Date, with lead time and rush charges

A made-to-order shop always has two dates: the one production comfortably reaches, and the one the customer actually needs. The date field carries both. You describe how your shop runs, and the field works out the earliest free date by itself. Days in front of that date can be sold, each speed with its own charge, so a rush order pays for the room it takes.

This is a Pro field type. On the free build a date field stays a plain date box with no lead time and no charges.

How the free date is worked out

Open a product’s options, add a field and choose Date, with lead time and rush charges. The Dates and turnaround panel appears, and its settings describe your shop:

• Normal lead time. Working days you need. That date costs nothing extra.
• Order cut-off. A time of day, such as 12:00. Later orders count from the next working day.
• Bookings open for. How many days past the free date you take orders. Empty means no limit, so a gift shop can stay open all year and a caterer can close the diary a month out.
• Closed on. The weekdays you do not work. They never count as lead time and are never offered as dates.
• Also closed on. One-off holidays, written as 2026-12-25, separated by commas or new lines.

From those the field tells the shopper, beside the box: The earliest date available is Wed, September 9. That date is free. A shopper who never touches the field is charged nothing, and the calendar arrives empty rather than pre-filled, so nobody buys a rush by accident.

Selling the days in front

Under Rush charges, add a band for each speed you sell with Add a speed:

• Working days sooner. How many working days in front of the free date this band reaches.
• Percentage of the item price, or at least a Smallest charge. The shopper pays whichever is larger, so a percentage on a cheap item still meets your minimum. Empty means no rush charges.

A shopper who picks a date two working days early pays the two-day band; one day early pays the one-day band; the free date and anything after it costs nothing. The charge is per item, so ten rushed plaques pay the rush ten times, exactly like any other per-item option.

As you type, the Shoppers will see line prices your own setup back to you: The earliest free date is Wed, September 9. The fastest paid one is Mon, September 7. A band your lead time can never honour says so on the spot, instead of silently never being offered.

Two faces, one set of rules

What the shopper picks chooses how the same settings are shown, per field:

• A date on a calendar. A date box with the earliest free date named beside it. Dates before the rush floor or on closed days cannot be picked. Picking a rush date names the charge on the spot: Sooner than usual: £6.00 for each item, and the receipt carries the same line.
• A turnaround from a list. A dropdown that opens on the free choice and lists each faster speed with its real date and its charge beside it: Mon, September 7, +£6.00. The trade sells turnarounds and gift shops sell dates; both post the same date underneath, and the server prices both the same way.

A picked date can be given back. The calendar box carries a cross once a date is in it, and the Delete or Backspace key does the same thing. That matters most on an optional field: a shopper who tries a rush date, sees the charge and changes their mind puts the field back to unanswered, and the charge comes off the running total straight away. A turnaround list has the free choice to return to, so it needs no cross.

What the order carries

The picked date travels with the cart line and the order, readable in the cart, at checkout, on the order confirmation and in the admin order screen, with the rush charge itemised beside it. The charge is resolved on the server from your stored settings, never from what the browser claims.

Where the floor comes from

The rush ladder can only reach dates your shop can genuinely make: the earliest purchasable date is the free date pulled forward by your largest band, skipping closed days. A band you cannot fulfil is never offered.