# Can I change the SHORTHAND CODE {PHONE} to not show the plus sign? **URL:** \ **Category:** Customization\ **Created:** [August 20, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378 "2019-08-20T16:22:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![danielrosenbay](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/danielrosenbay/32/78_2.png) [@danielrosenbay](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/danielrosenbay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/1 "2019-08-20T16:22:04Z")
I am trying to add the following link on the calendar event: > **[Share on WhatsApp](https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=%7BPHONE%7D)** > > WhatsApp Messenger: More than 1 billion people in over 180 countries use WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends and family, anytime and anywhere. WhatsApp is free and offers simple, secure, reliable messaging and calling, available on phones all over... So I am able to instant message on WhatsApp to the people who booked directly from my calendar. The only problem is… The Shorthand code {PHONE} also adds up the plus sign before the country code, so when I try to click on the link after someone booked, it shows the following: ![16](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/uploads/ycbm/original/1X/e09ac16261c3a48ca1fe64e4146f22f0ce94ce4c.png) How can I make it work? Thank you ---
**Author:** ![danielrosenbay](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/danielrosenbay/32/78_2.png) [@danielrosenbay](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/danielrosenbay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/3 "2019-08-20T16:23:47Z")
The link I’m trying to add on the calendar event is: [http://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone={PHONE}](http://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=%7BPHONE%7D) ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/ben/32/772_2.png) [@Ben](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/4 "2019-08-20T17:50:07Z")
You can try this out: [http://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone={ENCODE}{PHONE}{ENCODE}](http://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=%7BENCODE%7D%7BPHONE%7D%7BENCODE%7D) This makes thinks safe for a URL. I am not sure if WhatsApp will like the formatting though. It is worth a shot. ---
**Author:** ![danielrosenbay](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/danielrosenbay/32/78_2.png) [@danielrosenbay](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/danielrosenbay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/5 "2019-08-20T17:55:58Z")
Hi Ben, thank you so much! I just tried and didn’t work though 😔 ---
**Author:** ![danielrosenbay](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/danielrosenbay/32/78_2.png) [@danielrosenbay](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/danielrosenbay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/6 "2019-08-20T17:57:38Z")
The issue I think is when you add {PHONE} the Shorthand code gives +1-123-456-7890 (the number with the plus sign), and WhatsApp don’t read that… What you think I could do? ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/ben/32/772_2.png) [@Ben](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/7 "2019-08-20T17:58:14Z")
I will put in a feature request to get some more options added. One option in the interim would be to explore using something like Zapier to format the number a different way, then output the link you need and send it through to you. ---
**Author:** ![danielrosenbay](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/danielrosenbay/32/78_2.png) [@danielrosenbay](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/danielrosenbay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/9 "2019-08-20T18:03:32Z")
Last option would be to add a “short answer question” on the booking form and call PHONE too\* ---
**Author:** ![danielrosenbay](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/danielrosenbay/32/78_2.png) [@danielrosenbay](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/danielrosenbay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/10 "2019-08-20T18:05:48Z")
It’s just not ideal… ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/ben/32/772_2.png) [@Ben](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 8:18pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/11 "2019-08-20T20:18:31Z")
Yes, you could have another form field for “confirming” the number, then use a Shorthand code of PHONE2 or WHATSAPP to pull through. ---
**Author:** ![danielrosenbay](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/danielrosenbay/32/78_2.png) [@danielrosenbay](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/danielrosenbay)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/12 "2019-08-21T13:35:36Z")
@Ben Could I hide (or make invisible) the form field I created through CSS? ![14](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/uploads/ycbm/original/1X/e2f10e4a820db95c5031c0af6e45c4595c6c07c2.png) ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/ben/32/772_2.png) [@Ben](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/13 "2019-08-21T14:50:36Z")
You can hide it, but the issue here is that you would need the user to add the phone number again in order for it to come through in the format you need. Hiding it will prevent bookers from filling this out. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/ben/32/772_2.png) [@Ben](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/15 "2019-08-21T21:10:35Z")
Totally! And like poof it is gone (I added some CSS to your profile at the top). Hope this works for you. ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/keith/32/57_2.png) [@keith](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 9:39am UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/16 "2019-08-22T09:39:08Z")
Hi Daniel, Keith from the development team here. It sounds like Ben already has you heading towards a neat workaround there, but I was interested to spot the format of the WhatsApp link - I hadn’t seen that before. I just wanted to let you know we’ve created a ticket on our system to solve this problem in a more direct way. I’d love to see a simple way for all our users to build clickable WhatsApp links like this in their notifications. Thanks for bringing the possibility to our attention! Keith ---
**Author:** ![danielrosenbay](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/danielrosenbay/32/78_2.png) [@danielrosenbay](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/danielrosenbay)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/17 "2019-08-22T14:27:37Z")
Oh Keith, you guys are awesome!! The solution that Ben gave worked out really well. It’s a really good thing for you guys, Whatsapp is huge, even more outside the US. ![](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/uploads/ycbm/original/1X/fe01dcd98fa0fb5e6b903ae330e4d1f5413fd65c.gif) ---
**Author:** ![danielrosenbay](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/danielrosenbay/32/78_2.png) [@danielrosenbay](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/danielrosenbay)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 2:29pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/18 "2019-08-22T14:29:49Z")
Thank you so much Ben, you are a genius!! ---
**Author:** ![formationqb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b782af/32.png) [@formationqb](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/formationqb)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/19 "2019-09-18T00:00:07Z")
Hi Ben, I have a similar issue as Daniel. I would like the phone number to be formatted as 514-555-5555 instead of +15145555555. Would the solution you found for Daniel work for me? Thanks ! ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/ben/32/772_2.png) [@Ben](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/20 "2019-09-18T14:16:49Z")
@formationqb I do not think that will work for you. Daniel already had the customer’s information pre populating so the hidden form field worked for him. I will submit a feature request to have more formatting options for the phone number field. An option in the interim would be to add another form field (not a phone field, but a text field) to confirm phone number and use that which should format as they customer enters it. ---
**Author:** ![Jeremie](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.youcanbook.me/jeremie/32/267_2.png) [@Jeremie](https://forum.youcanbook.me/u/Jeremie)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/can-i-change-the-shorthand-code-phone-to-not-show-the-plus-sign/378/21 "2020-05-30T22:22:04Z")
@Ben Is this `{ENCODE}` feature documented somewhere!? I almost needed for [the QR-code work-around](https://forum.youcanbook.me/t/reservation-code-to-qr-code/820/2)! The short-codes are so neat!