Scheduling a bar shift

Want to know how to create a bar shift schedule? You do it shift by shift: you create a bar shift with a date, time and the number of people you need, and decide how members can sign up. Together, all the shifts you create form the schedule. See how this plays out at a tennis club or, as a hall duty, at a basketball club.

Step 1: Go to Bar shifts

Open Bar shifts in the menu and click New shift.

Step 2: Fill in the shift details

On the New bar shift page, fill in:

• Date — the day the shift takes place (required).
• Start and end time — what time the shift begins and ends (required).
• Location — the canteen, clubhouse or event grounds, for example.
• Number of people needed — how many people you're looking for on this shift (required).
• Description / instructions — extra information, such as particulars or what needs to happen during the shift.

Don't want to type it all out yourself? Use With Planny: type in plain language what you mean — for example "Saturday 14 September, 7pm to 11pm, canteen, 3 people needed for the home match" — and Planny fills in the fields for you. You check and adjust where needed, just like with manual entry.

Step 3: Decide how members sign up

Under Can members claim directly? you choose:

• Yes, guaranteed immediately — a member who signs up is placed on the shift right away.
• No, an administrator has to approve — a sign-up reaches you first; you approve or decline it before the spot is final.

Step 4: Schedule members in advance (optional)

Under Schedule people in advance, search for members by name or email address and add them straight to the shift, without them having to sign up themselves. Handy if you already know who's working that day.

Step 5: Decide whether to notify members

At the bottom you'll find the Notify members toggle. It is on by default: everyone with the bar duty role who has this notification enabled receives a push message telling them a new shift is available. Right below it you can see exactly who those people are — click the row to expand the full list.

Switch it off and no push message goes out. The shift still appears in the schedule and in the app, but nobody gets a notification about it. Handy when you create several shifts in one sitting, or when you want to review the schedule first.

Under Message (optional) you can write the text of the notification yourself — for example "Extra hands needed, it's going to be a busy night". Right below it you see exactly how the message arrives on a phone. Leave the field empty and the standard text is used. The heading of the notification is fixed, so members always see what it is about.

Step 6: Save the shift

Click Save. The shift appears in the schedule immediately, and members whose turn it is can sign up for it.

Frequently asked questions

Can anyone create a bar shift? No, only administrators: the environment administrator, someone with the bar shift administrator role, or a super admin. Don't see the New shift button? Ask your board for the bar shift administrator role.

Can I make a shift recur, like every Saturday? Yes — with a bar shift series you set the pattern once (days, times, number of people) and 4planning creates all the shifts for the whole season from it in one go. This page is for a single shift.

Can I link points to a shift? Not when creating it. If your environment uses a points system, points run through the points system and scoreboard.

Can I change the number of people or the time later? Yes, use managing a bar shift to adjust an existing shift.

What happens if not enough people sign up in time? The shift simply stays open until the required number of people is reached; the overview shows at a glance which shifts aren't full yet.