Create and manage roster periods

Steps

The screenshots show a demonstration organisation with made-up names. Your own screens show your organisation's details. Select a screenshot to open it full size.

1. Go to SIL/Smart Rostering > Site/Client and choose a site

   1 In the left menu, choose SIL/Smart Rostering. The Roster Workspace opens.

   2 In Site/Client, choose the site you want. The list is labelled Site if you have no community rostering clients. A client who has community rostering switched on appears in the same list under their own name.

   3 The roster opens with a heading such as Current roster: Running. The first time you open the screen, or after you change site, it shows the period that includes today (if the site has no period for today, the next period coming up, or else the latest period that has passed). On later visits it reopens the site and period you last looked at, on the computer you are using.

   Each site has its own roster periods, with their own shifts and their own publish step. A period belongs to one site only.

   Note: SIL/Smart Rostering is different from the Rostering menu item. Rostering shows weeks and has no roster periods. See Rostering overview.

   

2. Read the roster period heading

   1 At the top of the roster, the heading names the period, for example Current roster: Running. The first words say where the period sits in time, and the word after the colon says what state it is in.

   2 Under the heading, the site name is followed by the dates of the period, written as start date, an arrow and end date.

   3 The line under the dates counts days, for example 9 days left in this roster period.

   4 At the right of the heading, a button turns Smart Rostering on or off for this site. It reads Enable Smart Rostering or Disable Smart Rostering. It is covered in the Smart Rostering guides. While Enable automatic roster periods is off, the Create roster period button also sits here.

   If the period has ended and was not published, a blue banner under the heading says This roster period has passed, so it can no longer be published.

   Fields in step 2

   Field	What it means
   Current roster	The period that includes today.
   Next roster	The next period that starts after today, for the site you are looking at.
   Future roster	A period that starts after today but is not the very next one.
   Previous roster	A period that has already ended.
   Running	The period is under way. This is shown whether or not it has been published. The Publish button changes to Unpublish once the period is published.
   Upcoming	The period has not started yet.
   Interest requested	Someone has chosen Request interest for this period, to ask staff which shifts they want. See the Smart Rostering guides.
   Closed	The period has ended. Neighbouring periods show this word in the Neighbouring rosters list.
   Cancelled	The period was cancelled.
   Days line	N days until this roster starts or Starts today before the period, N days left in this roster period or Ends today during it, and N days since this roster ended afterwards.

   

3. Move between roster periods and change what the calendar shows

   1 Choose Today to return to the period that includes today. The date box also changes to today's date.

   2 In Jump to date, choose a date to show it. The roster moves to the period that holds that date.

   3 Use the left arrow, Previous period, and the right arrow, Next period, to move to the neighbouring period for the same site. The dates being shown are written beside the arrows. In Fortnight they are the dates of the roster period. In Month, Week and Day they are that month, week or day.

   4 Choose Fortnight, Month, Week or Day in the Calendar range list to change how much the calendar shows. Fortnight shows the whole roster period. Month shows the calendar month. Week shows one week and Day one day.

   5 Choose Publish to publish the period so that staff can see their shifts. Once published, the button reads Unpublish. A message appears. It begins Roster period published., followed by a short summary of the email and in-app notifications sent, or it reads Roster period unpublished and hidden from staff view.

   6 Choose + Add shift, at the right of the toolbar, to add a shift to the period you are looking at.

   Fields in step 3

   Field	What it means
   All shifts	A list with the funnel icon, Highlight shifts by fill status. Choose Unfilled, Understaffed or Fully staffed to highlight those shifts. The others stay on the screen. All shifts removes the highlight.
   Today	Returns to the period and the day that include today.
   Jump to date	A date box. Choosing a date shows the period that includes it.
   Previous period and Next period	Arrows that move one roster period back or forward for the same site.
   Calendar range	Month, Fortnight, Week or Day. It starts as Fortnight. Your choice is remembered on this computer.
   Publish or Unpublish	Shows for people with Can edit roster period. A period that has passed cannot be published. If the period is not ready to be published, the button is greyed out and says so when you point at it.
   Add shift	Shows for people with Can create shift. It opens the Add shift window for the period you are looking at.
   More roster actions	The three dots button. Its menu always holds Week starts. When they apply it also holds Request interest (N), where N is how many times interest has been requested for this period, Undo interest request, Run smart rostering, Report and Select shifts. Request interest and Undo interest request follow the state of the period and need Can edit roster period. Run smart rostering, Report and Select shifts belong to Smart Rostering and work only when it is on for the site.

