Roster Management

What the roster is

The roster is the primary working view for area coordinators on event day. It's a live grid showing who is assigned where, organised by time slot and collection day — and it's where most day-of decisions happen.

Every action a coordinator takes — adding a walk-in, moving someone to cover a gap, reserving shifts for a corporate group — starts from this screen.

Getting to your roster

Location selection

When an area coordinator opens the roster, they first select which site to view:

1. Your assigned areas appear automatically — you only see sites within your area(s)
2. Search or scroll to find the site you need
3. Select a site to load its roster grid

What you see

Once you select a site, the roster loads with:

• Location details — site name, location notes (e.g., "Corner of Queen St and Customs St, outside Britomart entrance"), and a site ID for reference
• Time grid — rows are time slots (with start and end times), columns are collection days
• Volunteer cards — each card shows the volunteer's name, email, phone, and organisation (if they represent one)
• Status badges — colour-coded indicators for waitlisted, on hold, unverified, group, or notes
• Shift type pills — blue labels above each cell showing the shift type (e.g., "Morning Collection")
• Empty slots — "Add Volunteer" buttons for any unfilled positions, based on the desired volunteer count

The roster grid

The grid is the heart of the view. Each cell represents one time slot on one collection day:

Rows alternate background colours for readability. The time column is fixed on the left so you can scroll horizontally on wide campaigns without losing context.

Volunteer cards

Each volunteer in the grid shows detailed contact information at a glance:

Clicking a volunteer

Clicking a volunteer's name opens a detail modal with their full profile — registration history, shift assignments across the campaign, notes, and contact details. This requires at least Site Coordinator (Job Coordinator) permissions.

Status badges

Badges appear next to volunteer names to flag their current state. Multiple badges can appear on the same card:

Actions from the roster

Per-volunteer dropdown

Every volunteer card has a three-dot menu (visible on hover) with context-sensitive actions:

Adding volunteers

For each unfilled slot (based on the desired volunteer count), an Add Volunteer button appears. This is how you handle walk-ins on event day or manually assign someone.

When you click it, a modal opens with:

Searching for existing volunteers — Admins also get a search bar at the top of the Add Volunteer modal. Type a name, email, or organisation and it will find existing volunteers in the system. This avoids creating duplicates. Area coordinators don't have this search — they always create new records (duplicates can be merged later using the Merge Tool).

The new volunteer is immediately assigned to that shift. If their email is provided, they receive a confirmation email.

The Move Tool

The Move Tool is a drag-and-drop interface for reassigning volunteers between shifts and sites. It opens as a modal with two panels:

• Left panel — the current shift/site (source)
• Right panel — the destination shift/site (searchable)

You can move one volunteer at a time or select multiple for a bulk move. The Move Tool respects capacity limits — it will warn you if the destination shift is full.

This is especially useful on event day when:

• A volunteer doesn't show up at one site and you need to move someone from an over-staffed site to cover the gap
• A site gets rained out and you need to redistribute volunteers
• A volunteer asks to switch to a different time

See Shift Booking — Move Tool for more detail.

Adopt-a-Site

The Adopt-a-Site toggle is designed for corporate group bookings — when a business "adopts" a collection site and provides their own volunteers.

How it works

1. Toggle Adopt-a-Site (Reserve Shifts) on — the toggle appears above the roster grid
2. "Add Volunteer" buttons are replaced with checkboxes
3. Select empty slots across any time slot or collection day
4. A reservation form slides up from the bottom of the screen
5. Enter the group organiser's details:
   • First Name, Last Name
   • Email, Mobile Phone
   • Organisation Name
6. Submit — all selected shifts are held for that organisation

Held shifts show up as volunteer cards with the On hold badge and the adopting organisation's name prominently displayed. The organiser receives an email with details of their reserved shifts.

After holding shifts

Once shifts are held, the organisation's contact person can register individual volunteers to fill those slots. Alternatively, a coordinator can manually assign volunteers using the Add Volunteer button and then Confirm the held shifts via the dropdown menu.

Shift types

Shifts can have type labels (e.g., "Morning Collection", "Setup", "Pack Down") that appear as blue pills at the top of each cell in the roster grid.

• Hover over a pill to see its description (if one was set during shift creation)
• Shift type labels also drive shift-specific email content — useful for instructions like "Please wear the blue t-shirt for the morning shift" or "Enter via the loading dock for setup"

Shift types are configured when creating shifts — see Shift Booking for setup instructions.

