BarSight
Overview Pricing Resources Community Register Login
Sales or Support
1-855-715-1274
Schedule

Schedule Templates and Advanced Copying

Schedule Templates and Advanced Copying

Building schedules week after week can be time-consuming, especially when your staffing patterns are consistent. BarSight's template and copying features let you save proven schedules and reuse them instantly, turning hours of scheduling work into just minutes. Whether you're copying a single shift, an entire week, or saving a template for future use, this guide shows you how.

Before You Start

To use templates and copying features, you'll need:

  • Schedule Creation Permissions - Ability to create and edit schedules
  • Paid Subscription - Templates are a premium feature (copying is available to all users)
  • Existing Shifts - Have shifts created that you want to copy or save as a template

Understanding Templates vs Copying

Templates

Templates are saved schedule patterns that you can recall anytime:

  • Save an entire week's schedule as a reusable template
  • Give it a descriptive name like "Summer Weekday" or "Holiday Week"
  • Recall the template weeks or months later
  • Build a library of different schedule patterns
  • Premium feature - requires paid subscription

Copying

Copying duplicates existing shifts to future dates:

  • Copy a single shift to another day
  • Copy all shifts from one day to another day
  • Copy an entire week to future weeks
  • Copy a full month forward
  • Available to all users (free and paid)

Saving a Week as a Template

Step 1: Navigate to the Schedule Week

  1. Go to Schedule → Create Schedule
  2. Navigate to the week you want to save as a template
  3. Ensure all shifts for the week are created and finalized

Step 2: Open the Save Template Dialog

  1. Click the More Actions button or menu
  2. Select Save Week as Template
  3. A save template form will appear

Step 3: Configure Template Settings

  1. Department - Select which department's shifts to include:
    • All Departments - Saves shifts from all departments
    • Specific Department - Saves only shifts for one department (e.g., Kitchen, Bar)
  2. Template Name - Give it a clear, descriptive name:
    • Good: "Summer Lunch Shifts - Kitchen"
    • Good: "Holiday Week - All Staff"
    • Good: "Slow Season Weekday"
    • Avoid: "Template 1" or "Test"

Step 4: Save the Template

  1. Review your settings
  2. Click Save
  3. Your template is now stored in your template library
  4. A confirmation message will appear

What Gets Saved in a Template

When you save a week as a template, the system stores:

  • All shift times (start and end)
  • Break durations
  • Roles/positions for each shift
  • Number of employee slots needed per shift
  • Employee assignments are NOT saved - templates save the schedule structure only

Loading a Template

Step 1: Navigate to the Target Week

  1. Go to Schedule → Create Schedule
  2. Navigate to the week where you want to apply the template
  3. The week can be empty or have existing shifts (you'll be prompted if conflicts exist)

Step 2: Open the Load Template Dialog

  1. Click the More Actions button or menu
  2. Select Load Template
  3. A template selection form will appear

Step 3: Select Your Template

  1. Browse the list of saved templates
  2. Templates are organized by department
  3. Select the template you want to apply
  4. Click Load

Step 4: Review and Assign Employees

  1. The template shifts will appear on the schedule
  2. All shifts will be created with correct times and roles
  3. Employee slots will be empty (you need to assign staff manually)
  4. Review the schedule and make any necessary adjustments
  5. Assign employees to shifts as needed

Copying a Single Shift

Use this when you want to duplicate one specific shift to another day:

Step 1: Find the Shift to Copy

  1. Navigate to the schedule week containing the shift
  2. Locate the specific shift you want to copy
  3. Right-click on the shift or click the shift's action menu

Step 2: Open Copy Dialog

  1. Select Copy Shift from the menu
  2. A copy form will appear

Step 3: Choose Destination and Options

  1. Copy To - Select which day to copy the shift to (within the same week)
  2. With Employees - Choose whether to include employee assignments:
    • Yes - Copies the shift with the same employees assigned
    • No - Creates an empty shift with the same time/role but no employees
  3. Click Copy

Result

The shift is duplicated to the new day with the same:

  • Start and end times
  • Role/position
  • Break duration
  • Number of employee slots
  • Employee assignments (if you chose "With Employees")

Copying an Entire Day

Use this when you want to copy all shifts from one day to another day in the same week:

Step 1: Select the Source Day

  1. Navigate to the schedule week
  2. Click on the day header or day menu for the day you want to copy
  3. Select Copy Day from the menu

Step 2: Choose Destination and Options

  1. Copy To - Select which day to copy all shifts to
  2. With Employees - Include or exclude employee assignments
  3. Copy Events - Choose whether to copy calendar events as well:
    • Yes - Copies one-time events to the new day
    • No - Only copies shifts, not events
    • Note: Recurring events are not copied
  4. Click Copy

Result

All shifts from the source day are duplicated to the target day, maintaining the same structure and optionally the same employees.

