Three ways to build a schedule#
For: Manager | Admin You’ll need: Nothing.
Nobody builds a schedule one shift at a time. Shiftavo gives you three ways to work at week scale — schedule templates, recurring shifts, and calendar copying (Alt+drag) — and each fits a different shape of work. By the end of this article you’ll know which one to reach for.
The starting point: a one-off shift#
The basic move underneath all three: click an empty slot on the calendar, pick a position and time, save. See How to add a shift and How to add a shift from the calendar.
That’s fine for the extra shift you tack on at the end. It doesn’t scale beyond a handful per week — which is where the three patterns come in.
1. Schedule templates — a reusable week (or month)#
A schedule template is a complete plan — a day, a week, or a month of shifts at the right positions, areas, and times — saved for reuse. Apply it from the calendar at whatever range your current view covers, and Shiftavo stamps out the shifts. A day template can be applied to a day, week, or month view; a week template to week or month; a month template only to a month.
Reach for a template when:
Your week looks the same most weeks. Two cashiers 09–17 Mon–Fri, one closer 16–24 Tue–Sat never moves.
You run several versions — summer / winter, busy / quiet — and want to swap between them.
You want to clone last quarter’s schedule for the new quarter and tweak from there.
Templates carry both the shape of the work (positions, areas, times) and any assignments you’ve put on the template shifts. Applying a template stamps out the shifts with those assignments already in place — staffing comes along for the ride. You can still adjust or re-assign on the real calendar afterwards.
See Schedule templates and How to apply a schedule template. If you don’t like what got stamped out, How to undo your last change on the calendar reverses the apply.
2. Recurring shifts — one rule, many occurrences#
A recurring shift is a single shift with a pattern attached: every Monday at 09:00, every other Friday, the second Tuesday of each month. Shiftavo expands the pattern into individual child shifts you can edit independently.
Reach for a recurring shift when:
One shift repeats. You don’t want to copy it 52 times for the year.
The pattern is irregular but rule-based.
Assignments on the parent carry down to every generated child, so a recurring shift staffed once is staffed for the whole series — you don’t re-assign each Monday. Individual occurrences can still be re-assigned or left blank on the calendar.
When you edit or delete a recurring shift, you’re asked for the scope: ‘This shift only’, ‘This and following shifts’, or ‘All shifts in the series’. On an edit, the scope dialog also has a ‘Preserve individual assignments’ checkbox that decides whether existing assignments survive the series edit. That’s the trade-off — flexibility per occurrence, bulk control when you need it.
See Recurring shifts.
3. Calendar copying — build by example#
The shift calendar has direct-manipulation shortcuts that let you build by example. The fastest is Alt+drag (Option+drag on macOS): hold the modifier key, drag any shift, drop it at the new time or day, and Shiftavo creates a copy — same position, area, duration, and assignments — at the drop location. The original stays put.
Reach for Alt+drag when:
You’re cloning a single shift with its assignments and don’t want to commit to a template.
You’re filling in irregular spots. Tuesday 14:00 looks like Monday 14:00 but later in the week.
You’re building a one-off week and a template would be throwaway work.
See How to duplicate a shift for the duplicate flow, and Shift calendar for the full set of calendar shortcuts (multi-select, split, resize, open-in-new-tab).
Which one when#
Situation |
Best fit |
|---|---|
Week shape is stable and you’ll re-use it for months. |
Schedule template |
The shape changes seasonally and you want to swap versions. |
Schedule template (multiple) |
One shift repeats on a pattern. |
Recurring shift |
Same person, same time, every Monday. |
Recurring shift (staff the parent once, applies to every occurrence) |
Cloning a shift with its assignments. |
Alt+drag |
Building a one-off week. |
Alt+drag from a similar week |
Adding extras on top of a template. |
One-off shift |
You’ll mix all three on a real schedule. A common pattern: apply a template for the baseline week, recurring shifts for the standing positions, Alt+drag for the irregular extras.
Then staff it#
All three build the shape of the week — which shifts exist, at which positions and times. Deciding who works each one is a separate step, and you don’t have to do it by hand either: Automatic assignment proposes a full staffing plan for a range, around availability, work policies, skills, and a fair spread of hours.
Verify it worked#
Whichever route you took, the week’s shifts are on the calendar as ‘Draft’ — nothing is visible to your team until you publish. From there, staffing them is the separate step above.