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Driive Help Center
Driive Help Center

Creating an Appointment Type

Setting up a new appointment type takes just a few minutes. The creation wizard walks you through the essentials — name, description, appearance, and initial scheduling settings — so you can get your service bookable as quickly as possible.

Before you start

Before creating an appointment type, it helps to have a few things ready:

  • Service name — What do your customers call this service? Use language they'd recognize (e.g., "AC Tune-Up" rather than "HVAC-PM-001").

  • Typical duration — How long does the average appointment take? You'll set a range, so think about the shortest and longest versions of this job.

  • Buffer needs — Do your techs need travel time or prep time between appointments?

Starting the wizard

  1. Navigate to the Appointment Types page from the sidebar.

  2. Click the Create button in the top-right corner.

  3. The creation wizard opens, guiding you through each step.

Step 1: Name and description

Name — Enter a clear, customer-facing name for the service. This is what customers see on your booking page, so keep it simple and descriptive.

  • Good: "Roof Inspection," "Furnace Repair," "Lawn Mowing"

  • Avoid: Internal codes or abbreviations your customers won't understand

Description — Add a short description explaining what the service includes. This appears below the name on your booking page and helps customers confirm they're booking the right thing.

Example: "A thorough inspection of your roof to identify damage, wear, and potential leaks. Includes a written report with photos and repair recommendations."

Step 2: Icon and color

Icon — Choose an icon that visually represents the service. Driive provides a library of icons to pick from. The icon appears next to the appointment type name on the list page, booking pages, and calendar events.

Color — Select a color for the appointment type. This color is used:

  • On the calendar to distinguish different service types at a glance

  • On the appointment types list page as a visual identifier

  • On booking pages as an accent color for the service card

Tip: Choose distinct colors for your most common services. When you're scanning a busy calendar day, color is the fastest way to tell a roof inspection from an AC repair.

Step 3: Duration

Set the duration range for the appointment:

  • Minimum duration — The shortest this appointment could be (default: 30 minutes).

  • Maximum duration — The longest this appointment could be (default: 2 hours).

If the appointment is always the same length, set the minimum and maximum to the same value.

If the duration varies based on the job, set a range. You can fine-tune this further with Duration Rules that automatically adjust the duration based on customer answers to booking questions.

Step 4: Buffer minutes

Buffer time is the breathing room between appointments. It accounts for travel time, cleanup, or prep before the next job.

Set the number of buffer minutes to add after each appointment of this type. For example, if you set a 30-minute buffer on "AC Repair," Driive won't offer a time slot that starts less than 30 minutes after the end of an AC Repair appointment.

  • 0 minutes — No buffer. Back-to-back scheduling is allowed.

  • 15-30 minutes — Good for jobs at nearby locations.

  • 45-60 minutes — Better for jobs that require driving across town.

You can always change buffer settings later in Scheduling Settings.

After creation

Once you complete the wizard, your new appointment type is created in Active status and ready to be added to a booking page. From here, you can further configure:

These settings are all optional — your appointment type works with just the basics. Add more as your needs grow.

Next steps

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