Rostering

Rostering is how you plan and fill the staff and volunteer shifts your eventA single ticketed offering that people register for: one camp, one party, one conference, or one run of a show. Your site usually runs many events, and each is normally used once and then archived rather than reused (an annual festival creates a new event each year). Each event has its own page on your site, for example example.com/summercamp. When your site has only one active event, EventDrake automatically presents it as the site's main page and keeps the multi-event navigation out of the way. needs, from a single door rota to a full multi-day programme of crew.

How it fits together

Four things nest inside each other:

• A groupA named, colour-coded set of shifts within an event, such as Ops, Registration, or Bar. Groups are how the roster is divided up: each one becomes a lane on the roster calendar, and you can set a planning status across a whole group at once. is a named, colour-coded area of work, such as Ops or Registration. Each group is a lane on the roster calendar.
• A shiftA block of time that needs to be staffed, with a label, an optional location, and a start and end. A shift belongs to one group and holds one or more positions. Shifts are capped at 24 hours and must fall within a week either side of the event dates, which leaves room for setup and teardown. is a block of time in one group, with a label, an optional location, and a start and end.
• A positionA role needed on a shift, such as First Aider or Door. A position carries how many people it needs, which ticket tags make someone eligible, and the list of people assigned to it. A shift with no positions cannot hold anybody. is a role needed on that shift, such as First Aider. It sets how many people are needed and which ticket tags make someone eligibleThe ticket tags a position expects someone to hold, matched either as all tags or any tag. Eligibility guides who the system suggests for a position, but never blocks you: assigning someone who does not match is allowed and simply records that the requirement was overridden..
• An assignmentOne person placed into one position on one shift. An assignment covers either a ticket holder or an external person, never both. Published assignments appear on the person's agenda and trigger their shift reminders. is one person placed into one position.

You cannot roster anyone onto a shift that has no positions, so building a roster runs group, then shift, then position, then people.

Turning it on

Rostering is off by default and is switched on for your whole site in Settings, not per event.

Rostering needs the admin or scheduling role. The scheduling role lets someone build and run the whole roster without access to the rest of your admin, which suits a volunteer coordinator.

What’s here

• Groups: set up the areas of work your shifts are divided into.
• Shifts and positions: build the shifts themselves, one at a time or in bulk, and define the roles on each.
• Assigning people: find candidates, fill positions, and publish assignments so people can see them.
• What volunteers see: the agenda rostered people get, and the reminders sent to them.
• Settings: switching rostering on, and the reminder timing.