Getting Started	Click this icon to print >

Setting up an online rota isn't difficult, although there are a few steps you need to follow, particularly in terms of entering your data, and this will take an amount of time. The program contains some import tools for some tasks to make the setup a little easier. Following the stages in the order outlined here will enable you to get things done in the most timely manner.

Step 1: Jobs  (5 minutes)

List the jobs done or the job titles of the staff. For example Job Title: Customer Service Assistant, Job Code: CSA. A full description can be found on the Jobs page.

Step 2: Locations (5 minutes)

List the locations where your staff work. Usually this will refer to a building. You may wish to set up 'Home' if staff work from home. A full description can be found in the user guide's Locations page.

Step 3: Shift Names (15 minutes)

The website works with defined shift times so that payroll hours, break times etc can be effectively used. This means that you should enter all likely permutations. For example:

9am-5pm
10am-5pm (where somebody might arrive in later)
9am-4pm (where somebody might leave early)
9am-1pm (where somebody works only a morning)
1pm-5pm (where somebody works only an afternoon)
The program fully supports overnight shifts, so enter them in a normal way.
(It's normal for a rota to have dozens of variations.)

If you are likely to want payroll hours reporting you should consider carefully the hours that each shift represents for payroll purposes. For example: is a 9-5 shift classed as 8 hours or 7 hours?

For more detailed information see the user guide's Shift Names page.

Step 4: Staff Names (15+ minutes)

It is important that you have entered data in the three previous steps before entering staff. Otherwise you will be wasting time in retracing steps.

Take a moment to read about User Levels and how they determine the security and access for your staff.

If you wish to delete existing sample data, you can do this on the Set Company page. (This functionality only exists for Trial rotas.)

The time taken for staff entry is largely determined by how many staff you need to enter. The good news is that the process can be considerably speeded up if you have staff data available on a spreadsheet. A formatted Excel spreadsheet containing staff names and other data can be uploaded. Use the following links:

To manually enter new staff go to Staff List.

For advice on uploading staff from a spreadsheet, go to Uploading Staff.

Step 5: Working Parameters (10+ minutes)

This is the stage where for each staff you select which jobs, locations and shift times are appropriate. Having this information accurately set will greatly aid your usage as the program is able to use this information to validate any changes you make to the working calendar data.

See Working Parameters for further information.

Step 6: Manually add staff to the working calendar (20 minutes)

If you have an existing rota to hand for this week, we suggest you re-create this on your new online rota. With all the staff, jobs, locations and shift parameters set up, you should find this a straightforward process. There are several methods for add staff to the working calendar, and here we shall concentrate on two manual methods: Day View and Week View.

Step 7: Add your logo and preferred colour scheme (optional 10 minutes)

Replace the logo with your own, and then change the main colours to something of your choosing. You can even use the nifty utility which creates a colour scheme to perfectly match your logo colours. It's all in Set Display.

Step 8: Show your online rota to somebody!

You've been working hard on data entry in the above steps, and now it's time to see the benefits. Let a colleague or employee see the work you've done and get their opinion. Handy tip: The easiest way to get the website address and login details to somebody is to enter their email in the forgot password page. This will supply them with the website address, the rota name, user name and password.

Where to go from here?

Other ways to create your rota

Work with your other rota administrators to decide which parts of the website you wish to use. You are likely to find many things users, and many things irrelevant to your workplace. Take some time to read the User Guide. For example, there are many different pages and techniques for adding staff and shifts to a rota, and these are listed in the article 'Adding staff to a rota'. Taking a little time to become an expert with this program will have you working smarter and faster.

Set up Minimum Staffing Levels

The Min By Shift page enables you to set up minimum requirements for each job, location, shift and day. Then the program guides you towards the unfilled posts, alerting you of unfilled posts and suggesting qualified staff to fill them. You could also try opening unfilled shifts to volunteers.

Try the Notice Board

An easy-to-use notice board is fully integrated into your rota. An ideal way of enabling staff interaction and a way for the management to publish new to staff. View the Notice Board topic for everything you need to know.

Make a Leave Request

The leave request and approval area constitutes an important part of the program. There are many options to explore. Using leave groups and maximum leave levels will aid you in making a fair and manageable leave system. Try making a leave request, then approve the leave.

Put some documents online

If your staff have forms they need to fill in (such as daily summaries, expenses) you can upload these to the rota so your staff can easily grab a copy when needed.