Lists of people and repeating things

What a list is for

A list of people is a set of names you keep in your account, like the choir, the Tuesday team or the committee. You type them once, and then use the list wherever it helps:

• On a sign-up sheet, people pick their own name and a running tally shows who has done how much (taking turns).
• A shift schedule is always made from a list.
• A repeating thing can use one to mark who has to be there (more below).

You need an account for lists, and they're yours alone: people who help you run pages don't see them. Find them under "Lists of people" on your pages.

Making a list

"Start a list" asks what to call it and what kind of group it is. The kind only matters for a school, a youth team or a faith group, where the list reminds you to keep it to adults' names and contact details.

Then paste people into "Add people", one a line. Names alone are fine. To include an email address, write it like Sam Patel <sam@example.com>. Adding people sends them nothing at all, so nobody gets a surprise email because you made a list.

Nothing checks for somebody already on the list, so pasting the same names again adds them twice.

Letting people know they're on it

If you'd like them to know, "Let them know" has a button, "Tell them they're on the list". Everybody with an address gets one email, and anybody who has asked us to stop emailing them is left out. Pressing it again emails them all again, so it works once an hour and three times a day for one list.

The email has a link of their own. It shows which list they're on and who keeps it, and has a button to take themselves off. That's immediate and doesn't need your say-so. We forget their address, on the list and on any shifts they hold, and their name stays on your list marked "Asked to come off", so anything they already did still adds up. You can't put somebody back after they've asked to come off; if they want to come back, add them again.

Being on a list doesn't send anybody anything else. When you organize something, send them the link the way you always would.

Who's on it

Each person has "Take off", which moves them to "No longer on it", and "Put back" there undoes it. Taking somebody off keeps their address, in case you put them back. Only leaving by their own link forgets it.

Two settings for each person are only used by repeating things. "Must be there" means a week they can't make doesn't count as a good week. "Counts for" is for one answer standing for more than one person, like a family of four. Both only work for somebody who kept their place on your list in an account here, from the link in the email, and whose answer is in that same account. That's how we know which answer is theirs; we never match answers to names. People who've kept their place in an account show a "Has a profile" label.

What people can do

Roles are for shift schedules: something only some people can do, like running the sound desk. Add a role under "What people can do", check off who can do it, and press "Save who can do what". Roles belong to your account, so a role you add shows on all your lists, while who can do it is set for each person on each list. A shift that asks for no particular role can be taken by anybody.

Deleting a list

"Delete this list" is under "Settings", where you can also rename it. It shows you what will go before anything does: the people on it, their own links to any shift schedules made from it, the running tally that sheets use to take turns, the days people said they can't do, and any swaps or suggestions still waiting. Sheets, schedules and repeating things you made with it stay, but a shift schedule made from it can't be filled any more, and a repeating thing stops counting "Must be there". It can't be undone.

Repeating things

For something that happens every week or every other week, like a rehearsal, training or a book group, when you don't know yet which evening suits everybody. You ask once, people answer about days of the week rather than dates, and we find the regular time that suits the most of them over the next few months. Then we keep an eye on it, and tell you if it stops working.

It needs an account. Find it under "Repeating things" on your pages.

Setting one up

• "From" and "Until": the stretch it covers, starting today and twelve weeks out unless you change them. It doesn't roll on by itself.
• "Fewest people worth running it for": weeks that fall short of this are flagged rather than quietly kept. Leave it blank if any number will do.
• "Who it's for": a list of people, if you want "Must be there" to count. Otherwise, anybody who answers.
• "Which evenings to ask about": the days worth considering. Monday to Friday start checked.
• "Weeks nobody is around": up to three gaps to skip, like a school break.
• The times: from, until, and how long each one is, from half an hour to two hours. 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm in hour-long times to start with.
• "Time zone": every time, and every week laid out from them, is in this zone. Seven o'clock stays seven o'clock when the clocks change.

"Make it, and get the link" makes one ordinary page asking about days of the week, and gives you its link to send out. That page is on your dashboard like any other.

What people answer

People mark the weekday times that usually suit them, like Tuesday evenings from 7 pm, with no account. There's also "Any weeks you can't do", for dates they already know they're away. They don't have to change their whole answer for one missed week, and those weeks count against them only on those dates.

Picking a time

"What the responses say" shows the five best patterns as answers come in, like "Thursdays at 7pm" or "Mondays at 6pm, every other week". Each comes with the reasons in plain words: how many it works for and across how many weeks, who misses most, weeks flagged for falling short, and whether it's clearly ahead of the next one or all but tied with it. Everybody who answers counts, whether or not they're on your list.

Press "Pick this one" and the weeks are laid out below for the whole stretch, skipping your gaps. Picking doesn't tell anybody and doesn't make a page for each week, so let people know which you chose. The page they answered is on your dashboard, and "Tell people something" on it reaches everybody who left an address.

The weeks

Each week can be moved on its own with "Move it", skipped with "Skip this week", and put back. Moving one week leaves the rest of the pattern alone. Weeks are marked "Too few people" or "Someone needed is out" where that's the case, so you can deal with them early.

Picking a different pattern later lays the weeks out again, and leaves the weeks you moved or skipped as they were, so check those against the new time.

If it stops working

Every night we work the answers out again. People change their answers, and new people answer. If the time you picked now suits at least two fewer people than when you picked it, we email you, and say whether another time would do better. Nothing moves unless you move it. While it stays that way you'll hear again every two weeks at most, and picking a time again, even the same one, stops it.

When the season's over, "Finish this" stops the checking and frees it up on your plan. Nothing already organized is touched, and nobody is told. Picking one of the times again starts it back up, if your plan has room for another.

What's free, and what isn't

A free account has 1 list of up to 25 people, and one repeating thing at a time; a finished one doesn't count. Roles are shared with shift schedules, 5 in all. Paid plans take the limits off all three.

If a paid plan ends, everything you already have keeps working, but you can't add past the free limits until you're under them again. For every limit, see What's on each plan.