Getting Started
Calso glossary
Every word Calso uses, defined in one place — including the difference between a package offering and a package, a session and a group session, and what Source and Active mean on each screen you meet them.
Calso reuses a handful of everyday words in very specific ways, and a few of them mean different things on different screens. This page defines all of them once, so you can read the rest of the help center — and the dashboard itself — without second-guessing.
Nothing here is a setting you need to change. It is a reference. If you are new, skim the first table, then come back when a word on screen doesn't behave the way you expected.
The words for what you offer
These seven carry most of the product. Almost every other feature hangs off one of them.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Workspace | Your whole practice inside Calso: one booking page, one set of event types, one availability schedule, one plan. Settings has a Workspace section for its address, time zone, and currency. There is no separate name field for it — the workspace takes its name from Your Name under Booking Page Profile. |
| Booking page | The public page clients land on, listing everything they can book from you. Booking Page is also the name of the Settings tab where you arrange it. |
| Booking Page URL | The short address that ends your public link — the part you choose in Settings. One error message on that field calls it a username; it is the same thing. Change it and every link you have already shared stops working, so pick it deliberately. |
| Event type | One thing a client can book: a 60-minute intake call, a 30-minute check-in. It holds the duration, the Location, the price, and the intake questions. The sidebar calls the list Event Types. |
| Session | One booked appointment between you and one client. The dashboard counts in sessions — Today's Schedule, sessions this week — but a session is not something you configure. You configure the event type; a session is what happens when someone books it. |
| Booking | The record of that reservation: who, when, what they paid, what they answered, whether they showed. The sidebar item is Bookings, and each one carries a status such as Confirmed, Pending Approval, or No-Show. |
| Availability | The hours you are open, set per weekday. The Availability page holds your workspace-wide weekly hours plus Scheduling Defaults — Buffer time, Minimum notice, and Maximum advance. Any event type can override them. |
A venue is the eighth: a saved in-person address, with directions, parking notes, and accessibility details, kept under Venues. You attach one to an event type by setting its Location to In Person, so you write the directions once and every booking that needs them gets them.
Group events and their sessions
This is the pair people mix up most, because the dashboard, the editor, and the booking page each use a different label for the same family of things.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Group event | The whole offering — a workshop, a six-week course, a weekly drop-in class. The sidebar calls the section Groups, and you start one with either + One-Time Event or + Recurring Series. |
| Group session | One dated occurrence inside a group event. The editor lists them on a Sessions tab, and clients book into a specific one. A one-time event has exactly one; a recurring series has many. |
| Series | A group event that repeats. Its own Active toggle pauses future group sessions without touching the ones already booked. |
Your public page shows these under the heading Group Sessions by default, which is the label clients read. In the dashboard, use group event for the offering and group session for the date. Running a group event or recurring series walks through both.
Package offerings, packages, and credits
The word package names two different objects. Keeping them apart is the difference between changing your price list and changing one client's balance.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Package offering | The template you build and sell — its name, its price, and the Sessions Included list saying how many credits of which event type a buyer gets. Offerings live under the Package Offerings heading on the Packages page. |
| Package | One client's purchased copy of an offering, with its own credit balance, its own expiry, and its own status. These fill the list below the offerings, each tagged with the client's name. |
| Credit | One prepaid session inside a client's package. Booking spends one; a cancellation can return it. Credits Outstanding on the Packages page counts every unspent credit you owe across all clients. |
Editing an offering changes what future buyers get, not what current clients already hold — see changing or retiring a package offering. To fix one person's balance, use Add Credits on their package instead, covered in adjusting a client's package credits.
Discounts, vouchers, and add-ons
Three ways money moves at checkout, and they are not interchangeable.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Promo code | A code a client types at checkout for a discount. You create these on the Promotions page, under the Promo Codes tab, with Create Promo Code. |
| Voucher | A credit for one specific session, issued to one named client — usually because they bought a voucher add-on. The Vouchers tab tracks each one as Issued, Redeemed, Expired, or Revoked. |
| Add-on | An extra a client can tick while booking, set up on an event type's Add-ons tab under Checkout Add-ons. The four kinds are 1:1 session voucher, Group event voucher, Digital product, and Service upgrade. |
Buying either voucher add-on is what puts a voucher in that list. Offering add-ons at checkout covers the pair together; creating a discount code covers promo codes.
Intake, the client portal, and automations
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Intake | The questions a client answers while booking, built on an event type's Intake Questions tab. Mark one Internal only and clients never see it — it becomes a field just for you, badged Host only. |
| Client portal | The signed-in area at your Calso address where clients see their own sessions, packages, and billing. You switch it on with Send portal access to clients in Settings → Notes & Sessions. |
| Automation | A rule you build on the Automations page: pick a Trigger, optionally narrow it with Event type filter (optional), then choose an Action — an email, a text message, or a webhook. |
If you are deciding which intake questions clients should see, read keeping questions only you can see.
Words that mean more than one thing
Three labels appear on several unrelated screens. Same word, different subject each time.
Source answers four different questions depending on where you are standing:
| Where you see it | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Source column on Bookings | How the booking arrived: Direct, Portal, Embed, or Post-purchase. |
| Source: on a client record | Where that person came from as a lead, such as a referral. |
| Source column on a client's Billing tab | Whether that charge ran through Calso or was recorded from outside it. |
| Funnel by Traffic Source in Analytics | Which website or campaign sent the visitor to your booking page. |
Active is the most overloaded word in Calso:
| Where you see it | What it means |
|---|---|
| On an event type | It accepts bookings. Separate from Public, which controls whether it is listed on your booking page. |
| On the Groups list | The group event is live rather than a draft. |
| On a recurring series | Future group sessions are still being offered, rather than paused. |
| As a client's pipeline stage | Where they sit in your own funnel, between Discovery and Paused. |
| As Active (30d) on Clients | A count of clients with activity in the last 30 days — not a status anyone holds. |
Internal Notes names three separate boxes: the field in the Add Client form, the panel on a client record, and the block of your Host only intake answers in a booking's detail view. They do not sync. When help copy says internal notes, check which screen it means.
Where to go next
With the vocabulary settled, the natural next step is building the thing most of it hangs off — create your first event type.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a package offering and a package in Calso?
A package offering is the template you build and sell — its name, its price, and how many credits it includes. A package is one client's purchased copy of that offering, with its own credit balance and its own expiry date. You edit an offering under Package Offerings on the Packages page; you adjust one client's package from the list below it.
What does the Source column on my Bookings list mean?
It records where the booking came in from, and shows one of four values: Direct (someone opened your booking page), Portal (an existing client booked from inside the client portal), Embed (they booked through the widget on your own website), or Post-purchase (they booked straight after buying something). It is unrelated to the Source shown on a client record, which is where that person came from as a lead.
Is a group session the same as a session?
No. A session is one booked appointment between you and one client. A group session is one dated occurrence of a group event — a single Tuesday evening of a six-week course, with several people attending it. A group event can hold many group sessions, and clients book into them individually.