Scheduling¶
The schedule is designed as a tool to book and hold resources and users over blocks of time. The schedule is best used when planning your resource allocation for projects and managing the availability of users. This view is globally available to all users based on view/edit permissions.
To access the Schedule, navigate to Studio > Schedule from the Main Menu.
Schedule Sections¶
The studio schedule is divided into 3 sections:
Schedule - Resources - Displays a list of resources and their availability
Schedule - Users - Displays a list of users and their availability
Resource and User scheduling are similar in functionality, but have different filtering options.
Resources¶
The Resources tab displays all items defined as a resource in the Admin > Resources view. These items are typically equipment, rooms, licenses, or other items that can be booked for a period of time. An entire department could also be defined as a resource, scheduling jobs for the department as a high level whiteboard.
The resource list can be filtered by resource keywords or the resource name. The resource events can be filtered by job or location.
Linked User Events¶
A resource event can have users attached to the event. When a user is attached to a resource event, a matching user event is created. This allows users to be scheduled for a resource without having to create a user event manually. Updating the resource event will update all linked user events. Additionally, the user event can be modified independently of the resource event.
Users¶
The Users tab displays all users defined in NIM in the Admin > Users view. The full user list contains both enabled and disabled users. This allows any user, regardless of their enabled state to be scheduled. These users can be current employees, freelancers, or individuals the company may work within the future. The user list can be filtered by user keywords, user groups, or the user name. The user events can be filtered by job, location, enabled users, as well as by the crew of the selected job.
Linked Resource Events¶
User events can be automatically created by adding users to a resource event. When a user is added to a resource event, a matching user event is created. This allows users to be scheduled for a resource without having to create a user event manually. Updating the resource event will update all linked user events. Additionally, the user event can be modified independently of the resource event.
Schedule Views¶
The calendar can be viewed by Day, Week, or a Range of months depending on the selected view type.
The number of months are selectable in 3 month increments from 1 Month up to 1 Year. To change the month range, click the dropdown arrow to the right of the view selector and choose the corresponding range.
To change the calendar view click on the corresponding view type at the top right of the calendar.
Month View¶
The month view displays events one month at a time with events spanning daily cells based on the start and end time of the event. All day events will span the full day, while events with discrete start and end times will only cover the portion of the day relative to the hours.
Double clicking on an event will open a dialog to edit the event details. For more information on adding, editing, and deleting events please refer to the Schedule Events section of the documentation.
Week View¶
The week view displays events one week at a time with events spanning daily cells based on the start and end time of the event. All day events will span the full day, while events with discrete start and end times will only cover the portion of the day relative to the hours.
Double clicking on an event will open a dialog to edit the event details. For more information on adding, editing, and deleting events please refer to the Schedule Events section of the documentation.
Day View¶
The day view displays events one day at a time with events spanning hourly cells based on the start and end time of the event. All day events will span the full day, while events with discrete start and end times will only cover the portion of the day relative to the hours.
Double clicking on an event will open a dialog to edit the event details. For more information on adding, editing, and deleting events please refer to the Schedule Events section of the documentation.
Hours Displayed¶
The day view has the option to display the range of hours for the day as the “Full Day” or “Business Hours”. The “Business Hours” range is determined by the “Work Day Start” and “Work Day End” in Admin > Schedule - Options. To expand the daily hours to the full day, click the Show Full Day button at the lower left of the schedule. To return to the business day hours, click the Show Business Hours at the lower left of the schedule.
Hourly Interval¶
The division of time for the week and day view is determined by the “Day View Interval” value in Admin > Schedule - Options. This value affects the number of subdivisions available in the view and the time selector, but does not limit the value at which the start or end time for an event can be manually set.
Schedule Events¶
Schedule events contain unique title, description, and status information, as well as links to locations and jobs. Events can be set to start and end over a specific time period or flagged as “All Day” events spanning between start and end dates. The option to enable repeat events lets users create an event that is recurring over a defined period of time.
Add Event¶
To add a schedule event, double click on a cell in the Day, Week, or Month view. Alternatively, you can click on the button at the top right of the schedule toolbar to create a new event.
A dialog box will appear to enter event information.
Note
The dialog box options will differ depending on if the current tab is Resources or Users.
Fields include:
Title |
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Start |
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End |
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All Day Event |
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Repeat |
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Description |
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Status |
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Resource |
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Location |
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Job |
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Assignment |
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Users |
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Edit Events¶
Double clicking on an event in the Month, Week, or Day view will open a dialog box to edit the event details. After making the necessary changes, click the Save button to commit your changes. Click the Cancel button to return to the view without saving.
Linked Events¶
Resource events can optionally link to multiple user events. Users attached to a resource event will create linked User events matching the details of the resource event. If the resource event is modified, the linked user events will be modified as well. Modifying a User event that is linked to a resource event will only change the User event being edited.
Repeating Events¶
If the event is part of a repeating series of events, there will be an repeat icon at the left of the event indicating that this is a repeating event.
Prior to editing a repeating event, a popup will appear asking if you wish to edit the current occurrence or the entire series of events.
Selecting the current occurrence will edit only the selected event and make it unique from other recurring instances. Choosing to edit the series will edit all events in the series of repeating events.
If the event was previously part of a repeating series, but modified independently, a canceled repeat icon at the left of the event indicates that this is a unique event in a repeating series.
Repeat Rules¶
When a Repeat option is selected, additional fields are available to define the repeat rules. Depending on the selection, increasingly complex rules can be defined as the Repeat value gets larger. All options include a Repeat Every and an End value to determine the frequency and end of the recurrence, while Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly options additionally include a Repeat On value to further refine how the event is propagated to future recurrences.
The example at the right displays the options available for a Daily repeat cycle.
The example at the right displays the options available for a Weekly repeat cycle.
The example at the right displays the options available for a Monthly repeat cycle.
The example at the right displays the options available for a Yearly repeat cycle.
Timezone Options¶
When the All Day Event checkbox is unselected the Timezone button is enabled.
Clicking the Timezone button opens the Timezones options dialog.
By default, Use separate start and end timezones is enabled. De-selecting this option will remove the End Timezone dropdown and only the Start Timezone dropdown selection will be used.
Below the Start and End timezone dropdowns is an additional field to select a city within the selected timezone.
Delete Events¶
To delete an event from any of the main views, right click on the event and choose Delete from the context menu.
Events may also be deleted from within the edit dialog box by clicking Delete button at the lower left.
Event Colors¶
The event color dropdown will determine how events are color coded in the schedule.
Options Include:
Status Colors
Resource Colors
Location Colors
Job Colors
Quick View¶
Clicking on an event will bring up the quick view tooltip. This provides quick access to information about each event without the need to open the event editor. Only event fields that have been set will appear in the quick view.