Understand how roster dates, repeating weeks and publication fit together.
When you plan a roster, the period tells you which dates you are working on. The planning and publishing stages tell you whether those assignments are still being prepared or are available to employees.
How does the roster period framework work?
A location holds the people and setup you use to plan, such as shifts, skills and rules. Within that location, a roster period is the date range you are planning together. You do not need to create a new location for each new period.
Fixed periods follow the repeating period pattern chosen for the location.
Custom periods let you choose each period's duration, with each successive period following the previous one.
The current period contains today's date. You can select a future period to prepare work ahead of time.
Period dates and repeating weeks are different
A/B or A/B/C/D week labels identify where dates fall within a repeating cycle. That cycle is anchored to the original start date in the location settings and continues across roster-period boundaries.
For example, with two-week periods and a four-week cycle, one period can contain Weeks A and B, the next Weeks C and D, and the next Weeks A and B again. Opening a new period does not reset its first week to Week A.
Diagram: three consecutive two-week periods share one continuous four-week cycle. This example starts on Week A; another selected period can start on B, C or D.
Recurring preferences and fixed-shift pattern views display their pattern starting at Week A, even when the selected roster period starts at another point in the cycle. Use the week labels on the actual dates to check when a recurring assignment applies.
Work can also cross a period boundary. For AI planning, History supplies preceding allocations so generation can account for sequences such as consecutive work and rest. It is different from the repeating week labels or a saved version. See Understand how roster history affects generation.
For changes to period dates or week alignment, use Choose and change roster periods and Use A B C D week cycles. Converting an existing roster to custom periods is irreversible; published allocations or saved versions can also prevent period changes.
How do Generate, My Roster and Publish fit together?
Generate proposes a roster, My Roster is where you prepare the assignments you intend to use, and publishing releases the checked assignments to employees.
AI generation is optional and requires an AI-enabled plan and planning access. You can build the roster manually in My Roster instead. Both routes need review before publication.
Diagram: AI generation and manual planning both lead to My Roster. Publication updates staff-visible shifts; saved versions sit on a separate reference branch.
Generate a proposed solution, if you use AI
Generation uses your people, demands, fixed allocations, preferences, rules and relevant history. Wait for a completed Solved result, then review coverage, warnings and employee statistics. A completed solution has not been published.
Apply the solution to My Roster
Select the intended solution and use Send To My Roster. This can overwrite allocations already in My Roster, so save a version first if you need to preserve that work and read any overwrite or note warning.
Check the resulting employees, dates and assignments after the transfer. You can then make manual adjustments in My Roster. If you are building manually, you work here without first generating a solution.
Publish the checked assignments
Review coverage, warnings, fixed commitments and approved requests after your final edits. Check the selected employees and dates, then use Publish schedules for the first release or Publish changes for later checked edits.
Publication updates staff-visible shifts and the live schedule. Later edits in My Roster need to be published before those changes are released. A published status does not confirm that a roster email was delivered.
Where do saved versions fit?
A saved version is a reference snapshot. Saving one does not publish your roster. Each publication also creates a version labelled Published Roster with its date and time.
Use versions to compare earlier allocations or recover them through the supported manual-copy workflow. You cannot publish directly from a historical version; return to the current editable roster to review and publish.