Roster Management
The day-of view for coordinators – see who is booked on each shift, add walk-ins, move people and print rosters.
What the roster is
The roster is the working view for area coordinators, site coordinators and admins. It shows who is booked where for one site at a time, laid out by time slot and day. Most day-of decisions start here: adding a walk-in, moving someone to cover a gap, or reserving shifts for a group.
The roster shows who is booked. It does not record who arrived. On-the-day check-in is on the roadmap.
| Time | Fri 13 March | Sat 14 March |
|---|---|---|
06:00 AMto10:00 AM | Morning Collection Sarah Mitchell sarah.m@email.com +64 21 345 678 Notes James Cooper james.c@email.com +64 22 876 543 | Morning Collection Emma Wilson emma.w@email.com +64 27 111 222 |
10:00 AMto02:00 PM | Midday Collection Group David Chen david.c@email.com +64 21 999 888 On hold Acme Corp Lisa Patel lisa.p@email.com +64 22 333 444 | Midday Collection Waitlist Tom Harris tom.h@email.com +64 27 555 666 Unverified Amy Brown amy.b@email.com +64 21 777 888 |
02:00 PMto06:00 PM | Afternoon Collection On holdNotes Wellington Rotary Kate Johnson kate.j@email.com +64 22 123 456 | Afternoon Collection Mark Davis mark.d@email.com +64 27 987 654 |
Region, area, site and shift are the default labels. A campaign can rename them in its settings, so your screens may say "venue", "stage" or "session" instead. This page uses the defaults.
Getting to your roster
Which sites you see
| Role | Sites on the roster page |
|---|---|
| Admin (Owner or Volunteer Admin) | Every site in the campaign. Pick from the region, area and site list, or search it |
| Area coordinator | Sites in the areas assigned to them, grouped by area |
| Site coordinator | Sites where they are assigned as coordinator on a shift |
Admins also get two switches above the site list:
- Show hidden – includes sites that are hidden from the public website
- At a glance – the campaign-wide table described below
A newly registered coordinator sees "Your account is awaiting approval" until an admin approves the sign-up. A coordinator with nothing assigned sees "No areas assigned yet" (or "No sites assigned yet" for a site coordinator).
What you see after picking a site
- Location, Site ID and location notes – the site ID has a Copy button
- Roster header – a "3 of 12 booked" count for the site, then the Download CSV and Download roster (PDF) buttons, plus a consent form button when one has been uploaded for the site
- Site map (area coordinators and admins) – the site's pin on a map. Use Set map pin or Edit map pin to search for an address or move the pin, then confirm it. Volunteers only see a location on the map once its pin is confirmed
- Waitlist panel (admins, when the campaign uses the area waitlist) – "Waitlist · N people waiting", which opens the phone queue for the area
- Adopt-a-Site (Reserve Shifts) switch (area coordinators and admins)
- The grid – one row per time slot, one column per day
Site coordinators also see a short note under the toolbar. It says whether the public can still book the shifts you cover. That depends on a per-campaign setting.
The roster grid
| Element | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Row | A time slot, for example 6:00 AM – 10:00 AM |
| Column | A day. A one-day event shows a single column |
| Cell | The volunteers booked on that shift, a capacity count such as 3/5, and an Add volunteer button for each open place |
| Shift type pill | The shift's type label, with its description on hover |
| Site Coord badge | When a site coordinator has taken the shift, their name appears at the top of the cell. Hover for their email |
For shifts that need five or more people, the roster offers one open Add volunteer place at a time rather than a long list of empty buttons. On a phone, each time slot stacks vertically with the days listed under it.
Volunteer cards
Each booking shows:
| Detail | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | Click to open a Volunteer Details window with name, email, mobile and any notes. Available to site coordinators and above |
| Email and mobile | Copy buttons appear on hover |
| Organisation | Shown when the volunteer has one on their record. For a held shift it appears in bold above the name |
A booking with no name yet shows "Signup in progress". A removed account shows "Deleted User".
Status badges
Badges can stack on one card:
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Waitlist | The volunteer is waitlisted for this shift |
| On hold | The place was reserved with Adopt-a-Site and has not been confirmed |
| Unverified | Someone is partway through signing up and has not confirmed the booking. The place is held for about 10 minutes and is released if they do not confirm. The hover text reads "This shift has not been confirmed by the volunteer yet" |
| Group | Hover to see the people involved. It shows on a volunteer who added friends to their booking, and on the friends they added |
| Notes | Someone has added a note to the volunteer's record. Hover to read it |
An Unverified badge is usually short-lived. It marks a booking that is still inside its 10-minute hold. Once the hold runs out without a confirmation, the booking drops off the roster. Bookings that a coordinator or admin adds are marked as verified from the start, so they never carry this badge.
