In addition to the ways discussed on how to create shifts, there is also the option to create Shift Templates.

Shift templates are a collection of shifts, either open or with assigned employees, that can be copied and pasted from one time period to another, to make for easy scheduling. This is a great option for companies who have a site or client that has a recurring schedule; or even staff members that have recurring shifts.

Shift templates can have one or more shifts and can be easily modified or cloned.

Note: Every free trial is set up with a sample template named "Trial Template" which is great to play around with, edit, or clone. There is also the option to create your own.

This article will cover the following steps on Shift Templates in Schedule Xpress:

To begin the process of creating your own shift template, you'll need to create a list of shifts and then highlight them.

Once shifts are selected, click on the Shift Tools option (red arrow), and then Create shift template (green arrow).

You'll be presented with a tab that will allow you to create a name (red arrow) for the template, and then you can click on Create (green arrow).

Note: The new shift template created will be available when you are choosing to apply a shift template.

When looking to apply a shift template, if you have no shifts in your schedule, you will see No shifts found on your homepage. You can apply a shift template by clicking the option marked below.

However, if you already have shifts in your schedule, but would like to apply a shift template, you'll have to visit the Shift Tools option (red arrow), and click Apply shift template (green arrow).

The red box highlights the list of template options available.

To apply a shift template, select it by clicking the circle beside (red arrow). Then click Apply (green arrow).

Note: Ensure that the date range is exact with respect to when you would like to paste the template (purple arrow).

If you click apply, the shift template will be initiated and the shifts will be set.

If you would like to apply this shift template over a number of different weeks within the calendar, as opposed to just one, you can click Apply & Repeat.

Once clicked, you'll need to select an option from Paste copies (red arrow) to either choose employees to fulfil the shifts within the template, or set all shifts to Open.

The Repeat section (green arrow) allows you to choose how often the shift template is applied. Typically, an administrator will create a shift template to apply once every a week.

If you'd like to edit a shift after creation, you can visit the Settings tab, and under Branch Features click Shift templates.

You can select the template you want to change by clicking on it (red arrow). However, within this area, their are multiple options as below (green arrows):

Although the options above are self-explanatory, a tool useful to a wide range of companies is the Clone template option. If a company has a shift template containing many shifts and only wants to modify slightly, they can clone and modify to make small changes.

For more information, you can Contact Support now!