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All right. So today we're going to dive into something that I think a lot of

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people can relate to, um, scheduling.

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It never seems to go as smoothly as we'd like, right?

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Absolutely. Yeah.

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Whether you're running a business or just trying to keep your own life organized,

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trying to nail down a time that works for everyone involved can be a real

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headache.

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Totally. So we're going to take a look at Easy!appointments. It's this,

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well,

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it's basically a tool that aims to make the whole process of booking and managing

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appointments a whole lot easier.

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And we're going to see if it lives up to that promise by looking at what they say

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about it on their website and over on their GitHub page.

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Sounds good. I mean,

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I'm always curious about tools that try to streamline things like scheduling

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because they're like, you know,

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so much time gets wasted just on the back and forth.

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Yeah, exactly. And you know,

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especially if you're just starting out with a business or maybe you're, you know,

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a solo Purdue or something like that,

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you don't want to spend all your time just sorting out when to meet with people.

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You want to be focusing on, you know, actually doing the work.

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So before we dig into Easy!appointments specifically,

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I do want to mention that this deep dive is brought to you by safe server.

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They're the folks who can help you with hosting for software like this.

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And also, you know, they offer advice and help with, you know,

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anything related to bringing your business into the digital world.

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So if you're interested in that kind of stuff,

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definitely check them out at www.safeserver.de.

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All right. Yeah.

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Okay. So let's get back to appointment scheduling.

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Like what exactly are we talking about here?

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Why would someone even need a dedicated tool for this?

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Well, think about it this way. Like how many times have you tried to,

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let's say book a call with someone maybe for a consultation or something,

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and you end up sending emails back and forth, trying to find a time that works.

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Oh yeah. All the time. Or like trying to schedule an appointment to,

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I don't know, get your hair cut or something.

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Sometimes it can feel like a part-time job, just coordinating that stuff.

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Right. Exactly. And that's where an appointment scheduler comes in.

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It's like having a digital assistant that handles all that back and forth for you.

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So you can set your availability,

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your clients can see when you're free and they can book themselves in without you

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having to lift a finger.

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Okay. So that makes sense.

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And that brings us to Easy!appointments specifically.

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They describe themselves as a powerful open source appointment

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scheduler, which is a bit of a mouthful,

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but the key thing here is that it's self-hosted.

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So you're not relying on some third party service to manage your appointments.

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You're in control, right? You have it set up on your own server.

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So it's kind of like having your own dedicated website,

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but specifically for managing appointments and the open source part.

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What's that all about?

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So open source basically means that the code that makes the software work is

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publicly available. Anyone can look at it, use it,

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even modify it if they want to.

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And often this means that the software is free to use,

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which is a big plus,

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especially for people who are just starting out and maybe don't have a huge

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budget.

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Okay. So no expensive licensing fees or anything like that.

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Exactly. And in the case of Easy!appointments,

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they use what's called a GPL 3.0 license,

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which means you're free to use it for commercial purposes as well.

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So you can use it for your business without any restrictions.

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All right. So that's good to know.

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Now let's get into the nitty gritty of what Easy!appointments can actually do.

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What are some of the key features that people would be using on a day to day

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basis?

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Sure. So first and foremost, it handles all the basics of appointment management.

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You can keep track of your customers, their contact details,

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their appointment history, all that good stuff.

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Okay. Like a digital Rolodex, but for appointments.

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Exactly.

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And you can also organize the services that you offer, whether it's, you know,

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different types of consultations or hairstyling services or whatever it might be.

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And you can even manage who provides those services.

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If you have a team of people working with you, right?

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So you can assign appointments to specific staff members. That's pretty handy.

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Yep.

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And another really useful feature is the ability to set your working hours and

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define booking rules.

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So you can specify things like how far in advance people need to book,

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how long each appointment slot should be,

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whether there are any breaks in your schedule, all that sort of stuff.

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Oh, that's really smart because I know one of the biggest frustrations with

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scheduling is when people try to book you outside of your available hours,

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where they want to book something last minute when you've already got something

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planned.

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Exactly. And Easy!appointments can prevent that from happening.

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Plus it can even sync with your Google calendar,

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which is super convenient for a lot of people who already use Google calendar to

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manage their schedule.

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Yeah, that's a huge plus.

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So it sounds like this software is pretty well rounded in terms of features,

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but what about customization? Can you tailor it to your specific needs?

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Absolutely.

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It's actually described as highly customizable in the documentation.

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And they mentioned that it's designed to handle various enterprise workflows,

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which might sound a bit intimidating if you're just a small business or an

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individual.

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But what it really means is that the software is flexible enough to adapt to

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different needs.

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So you can start with a simple setup and then as your business grows or your

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needs change,

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you can adjust Easy!appointments to match those needs.

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Okay. So it's kind of like a grow with you kind of system.

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Yeah, exactly.

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And one specific example of that flexibility is that it can integrate with

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various payment gateways.

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So if you need to take payments for your appointments,

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you can set that up directly through Easy!appointments.

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All right. So we've got all the features covered.

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Now let's talk about how you actually get this thing up and running.

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What are the technical requirements?

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Okay. So to run Easy!appointments,

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you'll need a server and that server needs to have a few specific things

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installed.

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Like what?

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Well, first you'll need something called Apache or Nginx.

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Those are web server software.

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Think of them like the foundation that allows your website to run.

