Multiple Periods Per Day

Configure split shifts and non-contiguous time periods for flexible scheduling

Feature Overview

The Multiple Periods Per Day feature (introduced 2025-11-21) allows you to configure multiple non-contiguous time periods for the same weekday.

This feature enables realistic scheduling for split shifts, lunch breaks, and different work periods without manual slot blocking.

When to Use Multiple Periods

Split Shifts

Example: Hair Salon

• Morning: 09:00-13:00
• Afternoon: 15:00-19:00
• Lunch: 13:00-15:00 (closed)

Extended Breaks

Example: Medical Clinic

• Morning: 08:00-12:00
• Afternoon: 16:00-20:00
• Break: 12:00-16:00 (closed)

Two-Shift Operations

Example: Gym

• Early shift: 06:00-10:00
• Evening shift: 18:00-22:00
• Off-peak: Closed

Provider-Specific Patterns

Example: Multi-Provider Clinic

• Provider A: Mornings only
• Provider B: Afternoons only
• Provider C: Full day (split)

Step-by-Step: Creating Multiple Periods

1. Create First Period

   Configure the first time period for the day.

   Example (Monday Morning):

   • Weekday: 1 (Monday)
   • Opening: 09:00
   • Closing: 13:00
   • Click Guardar (Save)

   Monday (1): 09:00 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 13:00
   
2. Create Second Period

   For the same weekday, create a second period.

   Example (Monday Afternoon):

   • Weekday: 1 (Monday) ← Same day
   • Opening: 15:00
   • Closing: 19:00
   • Click Guardar (Save)

   Monday (1): 09:00 ━━━━━━ 13:00   15:00 ━━━━━━ 19:00
                            ↑
                         Gap: 13:00-15:00 (lunch)
   
3. Validation

   The system automatically validates that the new period does not overlap with existing periods.

   Overlap Formula: A_start < B_end AND B_start < A_end

   ✅ Valid: 09:00-13:00 + 15:00-19:00 (gap)

   ❌ Invalid: 09:00-14:00 + 13:00-17:00 (overlap 13:00-14:00)

4. Result

   You now have a split-shift schedule with a gap.

   Available Slots (30-minute service):

   • Morning: 09:00, 09:30, 10:00, …, 12:30
   • Afternoon: 15:00, 15:30, 16:00, …, 18:30
   • NO slots in gap: 13:00-15:00 ✅ Correct

Overlap Validation Explained

The system prevents overlapping time periods using this formula:

Two periods overlap if:
  A_start < B_end  AND  B_start < A_end

Examples

✅ Valid: Gap Between Periods

Configuration:

• Period A: 09:00-13:00
• Period B: 15:00-19:00

Check:

• 09:00 < 19:00 ✅
• 15:00 < 13:00 ❌ False

Result: Valid (no overlap, gap 13:00-15:00)

09:00 ━━━━━━ 13:00   15:00 ━━━━━━ 19:00
               ↑
            Gap: 13:00-15:00 ✅

✅ Valid: Contiguous Periods

Configuration:

• Period A: 09:00-13:00
• Period B: 13:00-17:00

Check:

• 09:00 < 17:00 ✅
• 13:00 < 13:00 ❌ False

Result: Valid (contiguous, A_end == B_start)

09:00 ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 13:00━━━━━━━━━━━━ 17:00
                      ↑
                Contiguous ✅

Contiguous periods are allowed when A_end == B_start. No gap, but no overlap either.

❌ Invalid: Overlapping Periods

Configuration:

• Period A: 09:00-14:00
• Period B: 13:00-17:00

Check:

• 09:00 < 17:00 ✅
• 13:00 < 14:00 ✅ Both true

Result: Invalid (overlap 13:00-14:00)

09:00 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 14:00
               13:00 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 17:00
                  ↑
              Overlap: 13:00-14:00 ❌

Error: "Overlap detected: Period 13:00-17:00 overlaps with existing period 09:00-14:00"

❌ Invalid: Nested Periods

Configuration:

• Period A: 08:00-18:00 (full day)
• Period B: 12:00-14:00 (lunch break)

Check:

• 08:00 < 14:00 ✅
• 12:00 < 18:00 ✅ Both true

Result: Invalid (B is nested inside A)

08:00 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 18:00
          12:00 ━━━━ 14:00
             ↑
          Nested ❌

You cannot create a nested period. To configure lunch breaks, use two separate periods before and after the break.

How Availability Works with Multiple Periods

The availability system generates slots only within configured periods, not in gaps.

