Setting Up Your Booking Handle

Setting Up Your Booking Handle

Your booking handle is the unique identifier that creates your custom booking URL. This is what patients will use to access your booking page.

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What is a Booking Handle?

A booking handle is a short, memorable name that becomes part of your booking URL:

Handle	Resulting URL
downtown-clinic	booking.outsmartcare.com/downtown-clinic
dr-smith	booking.outsmartcare.com/dr-smith
wellnesscenter	booking.outsmartcare.com/wellnesscenter

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Handle Requirements

Your booking handle must follow these rules:

Allowed Characters

• Lowercase letters (a-z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Hyphens (-)

Format Rules

• Minimum length: 3 characters
• Maximum length: 50 characters
• Cannot start or end with a hyphen
• No consecutive hyphens (--)
• No spaces or special characters

Reserved Words

The following handles are reserved and cannot be used:

• admin, api, booking, book, app
• login, logout, register, signup, signin
• account, settings, help, support
• www, mail, ftp, cdn, static

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Setting Up an Office Handle

To create a booking handle for your office/clinic:

1. Log in to OutSmart as an office administrator

2. Navigate to your booking page (ask your OutSmart administrator for the current URL)

3. Click the Settings icon (gear) in the header

4. Find the Custom Subdomain or Booking Handle option

5. Enter your desired handle

6. Click Save

   If the handle is already taken, you'll see an error message. Try a different variation.

Good Handle Examples for Offices

Type of Practice	Suggested Handles
Single location	downtown-clinic, main-street-physio
Multi-location	smith-health-toronto, wellness-center-north
Specialty practice	pediatric-therapy-ottawa, sports-med-vancouver

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Setting Up a Practitioner Handle

To create a booking handle for your personal booking page:

1. Log in to OutSmart as yourself (the practitioner)
2. Navigate to your practitioner booking page
3. Click the Settings icon (gear) in the header
4. Find Custom Subdomain
5. Enter your desired handle
6. Click Save

Good Handle Examples for Practitioners

Practitioner Type	Suggested Handles
Medical doctor	dr-jane-smith, dr-johnson-md
Therapist	sarah-jones-rmt, mike-lee-counselling
Specialist	dr-patel-dermatology, physio-with-anna

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Changing Your Handle

You can change your booking handle at any time:

1. Access your booking page in edit mode

2. Open Settings

3. Enter the new handle

4. Click Save

   Important: When you change your handle, the old URL will stop working immediately. Update any marketing materials, business cards, or website links that use the old URL.

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Handle Conflicts

Same Handle for Office and Practitioner

If someone tries to use a handle that’s already taken:

• The system will display an error
• You must choose a different handle

Resolving Conflicts

If you need a handle that’s taken:

• Add your location: dr-smith-toronto instead of dr-smith
• Add your specialty: smith-dermatology instead of smith-clinic
• Add a qualifier: downtown-wellness-clinic instead of wellness-clinic

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Testing Your Handle

After setting up your handle:

1. Open a new browser tab (or incognito/private window)
2. Visit your new URL: booking.outsmartcare.com/your-handle
3. Verify the page loads correctly
4. Check that your branding appears
5. Test the booking flow as a patient would

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Next Steps

Now that you have your booking handle:

1. Access Your Booking Page - Learn about different URL formats
2. Edit Mode Basics - Start customizing your page