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Softalon

For salons

Set up your salon, manage bookings, payments, your team and the AI assistant.

Account & security

17 guides
Create a Softalon accountSign up with your email or with Google, Facebook or Microsoft, then verify your email to start using Softalon.Verify your email addressConfirm your email with a 6-digit code so you can sign in and use Softalon.Sign in to SoftalonSign in with your email and password, a one-time code, or Google, Facebook or Microsoft.Sign in with a one-time codeSign in without a password by entering a 6-digit code that Softalon emails to you.Sign in with Google, Facebook or MicrosoftUse your Google, Facebook or Microsoft account to sign up and sign in, and connect or disconnect providers in your account.Reset a forgotten passwordRecover your account with a code sent to your email, then set a new password.Change your passwordSet a new password in Account › Security and confirm it's you if Softalon asks.Set up two-factor authenticationAdd an authenticator app as a second sign-in step, and learn what signing in looks like afterwards.Add a security keyRegister a hardware security key as a second sign-in step for your Softalon account.Save and use recovery codesGenerate backup codes for two-factor authentication, confirm them, and use one when you can't reach your authenticator.Manage active sessionsSee where your account is signed in and sign out other browsers and devices.Change your name, email or phoneUpdate your avatar, full name, email address and phone number in Account › General.Account preferences explainedWhat the Default Salon, Language, Theme and Animations settings do, and where each one is saved.Choose how Softalon notifies youTurn on push notifications for your devices, choose your account notification channels, and check your notification history.Allow an app to access your accountReview the permissions an app asks for on the Authorize screen, choose what to grant, and approve or cancel.Delete your accountClose your personal Softalon account after you transfer or delete every salon you own.I can't sign inFix the most common sign-in problems: failed security checks, missing codes, unverified email, expired forms and a lost 2FA device.

Team & roles

10 guides
Roles and permissions explainedWhat Users, Administrators, Super Administrators and the Owner can see and do, including what own-only access means and how the display role works.Add a team memberCreate a profile for a new team member with their name, contact details, role and display role, then set up their services, locations and hours.Invite a team member to sign inSend an invitation so a team member can sign in with their own Softalon account, and cancel, resend or sync it when needed.Accept a salon invitationJoin a salon you've been invited to: open the email, sign in or sign up with the invited email, and accept or decline on the Overview page.Change a team member's roleGive a team member more or less access by changing their role, and learn the rules about who can change whose role.The Members page explainedA tour of the Members page: search and filters, every column, the actions menu, the Status switch, booking order and share links.Remove a team memberTurn off a team member's access or delete them from your salon, and handle their upcoming appointments first.Leave a salonStop being a member of a salon you were invited to. Your account is unlinked and you lose access, while the salon keeps your profile.Transfer salon ownershipHand your salon over to another team member. They become the Owner and you become a Super Administrator.Delete a salonDelete a salon you own. Cancel its subscription first, or delete a draft salon straight from the Overview page.

Calendar & appointments

16 guides
The calendar explainedLearn the calendar views, filters and settings, and how to book, move and edit appointments right from the calendar.The Appointments page explainedFind, filter and manage appointments in a table, handle pending requests and spot double bookings.Book an appointmentBook an appointment for a client, a walk-in or a new client from the calendar or the Appointments page.Double-book or book outside working hoursUse Manual Override to book, move or extend an appointment at a time that's already taken or outside working hours.Approve or decline booking requestsReview appointments that are awaiting confirmation and approve or decline them in one click.Appointment statuses explainedWhat each appointment status means, which changes are allowed, which statuses are final and how cancellation reasons work.Complete an appointment and take paymentMark an appointment as completed, finalize its invoice and record an in-person payment in one step.Cancel an appointment or mark a no-showCancel a confirmed appointment with a reason, or record that the client didn't turn up.Reschedule an appointmentMove an appointment to a new time, member, service or location with the Reschedule form or drag and drop.Reassign an appointment to another memberHand an appointment to a different team member at the same time, picked by you or automatically.Extend or shorten an appointmentAdd or remove minutes from an appointment when a service runs longer or finishes early.Add notes and internal notesAdd notes the client can see, or internal notes only your team can see, to an appointment.Send a client a confirm, reschedule or review linkShare a link that lets a client confirm, update, reschedule, cancel, review or join an appointment without signing in.Run an online appointmentMeet clients by video in a team member's built-in meeting room, and share the meeting link with them.Block time on the calendarBlock out breaks, training or maintenance for one team member or the whole team so nobody can book that time.Share your free slots as an imageTurn a day's free appointment times into an image for Instagram stories, posts or chats, with your booking link on it.

