Conflict Detection & Resolution

When you put an event somewhere it does not fit, CeremonySync says so before you save. It checks two things, rates how bad the clash is, and offers ways out.

The two kinds of clash

The distinction exists because the fix differs. An overlap has to move. A turnaround might only need the second event to start half an hour later.

A reported turnaround tells you both numbers — the gap you have and the gap you need — rather than claiming an overlap of zero minutes, which would read as a bug.

How long a turnaround has to be

Three settings govern it, all under Calendar Settings at the top of the calendar (owners and managers):

• Check turnaround time — on by default. Off, only real overlaps are flagged
• Between two events on the same day — 30 minutes by default
• When the next event is on another day — 4 hours by default

Turnaround is only checked between bookings in the same space, and "the same day" means the same day at your venue, in your venue's time zone. An evening event and a late one after it are the same day, even when it is already tomorrow somewhere else.

Set them to how your venue actually works. A venue that resets a room in ten minutes and one that needs a full day should not be measured against the same numbers, and a turnaround warning is only as good as the numbers behind it. A change applies to the next check; nothing already booked is re-examined until you edit or move it.

The same screen sets how long a wedding with only a ceremony time occupies the venue: Setup before the ceremony (6 hours by default) and Until load-out, after the ceremony (8 hours).

A wedding needs a ceremony time to be checked

Turnaround is measured between two windows, so both sides need one. A wedding with a ceremony time set occupies a real window — load-in to load-out — and is checked like anything else on the calendar. A wedding with no ceremony time is still a whole-day block, and turnaround cannot be measured against it at all.

If a wedding never seems to raise a turnaround warning, that is usually why. Set the ceremony time on the booking and it starts being checked.

How bad is it

Each clash gets one of three levels:

When several clashes turn up at once, the worst one sets the tone of the dialog and is listed first.

When the check runs

Creating an event, editing one, dragging one to a new time or space, and blocking dates. All of them use the same check, against everything on the venue's calendar: weddings, events, EventSync bookings, blocked dates, date holds and FacilitySync closures.

Placing a date hold does not run it. It works one way only: an event booked onto a held date mentions the hold, but a hold placed on a busy date does not mention the event.

The full dialog

A serious clash — more than one problem, or anything critical — opens a panel headed with the number of conflicts found, asking you to review them before proceeding.

Conflicting Events lists each one with its times and either the overlap in minutes or the gap against the gap required.

Recommended Alternatives offers up to five other slots. Click one to Select it, then Apply. Any that clash with nothing are marked Conflict Free.

Quick Fixes are one-click adjustments, each with its own Apply.

At the bottom, Cancel, and beside it a button whose wording depends on how bad the clash is: Confirm Schedule normally, and Force Schedule when anything is critical. The escalating language is the point — the system will let you do it, and makes sure you know what you are doing.

The short warning

A single, less serious clash gets a smaller dialog. It says in plain words what kind of clash it is:

• With a booking that has no space recorded: Schedule Conflict, with Cancel or Book Anyway. A clash in the same space, or with a blocked date, is critical, so it always gets the full panel — a blocked date closes every space, whichever one you are booking
• In a different space, or only a date hold: Heads Up, with Book It. Nothing is double-booked; it shows up so the overlap is your decision, not a surprise
• A turnaround: Not Enough Turnaround, with the gap you have and the gap you need
• Blocking dates over a booking: the booking that is already there

Not the same as the other two conflict screens

• Event Flow runs its own checks across a wedding's day — overlaps, tight transitions, capacity and duration. See the Event Flow timeline.
• The Conflict Center collects problems found after the fact — double-booked dates for every venue, plus whatever your paid modules turn up. See the Conflict Center.

This article is about the check that happens the moment you book.

Practical use

• Read the two numbers on a turnaround warning before overriding it. "20 minutes, needs 30" is a conversation; "20 minutes, needs 240" is a different event.
• Take the suggestions seriously on a first draft and ignore them on a final one. They know the calendar, not the couple.
• If you are overriding the same warning every week, the defaults are wrong for your venue rather than the warning being wrong.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I turn conflict checking off? Not from the product. The turnaround requirement is a stored setting, but nothing exposes it for editing.

Does it check blocked dates? Yes — blocked dates are part of what an event is checked against, and booking onto one is always critical, because a blocked date closes the whole venue. A block does not count against turnaround: an event can run late the night before a closed day.

Why did dragging an event give me a different dialog than creating one? The check is the same; the dialog around it is not. A single, less serious clash on a drag shows inside the reschedule confirmation. More than one, or anything critical, opens the full panel either way.

Does overriding leave a record? Yes. Booking over a warning writes a note to your venue's conflict log — what you were warned about, and when — so the Conflict Center shows it as already acknowledged rather than raising it again. The event itself saves exactly as you booked it.