Getting Started
Understanding Your Dashboard
Last updated 19 May 2026
Understanding Your Dashboard
Your dashboard is your daily command centre, see today's bookings, revenue, team status, and AI-powered insights at a glance.
TL;DR
- The live dashboard shows today's appointments, revenue, occupancy, waitlist, next bookings, team schedule, and who's clocked in
- The Getting Started checklist replaces the live dashboard until all 5 core setup steps are complete
- Venue Pulse provides an AI insight each day based on your occupancy, open slots, and waitlist
- Staff members see a simplified view, only their own bookings, not venue-wide metrics
Overview
The OpenChair dashboard lets you:
- View today's appointments, revenue, occupancy, and waitlist count in real time
- See your next upcoming bookings and take quick actions on them
- Monitor which team members are clocked in and view their schedules
- Receive smart alerts when something needs your attention (cancellation spikes, traffic surges)
- Get AI-generated insights from Venue Pulse about how your day is tracking
- Clock in and out directly from the dashboard
- Complete your getting started checklist if you are still setting up
The dashboard appears on web at your venue's home page and on mobile as the Today tab.
Getting Started vs Live Dashboard
When you first create your venue, the dashboard shows a Getting Started view instead of the live dashboard. This view guides you through the essential setup steps before you start accepting bookings.
Getting Started Checklist
The checklist heading reads "Getting Started" with a progress bar showing how many steps you have completed.
| Step | What to do | Where it takes you |
|---|---|---|
| Add your services | Create at least one bookable service | Services page |
| Set your operating hours | Define when your venue is open | Settings → Schedule |
| Set staff rosters (team) or Set your availability (solo) | Configure when each staff member works | Team page |
| Assign services to staff | Link each service to the right team member | Services page |
| Connect payments | Set up Stripe to accept card payments | Payouts page |
The payments step includes a "Skip, cash only" option if you do not plan to accept card payments online.
Once all core steps are complete, the dashboard switches to the live dashboard view automatically.
There are also optional enhancement steps (customise your booking page, upload your logo, connect Instagram, add a portfolio image, share your booking link) shown in a collapsible section below the core steps.
Trial-ending banner
If you're on the PRO trial, a countdown banner appears at the top of the dashboard 7 days before trial end (dismissible for the first 4 days, sticky for the last 3). On the last day it reads "Your trial ends today" with a Decide now button. See When Your Trial Ends for the wizard flow.
If you're on FREE post-rollback (within the first 30 days), the banner reads "You're on the FREE plan. Your branding, services, and team are preserved." with a Restore your full salon button.
Schedule conflicts widget
If you've connected Calendar Sync, a Schedule conflicts widget appears when external personal events overlap with bookings for today or tomorrow. Each row offers one-tap Reschedule and Open booking actions, plus a Dismiss button if you're happy to keep both.
Style Match adoption (PRO with Style Match)
If your venue has Style Match enabled, a compact adoption summary appears on the dashboard showing recent uploads, average confidence, and any low-confidence sessions in the Needs follow-up queue. Tap through to the Style Match dashboard for full triage.
Live Dashboard Sections
Once your venue is booking-ready, the dashboard shows these sections from top to bottom.
Greeting and Venue Pulse
The dashboard greets you with a time-appropriate message:
- "Good Morning, [Name]" (before 12 pm)
- "Good Afternoon, [Name]" (12 pm - 6 pm)
- "Good Evening, [Name]" (after 6 pm)
Below the greeting, the Venue Pulse insight card shows an AI-generated summary of how your day is tracking. The insight changes based on your occupancy, open slots, and waitlist:
| Situation | Insight |
|---|---|
| Open slots with clients on the waitlist | "You have open slots and clients on the waitlist, a great time to contact clients with availability." |
| Quiet day (low occupancy) | "Quiet day, share your booking link to fill open slots." |
| Excellent occupancy (above 90%) | "Occupancy is excellent, keep up the great work." |
| Steady day | "Business is steady. Looking good for today." |
Venue Pulse is available on both FREE and PRO plans.