Services, products & locations

12 guides
Create a serviceAdd a service with its name, category, duration, buffers, price, tax rate and visibility, then make it bookable.Organize services into categoriesGroup your services into categories like Hair or Nails, and set the order clients see them in when they book.Set different prices or durations per location or memberOverride a service's price, duration or buffers for one location or one team member, and see which value wins.Hide a service from your booking siteMake a service private so it's not listed publicly, and share it with selected clients by direct link.Require rooms or equipment for a serviceAdd resources like treatment rooms or machines, link them to services, and stop overbooking when they're all in use.Require a depositAsk clients to pay a fixed amount or a percentage online when they book, for all services or for selected ones.Ask clients custom questions when they bookAdd custom fields to the booking form for your whole salon, one location or one service, and choose where each answer is saved.Add a locationCreate a physical, private, mobile or virtual location, add its address, and know how your plan limits active locations.Choose services and team members for a locationTurn on the services a location offers and the team members who work there, so clients can book them together.Add photos to services and locationsUpload photos and short videos to a service or location gallery, set the cover image and change the order.Add productsCreate products like shampoo or gift cards with a price and tax rate, so you can add them to invoices quickly.Change the order clients seeReorder locations, team members, service categories and services to control how they're listed when clients book.

Booking website

17 guides
Your booking website explainedWhat's on your salon's booking website, how clients sign in and manage visits, and when the site shows as unavailable.Booking settings explainedEvery setting on Settings › Booking: time slots, appointment defaults, custom fields, and the policies that control what clients can do.Let clients cancel or reschedule onlineAllow clients to cancel or move their own appointments, and set how close to the start time they still can.Approve bookings before they're confirmedMake new online bookings wait for your approval, and choose whether rescheduled appointments need approval again.Choose how Anyone bookings are assignedHow Softalon picks a team member when a client books Anyone, and what each Member Selection Logic option does.Let clients book several services at onceTurn on multi-service booking so clients can book back-to-back services in one visit, and set the longest wait between them.Change booking steps and contact fieldsReorder the steps of your online booking flow, hide the team member step, and choose whether clients give an email, a phone number, or both.Change your site's colors, logo and iconPick your booking site's color scheme, light or dark mode and corner style, upload your logo, and set the name and icons for the installable web app.Edit your site's header and footerChange your booking site's header layout, logo display, menu links and announcement bar, and arrange the blocks in your footer.Edit your home pageChoose which sections appear on your booking site's home page, put them in order, and set up the hero banner and its buttons.Turn site pages on or offTurn the Services, Locations, Members, Reviews, Gallery and About pages of your booking site on or off, and set how each one looks.Add a custom pageCreate your own pages on your booking site, such as a cancellation policy or an FAQ, and link to them from your menu.Add custom HTML, CSS or JavaScriptAdd your own HTML, CSS and JavaScript to every page of your booking site, for styling tweaks or third-party scripts.Remove Softalon brandingHide the Powered by Softalon line from your booking site, booking flow and live chat.Connect a custom domainPut your booking site on your own domain, such as book.hairhaven.com: add the DNS records, verify them, and make the domain primary.Change your subdomain or primary domainChange your onsoftalon.com address, or choose which of your domains is the main address of your booking site.Add booking and chat to your own websiteEmbed your Softalon booking flow and live chat on any website with a short script, open them from your own buttons, and preselect a service or team member.

Payments & finances

14 guides
Payment settings explainedWhat each card on Settings › Payments does: Softalon Payments, payment methods, deposits, invoice due date, currency and format.Get paid online with Softalon PaymentsTurn on Softalon Payments so clients can pay online, verify your business to activate payouts, and read your balance.Withdraw your balance and set up automatic payoutsMove money from your Softalon Payments balance to your payout account, set up automatic payouts and see past withdrawals.Connect Stripe, PayPal or SquareConnect your own Stripe, PayPal or Square account so clients can pay with it at booking and from invoices.Choose which payment methods clients seeTurn payment methods on or off, rename them, set their order and pick the default method clients see at checkout.How clients pay when they bookWhat clients see at checkout: pay later, pay in full or pay a deposit, the Awaiting Payment status, and what happens if they don't pay.Invoices explainedHow invoices are created for appointments, what draft and finalized mean, every invoice status, due dates, invoice numbers and the PDF.Create an invoiceCreate a custom invoice with services, products or custom items, add a coupon and notes, and save it as a draft.Finalize an invoiceFinalize a draft invoice to lock it, give it a number, due date and PDF, and let the client view and pay it.Record a paymentRecord cash or card payments taken at the salon, take partial payments, count extra as a tip, or mark an invoice as paid in one click.Send a client a payment linkCreate a payment link for an invoice and share it, or share the invoice itself so the client can pay it online.Refund a paymentRefund all or part of a completed payment, and see how refunds affect the payment and the invoice.Create a couponCreate a percentage or fixed-amount coupon with a code clients enter at checkout, and turn it on or off.Set up tax ratesCreate inclusive or exclusive tax rates and assign them to all your services or products at once.

