We want to inform you that we will be discontinuing the Booking Addon for Ultimate Add-ons for Contact Form 7. However, we have an even more powerful and feature-rich solution—Hydra Booking—which will serve as its replacement.
Hydra Booking is a robust, standalone booking plugin designed to provide a more advanced and flexible booking system. With its modern interface and enhanced features, it offers a superior booking experience compared to the previous add-on.
Let’s dive deeper into why we made this change and how Hydra Booking can improve your booking management system!
Reasons for Discontinuation
We have decided to discontinue the Booking Addon for Ultimate Add-ons for Contact Form 7 for several reasons.
One of the main challenges with the addon is its limitations in creating, managing, and customizing booking forms at a large scale. As booking needs grow, the addon lacks the flexibility required for advanced scheduling and appointment management.
Additionally, the addon does not provide a way to manage hosts, meetings, and other essential settings needed for an efficient booking system. These limitations made it clear that a more comprehensive and scalable solution was needed.
Another key reason for discontinuing the Booking Addon is that its UI/UX is outdated and does not meet modern design standards. The interface lacks the flexibility and customization options needed to match your brand’s design seamlessly.
With the current addon, users have limited control over the form’s appearance and functionality, making it difficult to create a fully branded and user-friendly booking experience.
Impact on Existing Users & Transition Plan
With over 50,000 active installations of Ultimate Add-ons for Contact Form 7 (UAFC7), we understand that discontinuing the Booking Addon is a significant change. We recognize that many users rely on this addon, and we want to ensure a smooth transition for everyone.
To make this transition easier, we have decided to phase out the addon in two steps, allowing all users enough time to migrate from the existing Booking Addon to Hydra Booking without disruptions.
Our goal is to deliver a better, more scalable, and customizable booking experience while ensuring that no existing user is left behind.
To streamline the transition, we’ve developed a new add-on called Hydra Booking/Appointment. This add-on allows you to install and activate the Hydra Booking plugin directly from your dashboard, making the switch seamless and straightforward.
Timeline for the transition
To ensure a smooth transition, we will first provide an official notice on the WordPress admin dashboard, informing users about the deprecation of the Booking Addon. This will give users ample time to prepare for the change.
After one week of the notice being in place, we will remove all booking tags and the Booking Addon from the addon list. This means that new booking forms cannot be created, but existing Users who do not wish to transition to Hydra Booking immediately can continue using their already created booking forms without any disruptions.
This step ensures that current users can gradually adjust while still having access to their previous booking system.
Features of Hydra Booking: A Powerful Upgrade
Hydra Booking introduces a range of advanced features that were missing from the Booking Addon, making it a more complete and scalable booking solution. Here are some of the key features that set Hydra Booking apart:
Booking Management
Hydra Booking provides a dedicated booking management system, allowing users to view, track, and manage bookings efficiently from a centralized dashboard.
Meeting Management
Unlike the previous addon, Hydra Booking lets you create, schedule, and organize meetings effortlessly, making it ideal for appointment-based businesses.
Host Management
With built-in host management, you can assign multiple hosts, manage their availability, and set up team-based meetings.
Availability Management
Set custom availability rules for hosts, ensuring that bookings are only made during their available time slots.
Multiple Meeting Types
Hydra Booking supports one-on-one meetings, group sessions, webinars, and more, offering flexibility for different business needs.
Integration with Various Platforms
Hydra Booking seamlessly integrates with Zoom, Google Calendar, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and other third-party platforms to automate scheduling.
Independent Payment Integration
Unlike the old addon, Hydra Booking comes with built-in payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, WooCommerce, and more, enabling direct payment processing.
Email Management
Hydra Booking includes automated email notifications, allowing users to send booking confirmations, reminders, and follow-up emails to clients.
With these enhanced features, Hydra Booking is a fully-fledged booking system designed to provide greater flexibility, automation, and ease of use.
Here is the documentation of the Hydra Booking; please check it for more info.
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