Opening & Closing Shifts

This article applies to Schedulers or Administrators.

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About Opening & Closing Shifts

If a shift is currently closed and you need to open it, you are able to do so using the instructions below. Likewise, you can close a shift if you no longer wish for it to be available for members to see on the schedule.

Note: As a Scheduler/Administrator, you will always have access to view all shifts on the schedule (closed or otherwise). If a shift is closed, your members will not see it on their schedule view.

Note: This does not affect the Events Calendar which is a different feature within eSchedule.

Our Support Team can add special shifts to your schedule template that can be used for on-demand events and staffing.

Opening a Single Closed Shift

Used in the case where you wish to open a single shift on the schedule (for one date).

1. Navigate to the schedule view of your choice (all views except Monthly will work for this process).
2. Choose “Schedule Preferences” on the toolbar (to the left of “View”).
3. Set “Closed Shifts” to “Show”.
4. Click “Save”.
5. Return to the schedule view and click on the shift you wish to open.
6. You’ll notice that the system account “zz Closed Shift” appears in the “Member” pull-down. To open this shift, click “Sign-Off”.
7. Click “Ok”.
8. Return to the schedule view. You’ll notice that the shift now appears open/available on the schedule.
9. Clicking on the shift will allow you to manipulate the shift details (Member, start time, end time, notes).
10. If you only want to open a portion of the shift, you’ll need to close the unwanted portion (see below).
    
    For example if the default time on your schedule is 0600-1800 but you only wish to open 1200-1800, you would need to first open the entire shift and then close 0600-1200 by using the “zz Closed Shift” option in the “Member” pull-down. See below for details.
11. To re-hide the closed shifts, under “Schedule Preferences” revert the “Closed Shifts” field to “Hide” and click “Save”.

Opening Multiple Instances of a Closed Shift

1. The process is identical to what is described above (see “Opening a Single Closed Shift”) with the following exception:
2. Click “Sign Off All Occurrences”. This will open up the shift you clicked on as well as all future shifts. For example, if you have a shift that currently appears closed each Saturday with a shift time of 0700-0700, completing this process will open up the shift you originally clicked on as well as all future corresponding shifts, on Saturdays, from 0700-0700.

Closing a Single Open Shift

Note: The following instructions assume the shift you wish to close is not currently assigned to a member. If a member is currently assigned to the shift you wish to close, you’ll need to first sign them off and then complete the steps below.

1. Navigate to the schedule view of your choice (all views except Monthly will work for this process).
2. Click on the shift that you want to close.
3. In the “Member” pull-down, select “zz Closed Shift”.
4. Click “Sign On”.
5. If you only want to close a portion of the shift:
   1. Click “Other”.
   2. Update the “Start Hour” and “End Hour” (this is the time range that will appear closed on the schedule).
   3. Click “Sign On”.
6. To view the closed shift on the schedule, be sure “Closed Shifts” is set to “Show” under the Schedule Preferences.

Closing Multiple Instances of an Open Shift

1. The process is identical to what is described above (see “Closing a Single Open Shift”) with the following exception:
2. Click “Recurrence”.
3. Select the recurrence option that aligns with what you wish to close. For example, if you have a shift that currently appears open each Saturday with a shift time of 0700-0700, you could choose “Recurrence > Schedule every > Every Week”. Doing so will close the shift you originally clicked on as well as all future corresponding shifts, on Saturdays, from 0700-0700.
4. To view the closed shifts on the schedule, be sure “Closed Shifts” is set to “Show” under the Schedule Preferences.