Actions from the roster
Per-volunteer menu
Hover over a card to see its three-dot menu:
| Action | When it appears | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Move volunteer | Site coordinators and above. Hidden on small screens | Opens the Move Tool |
| Confirm | On a held place | Clears the hold and makes the place a normal booking |
| Remove waitlist | Area coordinators and above, on a waitlisted booking | Takes the volunteer off the waitlist and confirms the booking |
| Remove | Always | Removes the volunteer from the shift, after a confirmation prompt. The volunteer receives a "shifts changed" email if they have an email address on file and that email is switched on |
If you have not spoken to the volunteer, the removal prompt asks you to contact them first.
Lockout window. For coordinators, the three-dot menu is disabled from 2 hours before a shift starts. That is the default and can be set per campaign. Admins are not locked out. Adding a volunteer to an open place stays available to coordinators.
Adding volunteers
Click Add volunteer on an open place. The Add a Volunteer window asks for:
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| First name and Last name | Required |
| Optional for coordinators. If given, it must be a valid address | |
| Mobile | Optional |
| Notes | Admins only. The window warns that the volunteer can see these notes from their own account |
A walk-in with only a name and phone number is enough to fill the place. Admins can complete the record later.
Finding an existing record. Area coordinators and admins can type two or more characters in the name or email fields to see matching volunteers and pick one, which avoids creating a duplicate. Site coordinators cannot search. If an email matches someone already in the system, the booking goes onto that existing record. Duplicates that slip through can be merged later – see Merging duplicate volunteers.
A volunteer on the blocklist cannot be booked. The coordinator sees "Cannot register shifts for this user. Please contact support."
When the booking is saved, the volunteer gets a "shifts changed" email if an address is on file and that email is enabled.
The Move Tool
Move volunteer opens the Move volunteers window. It works in two steps.
Step 1 – Move people. Three panels sit side by side:
- Left – the current site's shifts and the people on them
- Right – a site picker (Search sites) and that site's shifts, each marked with "N spaces available" or "Shift full". Area coordinators can pick sites in their own areas; admins can pick any site
- Take off roster – drop a volunteer here to remove them from the roster
Drag a volunteer onto a space, or click a volunteer to pick them up and then click a space. A full shift will not accept a drop. You can move several people before you confirm.
Step 2 – Review & confirm. The window lists each change with an undo button. Nothing is saved until you press Confirm changes. If any move fails, the window lists which ones.
Moves are logged on each volunteer's audit trail. See Shift Booking – Move Tool for more.
Adopt-a-Site
Adopt-a-Site (Reserve Shifts) lets a coordinator hold a batch of places for a group, such as a company team or a club, in one go. Area coordinators and admins see the switch. Site coordinators do not.
How it works
- Switch Adopt-a-Site (Reserve Shifts) on in the roster header
- The Add volunteer buttons turn into checkboxes labelled "Reserve Shift" followed by a number. Each day column also has Select all reserve shifts
- Tick the places you want
- A bar slides up from the bottom: Hold selected shifts for
- Enter the group contact's first name, last name, email, mobile and organisation name. Email is optional for coordinators. Admins can search for an existing contact
- Press Confirm hold for N shifts
The held places show the On hold badge with the organisation name. Held places count towards the shift's capacity. If the contact has an email address on file, they receive a "shifts changed" email.
After holding shifts
When the group has committed, choose Confirm from the place's menu to turn the hold into a normal booking. Individual group members can also be added with Add volunteer or through CSV import using the adopter organisation column.
Shift types
A shift can carry a type with four fields: name, label, description and email note. They are managed from the Shifts page in the admin portal (Manage Shift Types) and applied to shifts there.
- The label shows as a pill at the top of the cell in the roster, and the description appears on hover
- The email note is added to the shift details in the volunteer's emails, so "Wear the blue t-shirt" or "Enter via the loading dock" arrives with the booking
See Shift Booking for setup.
At-a-Glance view
Admins can switch to a campaign-wide view with the At a glance switch. It is read-only.
