📌 Note: The screenshots and settings shown in this article may not match what you see in your own platform, as Rosterfy is highly customisable. If you need guidance specific to your setup, please contact our support team.
Shift Patterns allow you to build a master schedule template and deploy it across large blocks of time all at once. By using this tool to create Shifts from a pattern, you can easily manage complex or multi-week roster templates like rolling team rotations. This allows you to deploy slots in bulk across a long time horizon without creating each one manually.
IN THIS ARTICLE:
Establish Your Shift Templates
Before building a pattern, you must define the underlying Shifts that live inside that schedule structure.
A Shift Template must be created first. See the Create and Update a Shift Template article to set up your baseline requirements. Ensure your default settings, such as descriptions, locations, or custom fields, are saved before moving forward.
💡Tip: Editing a Shift template will instantly update any active Shifts that were generated from it, even if the template is currently part of a Shift pattern.
Create the Shift Pattern
The Shift Pattern dictates exactly when and how often your templates deploy across your calendar.
Click Events > Shift Patterns.
Click the Create button. The Create Shift Pattern page appears:
Enter a name into the Name field.
Click the dropdown in the Template field to select a Shift template.
Click the Save button.
Click the Repetition option on the left-hand menu.
Click the Add button. The Add Repetition window appears:
Click the Type dropdown and select one of the following options. Additional options appear depending on what is selected:
Offset: Set the exact gap between Shifts.
Offset: This is the gap or delay time before the Shift begins. It tells the system exactly how many minutes to wait after your pattern timeline starts before kicking off the Shift.
Length: This controls how long the shift lasts once it has started. It is the duration of the volunteer's working block.
For example: To setup a mid-morning Shift for a timeline that starts at 9:00 AM. If you set the Offset value to 60 minutes, the Shift won't start immediately at 9:00 AM. It will wait 60 minutes and start at 10:00 AM. If you set the Length to 2 hours and 0 minutes, that Shift will run from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
Days: Explicitly choose the days of the week the template applies to.
Every day?: Check this box if the Shift should occur on all seven days of the week. If checked, the Which days? option is hidden.
Which days?: Select the specific days of the week the Shift should run.
Start Time: The exact time of day the Shift begins.
End Time: The exact time of the day the Shift finishes.
For example: To set up a standard weekly morning Shift, check Monday through to Friday with a start time of 8:00 AM and an end time of 12:00 PM. The system will automatically create an 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM Shift on every weekday within your date range.
(Optional). Click the Demand tab > check the Override Demand box to override how many volunteers are needed for this specific pattern schedule.
Click the Submit button.
Create Shifts From a Shift Pattern
Once your Shift pattern is saved, you can project it into a live Event roster to generate your calendar blocks.
💡Tip: The Create Shifts from Pattern option is only accessible via the following method.
💡Tip: Your Shift pattern deployment's start and end times must sit outside your Shift times. If your boundary time overlaps a Shift's schedule, the Shift will not be created.
Click Events > Events.
Click the View Shifts button on the Event you wish to apply your Shift pattern to. The Event's Shift list appears:
Click the Actions button.
Click Create Shifts from Pattern. The Import Shifts From Pattern window appears:
Click the Shift Pattern dropdown to select a Shift pattern.
Enter the deployment Start Date/Time.
Enter the deplpoyment End Date/Time.
Check the Link Shifts box if you wish to turn these Shifts into a repeating Shift Schedule. The following additional fields appear:
Name: The name of the repeating schedule.
Name (Portal): The name that appears on the User Portal of the repeating schedule.
Enter a value in the Demand field to indicate how many people are required per Shift.
Click the Next button. The Shift settings appear. See the Create and Update a Shift article for a comprehensive guide for the settings available.
Click the Import button. The following window appears:
Click the Close button. The Shifts are created and visible within the Shift list of your Event.
Manage Shift View and Visibility
Once your schedule is generated, use the following roster display settings to organise your view and manage the visibility of your Shifts:
Default View: When viewing Shifts directly from the Event itself, the system sorts them alphabetically rather than by date. Click the arrow icon next to the Date/Time field header to arrange your Shift view to present chronologically.
Publishing and Unpublishing: You cannot publish or unpublish a linked series from the More Actions menu. To change the publication status, you must individually select the Shifts on the Shift list and apply a bulk action. See Create and Update a Shift for more information.
