Creating and generating a bar shift series

Forty match weekends doesn't mean filling in the same form forty times. With a bar shift series you set the pattern once — which days, which times, how many people — and 4planning generates all the individual shifts for the whole period from it in one go.

Step 1: Go to Managing series

Open Bar shifts, click New shift and choose Plan a whole period from the menu that opens.

Step 2: Fill in the series

• Name — for example "Saturday bar shifts".
• Description — instructions that appear on every shift in this series.
• Default location — for example the clubhouse; a single day can override this later.
• Number of people needed — the default headcount per shift.
• Sign-up — choose Confirmed immediately (a member who signs up is confirmed right away) or Needs approval first (you approve every sign-up yourself first).

Step 3: Choose the period

Under Period you pick an existing season, or Custom period… if you want to set your own start and end date — handy if you haven't created a season, or the series doesn't line up with the season.

Step 4: Set the days and times

Add a row under Days and times for each moment: weekday, start time and end time. If staffing differs on a specific day — say three people on Friday evening versus two on Saturday afternoon — fill in a Count on that row; leave it blank and the series default applies. The same goes for Location. A series with both an afternoon and an evening shift becomes two rows.

Step 5: Skip holidays (optional)

Under Exceptions you specify periods in which the series creates no shifts, such as a summer break. Click Skip a period and fill in a name and a period — a single day off works too, just set the start and end date the same.

Step 6: Preview and generate

Save the series. Then click Preview to see how many shifts will be created and on which dates, without anything being created yet. Happy with it? Click Generate.

Generating automatically takes into account:

• Exceptions — dates within a set period are skipped.
• Shifts someone has already signed up for — those always stay in place, even if they no longer fit the pattern. The result shows you how many that is.
• Shifts you've adjusted yourself — edit a shift from the series on the regular bar shift page, and a new generation won't overwrite your change.
• The past — shifts that have already happened are never touched.

You can generate again at any time, for example after adding an extra exception or adjusting the headcount.

Generating never sends a notification. Setting up a whole season of shifts isn't an event the whole club needs a push notification about. Want to let members know new shifts are open? Use a news post yourself, or send a reminder.

Deleting a series

At the bottom of the series is Delete series. The pattern disappears, but the shifts already generated stay in place — members may already be assigned to them. Tick Also remove the empty upcoming shifts from this series to remove the shifts nobody has signed up for as well.

Frequently asked questions

I've created a series but don't see anything under Bar shifts yet. That's right: a series is a template. Click Generate to actually create the individual shifts.

Can I run a series across two seasons? Choose Custom period… instead of a season and set your own start and end date that crosses the season boundary.

I changed the series' headcount — do existing shifts update? Yes, the next generation automatically applies the new count to every shift you haven't adjusted yourself. If people are already signed up, the status (open/full) is recalculated.

Can I permanently assign someone to every shift in the series? No, do that per shift via managing staffing, after the shifts have been generated.