---
title: "Field Schedule Shift Configuration Options"
url: "https://help.ontraccr.com/en/article/field-schedule-shift-configuration-options"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2025-06-26T17:19:27.841Z"
---

# Field Schedule Shift Configuration Options

## **⚙️ Field Schedule Shift Configuration Options (Full Breakdown)**  
 

### 📘 Article Purpose

This article explains **every available field, setting, and toggle** when creating a shift in the Field Schedule—what each one does, when to use it, and how it impacts scheduling behavior.

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## **🧱 Shift vs. Event: What's the Difference?**

When creating an item, the first option is:

-   **Shift** → Used to schedule labor that workers will **clock in/out of**
-   **Event** → Used to mark important dates, reminders, or required forms without time tracking

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## **✅ Required Fields (Shifts)**

To create a valid shift, you **must** provide:

-   **Title**
-   **Division** (if your account has multiple divisions)
-   **Date** or **Date + Time**
    -   Optional: check **"All Day"** to remove time requirement

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## **🛠️ Optional Configuration Fields (Shifts)**

Here’s a full list of available configuration options, along with their purpose and usage tips:

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### 🕓 **Repeats**

Click the “Doesn’t Repeat” link to open recurrence settings.

**Supported recurrence types:**

-   Daily
-   Weekly on \[Day\]
-   Biweekly on \[Day\]
-   Monthly on date (e.g. 17th)
-   Monthly on weekday (e.g. 3rd Tuesday)
-   Every weekday (Mon–Fri)
-   Annually on \[Date\]

🔁 Useful for regular jobs, meetings, inspections, etc.

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### ⏰ **Internal & External Reminders**

Send reminders before the shift.

**Options for both internal and external:**

-   At time of shift
-   5, 10, 15, 30 mins before
-   1 or 2 hours before
-   1 or 2 days before

**Internal** = Team members

**External** = Customers (via email)

✉️ For external reminders, you can:

-   Auto-select customer/project emails
-   Or enter email addresses manually

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### 🏗️ **Project, Phase, and Cost Code (Optional)**

Helps pre-fill tracking fields for accurate job costing.

-   Selecting these ensures workers clock into the correct job and cost bucket.
-   Optional toggle: **Lock Clock-In Details**
    -   Prevents workers from editing project/phase/cost code on the shift.

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### 🎨 **Color**

Control how the shift appears visually:

-   If **no color** is selected, the shift uses the **user's default color**
-   You can manually choose a color or enter a **hex code**

🎯 Use color for job type separation (e.g., blue = service, red = construction)

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### 👥 **Teams & Assigned Users**

### Option 1: **Assign by Team**

-   Select a saved team from Staff > Manage Teams
-   Click **View Team** to:
    -   Add all members
    -   Remove individuals

### Option 2: **Assign Specific Users**

-   Select users manually using a dropdown
-   Use filters to narrow by **label** (e.g. Carpenter, First Aid)
-   Use the **User Schedule** button to see who's already scheduled for that day

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### 📍 **Address-Based Assignment**

If you've added user addresses in **Staff > Manage Users**, Ontraccr will:

-   Show distance (in km) between each user and the project site
-   **Sort users by proximity**, with closest shown at the top

📌 Helps reduce travel time and improve dispatching efficiency

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### 👷 **Expected User Groups**

Use this if you're **not sure who** to assign yet.

-   Define how many people you need by **label** or **role**
-   Example: “Need 2 Carpenters and 1 First Aid Attendant”
-   The system shows whether your shift has enough assigned users to meet expectations

🔐 Related permission:

Only users with “View draft shifts by role/label” can **see and apply** to shifts that match their skill group.

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### 🗂️ **Category**

If you’ve created **custom shift categories** in:

**Settings > Customization > Schedule Categories**, you can:

-   Tag shifts as **High Priority**, **Low Priority**, **Do Not Change**, etc.
-   Categories also apply in the **Unassigned Shift Queue**

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### 📝 **Description**

A plain-text field used to give context or instructions.

Visible on the **mobile app** when field workers open the shift.

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### 📎 **Attachments**

Add any:

-   Documents
-   PDFs
-   Job drawings
-   Photos

📱 These are accessible to workers via mobile or tablet

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### 📄 **Assigned Form Template**

Attach a form to the shift:

-   The worker will see this form directly in the shift
-   They can open and fill it out without having to search

🧾 Common forms: Timesheets, Work Orders, Safety Checklists

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## 💡 **Drafts vs. Published Shifts**

-   **Draft Shifts** = Transparent color
    -   Can accept **applications** from users (if expected group is defined)
    -   Show a **“Pending Users”** list for approval
-   **Published Shifts** = Solid color
    -   Fully assigned and live