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How to add and manage time slots (3 Time Slots page)

A time slot is a day, start time and location that repeats every week, and Create schedules the division's games into its time slots. On the division's 3 Time Slots page, click Add Time Slot to add them, then use the Time Slot Schedule grid to choose the weeks each one is used before you create the schedule.

Applies to: Admins and schedulers · All plans (Enable Auto Assign needs the Advanced Scheduling module) · League divisions, Regular and 2nd Half schedules (tournaments have their own page; Single Games divisions don't use time slots)

Where: Schedules > Leagues & Divisions > (division) > More Options > 3 Time Slots > Regular or 2nd Half

Before you start

Set the Day of First Game and Game Spacing on 1 Configuration and add at least 2 teams on 2 Teams. Until then the page says "Before you can use this page, you need to complete the Division Configuration page. Make sure you have created all of your teams on the Teams page." and has no Add Time Slot button. The note at the top of the page then tells you how many time slots the division needs per week; the rules are in the first related article below.

Add time slots

  1. Go to Schedules > Leagues & Divisions, open the division's More Options menu and choose 3 Time Slots (2nd Half for a second-half schedule, which has its own time slots).
  2. Click Add Time Slot.
  3. Choose the Day, Start Time and Location. Each new slot starts with the last one's day and location, Game Spacing minutes later.
  4. With 2 games per week on Different Days or Double Header/Same Team, choose the Game: 1 or 2.
  5. To add several slots in a row at the same day and location, drag the slider next to Add (1 to 10). Each extra slot starts Game Spacing minutes after the one before.
  6. Click Add.

If you see Advanced at the top right, tick it to choose several days and locations at once: every day, location and slider step becomes its own slot. If you don't know the day, time or location yet, check "If you do not know the day, time or location, check to create a TBD Time Slot." instead; see How to use TBD time slots.

What you'll see: each slot in the list with a letter in the Slot column (A, B, C in list order), Day, Time, Location and Field and Schedule Name, grouped by Game Number when the division plays 2 games a week. For 1 game per week and Double Header/Different Team, a figure such as 2-2-2 at the right is the stack: how many slots start at each day and time. Double Header/Different Team schedules are built from a pattern that matches the stack.

Copy, edit, reorder and delete

  • Copy Time Slots shows while the division has no time slots. Choose the League (current and archived leagues are listed) and Division, then click Copy: "Time Slots copied." Game 2 slots are copied too when this division plays 2 games a week.
  • The Edit icon opens Edit Time Slot (Day, Start Time, Location and Field, Game). Click Save: "Time Slot updated."
  • Drag a row to change the order; the letters follow it. With 2 games a week, dragging a slot into the other Game Number group moves it to that game.
  • The Delete icon removes one slot. Delete All removes them all ("All Time Slots deleted.") and shows only while no Regular (or 2nd Half) or playoff schedule exists.
  • A slot the schedule or playoff schedule uses has no Edit or Delete icon, and a TBD slot can only be deleted.

Odd number of teams

With an odd number of teams and 1 game per week or Double Header/Different Team, choose For Schedule under Odd Team Division Configuration: Schedule Byes gives one team a bye each week; All Teams Play Every Week has every team play every week (with 1 game per week, one team plays a double header). With 1 game a week, All Teams Play Every Week needs one more slot (half the teams, rounded up). The note above the choice explains it for your setup. It saves right away: "Division configuration updated."

Choose the weeks each slot is used (Time Slot Schedule)

Once you have enough slots, the Time Slot Schedule grid shows each slot by week, at least 10 weeks:

  • A green circle: a game will be scheduled there that week.
  • A white circle: no game will be scheduled.
  • A yellow background: the location isn't available then, because another schedule uses that time, or the location's availability leaves it out or blocks it.
  • No circle in a blocked week.

Click a circle to switch it. Alternate Time Slots repeats week 1's pattern with every other week reversed. Stack Time Slots rotates the slots from week to week, so the unused ones move. Both show "Alternate Time Slots set." Reset Time Slots undoes every change in the grid: "All Time Slot Exceptions reset." Double Header/Different Team divisions don't have the grid.

Manual Entry

  1. Click Change to Manual Entry. The grid shows check boxes instead of circles.
  2. Tick a box for every game. Remaining Time Slots Needed counts down from half the teams times Games Played/Team, rounded up; Fill ticks available boxes for you.
  3. Click Save ("Time Slot schedule saved.") or Save and Next Step.

Save and Next Step opens 4 Create Schedule when the counter is 0. Otherwise it saves and says "Your Time Slot schedule has been saved, but you have not checked the minimum number of check boxes to create a schedule." Changing the entry mode clears the grid: "Time Slot entry mode updated. (All Time Slots reset.)" Custom games per week always uses Manual Entry, and Standard Entry gives the shortest schedule.

Block a week before the schedule is created

With 1 game per week, before the Regular schedule exists, click Block A Week, choose the Week (Week Of), type a Block Reason and click Add: "The Block you have created is shown in the 'Block A Week' table and is reflected in the Time Slots table at the bottom of the page." The reason shows on your public schedule. Afterward only the reason can be changed here; block weeks in a created schedule from 4 Create Schedule.

Auto Assign (Advanced Scheduling)

With Advanced Scheduling, Enable Auto Assign shows on a Regular schedule's page until the first time slot is added. Click it ("Auto Assign enabled.") and the Auto Assign page replaces time slots: choose Game Day(s) and Assign Type (required), click Save and Next Step, then Create on 4 Create Schedule. Games go into open time at your locations, so set each location's availability first. Disable Auto Assign goes back to time slots.

If it doesn't work

  • "The time slot you have entered is the same as an existing time slot. Please choose another time." A slot with that day, start time and location exists. With Advanced, "One or more time slots you have entered are the same as an existing time slot." means the others were added.
  • "Your schedule requires Time Slots defined for Game 2. Add or modify a Time Slot and select Game 2." Add the second game's slots with Game 2.
  • Your Game 2 slots turned into Game 1. Games per Week/Team changed from 2 to 1, or to Double Header/Different Team, on 1 Configuration.
  • Two divisions that share a field got the same times. Create uses only the division's own slots and doesn't check other divisions' games. Give each division only its own slots, switch yellow-background circles to white before you create, or use Auto Assign.
  • Many availability alerts after you create. Slots fall outside the location's availability (yellow in the grid). Blocked times on a location don't stop Create from using a slot; they raise alerts on 4 Create Schedule. Move those games there, or next time fix the location's availability (Schedules > Locations > Manage Locations, open the location, Availability) or remove those slots before you create.
  • Manual Entry games landed in weeks you didn't tick. Delete the schedule on 4 Create Schedule, click Change to Standard Entry here, and create the schedule again.
  • The grid's buttons are gone. The schedule exists: "The Schedule for this Division has been created, so the Time Slots in the Schedule need to be changed using the 4 Create Schedule page instead of the table below."
  • No buttons at all. The league is archived, so the page is read-only.

Good to know

  • With 2 games per week on different days, put the first game day's slots in Game 1 and the second's in Game 2. The same day in both can give teams two games that day.
  • Changing Games per Week/Team from 1 to 2 deletes the division's blocked weeks while no Regular schedule exists.
  • Single Games divisions set each game's location when you add the game on 4 Create Schedule.

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