Copying an Entire Week

The most powerful time-saver - copy a full week's schedule to future weeks:

Step 1: Select the Source Week

  1. Navigate to the week you want to copy
  2. Click More Actions or the week menu
  3. Select Copy Week

Step 2: Choose Department

  1. If you have multiple departments, select which department's shifts to copy
  2. Choose All Departments to copy everything

Step 3: Select Destination Week

  1. Copy To - Choose which future week to copy the shifts to
  2. You can select up to 15 weeks in advance
  3. The dropdown shows available weeks with dates

Step 4: Configure Copy Options

  1. With Employees - Include employee assignments or create empty shifts
  2. Copy Events - Include one-time calendar events (recurring events excluded)
  3. Click Copy

Result

The entire week is duplicated to the target week:

  • All shifts for all 7 days are copied
  • Each shift maintains its day-of-week (Monday shifts go to Monday, etc.)
  • Employee assignments preserved if "With Employees" was selected
  • One-time events copied if "Copy Events" was selected

Copying a Full Month

For longer-term planning, copy an entire month forward:

Step 1: Open Month Copy Dialog

  1. Navigate to the schedule
  2. Click More Actions
  3. Select Copy Month

Step 2: Select Source Month

  1. Choose the month you want to copy from
  2. Select the department (if applicable)

Step 3: Choose Destination and Options

  1. Copy To - Select which future month (up to 12 months ahead)
  2. With Employees - Include or exclude employee assignments
  3. Copy Events - Include one-time events
  4. Click Copy

Important Notes for Month Copying

  • Copies all shifts from the source month to the same dates in the target month
  • If months have different numbers of days (e.g., 31 vs 30), the 31st day won't be copied
  • Day-of-week may differ (source month's Monday may be target month's Tuesday)
  • Review the copied schedule and adjust for month-specific differences

Best Practices

For Templates

  • Use Descriptive Names - Include season, department, and schedule type (e.g., "Winter Weekend - Bar")
  • Save Multiple Versions - Create templates for busy seasons, slow seasons, holidays
  • Keep Templates Updated - When you improve a schedule, save it as a new template
  • Organize by Department - If you have multiple departments, create separate templates for each
  • Don't Over-Template - Only save truly reusable patterns, not one-off schedules

For Copying

  • Decide on Employee Copying - Consider if the same people should work the same shifts
  • Copy Incrementally - Start with week copying, use month copying for long-term planning
  • Review After Copying - Always check the copied schedule for holidays, special events, or staffing changes
  • Copy Early in the Week - Makes it easier to see available future dates
  • Use Single Shift Copy for Adjustments - When you just need one more shift, copy a similar existing one

Combined Workflow

  1. Week 1: Build your ideal schedule from scratch
  2. Week 2: Save that week as a template (e.g., "Standard Week")
  3. Week 3: Use the template to quickly build next week
  4. Ongoing: Load template, assign employees, make adjustments, publish
  5. Season Changes: Create new templates for different business patterns

Troubleshooting

Problem: "Templates are only available to paid subscribers"

Solution: Template saving and loading is a premium feature. You can:

  • Upgrade to a paid subscription to unlock templates
  • Use the copying features instead (available to all users)
  • Manually recreate schedules each week

Problem: Can't find my saved template

Solution: Check these items:

  • Make sure you're looking in the correct department filter
  • Templates are location-specific - ensure you're at the same location where you saved it
  • Verify you actually saved the template (check for confirmation message)

Problem: Copied shifts have wrong employees assigned

Solution: When copying, you likely selected "With Employees: Yes". To avoid this:

  • Copy again and choose "With Employees: No"
  • Manually reassign employees on the copied shifts
  • Delete the incorrectly copied shifts and copy again

Problem: Events didn't copy with the week

Solution: Make sure you selected "Copy Events: Yes" when copying. Note that:

  • Only one-time events are copied
  • Recurring events (series) are not copied
  • You may need to manually recreate recurring events

Problem: Can't copy to a specific week

Solution: Week copying only allows future dates. If you need to copy to a past date:

  • You cannot copy backward in time
  • This is by design to prevent accidental historical data changes
  • If you need to recreate a past schedule, build it manually or use a template

Problem: Month copy didn't include all days

Solution: This happens when months have different numbers of days:

  • January (31 days) copied to February (28 days) will skip Jan 29-31
  • This is expected behavior
  • Manually add shifts for the extra days if needed

Time Savings Examples

See how templates and copying can transform your scheduling workflow:

Traditional Method (Without Templates/Copying)

  • Create Week 1: 2-3 hours building schedule from scratch
  • Create Week 2: 2-3 hours rebuilding similar schedule
  • Create Week 3: 2-3 hours rebuilding again
  • Create Week 4: 2-3 hours rebuilding again
  • Monthly Total: 8-12 hours spent on scheduling

Using Templates/Copying

  • Create Week 1: 2-3 hours building schedule + 2 minutes to save template
  • Create Week 2: 2 minutes to load template + 30 minutes to assign employees and adjust
  • Create Week 3: 2 minutes to load template + 30 minutes to assign/adjust
  • Create Week 4: 2 minutes to load template + 30 minutes to assign/adjust
  • Monthly Total: 4.5 hours spent on scheduling
  • Time Saved: 3.5-7.5 hours per month!

Related Features

  • Schedule Creation - Build your initial schedules to save as templates
  • Publishing - After loading templates or copying, publish to notify employees
  • Shift Trading - Even with templated schedules, employees can still trade shifts
  • Time Off Requests - Adjust template-based schedules for approved time off

Quick Reference

Action How to Do It Available To
Save Week as Template Schedule week → More Actions → Save Week as Template Paid subscribers
Load Template Target week → More Actions → Load Template Paid subscribers
Copy Single Shift Right-click shift → Copy Shift All users
Copy Day Click day header → Copy Day All users
Copy Week Week view → More Actions → Copy Week All users
Copy Month Schedule → More Actions → Copy Month All users