VSP 3.6 has been released! Below are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the update. If you still have questions, feel free to contact us!
What is the Shift Leaders feature?
The Shift Leaders feature gives web-based administrative access to your shift leaders. Through a new Admin tab in the Web Terminal, these leaders can email volunteers in their jobs and at their shifts and request subs on behalf of their volunteers. This feature will make it possible for heads of jobs or shifts to stay powerfully connected to the volunteers in their jobs without having to download VSP.
Permissions for Shift Leaders are granted through the program; Shift Leaders’ access can be restricted by job and/or shift time. As the VSP administrator, you can also restrict a Shift Leader’s access to the web-based Emailer, the ability to request subs, or both.
How do I assign a Shift Leader?
To assign someone as a Shift Leader, they must first be entered as a Volunteer into VSP. To assign a volunteer as a Shift Leader:
- From the Web Terminal pane inside of VSP, click on the “Web Terminal Settings…” button at the top of the window.
- In the new dialog that opens, click on the Shift Leaders heading on the left.
- Click the “Declare leader…” button in this window and select the name of the volunteer who will be a Shift Leader. You can narrow that Leader’s access by job or shift, and control his or her access privileges.
How can I use the “focus on jobs” option?
The “focus on jobs” option allows you to view just some of your jobs on a schedule instead of all at once, making it easier to manage portions of the schedule at different times.
To use this option, first generate a new schedule or open an existing schedule. From the View menu at the top of the schedule window, navigate to the “Focus on jobs” option and select the jobs you wish to view on the schedule.
BONUS: If using the auto scheduler, when you click “Auto-Schedule” button with this option on, the program will default to run the auto-scheduler only for those jobs being focused on, making it even easier to manage and schedule one or more jobs at a time.
What are Folders?
Folders add a higher level of organization for your jobs. For example, if you have shifts that occur at several different locations, you can create a folder for each location in the Shifts pane, and then create separate jobs for each folder. This way you can easily manage volunteers who are only scheduled in one location. Moreover, folders make it easy to filter email recipients, post and export schedules, and generate rosters for one folder at a time.
To use folders, go to the jobs pane inside of VSP and click the “New Folder” button. Once you have created a folder, you can drag and drop your existing jobs into the folder, or with the folder selected, click the “New Job” button to add a new job to the folder.
How do I use the preconfigured templates for the Emailer?
Preconfigured email templates make contacting your volunteers and setting up a scheduling cycle quick and easy. If a volunteer forgets his or her username or password, or you want to remind all volunteers of an upcoming schedule, it is now extremely easy to do so using preconfigured email templates.
- From the Emailer pane inside of VSP, click on the “Settings…” button at the top of the window.
- Navigate to the “Preconfigured templates” option, and select the template you would like to use.
- Click the “Preview” button at the top of the window to set the token options for the email and view how the email will look when your volunteers view it.
NOTE: You can modify any of the templates as needed on a per-use basis.
What does “cloning a Live Schedule Post” mean?
When creating a Live Schedule Post, you can now clone – or copy — all Live Schedule Posts from a previous schedule. This is extremely useful if you create a separate Live Schedule Post for each job or shift. You can now choose to “Clone all Live Schedule Posts” from the last scheduling period, and VSP will automatically build each separate Live Schedule Post for you.
How do I clone Live Schedule Posts?
From the Schedules pane, or from the File menu of a new open schedule, select “Make this schedule Live…” A pop-up will open asking how you would like to post this to the Web Terminal. Select the “Clone all Live Schedule Posts from” and then select the past schedule for which you would like VSP to copy all Live Schedule Post settings for.
How do I set my Live Schedule Posts to only display future dates?
In the “Online and layout settings” window for Live Schedule Posts, you can now specify that the Live Schedule Post not display shifts which took place more than two days prior.
To use this setting for a Live Schedule Post:
- From the Web Terminal pane inside of VSP, click on the Full Schedules tab at the top.
- For existing Live Schedule Posts, click on the name of the post from the top section of the window and click the “Settings” button to the right of the list of Live Schedule Posts. If you are creating a new Live Schedule Post, click the “New” button.
- In the “Online layout and options” window, click on the Select Shifts pane and check the option at the bottom of that screen that says, “Don’t include shifts that took place more than two days ago.” Click the “Save” button and your existing posts will be updated or your new post will be created.
How do I turn on the automatic All Available Positions email?
In addition to automatic email reminders for upcoming scheduled shifts, it is also possible to set up automatic email reminders for all open positions in the upcoming week. This includes any unfilled positions and any unfilled swap-requested positions.
To turn on these automatic emails:
- From the Web Terminal pane inside of VSP, click on the “Web Terminal Settings” button.
- In the new dialog that opens, click on the Auto Reminders pane on the left, and then click on the “Available Positions” sub-heading which will appear below it.
- Check the first box to, “Send an automatic email each week advising volunteers of positions and subs yet to be filled.”
- Select the day of the week that these reminders should be sent out. Click the “OK” button.
How can I turn automatic emails or SMS reminders off for volunteers from their profile?
You can easily manage requests made by volunteers to not receive automatic emails or SMS reminders right from their profiles inside of VSP.
- From the Volunteers pane, edit the volunteer in question.
- To turn off email reminders, click on the arrow to the right of their email address and un-check the email reminder they no longer wish to receive.
- To turn off automatic SMS reminders, click on the arrow to the right of their cell phone and un-check the corresponding option.
How can I limit the number of hours volunteers can sign up for through the Web Terminal?
To give all volunteers an equal chance to participate, you can set a limit on the number of hours a volunteer can sign up for in a given week.
To turn on this option:
- From the Web Terminal pane inside of VSP, click on the “Web Terminal Settings…” button.
- In the new dialog that opens, click on the Assignments pane and check the option that says, “Don’t allow assignments that would schedule a volunteer for over 1 hour in a week” where you can change the number 1 to any desired number.
- Click on the Swap Requests pane on the left and check the option that says, “Don’t allow swaps that would leave a volunteer scheduled for over 1 hour in a week” where you can change the number 1 to any desired number.
- Click OK in this window and then the Commit Changes button.