Smart Alerts
Smart alert cards appear when OpenChair detects something unusual in your data. Each alert has a title, description, and an action button. You can dismiss alerts by tapping the close button, dismissed alerts reappear the next day if the condition persists.
| Alert type | When it appears | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic surge | Occupancy is above 90%, more demand than usual | Promote availability |
| Revenue pace warning | This week's projected revenue is behind your average | Review schedule |
| Staff gap | A team member has no bookings in the next 48 hours | Fill gaps |
| Cancellation spike | More cancellations than usual in the last 24 hours | Review cancellations |
When all alerts are dismissed or no alerts are active, the section is hidden.
Metric Cards
Five metric cards show today's key numbers at a glance:
| Metric | What it measures | Tapping it opens |
|---|---|---|
| Appointments | Total bookings scheduled for today | Calendar |
| Revenue | Confirmed revenue for today (in your local currency) | Intelligence |
| Upcoming | Bookings remaining for the rest of the day | Calendar |
| Occupancy | Percentage of available time that is booked | Calendar |
| Waitlist | Number of clients currently on your waitlist | Waitlist |
Occupancy is calculated as booked minutes divided by available minutes (based on active staff multiplied by 8 hours per day).
Next Up
The "Next Up" section shows the 3 most relevant appointments for today. If a client is currently in the appointment window, arrived, or ready to start, that booking is pinned first so the next operational action is always visible before later appointments.
Each booking card displays:
- Time and duration (for example, "10:30 AM · 45 min")
- Customer name
- Service name
- Staff member assigned, including profile image for Owners and Managers when one is available
- Price (if set)
- Status badge when it needs attention (for example Pending, Arrived, or Ready). Late bookings show a single "Late by X min" label instead of a duplicate status chip.
- Attention flags for key client context such as allergy, patch test, VIP, birthday, or first visit
- Deposit badge (green shield icon if a deposit has been collected)
On the web, clicking a booking opens its detail page. The active booking also has a primary action that changes with the appointment state:
| Booking state | Primary action |
|---|---|
| Pending or confirmed | Mark arrived |
| Arrived or ready to start with balance due | Check out |
| Arrived or ready to start and paid | Complete |
The action menu on web gives quick access to Reschedule, Mark no-show, Cancel booking, and Open details where those actions are allowed. No-show and cancel ask for confirmation because they are terminal actions. Staff members can see cancel as unavailable and should ask a Manager or Owner.
A "Full Schedule" link at the top takes you to the calendar.
On mobile, you can swipe left on a booking card to reveal quick actions:
- Arrived: mark the client as arrived (green button)
- Complete: mark the booking as completed (blue button)
- Check Out: open checkout when a balance is outstanding
When all bookings for the day are finished, the section shows "All done for today" with your total revenue.
If there are no bookings for the day, the dashboard shows "No bookings today" with buttons to "View Waitlist" (if you have active waitlist entries) or "Create a Booking".
Team Schedule
The "Team Schedule" section appears when your venue has multiple staff members with bookings. It shows one row per team member with:
- Staff name and avatar
- Number of bookings and time range (for example, "3 bookings · 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM")
- Current status: "All done" (green checkmark), "Next: [Customer] · [Service] · [Time]", or "In progress: [Customer] · [Service] · until [Time]"
A "View full schedule" link at the bottom opens the calendar.
Who's In
The "Who's In" card shows which team members are currently clocked in. It displays:
- A stack of up to 3 staff avatars (with a "+N" badge if more are clocked in)
- The heading "[N] staff clocked in" with their names listed below
- If no staff are clocked in: "No staff clocked in yet today"
If any shift has been running for over 12 hours, an orange warning appears: "[N] unfinished shift(s)".
The Who's In card refreshes automatically every 30 seconds. Tapping it opens the timesheet page.
Note
The Team Schedule and Who's In sections are only visible to owners and managers. Staff members see their own bookings in the Next Up section.
Clock In
The "Time Clock" card lets you clock in and out directly from the dashboard.