Example: Split Shift Availability

Configuration:

Monday (1):
  Clinic Hours: 09:00-13:00 + 15:00-19:00
  Service Duration: 30 minutes

Slot Generation:

Morning Period (09:00-13:00):
  09:00, 09:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30 ✅

Gap (13:00-15:00):
  NO SLOTS GENERATED ✅ (clinic closed)

Afternoon Period (15:00-19:00):
  15:00, 15:30, 16:00, 16:30, 17:00, 17:30, 18:00, 18:30 ✅

The system automatically skips gaps when generating slots. You don’t need to manually block time.

Real-World Examples

Example 1: Hair Salon with Lunch Break

Business Hours:

• Morning shift: 09:00-13:00
• Lunch break: 13:00-15:00 (closed)
• Afternoon shift: 15:00-19:00

Configuration:

Day	Period 1	Period 2
Monday (1)	09:00-13:00	15:00-19:00
Tuesday (2)	09:00-13:00	15:00-19:00
Wednesday (3)	09:00-13:00	Not configured
Thursday (4)	09:00-13:00	15:00-19:00
Friday (5)	09:00-13:00	15:00-19:00
Saturday (6)	10:00-14:00	Not configured
Sunday (7)	Closed	Closed

Result:

• Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri: Full split-shift (morning + afternoon)
• Wednesday: Morning only (half day)
• Saturday: Weekend hours (no split)
• Sunday: Closed

Example 2: Medical Clinic with Different Providers

Clinic Hours (Monday):

• 08:00-20:00 (operational window)

Provider Hours (Monday):

Provider	Period 1	Period 2	Result
Dr. Smith	09:00-13:00	Not configured	Mornings only
Dr. Jones	Not configured	15:00-19:00	Afternoons only
Dr. Brown	09:00-13:00	15:00-19:00	Full day (split)

Availability by Provider:

• Dr. Smith: 09:00, 09:30, …, 12:30 (morning slots only)
• Dr. Jones: 15:00, 15:30, …, 18:30 (afternoon slots only)
• Dr. Brown: 09:00, …, 12:30 + 15:00, …, 18:30 (both periods)

Example 3: Gym with Two Shifts

Business Model: Peak hours only (early morning + evening)

Configuration (Monday):

Period	Time	Target Audience
1	06:00-10:00	Early birds (before work)
2	18:00-22:00	After work crowd

Gap: 10:00-18:00 (closed during off-peak hours)

Common Questions

How many periods can I create per day?

There is no hard limit, but practical usage is 2-3 periods per day.

Recommended:

• 2 periods: Split shift (morning + afternoon)
• 3 periods: Complex schedules (early + mid + late)

Not recommended:

• 5+ periods: Makes scheduling confusing for users

Can I edit a period without affecting others?

Yes. When editing a period, the system uses self-exclusion validation:

• The period being edited is excluded from overlap checks
• Only validates against OTHER periods

See Edit & Delete Hours for details.

Can I delete one period without deleting all?

Yes. You can delete individual periods:

• Deleting Period 1 keeps Period 2 intact
• Deleting the only period for a day closes the clinic that day

Warning: Deleting a period invalidates availability cache.

What happens to existing appointments in gaps?

Existing appointments are not affected by work hour changes.

Scenario:

1. You have an appointment at 14:00 (no gap configured)
2. You create periods: 09:00-13:00 + 15:00-19:00 (gap 13:00-15:00)
3. Existing 14:00 appointment remains valid ✅
4. New appointments cannot be booked in gap ✅

Can I use multiple periods for providers too?

Yes. Providers can have multiple periods just like clinics.

Example:

• Clinic: 08:00-20:00 (full day)
• Provider: 09:00-13:00 + 15:00-19:00 (split shift)
• Result: Provider works split shift within clinic hours

Best Practices

Use multiple periods instead of manual blocking: Instead of blocking slots manually, configure work hours to reflect actual availability.

Keep gaps realistic: A 2-hour lunch break (13:00-15:00) is typical. Very short gaps (<30 min) may confuse customers.

Don’t use multiple periods for one-time changes: For holidays or exceptional days, use the Closures feature. Multiple periods are for recurring weekly schedules.

Cache invalidation is automatic: When you create, update, or delete periods, availability caches are cleared automatically.

Next Steps

Provider Hours

Configure split shifts for individual providers

Edit Work Hours

Learn how to edit periods with self-exclusion

Closures

Configure one-time closures for holidays

Availability API

Understand how slots are generated