitlist. If this box is not checked, CourtReserve will not display additional waitlist fields on this screen.
Allow Player to Waitlist when Desired Court Type is Available - If checked, players can add themselves to a specific court waitlist as long as one court under a specific court type is booked. If unchecked, all courts under a specific court type must be booked in order to join the waitlist.
Show # of Players Currently Waiting - If checked, the member portal displays the number of people on the waitlist. If not checked, CourtReserve hides this number on the member portal.
Enforce booking rules/restrictions when Waitlisting - If checked, apply the restrictions and rules set at the membership level at the time of joining the waitlist rather than the time of booking.
Prevent Waitlist X hours out - Enter a time to close the waitlist period. CourtReserve closes the waitlist X hours before a court time opens. This time limit applies only to the member portal. Admins can waitlist players any time before the court slot becomes available.
Fixed Duration Example
The Fixed Duration settings enable advanced, court-specific scheduling by time and day of the week. These allow you to define custom reservation durations, which override the general settings defined in your Reservation Types.
Note: During setup, you must first save the scheduler before you can go back and configure fixed durations.
What Does "Fixed Duration" Control?
The key to understanding fixed duration is that it controls the length of time a reservation can be booked during a specified time range and day of the week—not the overall hours shown on the scheduler.
Duration refers to the minimum number of minutes for a reservation.
For example, if a tennis reservation's default setting requires a minimum of 60 minutes, this is controlled under RESERVATION SETTINGS > Reservation Type. With Custom Schedulers and fixed duration, you can override this default.
For example, at this Club, a Singles - Tennis reservation is defaulted to a minimum duration of 60 minutes. If nothing is customized further on the scheduler, all days within the displayed operating hours will display as 60 minute duration reservations.
Customizing with a Scheduler
When building a Custom Scheduler, using fixed durations allows you to:
Override the standard reservation duration for specific courts.
Customize durations further by time and day of the week for more flexible scheduling.
Real-World Example
Let’s say a Club has two highly popular courts—Tennis Court #1 and #2.
For most days, the admin wants to maintain a 60-minute minimum booking time to manage demand.
However, on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, these courts are underused.
To encourage more activity, the admin:
Creates a Custom Scheduler for all tennis courts.
Uses Fixed Durations to set a reduced 30-minute minimum booking time for Tennis Court #1 and #2 for Monday and Tuesday afternoons only. This flexibility helps optimize court usage while still maintaining structure during peak times.
In this example, the following are the relevant portions of the setup screens for the Custom Scheduler:
How to Set Fixed Durations
To customize booking durations on specific days, click the green + button next to the day you want to modify. This allows you to define booking durations that differ from your default reservation settings.
Example of Tuesday fixed duration setup:
Let’s say you want your default booking duration to remain 60 minutes, but allow 30-minute bookings from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Mondays and Tuesday.
For Mondays and Tuesdays:
Start and End Time: Defines the time window during which the custom booking duration applies.
Example: 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM.Interval Minutes: Sets the actual booking duration during the selected time window.
Example: 30 minutes.Apply to All: When checked, the custom rule will apply to all Mondays and Tuesdays for the selected courts. If left unchecked, the setting will apply only to one specific Monday or Tuesday, and you’ll need to repeat the process for each date individually.
Example: Apply to All.Courts: Choose whether to apply the custom rule to all courts or specific ones.
If selecting specific courts, use the multi-select to define which ones.
Example: Tennis Court #1 and Tennis Court #2.Reserve Unused Time: When enabled, any leftover or partially unbooked time within the fixed duration window will still be available for booking by players. This helps optimize court usage rather than letting unused time go to waste.
Example: Checked to optimize court usage.
Admin Scheduler View: Tennis Courts #1 and #2 have a default reservation duration of 60 minutes, except on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, where from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM, the duration is reduced to 30 minutes.
Tennis Court #3 continues to display 60-minute booking intervals, as it was not included in the Fixed Duration customization.
The example below displays the Customized Scheduler for a Tuesday.
ADMIN PERSPECTIVE
In this article, we created a Customized Scheduler designed to show all pickleball courts to Tier 2 Members with extended hours on the weekends. Based on the settings used, it appears in the admin panel navigation as shown below:
When clicked, system users will see the calendar exactly as it was defined during setup. A portion of that view is shown below. You will see the last bookable slot is 10pm on a Saturday since the booking slots are for 60 minutes and the club closes at 11pm. On Monday, the last bookable slot is 8pm.
USER PERSPECTIVE
The member portal displays the custom scheduler to site visitors with the proper permissions (e.g. membership type). In this example, Tier 2 Members will be the only Membership Type that will see this custom scheduler (it will be hidden for all others).
In the example from this article, we created an extended-hours view specifically for one Membership Type—Tier 2. If you'd like other members to see a different set of hours, you'll need to create an additional Custom Scheduler for that group. Once created and made visible, all other members will continue to see the standard-hours scheduler in their Member Portal. Example Member Portal view below:
Related Videos
Watch a video and learn about Custom Schedulers.