Business guides
Count workshop seats, not checkout transactions
Make group purchases consume the correct capacity in a shared class.
Zocri · 2 min read · Sources checked
One purchase can represent several people
WooCommerce Bookings includes a setting that counts people in a booking toward the maximum for a time block. That is important for a hypothetical printmaking workshop where one person may reserve places for friends. A checkout transaction and a seat are different units. Decide what consumes capacity: people, workstations or groups. If each participant needs a workstation, a booking for three should reserve three. Write the rule before choosing the display, because a calendar can look correct while counting the wrong unit beneath the surface.
Decide who must be named
The buyer may not be every attendee. Decide whether you need participant names immediately, later or only at arrival. Collect only what is necessary to run the workshop and contact the responsible person. If children or different participant categories are involved, define the operational requirements with appropriate care instead of treating them as mere price options. Keep the purchaser's receipt separate from the attendance list. Staff should be able to check people in without exposing payment details or assuming that the buyer's name identifies everyone in the group. Put the expected participant total at the top of the instructor's roster, making a group-size discrepancy visible before materials are laid out.
Test the last few places
Give the hypothetical class four remaining seats. Try to book five people, then three, then two from another session. Check whether a failed or abandoned purchase holds places and how those places become available again in the selected setup. Test a group reducing its size before the class and confirm the owner can see the revised attendance count. These cases are more informative than a simple purchase when the class is empty. The actual capacity rule must remain correct as orders change, not just when they are first created.
Plan the day-of view
Give the instructor a sample roster with a group booking, an individual booking and a cancelled place. They should be able to see how many workstations to prepare and who to contact about missing information. Decide how walk-ins are recorded so they do not bypass the public capacity. If the class cannot accept more attendees, the customer-facing message should make that clear. A useful booking setup preserves the difference between orders and people all the way from purchase to attendance, including the adjustments made by staff.