Skip to main content
View Categories

Toolkit: Advance Notice Blocking

Table of Contents

Greys out calendar dates that fall inside your advance-booking window and shows a clear tooltip, so guests never pick a date that fails at checkout with a confusing “internal error” message.

What it does #

Many properties require a minimum amount of advance notice (for example “book at least 7 days ahead”). Without help, a guest can pick a too-soon date, sail through the booking widget, and only hit a generic error at the very end. That is a frustrating dead end.

Advance Notice Blocking fixes this in three places:

  • The booking widget calendar greys out dates inside the advance-notice window so they cannot be selected.
  • The Explorer range calendar marks those dates unavailable and shows a tooltip when a guest hovers or taps them.
  • The checkout error message is rewritten, so if anyone still slips through, the unhelpful “requires 168 hours” style message becomes a clear human-readable note in days.

The result is that guests understand the rule up front instead of running into a wall at checkout.

This is a guest-experience layer, not the rule itself. Your property management system and HomeRunner still decide which bookings are allowed, so turning the module off only removes the friendlier greying and message. It does not let guests book too early.

How to turn it on #

1. Enable the module #

Go to HomeRunner Toolkit in your WordPress admin and switch on Toolkit: Advance Notice Blocking.

2. Set your notice window #

Open the Advance Notice Blocking settings panel and enter how many hours of advance notice you require (see Settings below).

3. Save #

Click Save. Blocked dates are greyed out on the calendars right away.

Settings #

  • Notice Window (hours), the required hours of advance notice, from 0 up to 8760 (one year). The panel shows the rounded day equivalent next to it (for example 168 hours displays as ~7 days). The default is 168 hours (7 days). Set it to 0 to disable blocking.
  • Tooltip Message, the text shown when a guest hovers or taps a blocked date. Use %d anywhere in the message and it will be replaced with the rounded-up day count. The default is “Requires %d-day advance booking”.

Tips #

  • Enter the window in hours, but think in days: 24 = 1 day, 168 = 7 days. The panel confirms the day count for you as you type.
  • Keep the tooltip friendly and specific, for example “This home needs %d days’ notice to book.” The %d keeps it accurate even if you change the window later.
  • A property can carry its own notice window from your property management system. When a property has its own value, that window applies to it. Every other property uses the global Notice Window you set here.
  • See the full module list in the Toolkit overview.