- Pick a day from the buttons along the top
- Rows are sites. Columns are that day's time slots
- Each cell lists the volunteers as name pills, with Hold and WL markers, plus a count such as 3/5. An empty shift reads Available, and a shift covered by a site coordinator shows their name
- Sites hidden from the public website are tagged Hidden
- Search by site, volunteer or organisation
- Sites load 25 at a time, with a Load more button
The switch is not shown on small screens.
Waitlist
When a campaign has the area waitlist switched on, people who find an area full can join a queue by giving their available days and times. Nobody on it holds a booked shift. There is no automatic email when a place opens. A coordinator phones people.
The roster's Waitlist panel (admins) opens that queue for the area:
- People appear in joining order with their phone number, availability and any note
- Filter by day and time to see who can take a place that has opened
- Log each call as Reached, No answer or Declined
- Use Place on a shift to book a person onto a shift with space. The list marks shifts that match or fall outside their availability
- Print the queue from the same screen
Campaigns that allow waitlisted bookings on individual shifts also show the Waitlist badge on cards. When a confirmed volunteer is removed or cancels and that frees a place, the earliest waitlisted booking on the shift is promoted automatically and the volunteer gets a confirmation email.
Exporting rosters
From the roster header, coordinators can download:
- Download roster – a PDF with a page per day, a row per shift, and name, organisation, mobile and email for each volunteer
- Download CSV – one row per shift with the site details and each volunteer's name, email and mobile
- Consent form – shown when a consent form is on file for the site. If there is more than one, the button opens a list
See Reports & Data Exports for the format details.
What coordinators can and can't do
| Can do | Can't do |
|---|---|
| View the roster for the sites assigned to them | See sites outside their assignment |
| Add volunteers with name and phone, email optional | Add notes to volunteer records (admins only) |
| Move and remove volunteers outside the lockout window | Move or remove from 2 hours before a shift starts (default). Admins are not locked out |
| Area coordinators: reserve shifts with Adopt-a-Site, search existing volunteers, remove people from the waitlist | Site coordinators cannot do these three |
| Export the PDF and CSV for their sites | Use the At a glance view or the Show hidden switch (admins only) |
| Area coordinators: set or confirm a site's map pin | Create shifts, change shift types or capacity, or change campaign settings |
Admins can do all of the above without the lockout, and also use At a glance, Show hidden, and the waitlist panel.
Sites set to Cancel only
An admin can set a site to Cancel only. Coordinators then cannot add people at that site, though they can still remove people. Admins can still add and move volunteers.
Day-of coordination tips
- Check open places early – use Add volunteer for walk-ins before gaps become a problem
- Cover a no-show before the lockout – move someone from an over-staffed shift with the Move Tool while the menu is still available. After the lockout starts, ask an admin or add a walk-in to an open place
- Download a PDF before you leave – mobile reception at some venues is unreliable, so keep a printed copy
- Use the copy buttons – tap the email or phone icon on a card to copy it
Common questions
What's the difference between the roster and the admin shifts table?
The roster is the day-of view for one site: who is booked where. The Shifts page in the admin portal is where shifts themselves are created and managed: times, capacity, shift types and bulk generation.
Can coordinators see all sites?
No. Area coordinators see the sites in their assigned areas. Site coordinators see the sites where they are assigned to a shift. Admins see every site.
How do I cover a no-show?
- Look at other time slots or nearby sites for over-staffed shifts
- Use Move volunteer from the three-dot menu to bring someone across, if the menu is still available
- Or click Add volunteer to book a walk-in
What is Adopt-a-Site?
A way for an area coordinator or admin to hold several places at once for one group contact. See Adopt-a-Site.
Can I print the roster?
Yes. Use Download roster for a formatted PDF, or Download CSV for a spreadsheet.
What if there's no internet at the venue?
Download the PDF roster beforehand. It lists each shift with names and contact details. Enter any changes back into PurposeTech once you are connected.
Can multiple coordinators manage the same site?
Yes. Everyone assigned to the area or the shift sees the same roster. Agree who is making changes at busy times so two people do not move the same volunteer.
Can I record that a volunteer turned up?
Not yet. On-the-day check-in is on the roadmap. Use the PDF or CSV as a sign-in sheet in the meantime.
Next steps
- Volunteer Management – the volunteer record, merging duplicates and statuses
- Shift Booking – shift configuration, the Move Tool and the booking flow
- User Management – how to assign area and site coordinators
- Glossary – definitions of platform terms