Using Shifts

What it does: Sets the primary, full name of the campaign used for clear identification.

Where it appears: This title is displayed on the main reservation calendar page as the header for the campaign's column, on the shift details page, and within the subject line and body of confirmation and reminder emails sent to publishers.

What it does: Provides a compact, abbreviated version of the campaign name.

Where it appears: This is used in views with limited screen space, such as the compact calendar layout on mobile devices, or in condensed summary lists in the admin area.

What it does: A rich text block for providing general context, rules, or background information about the specific campaign.

Where it appears: This text is displayed at the top of the registration form when a publisher clicks to book a shift, and is included at the bottom of automated emails related to this campaign.

What it does: A global toggle that removes congregation-level restrictions.

Effect: When checked, every publisher registered in the system, regardless of their assigned congregation, will see this campaign in their calendar and be able to book shifts. It disables the specific congregation selection dropdown below.

What it does: Allows the administrator to restrict campaign visibility to specific congregations.

Effect: Only publishers belonging to the selected congregations will see this campaign in their calendar. Note: System administrators/overseers will always see all campaigns regardless of this setting.

What it does: Sets a rolling time window for how far in advance shifts can be booked.

Effect: Prevents publishers from booking shifts indefinitely into the future. For example, if set to "2 weeks", publishers can only see and book shifts that occur within the next 14 days, with new shifts opening up dynamically as time passes.

What it does: Links the campaign to specific geographical routes or maps defined in the system.

Where it appears: The selected routes will be displayed as map links or location details on the shift booking page, helping publishers know exactly where the shift takes place.

What it does: Enables public sharing of the campaign schedule.

Effect: Generates a unique, shareable link that allows individuals without registered user accounts to sign up for shifts. Guest signups are held in a pending state and must be manually approved by a coordinator in the admin dashboard.

What it does: Provides a predefined list of valid external congregations for guests.

Where it appears: When an unregistered user uses the guest link to book a shift, they will be prompted to select their congregation from a dropdown populated by this comma-separated list.

What it does: Requires the designation of a primary contact person for each shift.

Effect: Unlocks the ability for administrators to manually assign a shift leader for individual shifts. Once assigned, the shift leader and the participants are notified via email.

What it does: Automates the leader assignment process to save administrative work.

Effect: When a publisher who has the "can be shift key-man" system role books a spot in a shift, the system will immediately and automatically promote them to shift leader, sending out the relevant instructions.

What it does: Expands schedule visibility to assist with handovers or preparation.

Where it appears: On the dedicated shift overview page available to the assigned shift leader, they will see not only their own shift details but also the schedule and contact information for participants of the following day's shifts.

What it does: Facilitates coordination across multiple weekend shifts.

Where it appears: In the shift overview page for a weekend shift leader, they will see the names and contact details of all other shift leaders operating over that same weekend.

What it does: Enforces a hard gender constraint on booking logic.

Effect: The system will dynamically restrict bookings so that at most 50% of the attendees in a single shift can be sisters, ensuring a balanced group composition.

What it does: A campaign-level override for shift leader eligibility.

Effect: Even if a sister has the publisher setting "can be shift key-man" enabled on her profile, the automatic assignment logic will ignore her for this specific campaign. However, an administrator can still manually bypass this and assign a sister in the admin dashboard.

What it does: Restricts the ability to add multiple people to a single reservation.

Effect: During the booking process, publishers will not see the option to select other publishers to join them; they can only secure a spot using their own account credentials.

What it does: Hides participant details from the general public.

Where it appears: On the public calendar view, the names of publishers booked on a shift are hidden or anonymized. Only the assigned shift leader (and administrators) can view the actual names and contact information of the shift participants.

What it does: Modifies how names are rendered throughout the application.

Where it appears: Appends a small visual indicator (like m/f or m/w) directly next to the publisher's name on the calendar view, shift details, and printouts.

What it does: Streamlines the booking experience.

Effect: Bypasses the detailed reservation confirmation form. When a publisher clicks on an open slot in the calendar, they are instantly booked into the shift with a single click.

What it does: Routes booking notifications to a specific individual.

Effect: Allows the administrator to select one specific user from a dropdown. Whenever a new reservation is made in this campaign, the selected user receives an automated email notification detailing the booking.

What it does: A rich text block exclusively for shift leaders.

Where it appears: These specific instructions (e.g., access codes, special duties, location keys) are embedded in the automated email sent exclusively to the user designated as the key-man/shift leader.

What it does: A rich text block intended for all shift participants.

Where it appears: These instructions are sent via email to all publishers booked on a shift immediately after a shift leader is officially chosen and finalized for that shift.