At-a-Glance view

Admins have access to a birds-eye At-a-Glance view that shows all sites across the entire campaign in a single table:

• Rows are sites/locations
• Columns are time slots, grouped by collection day
• Each cell shows volunteer names and organisations
• Search across all sites by volunteer name, email, or organisation
• Sticky header for easy scrolling through large campaigns

This view is read-only — use the standard roster to make changes. It's available when a campaign has fewer than 300 jobs (for performance reasons).

Exporting rosters

Coordinators can export PDF rosters, CSV data, and consent proof downloads from the roster view. See Reports & Data Exports for all export formats and details.

What coordinators can and can't do

Understanding the boundaries of the area coordinator role helps avoid confusion on event day:

Admins can do everything above plus: search existing volunteers when adding, add notes, see all sites, use At-a-Glance, and manage campaign settings.

Mobile roster

The roster is fully responsive. On mobile:

• Time slots stack vertically instead of in a grid
• Volunteer cards remain fully functional (tap for details, three-dot menu)
• Adopt-a-Site toggle and export buttons are accessible from a compact toolbar
• Copy-to-clipboard buttons work with a single tap

This matters because many coordinators manage their sites from a phone on event day, not a laptop.

Region cancellation

If a region is cancelled by an admin (e.g., due to severe weather), coordinators for sites in that region will see their roster in a read-only state. They cannot add, move, or remove volunteers while the region is cancelled. Admins can still make changes.

Shift expiry

If a shift's time has passed, coordinators cannot add new volunteers to it — the "Add Volunteer" button is disabled for expired shifts. Admins can override this restriction when needed (e.g., late data entry after the event).

Day-of coordination tips

• Check unfilled slots early — use "Add Volunteer" to assign walk-ins or move people from over-staffed sites before gaps become a problem
• Watch for Unverified badges — these volunteers may not show up since they never confirmed their email
• Use the Move Tool for no-shows — if someone doesn't arrive, pull a volunteer from an over-staffed time slot rather than leaving a gap
• Export a PDF before you leave — mobile reception at event sites can be unreliable, so have a printed backup
• Keep your phone charged — the roster works on mobile, but you need battery to use it
• Know your backup contacts — check the volunteer cards for phone numbers. If someone is running late, a quick call can save a gap

Common questions

What's the difference between the roster and the admin shifts table?

The roster is the day-of view — a visual grid showing volunteers at a specific site, organised by time slot and collection day. It's designed for coordinators to manage their site in real time.

The admin shifts table is a campaign-wide data view — a searchable, sortable table of all shifts and assignments across every location. It's designed for admins doing planning and reporting.

Can coordinators see all sites?

No. Area coordinators only see sites within their assigned area(s). Site coordinators only see their one specific site. Only admins and volunteer admins see everything. This is intentional — it keeps coordinators focused and prevents accidental changes to other areas.

How do I cover a no-show?

From the roster:

1. Check other time slots or nearby sites for over-staffed shifts (more volunteers than needed)
2. Use the Move Tool (three-dot menu → Move volunteer) to reassign someone from an over-staffed slot
3. Or click Add Volunteer to register a walk-in

What is Adopt-a-Site?

A feature for corporate group bookings. When a business wants to "adopt" a collection site and provide their own volunteers, a coordinator enables the Adopt-a-Site toggle on the roster. This lets them select multiple empty slots and reserve them for the organisation. The corporate contact then fills those slots with their volunteers.

See Adopt-a-Site for the full flow.

Can I print the roster?

Yes. Click the PDF export button above the roster grid. It generates a formatted roster with all volunteer details (names, emails, phones, organisations), suitable for printing. There's also a CSV export for spreadsheet analysis.

What is the At-a-Glance view?

An admin-only birds-eye view that shows all sites across the campaign in a single table — rows are sites, columns are time slots. It's read-only and designed for spotting coverage gaps at a glance. Not available to coordinators. See At-a-Glance.

Can coordinators use the roster on their phone?

Yes. The roster is fully responsive and works on mobile. Volunteer cards, menus, export buttons, and Adopt-a-Site all work on phone screens. Most coordinators manage their sites from their phone on event day.

What if there's no internet at the event site?

Export a PDF roster before heading to the site. The PDF includes all volunteer names, contact details, shift times, and site information. On event day, you can manage with the printed copy and enter any changes back into PurposeTech when you have connectivity.

Can multiple coordinators manage the same site?

If the site is in an area that's assigned to a coordinator, that coordinator can manage it. If multiple people are assigned as coordinators for the same or overlapping areas, they can all access the same sites. Avoid assigning too many coordinators to the same area — it can lead to conflicting changes.

Next steps

• Volunteer Management — full volunteer lifecycle including the Merge Tool for duplicates
• Shift Booking — shift configuration, the Move Tool, and booking flow
• User Management — how to assign area and site coordinators
• Glossary — definitions of all platform terms