   Tip: To plan ahead, choose Next period and look at the Next roster heading. It tells you how many days are left before it starts.

   

4. Check the neighbouring rosters

   Scroll to the bottom of the roster. If the site has more than one period, a section titled Neighbouring rosters appears. It says Reference only. Use the period controls above to move the board.

   1 Previous roster shows a card for the period before this one, with the roster name, the dates and a status. The roster name is the site name, a hyphen and the start date, for example Riverside Sample House-14/09/2026.

   2 Next roster shows the same details for the period after this one.

   A card says No previous roster. or No next roster. when the site has no period on that side.

   

5. Check whether BondiByte creates your roster periods

   In the left menu, choose Configuration, then the Rostering rules tile, then the Organisation Settings tab. The Roster period automation card is at the top.

   1 Look at the Enable automatic roster periods box. When it is ticked, BondiByte creates the periods for you, following your cycle.

   2 Look at the badge beside it. It reads Enabled or Disabled.

   If it is Enabled, you do not need the next step. Adding a shift on a date that has no period yet also makes the period that covers it.

   If it is Disabled, each period is created by hand, as the next two steps describe. An Owner or Admin can tick Enable automatic roster periods and choose Save organisation settings at any time.

   Important: First period starts and Period cycle, on the same card, can be changed only while they are not locked. See Fortnightly and monthly roster cycles and Choose a Sunday or Monday week start.

   

6. Open the Create roster period window

   Do this while Enable automatic roster periods is off (see step 5). You also need Can create roster period. While the setting is on, the Create roster period button is hidden for an Owner or Admin. A Manager or Rostering Officer may still see it, but BondiByte accepts only a period that follows your roster cycle, so ask an Owner or Admin to switch the setting off first.

   On the SIL/Smart Rostering screen, choose the site, then choose Create roster period. It sits in the roster heading, beside the Smart Rostering button, or beside Site/Client if no roster is shown. The Create roster period window opens.

7. Fill in the window and create the period

   The window starts with a reminder that BondiByte can create the periods for you, and the link Set your roster cycle to the settings where an Owner or Admin can switch that on.

   1 Check Site.

   2 Look at Roster name. You cannot edit it.

   3 Set Start date.

   4 Set End date.

   5 Type Notes if you want to.

   6 Choose Create roster period, or Cancel (or the cross at the top right) to close the window without saving. A message confirms Roster period created.

   If the dates run into a period the site already has, a yellow warning appears, for example This period overlaps followed by the roster name and its dates, and Choose dates after the end date of that period. Create roster period stays greyed out until you change the dates.

   Fields in step 7

   Field	What it means
   Site	Required. The site (or standalone client) the period belongs to. It starts as the site you were looking at. Choose another site in the list if the period is for a different site.
   Roster name	Shown for information and cannot be edited. It is the site name and the start date, for example the site name followed by a hyphen and 12/10/2026.
   Start date	Required. The first day of the period. It starts as the day after the site's latest period, or today if the site has none.
   End date	Required. The last day of the period. It starts 13 days after the start date, so the period is two weeks long.
   Notes	Optional. A short note kept with the period.

   Warning: A period cannot overlap another period for the same site. You can leave a gap between periods, but shifts on the days in the gap need a period that covers them, so create the next period before the current one ends.

   

What happens next

The new period appears on the SIL/Smart Rostering screen for its site, in the roster you move to with Next period or Jump to date, and in Neighbouring rosters. It starts with no shifts.

Add shifts with + Add shift, assign staff, and publish the period when it is ready. Publishing makes the shifts visible to staff and notifies the people assigned to them.

If you switch Enable automatic roster periods on later, BondiByte takes over creating periods. Periods you created by hand keep their dates.

Important notes

Good practice

• Leave Enable automatic roster periods on unless you have a reason to create periods yourself. With it on, nobody has to remember to create the next period, and every site follows the same cycle.
• If you do create periods by hand, create the next period before the current one ends, and start it the day after the last one ends. A gap leaves days that nobody can roster.
• Use Next period and the Next roster heading at the start of each period to see how many days you have left to finish the next roster.
• Choose Unfilled in Highlight shifts by fill status before you publish, so any shift with nobody on it stands out.
• Publish a period only when its shifts are ready, because publishing notifies the staff who are assigned to them. You can choose Unpublish to hide the period again, but you cannot publish a period that has already passed.
• After you create a period, open Neighbouring rosters at the bottom of the roster and check that the Previous roster and Next roster cards show the dates you expect.
• Check the site name in the heading before you add shifts. Periods are separate for each site, and it is easy to build the right roster on the wrong site.

Troubleshooting