When not clocked in:
- Shows "Time Clock" with your venue name
- A green "Clock In" button
When clocked in:
- Shows "Clocked in" with a live elapsed timer (for example, "6h 30m")
- The start time of your shift
- A "Clock Out" button that opens a confirmation panel where you can set your break duration (0, 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes) before confirming
If your shift has been running for over 12 hours, an orange warning badge appears with the message: "This shift has been running for over 12 hours. Forgot to clock out?"
Gap Detection Nudge
The gap detection nudge appears for owners and managers when OpenChair detects open time slots that could be filled. If there are matching clients on your waitlist, the nudge offers a "Send offer" quick action to contact them directly.
Note
Gap detection nudge is a PRO feature. On the FREE plan, the card appears greyed out with a lock badge.
Recent Activity
The "Recent Activity" section shows the last 3 events, such as:
- New bookings created
- Clients joining the waitlist
Each entry shows the event description and a relative timestamp (for example, "2 minutes ago"). Tapping "Open notifications" opens the full notification panel.
Web vs Mobile Differences
| Feature | Web | Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Page name | Home page (/app/[slug]) |
Today tab |
| Next Up actions | State-aware primary button plus action menu | Swipe left for quick Arrived, Complete, or Check Out actions |
| Pull to refresh | Not applicable | Pull down to refresh all data |
| Clock in/out | Available on dashboard | Available on dashboard + dedicated Timeclock tab |
| Kiosk mode | Not available | Available, simplified view with privacy features |
| Tablet layout | Single column | Two-column layout (bookings left, metrics right) |
Who Sees What
| Dashboard section | Owner | Manager | Staff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greeting and Venue Pulse | Yes | Yes | Greeting only |
| Smart Alerts | Yes | Yes | No |
| Metric Cards | Yes | Yes | No |
| Next Up | Yes | Yes | Own bookings |
| Team Schedule | Yes | Yes | No |
| Who's In | Yes | Yes | No |
| Clock In | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gap Detection Nudge | Yes | Yes | No |
| Recent Activity | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Getting Started Checklist | Yes | Yes | No |
| Waitlist Summary (mobile) | Yes | Yes | No |
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Dashboard shows the Getting Started checklist instead of live metrics | Complete all 5 core setup steps (services, hours, rosters, service-staff assignments, payments). The live dashboard appears once your venue is booking-ready. |
| Venue Pulse insight is not showing | Venue Pulse appears once you have booking data for today. It is visible to owners and managers only. |
| Metrics or revenue seem incorrect | Check that your venue timezone is set correctly in Settings. Revenue is calculated from confirmed, completed, pending, and arrived bookings for today. |
| Smart alerts keep reappearing after dismissing | Dismissed alerts return the next day if the underlying condition still applies. Address the root cause (fill gaps, review cancellations) to prevent the alert. |
| Clock-in timer shows a very long shift | If a shift has been running for over 12 hours, you may have forgotten to clock out. Tap "Clock Out" to end the shift and set the correct break duration. |
| "No bookings today" but I have bookings scheduled | Check that your bookings are for today's date in your venue's timezone. Bookings scheduled for other days do not appear on the dashboard. |
FAQ
What does the OpenChair dashboard show?
The dashboard shows today's appointments, revenue, occupancy, and waitlist count, plus your next 3 upcoming bookings, team schedule, who's clocked in, and AI-powered Venue Pulse insights. On mobile, it also shows a waitlist summary for owners and managers.
Why does my dashboard show a Getting Started checklist instead of metrics?
The Getting Started view appears until all 5 core setup steps are complete. Finish services, hours, rosters, service-staff assignments, and payments (or skip payments with "Skip, cash only") to unlock the live dashboard.
What is Venue Pulse?
Venue Pulse is an AI-generated insight card on your dashboard that summarises how your day is tracking, quiet days, open slots with waitlist clients, cancellation spikes, or excellent occupancy. It is available on both FREE and PRO plans.
Who can see the dashboard metrics?
Owners and Managers see all metrics, smart alerts, team schedule, and Who's In. Staff members see the greeting and their own Next Up bookings only, they do not see venue-wide metrics or team information.