What is a position?
Positions define the different roles or types of work volunteers can do in Timecounts, such as Greeter, Registration, Driver, Food Service, or Event Volunteer.
You'll most commonly use positions when creating an Event with Shifts or Schedule. Every shift needs a position, which tells volunteers what they'll be doing. Each position in an Event or Schedule also has a location. You can use the same position name in more than one location—for example, Registration at the Main Entrance and Registration in the Conference Hall. In some areas of Timecounts, you'll see just the position name, while in others you'll see the position and location together.
Each Event or Schedule has its own list of positions, so you only add what's relevant to that opportunity. Once your positions are set up, you can create shifts for volunteers to sign up for or be assigned to.
When you create a new position, Timecounts also saves it as a Position Template, making it faster to reuse the same roles and keep things consistent across your organization.
Positions are also used for walk-ins and when tracking volunteer time. Using positions consistently makes it easier to understand the work volunteers are doing and report on hours by position.
Adding positions to an Event with Shifts or Schedule
For both Schedules and Events with Shifts, click the button for Positions in the top right corner to view or edit your positions. From there, select Add Position to add a new one. When creating a new Event with Shifts, you can also add positions during setup.
When adding a position, start typing in the Position Name field.If you've used that position before, it will appear as an option. Select it and Timecounts will pull in its saved description and skills. If it's a new position, enter the name and select Create new "[Position Name]" or press Enter. Creating a new position also automatically adds it to your Position Templates in Settings so you can easily use it again.
You can then add or update the description, skills, and location for this particular Event with Shifts or Schedule.
From Positions, you can also edit the positions used for that opportunity or drag them into the order you'd like them to appear.
Adding positions for walk-ins
Positions are also used when volunteers check in using the kiosk without being scheduled in advance. When setting up walk-in positions, you can select from your existing Position Templates so the work you're tracking stays consistent with the rest of Timecounts. If you create a new position, it will also be added to your Position Templates for future use.
Just like an Event with Shifts or Schedule, you choose which positions are relevant for that particular walk-in activity. Volunteers aren't presented with your organization's entire Position Templates list.
This keeps the choices manageable for volunteers while still giving your organization a consistent way to track what people are doing.
Using positions when tracking time
Positions can also be used when manually adding volunteer time.
You can select from your existing Position Templates to record the type of work a volunteer completed. If you need a new position, you can create it while adding the time and it will be available for future use. This means the same Position Name can follow the work across Timecounts — whether someone signed up for a scheduled shift, walked in, or had their time added manually.
Managing Position Templates
Go to Settings > Positions to view your organization's Position Templates. These are the reusable position names, descriptions, and skills you've created across Timecounts, making it faster to reuse positions and keep naming consistent.
You don't need to set up Position Templates ahead of time. In fact, we recommend creating positions as you need them. Whenever you create a new position anywhere in Timecounts, it's automatically added to your Position Templates for future use.
You can also add, edit, or delete templates directly from Settings > Positions.
When you update a template, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:
Changing the Position Name updates the name everywhere it's used.
Changing the description or skills updates the template for future use, but won't overwrite those details in Events or Schedules where the position has already been added. This lets you customize the same role for different opportunities.
If you try to delete a position that's currently in use, Timecounts may ask you to confirm or prevent it from being deleted if it's attached to future shifts. You'll need to remove those future shifts before deleting the template.
Deleting a position
If you no longer need a position in a particular Event with Shifts, Schedule, or Walk-in Kiosk, open it and click Positions in the top right corner. Click the pencil icon next to the position you want to remove, then select Delete.
For Events with Shifts and Schedules, you won't be able to delete a position if it has future shifts associated with it. You'll first need to clear those shifts, then return to Positions to delete it.
If you want to remove a position from your organization altogether, go to Settings > Position Templates, select the position, and click Delete at the bottom. You generally only need to do this if you no longer plan to use the position or want to clean up old or duplicate Position Templates.