AI Assistant & inbox

17 guides
How the AI assistant worksWhat the AI assistant answers, how it books in chat, when it hands a conversation to your team, and when it uses credits.Set up the AI assistantTurn on the AI assistant, give it a name and personality, and connect the channels where clients message you.AI assistant settings explainedEvery setting on Settings › Conversations: the assistant's personality, booking in chat, reply rules, follow-ups, knowledge base, keywords and live chat.Teach the assistant about your salonUse the knowledge base to give the AI assistant facts about your salon, like parking, policies and products, so it can answer client questions.The inbox explainedHow the Conversations inbox works: statuses, channels, filters, notes from the assistant, and turning the assistant on or off per conversation.Take over a conversation from the assistantTurn the AI assistant off in one conversation to reply yourself, then hand it back or make it answer the latest message.Get a suggested replyAsk the AI assistant to draft a reply in the inbox, optionally with your own instructions, then edit and send it yourself.Correct the assistant's repliesShow the AI assistant how a reply should have sounded. It saves a guideline and follows it in future replies to general questions.Set up keyword auto-repliesSend a fixed reply when a client's message is exactly a keyword you choose, without using the AI or credits.Turn on live chat on your booking siteAdd a chat button to your booking website so visitors can message the AI assistant and your team.Connect WhatsAppConnect your WhatsApp Business number so client messages land in your inbox and the AI assistant can reply and book.Connect Facebook Messenger and InstagramConnect your Facebook Page and its Instagram account so Messenger and Instagram DMs land in your inbox and the AI assistant can reply.Connect TelegramCreate a Telegram bot for your salon and connect it so Telegram messages land in your inbox and the AI assistant can reply.Connect WhatsApp through TwilioConnect a WhatsApp sender from your own Twilio account so its messages land in your inbox and the AI assistant can reply.Connect iMessage and SMS with BlueBridgeConnect your BlueBridge account so iMessage and SMS conversations from your device land in your inbox and the AI assistant can reply.Connect email to the inboxForward your salon's email to Softalon so client emails land in your inbox and the AI assistant can answer them.I can't reply to a conversationWhy the message box is missing or a reply fails in the inbox, and how to reach the client another way.

Automations

14 guides
How workflows workLearn how workflows automate your salon: triggers, steps, runs, the active switch and how many workflows each plan can run.Create a workflow from a templateStart from a ready-made workflow, like an appointment reminder or a birthday message, and adjust it to your salon.Build a workflow from scratchCreate an empty workflow, choose its trigger, add steps in the editor and save it so it starts running.Send appointment remindersRemind clients 24 hours or 2 hours before their appointment by email, SMS, WhatsApp or push, with links to reschedule or cancel.Send birthday messagesWish clients a happy birthday automatically with a workflow that runs on each client's birthday.Win back clients who stopped comingInvite clients back automatically 30, 60 or 90 days after their last visit if they haven't booked again.Workflow triggers explainedEvery trigger you can start a workflow with, and exactly when each one fires.The Send Notification step explainedEvery setting of the Send Notification step: channel, recipient, subject and content, WhatsApp templates, CC and BCC, and when a message is skipped.Add delays and conditionsPause a workflow with Wait/Delay and branch it with Conditional Split, using the builder or an expression.Use variables in workflowsInsert details like the client's name, appointment time or salon address into workflow steps, and format them with helpers.Start a workflow from a webhook or manuallyLet another system start a workflow by calling its webhook URL, or start a workflow yourself with Run.Send data to another systemUse the Send HTTP Request step to call another system's URL from a workflow and use its response in later steps.Check workflow runs and failuresOpen a workflow's History to see every run, its status and what each step did, and find out why a message didn't go out.Save a workflow as a templateWho can save workflows as templates, and how to reuse a workflow in your salon when you can't.

Plans, billing & credits

11 guides
Plans comparedSee what Starter, Accelerate and Ultimate include: limits, monthly credits and every feature that depends on your plan.How the free trial worksLearn when a plan comes with a free trial, what you get during it and what happens when it ends, with or without a card.Change your planUpgrade, downgrade or switch between monthly and yearly billing, and see how Softalon credits the unused part of your current plan.Cancel or reactivate your subscriptionSchedule a cancellation for the end of your billing period, undo it before then, or restart a subscription that has ended.Credits explainedWhat credits pay for, how many your plan includes each month, which credits are used first and how to read your credit history.Buy more creditsTop up your salon's credits with a one-time credit package when your plan's monthly credits aren't enough.Manage your payment methodsAdd a card, choose your primary and backup payment methods, update an expiration date and remove cards you no longer use.Pay and download your Softalon invoicesFind the invoices Softalon sends your salon, pay an open one, and download the invoice or receipt PDF.Update your billing details and tax IDChange the billing email, business name, address and tax ID that Softalon uses for your invoices, receipts and billing emails.A feature says Upgrade requiredWhy a feature shows Upgrade Required or asks you to upgrade, how to unlock it, and what to do if the Upgrade button is grayed out.My subscription payment failedWhat Past Due, Unpaid and Incomplete mean, how Softalon retries a failed renewal, what stops working and how to fix it.