1This one still runs on email — deliberately
The proof of concept covers Chair Yoga, Laughter, Tai Chi and the Choir. Everything else keeps the events@duncanplace.org route it has today, unchanged, so nothing breaks while the approach is being judged. Adding a session to the bookable set is one line of configuration — the question is which ones should be, and that is yours to answer, not ours.
2Most of the programme should not be bookable — and isn’t
Six modes, assigned per series: drop-in (Music Circle £3, Craft £2, Qigong £6 — untouched), roster (Chair Yoga, Laughter), block (Tai Chi, Choir), ticketed (workshops, cinema), external (other organisations), and private. Any series can move between them with one field, and every one keeps its email fallback. This is a smaller change than it looks — on purpose.
3This page is your WordPress, live
The title, description, image and dates all come from The Events Calendar you already maintain — fetched when the page is built, not copied, not migrated. Staff keep the tool they know and keep working exactly as they do now. The only new thing anywhere is who holds the bookings.
4The link survives the block rolling over
Your calendar renames each recurrence — this page is …-3. Booking is matched on the stable part of the name, so when the next 8-week block starts and the number changes, the button keeps working. Small thing; it’s the sort of small thing that silently breaks a booking page six months after launch.
5Private hires stop appearing here — but still block the room
Today “Private Booking” entries sit on the public calendar because that calendar doubles as the room diary. On one shared grid they can do their real job — holding the room — without being advertised to the public. Your what’s-on page gets cleaner for free.
6No fee on top of your price, and the list is yours
Eventbrite turns a £3 Music Circle into £3.83 for the person attending — +28% on a session priced to be affordable. It also holds 762 followers that Duncan Place cannot email. Booking on your own site charges your price and puts those people on your list.
7Nothing here is a real booking yet
The booking pages run on invented participants and no live payments. Real names start only once the privacy notice, retention schedule and processor agreement are in place — which is a first task, not an afterthought, because half of what is being sold here is handling people’s data properly.