Creating and Publishing Schedules

Creating and Publishing Schedules

Learn how to generate meeting schedules with automated role assignments and publish them for your club members.

Before You Begin

Make sure you have:

• Active club officer role
• Active subscription (not in lapsed state)
• At least one active member in your club
• Club roles configured (the system comes with default roles)
• Club settings configured (meeting day, interval, timezone)

Understanding the Schedule Creation Process

The Club Schedule automatically generates meeting schedules by:

1. Creating meetings based on your club settings (day, interval, number of meetings)
2. Skipping dates where you’ve marked holidays
3. Assigning roles to members using an intelligent rotation algorithm
4. Considering member absences, role preferences, and prerequisites
5. Ensuring fair distribution of roles across all members

Creating a New Schedule

Step 1: Start the Creation Process

1. Log in as a club officer
2. From your dashboard, click Create Schedule
3. Or navigate to Schedules > Create New Schedule

[Screenshot: Dashboard showing Create Schedule button in Club Administration section]

Step 2: Choose Meeting Types (Optional)

If you have meeting types configured (Toastmasters clubs only), you’ll see a question:

“Will all meetings be regular?”

• Select Yes to use standard roles for all meetings
• Select No if you want to assign different meeting types (like “Speaker Night” or “Contest”) to specific dates

If you select No, you’ll be taken to a screen where you can choose a meeting type for each date before the schedule is generated.

See Set Up Meeting Types for details on configuring meeting types.

[Screenshot: Schedule creation page showing meeting type question]

Step 3: Automatic Generation

The system automatically:

• Determines the schedule date range (starts after your last published schedule)
• Generates the configured number of meetings (set in Club Settings)
• Assigns roles to members based on availability and rotation
• Creates the schedule in “Draft” status

You’ll see a success message: “Schedule created successfully!”

[Screenshot: Success message after schedule creation]

Step 4: Review the Draft Schedule

After creation, you’ll be taken to the schedule detail page. Review:

• Meeting dates – Are they correct? Are there any unintended meetings on holidays?
• Role assignments – Are members assigned appropriately?
• Placeholder assignments – Are there roles marked “TBD” or unassigned?
• Member absences – Do the assignments respect marked absences?

[Screenshot: Draft schedule showing meetings and assignments]

Step 5: Make Adjustments (If Needed)

You can edit the draft schedule before publishing:

Editing Individual Assignments

1. Click on a meeting to expand it
2. Click Edit next to any assignment
3. Select a different member from the dropdown
4. Click Save

[Screenshot: Editing an assignment in a draft schedule]

Step 5: Publish the Schedule

Once you’re satisfied with the schedule:

1. Click the Publish Schedule button
2. Review the confirmation dialog
3. Confirm publication

[Screenshot: Publish Schedule button and confirmation dialog]

What happens when you publish:

• The schedule status changes from “Draft” to “Published”
• Any previously published schedule is automatically archived
• If enabled in settings, notification emails are sent to all members
• Members can now see and respond to their assignments

Schedule Settings

Several club settings affect schedule creation:

Meetings Per Schedule

Location: Club Settings > Schedule Settings

Controls how many meetings are generated:

• 2 meetings
• 4 meetings
• 6 meetings (default)

Meeting Day and Interval

Location: Club Settings > Schedule Settings

• Meeting Day: Which day of the week meetings occur
• Meeting Interval: How often meetings happen (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly)

Notify Members on Publish

Location: Club Settings > Email Preferences

When enabled, all members receive an email when a schedule is published.

Understanding Role Assignments

The automatic assignment algorithm considers:

Member Eligibility

• Active members only
• Members not marked absent for that date
• Members who haven’t opted out of the role
• Members meeting role prerequisites (if any)

Fair Rotation

• Prioritizes members who have never done the role
• After that, assigns based on longest time since last doing the role
• Considers assignments within the current schedule (not just historical)

Special Rules

• Major role gap: Members must wait a specified number of weeks between major roles
• President-only roles: Only assigned to the club President
• Concurrent assignments: By default, members aren’t assigned multiple roles in the same meeting

Working with Draft Schedules

Extending a Draft Schedule

If you have a draft schedule with fewer meetings than configured:

1. Click Create Schedule again
2. The system automatically extends the existing draft
3. New meetings are added to the end of the schedule

Deleting a Draft Schedule

To delete a draft schedule:

1. Open the draft schedule
2. Click Delete Schedule
3. Confirm deletion

Publishing Best Practices

Timing

• Publish schedules at least 2-3 weeks before the first meeting
• This gives members time to respond and request changes
• Allows time to find replacements if members decline roles

Communication

• Enable “Notify members on publish” in settings
• Send a follow-up email highlighting important assignments
• Remind members to check their assignments and respond

Review Process

• Have a second officer review the schedule before publishing
• Check for obvious errors (wrong dates, duplicate assignments, etc.)
• Verify that major roles are distributed fairly

After Publishing

• Monitor member responses to assignments
• Be prepared to manually reassign roles if members decline
• Keep an eye on the schedule detail page for status updates

Managing Published Schedules

Editing Published Schedules

You can edit published schedules:

1. Open the published schedule
2. Click Edit Schedule
3. Make your changes
4. Click Save Changes

Changes to published schedules are immediate. Members see updates right away.

Archiving Schedules

When you publish a new schedule, the previous schedule is automatically archived. Archived schedules:

• Remain visible in the schedule list
• Can be viewed but not edited
• Are preserved for historical record keeping

Viewing Schedule History

To see all schedules:

1. Go to Schedules in the navigation menu
2. You’ll see all schedules organized by status:
   • Published (the current schedule)
   • Draft (work in progress)
   • Archived (past schedules)

[Screenshot: Schedule list showing different status categories]

Troubleshooting

No members were assigned to some roles

• Check if members have opted out of those roles
• Verify members are marked as active
• Check for absence conflicts on those dates
• Ensure role prerequisites aren’t too restrictive

The schedule has the wrong number of meetings

• Check your “Meetings per schedule” setting in Club Settings
• Verify your meeting interval is set correctly
• Check if holidays are interfering with meeting dates

I can’t publish the schedule

• Ensure you’re logged in as an officer
• Verify your subscription is active (not lapsed)
• Check that the schedule is in “Draft” status

Members didn’t receive notification emails

• Verify “Notify members on publish” is enabled in Club Settings
• Check that members have valid email addresses
• Look for notification job status in Recent Activity
• Check your spam/junk folder if you’re also a member

I published by accident

• You cannot unpublish a schedule
• You can edit the published schedule to make corrections
• If needed, create a new draft schedule and publish it (the old one will be archived)

Related Articles

• Club Settings Overview
• Managing Holidays
• Configuring Club Roles
• Setting Up Role Opt-Outs
• Email Communication Tools