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Migration Guide for the 3.10 series 🚀

Version 3.10 adds four new model fields, so unlike 3.0.1 this upgrade does require a migration. No existing field changes meaning, and no data is rewritten — every new field has a default that preserves the previous behaviour for existing rows.

Steps for Upgrading to Version 3.10.x:

1. Backup Your Database:

   • As a best practice, always back up your current database before performing an upgrade. This precaution ensures you can restore your application to its previous state if needed.

2. Update Package:

   • Upgrade to the latest version by running:

     pip install --upgrade django-appointment
     

3. Run Migrations:

   • This package intentionally does not ship migration files, so generate them against your own project first:

     python manage.py makemigrations appointment
     python manage.py migrate
     

   • The new fields are:

   Model	Field	Default	Effect
   Config	default_to_service_duration	True	Availability accounts for each service's duration
   Config	slot_gap_time	NULL	No rest time enforced between appointments
   Service	use_service_duration_as_slot	True	Per-service fallback when the Config flag is off
   StaffMember	slot_gap_time	NULL	Falls back to the Config value

4. Review your slot availability:

   • default_to_service_duration defaults to True, which means services longer than your configured slot duration will now correctly reserve the time they need. If you were relying on the previous behaviour — where a long service only blocked one slot — your availability will legitimately look tighter after upgrading. Set the flag to False in the Config model to opt back out per service.

5. Review and Test:

   • After upgrading, thoroughly test your application to ensure all functionalities are working as expected with the new version.
   • Pay particular attention to appointment booking, since that is where the slot changes are visible.

Optional follow-ups

• Cleanup task: if django_q is in your INSTALLED_APPS, a daily cleanup of abandoned appointment requests is now scheduled automatically the first time the app starts. Set APPOINTMENT_CLEANUP_DAYS if 7 days is not the retention you want, and run python manage.py cleanup_appointment_requests --dry-run first if you'd like to see what it would remove.
• Custom templates: nothing to do unless you want them. If you had previously forked a template, you can now override it by name instead — see Custom templates.

Troubleshooting:

• Issues Post Migration:
  • If you encounter issues after migration, consult the release notes for the specific updates that might affect your setup.
  • Check the Django logs for any error messages that can provide insights into issues.

Important Notes 📝:

• As with any upgrade, testing in a development or staging environment before applying changes to your production environment is highly recommended.
• Upgrading from a version before 2.0.0? Read the 2.1.0 migration guide first — that release did change the schema significantly.