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Questions before purchasing the Developer version (already reviewed the documentation below):
“You should use the same time zone settings with BirchPress Scheduler Pro and other Calendars.”1.) Let’s say that I have multiple providers in multiple time zones. Can each provider use a different time zone?
2.) Is there a way to avoid having to use the location feature, or instead to use a modified digital type of location such as a company Skype account?Hi Eric,
1. Provider’s working hours is defined based on your system timezone. There is only one system timezone.
2. You can hide the location field if you want to.
Interesting, so how would providers in different time zones all have their Google Calendars sync if the system doesn’t recognize the provider’s distinct time zone?
Each provider can have its own timezone setting in google calendar. It is just when you specify the working hours in WP Admin, it is based on the system timezone.
For instance, Provider A’s time zone is different from the systems’s. And his working hours is 9am to 5pm on his own timezone, when you configure the system, you need set his working hours as 10am to 7pm.
If your providers are located at different timezones, probably the scheduler is not a good fit.
Hi Jennifer,
I’ve spent much of the weekend working through what you said for several reasons:
1.) BirchPress is advertised to work “with the calendars you already have (Google, iCal, iPhone, Android, or Outlook) and imports or exports your appointments and availability automatically.” Nowhere in the documentation or fine print does it detail that new users should accept otherwise.
2.) I advised a client of mine to spend $300 on a Developer package and already included my pitch and affiliate link for the booklet ahead of the MENA ICT Forum in Amman in three weeks. These types of issues really ought to be communicated.
3.) This appears to be a bug, not a known limitation, that is extraordinarily easy to fix: simply adding TZID= into the iCal integration.
Jennifer, short of having the technical know-how to implement this modification, I’ve really done my homework and am otherwise extremely satisfied with BirchPress. Could you please help me avoid asking my client to request a refund and retracting my recommendation from a public conference?
Thank you,
EricHi Eric,
1. Calendar sync feature is for service providers to manage their appointments, not for customers. I do not follow your question: new users should accept otherwise.
2. We have replied to your email regarding to this question. If you encounter the problem again, please let us know.
3. The scheduler is not designed to be used for the case of service providers locating at different timezones.
It’s pretty simple really:
Your product advertised that BirchPress would work with providers’ existing calendars. Nowhere in the documentation or sales copy does it say “but only if they’re in the same time zone.” So while it may not be designed to be used for this purpose, it is certainly advertised under that assumption.
From our standpoint, we’re a multi-thousand dollar customer base that is 99% enthusiastic but will have to table that enthusiasm if we can’t address that last outstanding issue. Whether or not intentional, your prior two messages suggested that you didn’t value us or this issue. The minimum that I would expect is some effort (perhaps a 10-minute Skype call) to help us understand how we could custom design this. I’d even be willing to share that back to you.
Please help us continue using and promoting your product.
Hi Eric,
I am sorry that my messages let you feel not valued. We are trying out best to help our customers.
Due to a fundamental design flaw, the scheduler might not work well if your service providers are located at different time zones.
“The minimum that I would expect is some effort (perhaps a 10-minute Skype call) to help us understand how we could custom design this. I’d even be willing to share that back to you.”
Could you please assist in helping us figure out a solution for the “fundamental design flaw” on your behalf by giving me just enough information so that I can task it out?
Hi Eric,
We appreciate your enthusiasm greatly. However, timezone involves several other issues like available timeslots calculation, disabling fully booked days, etc. All these implementation assumes both clients and providers live in the same timezone. We know it is a wrong assumption for some business scenarios and we will rewrite the core to fix it in the future. But it is hard to achieve your goal based on the current code base. We are sorry for that. Thanks for your understanding.
Luke
Luke, all I’m asking is that you give me some pointers on how to get this done so that I can (a) remain and an encourage others to become customers and (b) provide this back to you as a free development package.
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