Staff guide¶
This guide is for those who, inside an organization, organize rather than just take part: those who create shifts, keep the registry, manage vehicles, courses and communications.
Who it is for¶
It serves two roles, which AppToMe tells apart:
- Staff — people who have been given operational permissions on one or more areas
- Admin (superuser) — people with full access to the organization, settings included
If you have neither role, this guide is not for you: use the Volunteer guide.
What changes compared with a volunteer¶
People with permissions see more entries in the menu and, inside the same screens, more buttons. The shift a volunteer opens to make themselves available is the one staff open to organize it: same screen, different content.
There is also a rule that applies everywhere and is worth learning right away: a section's configuration opens from the gear at the top right, inside the section itself. It applies to calendars, checklists, clockings, activities, courses and people; the tabs at the top of the page change accordingly, and the back arrow — in the same spot as the gear — takes you back to everyday work. In the menu, the only configuration entry is Organization Settings, at the bottom and for admins only.
The menu is not the same for everyone: it is built from the organization's active modules and from your permissions. If an entry described here is missing, it is not a fault — see Roles and permissions.
How this guide is organized¶
- Roles and permissions — who can do what, and how permissions are granted
- Organization — organization details, modules, monitor mode
- Registry — people, tasks, groups, certifications, access requests
- Calendars and shift types and Managing shifts — the framework and the everyday work on shifts
- Availability and attendance — who is there, who is missing, who to approve
- Notifications and automations — what happens on its own, when, and why a notification did not arrive
- the chapters on the individual modules: clockings, activities, checklists, courses, vehicles, vehicle management, warehouse, accounting, board, requests, statistics
Where to start¶
If you are setting up the organization from scratch, the order matters: each piece rests on the previous one.
- Tasks — they are the vocabulary of everything else: shifts ask for tasks, courses grant tasks, shift swaps compare them.
- People, with their tasks. Even just the registry records: accounts come later.
- Shift types, that is how many people with which tasks are needed for each kind of service.
- Calendars, with the rules you want: approval, notice periods, visibility, shift swaps.
- Shifts, at last — and from there the work becomes routine.
Vehicles, checklists, courses and activities plug in later, once the shift framework holds.
The same sequence, step by step and with the commands to tap, is in Getting started for staff.
What AppToMe does on its own¶
A good part of the work does not go through you. Knowing what is automatic prevents both redoing it by hand and expecting things that do not happen.
| Automation | When |
|---|---|
| Shift reminders to volunteers | the day before |
| Clocking reminders (missing entry, open exit) | once the shift has started, and shortly after it ends |
| Creation of the shift's checklists | close to the shift, from the shift type or the vehicle |
| Expiry of checklists not filled in | when the shift has been over for longer than the tolerance |
| Reminders about activities left open | at the end of the shift and at the start of the next one |
| Expiry of availability requests, shift swaps and vehicle bookings | at their deadline, or when the shift starts |
| Certification expiry warnings and loss of the linked tasks | at the planned notices; the task lapses the day after expiry |
| Recalculation of shift coverage | at every availability change |
Two rules apply to all of them: alerts come from periodic checks, so they are not instant, and each one is sent once only. There is no second reminder: the second safety net is you.
Every automation, with its schedule and its recipients, is in Notifications and automations.
A word of caution¶
Staff actions affect people: cancelling a shift, disassociating a volunteer, rejecting a request are gestures that someone receives. AppToMe asks for confirmation on irreversible actions, but the confirmation is technical: the judgement is yours.