Introduction

The Rota Scheme in the ChurchDesk calendar is a powerful tool for organizing services in your congregation. It helps you keep track and facilitates communication with everyone involved.

Benefits of the rota:

Create different rotas for various areas.
Keep an overview of staffing status.
Share a link with the involved persons.
Instantly see which services are still unoccupied.

Accessing the rota

Calendar via the dropdown menu next to the name of your parish, congregation, or installation. Then select "Calendar" and in the black sidebar on the left, click on "Rotas".

Creating a new rota:

Navigate to the Rota Scheme.
Click on "New Rota Scheme" in the top right corner.
Choose the appropriate filters for the desired services and persons.
After saving, return to the rota overview.
Under "More" → "Settings", you can rename the rota and adjust further details.

Rosta features:

Adding new appointments to the rota

Appointments are added via the calendar.
When creating a new appointment, you can use the "Rota" function, or for Catholic churches, "Rota & Intentions".
There, you can create new services for that day.

Creating new services

Services are managed via groups.
To create a new service, create a new group.
In the creation window, check the box "This is a rota group".
Below that, assign a name to the service, which will appear in the rota.
Add people to the group who should be part of this service.
These users can then be booked for the corresponding service.

Assigning multiple people to an appointment

If no limitation is set, multiple people can be added to a service.
If a limitation (e.g., 2 people) is set, only the required number of users can be assigned. This is indicated by a red number.

Notifications

Three days before the service, assigned persons receive a reminder email.
Under "My rotas", all personal services can be viewed.

Accepting or declining shifts

Users can sign up for available services or cancel assigned ones under "My Rotas".
The reminder email includes a "Cancel" button to cancel a service.

Planning recurring services

Recurring services are entered as series appointments in the calendar.
Changes to a single appointment within the series are not possible. If necessary, the specific appointment must be created separately.
Users signing up for a service are not automatically assigned to all recurring appointments.

Permissions & Roles

All users with calendar access can create and view rotas.

Export & Sharing

No Excel export – to prevent inconsistencies.
Rotas can be saved as PDFs via the print function.
Rotas can be easily shared via a link. Click "Copy shareable link".
Please note that this link only displays appointments with a public visibility setting.
People see the same column selection as you. To restrict visibility, apply filters or remove columns using the column manager (book icon in the toolbar).
BUT: If all columns are deselected, all services will be displayed in columns in the link. If at least one is selected, only that specific one will be shown.

Modifying a service

Appointments cannot be edited directly in the rota.
To modify an appointment, click on it in the "Date" column, make the changes, and you will be automatically redirected back to the roster.

Currently, the view may occasionally jump back to the top. This is a known issue, and our IT team is working on a solution.

Updated on: 23/04/2025