Plan orders on a calendar

The calendar shows your orders hour by hour, like a diary. Use it when a job comes in by phone and you want it on the books in a few clicks, or when you need to see how a day's start and finish times line up.

Open the calendar

1. On the Orders view of the board, open the view menu in the toolbar.
2. Under Show as, choose Calendar.
3. Under Timeline, choose Day with 1D, 2D or 3D on screen, or Week with 1W. Other zooms, longer weeks, Group, Fields and Expand all orders are greyed out while you're on the calendar.

If you were looking at more than a week, the board moves to one day. Choose Grid to go back to the board. The calendar is on the Orders view only. The Resources drawer and Export aren't on the calendar; choose Grid or Card to use them.

Times follow your organization's time zone, named in the top-left corner of the calendar.

Show or hide existing orders

Show existing orders starts off, so the calendar is clear for writing new orders. Turn it on to see every order in the days on screen. While it's off, the calendar says how many are hidden, for example "20 existing orders hidden". Your browser remembers the switch.

Orders you create on the calendar stay on it while the switch is off, so you can staff them straight away.

On a busy day, three or more orders that start at the same time share one block, such as 4 orders from 7:00 AM, listing each one. When a day has more than fits, select +3 more to see the rest.

Draw a new order

1. Drag down an empty part of a day, from the start time to the finish. Times snap to 15 minutes. To put it on several days, drag sideways across them as well.
2. The New order panel opens beside the calendar, and the order shows as a block on the days you chose. Its header sums it up, for example "10 shifts · Mon 19 Oct – Fri 30 Oct · 9:00 AM–11:15 AM".
3. Under When, check the Start and Finish. The finish shows how long the shift is. A finish earlier than the start is an overnight shift, marked Finishes the next day.
4. Under Days, pick the days of the week it runs, or select Mon–Fri or Just one day.
5. To run it for more than one week, set Repeat for, up to 12 weeks. For a job with no end date, turn on No end date.
6. Under Order, enter the Order name, choose the Client, and add the Project and Location if you use them.
7. Under Roles & shifts, add a line for each thing the job needs with Labour, Asset or Operator + asset. Choose the role or asset type and set how many. Every line works the times under When.
8. Select Create order. With more than one shift it reads, for example, Create order · 10 shifts; with no end date it reads Create ongoing order.

You see "Order created", and the panel switches to the new order's Order details so you can put people on it. A new order's status is New.

To change the new order before you create it, work on its block on the calendar:

• Drag the block to move it to another time or day.
• Pull its bottom edge to change the finish.
• Select a day's heading to add that day or take it off. With no order being drawn, selecting a day's heading starts a one-hour order at 9:00 AM that day, or at the next half hour if 9:00 AM has passed.

While existing orders are hidden, choosing the client brings that client's orders in the days on screen back, faded behind your new one. The panel says how many there are, under the client. Choose a project as well and only that project's orders show. Use them to line the new job up with work you already have there.

Past days and times can't be picked. On a repeating or ongoing order you can still pick a weekday that has gone this week; it starts the week after.

You need permission to create orders. Without it you can still look at the calendar, but you can't draw an order on it.

Open the full order form instead

Select Open full order to carry on in the full order form, with the days, times, name, client, project, location and lines you've entered already filled in. Use it for anything the panel doesn't offer, such as owners, tags or different times for each line. See Create and edit an order. Select Create order there to save it. If you cancel, you're back on the calendar with your draft as you left it.

If your organisation has a custom field that every order needs, the panel can't create the order on its own. Its button says Continue in full order instead, and the panel names the fields. Select it to fill them in on the full order form, with your draft carried over.

If Create order is greyed out

The panel says what's missing:

• "Add an order name and client to create it."
• "Add at least one role or asset, and pick what each one is."
• "Those days have passed. Pick a later day, or repeat it to start next week."

If the order can't be saved, you see "Couldn't create the order" with the reason, and nothing is created.

Change an order from the calendar

Select an order to open Order details beside the calendar. Changes here save as you go.

You need permission to edit orders to change, move or staff one. Without it, Order details shows the order but changes nothing.

• Status: change it from the chip at the top.
• Order name, Client and Project: edit them in place. On an order made from a bid, the client and project can't be changed here.
• When: the day and times of the shift you selected. If its roles work different hours that day, each role is listed with its own times and how full it is.

To change every day of the order at once, or anything else about it, select Open full order.

Move a day's shift or change its finish

Drag an order's block up or down to move that day's shift to another time. Pull its bottom edge to change that day's finish. Only the day you drag changes; the order's other days keep their times.

• An order whose roles work different hours that day can't be dragged, and has no edge to pull. Dragging it opens it with "This order's roles have different times. Edit them in the panel." Change the times with Open full order.
• Confirmed and In Progress orders are locked, shown by a lock on the block. Dragging one opens it with "Confirmed orders can't be rescheduled. Change the status to New or Pending to move it." Change the status in Order details, then drag it.
• A shift that has started can't be moved: "This shift has started, so it stays where it is. You can still change its finish." A shift that has finished can't be changed at all.
• If the move puts someone on the order at the same time as another order they're on, you see "Heads up: people now overlap with" and the other order's name. The move is kept; check the people on both orders.

If a change can't be saved, you see "Couldn't save the change" with the reason, or "Couldn't save the change. Try again." when there isn't one. The field goes back to what it was.

Put people on the order's day

Under Roles & allocation, each line shows who is on it that day and how full it is, such as 1/2. A line booked past what it needs, such as 2/1, shows in red as it does on the board, and its block says Over-filled. Select Assign to open the same list as add on the board, with Recommended people, who is free and who holds the role's competencies. On an Operator + asset line it opens the operator dialog, so you can pick the worker and the machine together. See Allocate workers and assets.

When someone on a line works different hours from the role that day, such as a pair moved to a later shift on the board, their own times show beside their name. The block on the calendar still shows the role's times.

When the line carries on after that day, Assign asks This day or Every remaining day. Every remaining day books the person you pick on each day the line runs, up to its end, and skips the days they're already on.

A worker and machine booked together show as one pair, such as Worker + Machine, on the block and in the panel. Select ⋮ beside a pair to Unpair it or Remove pair. When only one half is booked, the other half shows as Operator TBC or Asset TBC, with a ?. Select the ? to pick it.

A person who is booked elsewhere at the same time is marked Double-booked. On a pair, the note names the half that clashes. Select × beside a name to take them off that day. People on the order without a role are listed under Not on a role. An order with no roles offers Add person and Add asset instead.