Install and activate Booked

Upload the plugin, activate it, and enter the licence key that switches everything on.

Booked installs like any other WordPress plugin — you upload a ZIP file and press Activate. What catches people out is the step after that: a new install shows one full-screen card asking for a licence key, and nothing works until you paste it in.

What you need before you start

Booked is not in the WordPress.org plugin directory. You download it from your Booked account, along with the key that unlocks it.

• WordPress 6.0 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer. Your web host can tell you the PHP version.
• The plugin ZIP — from your Booked account at trybooked.co. It downloads as get-booked-1.4.8.zip (the number is the version). It is only served to a signed-in account holder, so a forwarded link will not work.
• Your licence key — in the same account area, on the licence card for your website. Keys begin gbk_ followed by 32 characters. Use the Copy button rather than selecting it by hand; a missing character is a common cause of failed activation.
• An administrator login. Booked adds its permissions to the Administrator role when it activates, so an editor or shop manager will not see the menu.

Upload and activate the plugin

This all happens on the WordPress Plugins screen.

• 1Plugins — the WordPress menu item, then Add New at the top of the list.
• 2Upload Plugin — opens the file box. Searching the directory for "Booked" will not find it.
• 3Install Now — uploads the ZIP; WordPress then offers Activate. Activating builds Booked's database tables, seeds the seven customer emails, creates the Employee role and grants the Booked permissions to the Administrator role — which is what puts the Booked menu in your sidebar.

When it finishes, a Booked item appears in the WordPress sidebar, below Comments.

The activation screen: why nothing works yet

Open Booked and you will not see the dashboard. The whole app is replaced by one card headed Activate Booked. This is not a nag screen you can click past — the server refuses every Booked request until a key is accepted, so there is nothing behind it.

• 1Licence key box — paste the key from your account. Pressing Enter does the same as clicking the button.
• 2Activate — reads Activating… while it checks with Booked. On success the page reloads itself and the real app appears.
• 3Get one from Booked — opens your Booked account in a new tab if you have not fetched the key yet.

"Enter your licence key." means the box was empty. "That key could not be activated. Check it and try again." means Booked saw the key but would not accept it — a typo, a replaced key, or a subscription that is not active. Where Booked has a more specific reason, such as the key already being tied to another website, that reason is shown in place of this line. "Activation failed. Please try again." means your website could not reach Booked at all, usually a firewall or security plugin blocking outbound requests.

What is blocked while the site is unlicensed

An unlicensed site is locked down in several places at once, so it is worth knowing where to look.

The same lockdown applies if a working licence later stops being Active. A failed card that leaves the subscription Payment overdue, or a cancelled plan, takes the booking form off your website — there is no reduced mode in between.

Managing the licence afterwards

Settings › Your plan is the permanent home for all of this. You can activate from here instead of the gate.

• 1Your plan — under Money in the vertical tab rail. There is no Save settings button on this tab, unlike most of the others; each button acts the moment you press it.
• 2Status — Active, Payment overdue, Cancelled or Not activated. Only Active keeps the booking form live.
• 3Key and actions — Refresh re-checks your subscription and pulls down anything newly purchased. Remove from this site forgets the key on this website only. Both appear only once a key is stored; a fresh site shows Activate on its own.
• 4Locked to — the domain this key is tied to. Check it first whenever activation is refused elsewhere.
• 5Add-ons — each extra shows as Included or Not in plan. Only these two are listed; calendar sync, secure documents and payments come with the subscription.

Moving Booked to a different website

A key locks to the first domain that activates it. "www." is ignored when Booked compares them, but a staging address such as staging.bramhallpharmacy.co.uk counts as a different site. Activate on staging first and the live site is refused: "This licence is already in use on staging.bramhallpharmacy.co.uk. Ask us to move it if you have changed domains."

Re-pasting the key will not clear that. The fix lives in your Booked account:

1. Open your Booked accountThe licence card shows its status, the locked domain and the key.
2. Press Change domainEnter the new address to move the licence there. Leaving it blank unlocks the key — "Unlocked. Activate the key on your new site to lock it there."
3. Activate on the new siteThe lock re-forms on whichever domain activates next.

If a key has been shared somewhere it should not have been, use Rotate key. That issues a new key and stops the old one at once, so update the plugin straight afterwards or the site goes dark.

Updating, deactivating and deleting

Booked does not appear in the usual WordPress plugin-updates list. When a new version lands, an Update available toast appears at the bottom of the app, naming the new version and the one you are on. Its Update button opens your Booked account in a new tab, where you download the newer ZIP and upload it as before. You do not need to deactivate or re-enter your key — database changes apply themselves on the next page load. That toast is remembered per browser, so a colleague on another computer still sees it.

Deactivating Booked from the Plugins screen is safe: it touches no data, and reactivating picks up where you left off.

If Booked's own files are edited — a "nulled" copy, or a well-meant tweak to a licensing file — the plugin disables itself. A red warning you cannot dismiss appears on every WordPress admin page, the Booked app is replaced by the same warning, and your booking page shows every visitor, not only staff, a notice telling them not to enter their details. Re-entering the key will not clear it; reinstalling the official ZIP will.