What it does: Activates a recurring reminder mechanism to fill empty slots.

Effect: The system routinely checks upcoming shifts. If a shift has fewer publishers booked than its required capacity, automated reminder emails are dispatched to urge participants or coordinators to fill the gap.

What it does: Modifies the audience for the "missing publisher" alerts.

Effect: By default, coordinators receive alerts when shifts are understaffed. Checking this box excludes coordinators from those specific alert emails, reducing their inbox noise while still allowing the system to email standard publishers if configured elsewhere.

What it does: Defines the primary, recognizable name for a specific shift or group of shifts. This helps users quickly identify the nature or location of the shift.

Where it appears: / Effect: This title is prominently displayed on the public calendar view when viewing available shifts. It also appears in the header of the confirmation email sent to the publisher upon signing up, and on the exported PDF printout of the shift schedule.

What it does: Allows the administrator to provide extra details, instructions, or specific notes regarding a particular shift. This could include parking instructions, special requirements, or meeting point details.

Where it appears: / Effect: The description text is shown on the public calendar view directly below the shift title when a publisher expands the shift details to sign up. It is also included in the body of the confirmation email sent to the publisher.

What it does: Sets the exact day on which the shift will take place.

Where it appears: / Effect: Dictates which day the shift block appears within the public calendar view. It is also used in the date columns of the PDF printout and mentioned in all reminder and confirmation emails sent to the publishers.

What it does: Defines the exact hour and minute the shift formally begins.

Where it appears: / Effect: Used alongside the end time to display the duration of the shift on the public calendar view. It is prominently featured in reminder emails sent to the publisher, and determines chronological ordering of shifts within a single day on the public calendar view and PDF printout.

What it does: Defines the exact hour and minute the shift formally concludes.

Where it appears: / Effect: Combined with the start time to show the shift window on the public calendar view. It is also included in the shift details section of confirmation emails sent to the publisher and printed on the PDF schedule.

What it does: Determines the maximum number of standard reservation slots available for publishers to sign up for during this specific shift.

Where it appears: / Effect: Controls the number of empty slots displayed within the shift block on the public calendar view. Once this number is reached, standard reservations are blocked, and the shift is visually marked as full on the public calendar view.

What it does: Establishes a threshold (number of attendees) at which the system visually warns users that the shift is becoming crowded or overbooked, even if hard limits haven't been enforced.

Where it appears: / Effect: Triggers a red visual highlight on the shift block within the public calendar view when the specified number of signed-up publishers is reached, signaling to potential sign-ups that the shift is very full.

What it does: Links the shift to specific physical assets or reservable resources (e.g., a cart, a literature stand, keys) ensuring they are marked as in-use for the duration of the shift.

Where it appears: / Effect: Prevents the selected items from being booked by overlapping shifts in the system. The reserved item's name is displayed in the shift details on the public calendar view and is listed in the reservation summary of the confirmation email sent to the publisher.

What it does: Allows the administrator to automatically duplicate the shift according to a set interval (e.g., daily, weekly, every two weeks), rather than creating each shift block manually.

Where it appears: / Effect: Generates multiple independent shift blocks across the public calendar view for future dates based on the chosen interval. Each generated shift operates identically to the original and appears exactly the same on the calendar and in subsequent notifications.

What it does: Sets the final cut-off date for the automatic shift duplication defined by the repetition setting. No shifts will be created past this date.

Where it appears: / Effect: Determines the chronological end point of generated shift blocks on the public calendar view. Once the calendar reaches dates beyond this limit, no further recurring shifts will appear.

What it does: A bulk action that overrides and standardizes the title for all currently selected shifts in a multi-edit operation.

Where it appears: / Effect: Instantly updates the title text displayed on the public calendar view for every shift included in the bulk edit. Any new confirmation emails sent for these shifts will reflect the updated title.

What it does: A bulk action that replaces the existing description with a standardized text for all selected shifts in a multi-edit operation.

Where it appears: / Effect: Replaces the description text shown when users expand the shift details on the public calendar view. This updated description will be included in any future confirmation emails for the affected shifts.

What it does: A bulk action that changes the maximum slot capacity across multiple selected shifts simultaneously.

Where it appears: / Effect: Immediately adjusts the available slot count shown within the shift blocks on the public calendar view. If the new limit is lower than the current attendees, the shift will show as full and block further sign-ups on the public calendar view.

What it does: A bulk action that standardizes the visual warning threshold for overbooking across all selected shifts.

Where it appears: / Effect: Updates the conditions that trigger the red highlight on the affected shift blocks on the public calendar view. The visual warning will now activate based on the newly applied threshold across all selected shifts.