Using the Calendar

What is the Calendar?

The Calendar is where you see all your scheduled work in one place. It shows bookings for your team - both customer jobs and internal tasks - across different views so you can plan your day, week, or month.

Switching Calendar Views

You have 5 different ways to view your schedule, and each one suits different situations.

The two Day Views show you a single day in detail. Timeline Day is the default, laying out staff members as horizontal rows so you can see everyone's day at a glance. You can drag bookings left or right to reassign staff, or up and down to change times. Grid Day shows the same information but arranges staff as vertical columns, giving you that traditional daily planner feel.

For weekly planning, Timeline Week shows a full week with staff as rows. This works great when you have many team members and need to spot patterns across the week. Just scroll horizontally to see more staff. Grid Week displays staff as columns instead, showing multiple days for each person in a traditional weekly planner layout. This view works best for smaller teams of 3-5 people.

Finally, Month View gives you the big picture with a full month in a calendar grid. It's perfect for long-term planning and spotting free days, but doesn't show staff columns to avoid clutter. Instead, you can filter by individual staff members to see one person's month.

To switch views, just click the view selector dropdown at the top of the calendar (next to the date). The calendar remembers your last choice and will open to the same view next time.

Moving Between Dates

The navigation controls at the top of the calendar make it easy to jump around. The Today button brings you back to today's date instantly. Use the left and right arrows to move backward or forward by day, week, or month depending on which view you're in. The date button in the middle opens a date picker when you click it.

The date picker shows a mini calendar where you can click any date to jump straight there. It's faster than clicking arrows repeatedly when you need to check something weeks ahead.

Understanding What You're Looking At

The calendar displays your business hours by default (usually 6am-6pm), with each row or column representing one staff member. Empty spaces show free time, while colored blocks are bookings.

Each booking displays the job number (like "1000") or "TASK" for internal work, the customer name, a brief description or location, and the time range from start to end. Everything you need to know at a glance.

Color Coding

The background color tells you the job status:

• Amber/Yellow: Quote (job not started yet)
• Blue: Work Order (approved job, ready to go)
• Green: Completed job
• Red: Cancelled job
• Purple: On Hold
• Cyan: Task (not a customer job)

The thick left border shows booking progress:

• Dark Blue: Scheduled (not started)
• Orange: In Progress (currently working)
• Green: Done (finished)

Staff Filter (Month View Only)

In Month view, you don't see staff columns. To avoid clutter, you can filter to see one person's bookings:

1. Look for the "Staff" dropdown at the top
2. Select a staff member's name
3. Calendar now shows only their bookings
4. Select "All Staff" to see everyone again

Grid and Timeline views don't need this filter - they already show staff in separate rows/columns.

The Sidebar (Unscheduled Bookings)

On the left side, you'll see a list of jobs that need scheduling:

• These are bookings without times yet
• They're sorted by urgency (oldest first)
• You can search, filter, and sort this list
• Drag any booking onto the calendar to schedule it

Tip: Keep this list short by scheduling bookings as soon as you can. If the sidebar is in the way, you can collapse it with the arrow button.

Common Calendar Actions

Creating a Booking

1. Click and drag on any empty time slot
2. A modal opens with the time already filled in
3. Choose the job and staff
4. Click Create

Viewing Booking Details

• Single click: See quick details in a popup
• Double click: Open the full job page in a modal

Moving a Booking

Just drag it to a new time or different staff row/column. The system will warn you if there's a conflict.

Changing Booking Length

Hover over the top or bottom edge until you see a resize handle, then drag to make it longer or shorter.

Tips for Using the Calendar

Use the right view for the task:

• Planning tomorrow? Use Day view
• Scheduling the week? Use Week view
• Checking availability next month? Use Month view

Keep unscheduled bookings under control:

• Check the sidebar daily
• Schedule urgent work first
• Drag unscheduled bookings onto the calendar

Watch for conflicts:

• The system warns you if staff are double-booked
• Orange border means overlapping times
• You can override if needed (emergency jobs)

Use colors to prioritize:

• Blue bookings (Work Orders) are confirmed
• Amber bookings (Quotes) might still change
• Focus on blue bookings first

Common Questions

Why don't I see my booking? Check you're on the right date, check the staff filter in Month view, and make sure it's not sitting in the Unscheduled sidebar. Try switching to "All Staff" if you're filtering.

Calendar seems crowded in Week view? Try Timeline Week instead of Grid Week - it handles larger teams better. You can also navigate day by day in Day view, or filter Month view to show one person at a time.

Can I see multiple staff in Month view? No, Month view only shows one staff member at a time to avoid clutter. Use Week views to see multiple staff across days.

Do bookings automatically move staff if I drag them? Yes! Dragging between columns or rows changes the assigned staff. The system will warn you if this creates a conflict.

Related Articles

• Creating Bookings - Learn how to add new work to the calendar
• Moving and Editing Bookings - Master drag-and-drop and resizing
• Booking Colors and Status - Full guide to what each color means
• Unscheduled Bookings - Managing the sidebar