Creating Shifts
Add shifts, recurring series, and reusable shift templates.
Adding a shift
- On the Schedule page, click Create New Shift (or click an empty slot on the calendar).
- Pick the position and location (or "No specific position/location").
- Set the date, start and end times. A title is suggested automatically (e.g., "Lifeguard at North Pool at 9:00 AM") — you can override it.
- Assign a team member, or leave the shift unassigned to fill later or publish as an open shift.
- Click Add Schedule.
New shifts are created as drafts — staff can't see them until you publish.
Volunteer and mixed shifts
Choose Employee, Volunteer, or Employee or volunteer under Shift Type. Employee or volunteer lets either fill the same one-person shift. Each shift is for one person at one time and location. Leave the shift unassigned and set People needed to create a separate shift for each person. With Volunteers enabled in Settings → Features, Volunteer and Employee or volunteer shifts also have a Volunteer board visibility setting. Public opportunities must be published before visitors can find them.
To add people to an activity you already scheduled, open a shift and choose Add more shifts. The form uses the saved time, location, and role. Enter Additional people needed: entering 2 creates two more shifts, in addition to the original. New shifts start as unassigned drafts; the original shift and its assignment stay as they are. Recurrence is off by default, so you add shifts for that occurrence unless you turn it on.
See For volunteer coordinators for signup approvals, prerequisites, waitlists, and service hours.
Matching open shifts appear as one visual group on the admin calendar, with a count and stacked bars. They group only when the time, location, role, title, instructions, shift type, publication status, and visibility match. Click the group, then choose an individual shift to edit. Each shift remains a separate one-person assignment; groups cannot be dragged or resized together.
Edit matching open shifts together
Open a grouped schedule card and choose Edit all shifts to update its date, times, and shared details in one form. Review the group before saving. This is useful for moving unused draft shifts to a future date.
If another manager changes the group while you are editing, refresh the schedule and reopen it before trying again. Assigned shifts and shifts with protected time records cannot be changed through this bulk action. To change only one shift, select that individual shift from the group.
Create across locations
Turn on Create across locations in the shift form to schedule the same activity at several sites. Choose each location and its People needed count, then review the preview before saving. Each person gets a separate shift, and each location keeps its own recurring series when recurrence is enabled. Times use the organization’s timezone.
Recurring shifts
For shifts that repeat, toggle Recurring Schedule in the shift form:
- Set the Frequency (Daily, Weekly, Monthly) and Interval (e.g., every 2 weeks).
- For weekly recurrence, select the days of the week (e.g., Mon, Wed, Fri).
- Optionally set a Repeat Until date; if blank, the series repeats for up to 1 year.
Recurring shifts show a repeat icon on the calendar, and a Recurring Series badge in the edit modal.
Deleting: Delete Shift removes only that occurrence; Delete Entire Series removes every shift in the pattern — this cannot be undone.
Delete a group of open shifts
Open a grouped schedule card to delete its open shifts together. Check the number of shifts in the confirmation before proceeding. Assigned shifts and attendance history remain protected.
Shift templates
Templates save a shift's start time, duration, type, position, location, and notes for reuse, including overnight shifts.
Open Templates from either the calendar or list schedule view. Search for a saved template, or create a new one. Edit or delete templates from the template manager; these changes do not alter shifts you already created.
In the calendar, dragging a template onto a date creates a draft shift immediately using its saved defaults. Open the draft to check the date, time, position, and location before publishing. Dropping onto a staff or location lane also uses that assignment or location. If a saved position or location is no longer available, update the template before using it.
There's no "copy entire week" action. Use templates or recurring shifts to rebuild common patterns.
Editing shifts
Drag shifts to move them, resize to change duration, or click to open the edit modal. Conflict badges flag overlaps, availability collisions, and position mismatches — resolve them before publishing.