Using the Templates tool, you can save a portion of your created rota to be applied at a later date. You can save any number of templates, up to 12 weeks in length. If, rather than saving a Template, you only want to do a one-off copy, we recommend using the Copy Custom Range tool, instead:
Creating Templates
To start, head to the Tools menu, and click Templates.
Here, you’ll see any existing templates you’ve created for the current Location, or you can create a new one by clicking ‘Create new template’. Enter a name for the template, and select the start and end date for the shifts that you want to save.
Once you’ve selected a date range, all of the employees with shifts in that range will be shown for you to select. Tick any employees whose shifts you want to be saved in the template.
If you want to include non-working days, select ‘Save days off in template’, and then click ‘Create Template’ to save it.
Applying Templates
To apply one of your templates, select ‘Choose from existing’. All of this location’s templates will be shown from most to least recent.
A brief summary is shown of the contents of the template, but to see more information, click the arrow beneath its name. To delete a template, click ‘Delete template’.
To rename any of your templates, click the pencil icon to the right of its name.
When you’re ready to apply a template to your rota, click ‘Apply’. Choose the date range for which to apply your template. If this range is shorter than the length of your template, then it’ll be truncated. If it’s longer, then the template will loop to fill the entire date range that you’ve set.
Shifts will be added to the rota unpublished when the template is applied, but if you want them to be published automatically, select ‘Publish shifts when applied’.
Clashing Shifts
If you want to delete any shifts on this location that may be in the date range, select ‘Clear any existing shifts before applying templates’.
This will remove shifts & days off only for the selected employees, and in the selected date range. Employees who aren’t included in the template won’t have their shifts deleted.
If this option isn’t selected, then shifts will be automatically added on days where there is no clashing shift. In the event of a clash, the following message will be shown, asking you what you want to do with the clashing shifts.
Existing shifts can be overwritten with stored shifts from the template, or the template shifts can instead be added as Open Shifts, leaving existing shifts where they are. Lastly, you can choose to not add any template shifts, if there’s already a clashing shift on the rota.
Troubleshooting
If there is a problem with adding one or more shifts to the rota, then you’ll be shown an error message explaining why this can’t be done. Please see below for info on all possible errors that may occur;
Employee deleted. | The employee has been deleted since creating your template. If you wish to restore this employee, you can do so from the Past Employees page. |
X role deleted. | A role that appears in the template has been deleted since the template was created. |
Unassigned from X location. | The employee is no longer assigned to the location that you’re currently working on. If you wish to reassign this employee, you can do so on your Company > Locations page or on the ‘Locations’ tab of that employee’s profile. |
Unassigned from X role. | The employee is no longer able to work a role that is assigned to one or more shifts. If you wish to change the employee’s role assignments, you can do so on your Company > Roles page or the Roles tab of that employee’s profile. |
Start date is X. Only shifts occurring after this date will be added.
or
Final working date is X. Only shifts occurring up to this date will be added. | The employee’s Start Date in their employee profile isn’t until after the date of a shift/shifts, or their Final Working Date is before the date of a shift/shifts. These dates can be edited or removed on the Employee Details page of the employee’s profile. |
Please note that the maximum length of a template is 12 weeks. This includes both the length of the template that you create, and the length of the period into which you can apply it.
Each location on your account will have its own collection of templates. Templates cannot be created that include shifts from more than one location.