Publish your shift schedule

A schedule is an ongoing calendar that you can keep building over time. When you publish, you choose a start and end date to open for volunteer signups. Shifts within those dates are available for signup, while those outside them stay unpublished. You don’t need to publish each shift individually. When you’re ready to open more dates, update the publishing window. ​ If you’re setting up a schedule for the first time, see Create and publish a volunteer schedule.

When you’re ready for volunteers to sign up, select Publish in the top right of the schedule. Set the first and last dates to open for signups. The start date must be today or a future date, and all shifts between those dates will be available.

To let volunteers know shifts are open, choose who should receive the announcement email. Select Do not notify if you’d prefer to send your own message. Check the dates and notification choice, then select Publish or Publish and Notify.

In the admin view of the schedule, published shifts appear in solid colour, while unpublished shifts appear white with a coloured outline.

The Shifts Available email is a simple announcement sent from your organization. It says “New shifts are available for signup” and includes a button that takes volunteers to the schedule. It’s separate from the confirmation emails sent when volunteers are assigned or confirmed for a shift.

Select Everyone active in directory to notify active volunteers, excluding people in Onboarding or Inactive. If you use qualifications to restrict positions to qualified volunteers, select Everyone Qualified. Send the announcement to people who can take part in the available shifts so the email is useful to them.

Select Do not notify when publishing, then send a separate email to the volunteers you’d like to reach. This lets you add a personal message or extra details and send it to a targeted list.
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Each schedule keeps the same link as new shifts open. Select View in the top right of the schedule, or open the schedule in your hub, and copy the URL from the browser. Add it as a link or button in the email, or save it in an email template to reuse for future announcements.

Any shifts you add or copy within the published date range are immediately available for volunteer signup. Shifts outside that range stay unpublished until you update the published dates. When you’re ready to open more dates, select the arrow beside Published to check the current range, then select Change Dates. Choose the new start and end dates, decide whether to notify volunteers, and publish the updated range.
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Changing the published dates does not remove existing volunteer signups. It controls which dates are available for new signups. Check the range before it ends so volunteers can continue finding available shifts.

If shifts still need filling, you can send another announcement by changing the published dates or unpublishing and republishing the schedule with the same dates. Choose who to notify, then select Publish and Notify. Unpublishing briefly closes signups but does not affect existing volunteer signups.
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For follow-ups, we recommend a targeted message rather than frequent announcements to everyone. Filter the Directory for available volunteers and send a custom email about the shifts that still need covering. See Send a custom Shifts Available email above for adding the schedule link.

To stop new signups, select the arrow beside Published and choose Unpublish. You can publish it again whenever you’re ready.
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Unpublishing does not remove volunteers who have already signed up or been assigned. If a shift is being cancelled, you’ll need to manage that separately rather than only unpublishing the schedule.

Can’t see the shifts you expected? Don’t worry, it’s usually a setting rather than something you’ve done wrong. Here’s what to check:

Still not seeing them? Send us the schedule link and an example of a missing shift. If it’s happening to a particular volunteer, let us know who. We’re happy to help.