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Okay. So they're kind of like the engine of the website, right?

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Yeah, exactly. And then you need PHP,

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which is a programming language is what a lot of websites are built on.

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And specifically you need version 8.2 or newer for Easy!appointments.

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Okay. PHP 8.2 or newer. Got it. What else?

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And finally you need MySQL. That's a database system.

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It's where all the information for your appointment system is stored.

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Things like your customer details, your appointment data, all that stuff.

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Okay. So it's like the filing cabinet for all the important information.

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Exactly. And the good news is that if you already have a website,

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chances are your hosting provider already offers all of these things,

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or they can help you get them set up if you don't have them already.

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So it's not as daunting as it might sound initially.

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Not at all. And the actual installation process is fairly straightforward.

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Okay. Walk me through it.

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Sure. So first you just double check that your server has those prerequisites we

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just talked about Apache or injinks PHP and MySQL.

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And then you would create a new empty database on your server.

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Your hosting provider can usually guide you through that.

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Okay. So a new database check.

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Then you download the Easy!appointments files and upload them to your server.

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It's usually just a matter of dragging and dropping them into the right folder

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through your hosting control panel.

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Sounds easy enough.

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And then there's a specific folder within the Easy!appointments files called

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storage. And you need to make sure that folder has the right permissions.

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This basically just means that the software is allowed to save information into

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that folder. Okay.

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So it's like giving the software permission to access that folder. Got it.

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Exactly. And then you'll find a file called something like config dash sample

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dot PHP, and you rename it to config dot PHP.

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This is where you enter your database details and other basic settings.

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All right. So this is where you kind of connect the software to the database we

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created earlier.

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Exactly. And then the final step is usually just to open the Easy!appointments

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web address in your browser and the software itself will guide you

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through the rest of the installation process.

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Okay. So it sounds like they've tried to make the installation process as user

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friendly as possible.

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Definitely. And one thing I really liked about the Easy!appointments website

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is that they emphasize that it's designed with simplicity in mind.

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They want it to feel familiar and easy to use,

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even if you're not super tech savvy. That's reassuring,

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especially for people who might be a bit intimidated by the idea of installing

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software themselves. Absolutely.

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And it's also worth noting that they mentioned that Easy!appointments is used

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by large organizations,

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which gives you some confidence that it's a stable and reliable piece of

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software. Right. So it's not just for small businesses or individuals.

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It can handle more demanding use cases as well. Exactly. And speaking of support,

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if you do run into any problems during the installation or later on,

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there are a couple of options for getting help. Well,

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they have a user community forum where you can ask questions and get help from

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other users. And you can also report issues directly on GitHub. Okay.

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So there's a community aspect to it as well. Yeah.

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Which is often one of the big benefits of open source software.

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There's a whole community of people who are using the software and are willing

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to help each other out. That's awesome. And what about updates?

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How do you keep the software up to date?

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So the sources outline a pretty clear process for that. Basically,

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you make a backup of your existing files and your database,

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just in case anything goes wrong. Always a good idea. Right.

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And then you replace the old software files with the new ones,

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except for that config.ph key file where you entered your settings. Okay.

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So don't touch the config file. Exactly.

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And then you usually just run a simple update script through your web browser.

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And that's it. So pretty straightforward. Yeah.

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And it's important to keep the software updated, right? Definitely.

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For security reasons to get new features and just to make sure everything is

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running smoothly. Makes sense. And, you know,

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one thing that really stood out to me about Easy!appointments is that it's been

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around for quite a while. Like they're celebrating their 10th anniversary this

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year. Oh, wow. I didn't realize it had been around for that long. Yeah.

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And they also have over 3000 stars on GitHub,

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which is a pretty good indication that it's a well-respected project within the

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developer community. Definitely.

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Those stars are kind of like votes of confidence from other developers.

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Exactly. And they also offer a WordPress plugin,

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which is a really big deal for anyone who already has a website built with

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WordPress. Oh yeah.

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That makes it super easy to integrate the booking system into an existing website.

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Totally. So all in all, it seems like easy.

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Appointments is a pretty solid option for anyone who's looking for a free,

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customizable and self-hosted way to manage their appointments. I agree.

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It's definitely worth checking out. So to kind of wrap things up,

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I think the big takeaway here is that if you're tired of the hassle of manually

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scheduling appointments, Easy!appointments might be a really good solution.

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And because it's self-hosted,

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you have more control over your data and how your scheduling system works,

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which can be really important as your needs change and grow. Absolutely.

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And that brings us to a really important question for you, the listener.

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What specific scheduling challenges are you facing right now,

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whether it's in your work or your personal life, think about the pain points,

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the frustrations,

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the things that just make you want to pull your hair out when it comes to

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scheduling. Because once you identify those pain points,

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you can start to see if a tool like Easy!appointments might be able to solve

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them. That's a great point. And maybe it's not the right solution for everyone,

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but it's definitely worth exploring if you're looking for a way to simplify your

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scheduling and free up some time and energy for other things. Totally agree.

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All right.

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Well that brings us to the end of our deep dive into Easy!appointments.

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We hope you found this helpful and a big thank you again to SafeServer for

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supporting this deep dive.

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If you're interested in learning more about their hosting services or their

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digital transformation consulting,

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head over to www.safeserver.de.

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Thanks for listening everyone.

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And we'll catch you next time.