Overview
Ignite Calendars are used for appointments such as trial sessions, intro lessons, private lessons, and phone consultations. These calendars are different from Class Rosters, which track student attendance.
Using the correct Ignite calendar ensures that your automated messages fire correctly and that bookings appear in the right place.
Here is a helpful video tutorial:
Tip: If you already have an intro calendar for each of your programmes, use those calendars with Ignite instead of creating new ones. Otherwise, follow the steps below to create and manage your calendars.
Step 1: Identify Your Ignite Calendar
Go to Spark → Calendar → Appointment Types
Look for calendars marked Used by Ignite or labelled with the 🔥 icon.
Make sure you are selecting the calendar that matches the programme you want to book (e.g. Kids Trial, Adult Trial). Using the wrong calendar can cause bookings to scheduling
Step 2: Add or Edit Timeslots
To let prospects book appointments, you need to create available slots on your Ignite calendar.
Open Spark Ignite Calendar.
Double‑click on the day/time you want to make available or click and drag to highlight a range of time.
Choose "Available slot", which is the time period that prospects can schedule themselves in for your classes.
Select the correct Ignite calendar from the drop-down list.
Set the duration of the appointment
Choose whether the slot should repeat weekly/monthly/daily, etc.
Set how many people can book into that slot at that given time, for example:
Use 1 for private appointments.
Use 3–10 (or your real class capacity) for group classes.
In the "What tags would you like applied when someone books" field, type booked‑ignite‑trial and select it.
This tag is what triggers Ignite’s follow‑up messages after someone books.
Optionally assign a staff member if you want the slot to sync with their calendar.
Click Save to create the slot.
Pro Tip: Add recurring timeslots one day at a time. Changing grouped weekdays can inadvertently modify multiple slots.
Step 3: Confirm tags and manage appointments
Every slot on your Ignite calendar should have the booked‑ignite‑trial tag. Without this tag, your confirmation and follow‑up automations won’t run.
To check if setup correctly:
In Spark, open the calendar and click a time slot to see its details. Verify that booked‑ignite‑trial appears in the tags list.
When appointments are booked, they appear in the Today’s Schedule section on your Spark Dashboard. Click the action button above each appointment to mark it as Cancelled, Rescheduled, or Shown.
Pro Tip: Updating the status ensures Ignite sends the correct next sequence (for example, the no‑show follow‑up)
To see all tags on a contact, open their profile and look in the Assigned Tags section. If you see a no‑show or cancelled tag, you’ll know which follow‑up sequence they’re on.
Step 4: Review and edit booking messages
Each calendar has its own confirmation and reminder messages. To customise them:
Go to Calendar → Appointment Types.
Click the programme you want to adjust. This opens the Appointment Details page.
Scroll down to the SMS and Email section. Here you can edit the confirmation email, day‑before SMS, and day‑of SMS.
Pro Tip: Merge tags such as {first_name} or {appointment_date} to personalise the message.
Do not change the curly‑bracket tags or remove braces, as doing so can break automations.
Step 5: Check Your Live Booking Link
In the Calendar tab, find the calendar name and click the 🔗 icon next to it. This copies or opens the live booking link so you can see all the timeslots available for your prospects to book.
Open the link in a new tab and make sure the dates and times you added are visible.
If the calendar shows “no appointments available”, double‑check that you added time slots on the correct calendar and that they repeat through the dates you want.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I add timeslots?
A: Open your Ignite calendar, double‑click the desired time, choose Available Slot, set the duration and capacity, add the booked‑ignite‑trial tag, and save. For group classes, set the capacity to the number of people you can accommodate.
Q: Which calendar should I use?
A: Use calendars labeled Used by Ignite or marked with the 🔥 icon. These calendars are linked to your Ignite automations.
Q: Why aren’t automations triggering?
A: The most common cause is a missing booked‑ignite‑trial tag on one or more time slots. Check each slot individually to ensure the tag is present. Also confirm that the appointment was booked on an Ignite calendar, not a roster calendar.
Q: Can I edit recurring slots?
A: Editing a recurring pattern can change multiple days at once. The safest method is to delete the existing slot and re‑add it with the new details. If the slot has existing bookings, reschedule or cancel them first.
Q: How do I change the appointment confirmation message?
A: In Appointment Types, select your programme and scroll to the SMS and Email section. Edit the message text there and keep merge tags intact.
Q: How do I make a trial virtual or phone‑only?
A: Create a separate calendar with the appropriate appointment type (e.g. Phone Consultation). Tag the slots with booked‑ignite‑trial and use a different confirmation message to tell prospects it’s a virtual/phone session.