Objective: Define fixed shifts, ones that are usually the same for each period or specific rota.
Getting Ready: Before starting this lesson you should first complete lessons 1, 2 and 4, "Register and log in", "Set up the basic rota" and "Define your symbols".
Action: If you are not already logged in as admin or planner, log in as admin or planner. Otherwise, if it is not already selected, select Your users & rotas in the top menu.
You can enter into the basic rota shifts that staff usually work during each rota period. When you create a new rota for a specific period these "fixed" shifts are already in it. You will be able to edit the copies in the specific rota.
Action: Select Basic rota in the Your rotas menu.
Action: At the top of your basic rota select the menu item called Edit shifts.
Result 5a: The basic rota view is replaced by a tabular form, with an entry field per day plus one Other Hrs entry field for each rostered member of staff.
Note: The Key at the bottom of the table lists the symbols you can use, and their meanings. If you enter symbols that are not in the key, they will disappear when you press the Save shift edits button.
Action: Into the first three columns of the row for Bert Brown, enter the symbols Er, Lr and Nr.
Action: Press the Save shift edits button.
Result 5b: Your three entries are saved in the basic rota. Cover total calculations at the bottom of the rota increase:
| * | In the 1st column, 1 person of cover is counted against EARLY(...). |
| * | In the 2nd column, 1 person of cover is counted against LATE(...). |
| * | In the 3rd column, 1 person of cover is counted against NIGHT(...). |
Result 5c: The calculations of hours for Bert Brown at the right change to reflect your entries:
| * | Total hrs for the three shifts show as 25. |
| * | Target hrs remain as 160. |
| * | Diff hrs are reduced to -135. |
Action: Into the first three columns of the row for Sebastian Scribe, enter the symbols Wr, Lr and Lr.
Action: In the first column of the row for Bert Brown, change the symbol from Er to Wr.
Action: Press the Save shift edits button.
Result 5d: Your new entries are saved and cover total calculations at the bottom of the rota change:
| * | In the 1st column, 2 people of cover are counted against TWILIGHT. |
| * | In the 2nd column, 1 person of cover is counted against LATE(G+F+H) and 1 against LATE(...). |
| * | In the 3rd column, 1 person of cover is counted against LATE(G+F+H) and 1 against NIGHT(...). |
Result 5e: The calculations of hours for Bert and Seb at the right change to reflect your entries:
| * | For Seb, Total hrs for the three shifts show as 19 and Diff hrs as -141. |
| * | For Bert, Total hrs for the three shifts now show as 23 and Diff hrs as -137. |
Exercise 5.1: Enter and save symbols to complete a sensible pattern of fixed shifts. You can use request symbols for the fixed shifts, so that you can tell in a released specific rota which shifts were assigned later to achieve required cover levels. If you need to track which shifts were originally fixed, you can use a special set of symbols just for them.
Result 5f: When you use the View rota menu item, you can confirm your changes.
Congratulations: You have created some fixed shifts in your basic rota. In the next lesson you can see them reflected in a rota for a specific period.