The first dropdown in the Details > Permissions tab let's you determine who can see and signup to your event. Would you like your event to be public, visible only to logged-in volunteers, or only anyone you send the link to?  If the event is Public, it will appear in your Hub when you publish it. If you set the event to 'Community Members Only', volunteers will only see the event in the Hub if they are logged-in and a member of your directory. 'Anyone with the Link' means the event will not appear in the Hub at all, and will only be visible to those people you send the URL to.

You have two options for applications: manually review and accept/decline them, or automatically accept all. 'Automatically accept applications' is a great option for activities that don't have much of a review process. If anyone can signup, you may want to consider automatically accepting applications.

Like with application management, you can choose to manually review and confirm shift requests from volunteers, or automatically confirm all requested shifts from volunteers.

When you automatically accept applications and automatically confirm shifts, the shift signup list will update in close-to real time, meaning that volunteers will be able to see which shifts are still available as others signup.

If you choose to manually review and confirm shifts, the shifts will appear in the schedule as 'requested' shifts that require your confirmation. Whichever scheduling options you choose, you will want to notify volunteers of their confirmed shifts as soon as possible.

When you create events or assignments in Timecounts, you're given the choice between 'automatically accept applications' or 'let me review all applications'.

This option is manual review. Everyone who applies will be 'pending' until you review their application and choose to accept them. Choose this option if you want to read over each application before approving them, or if the application process is competitive.

Choose this option if your opportunity is open to anyone who is interested. Note that Timecounts will automatically accept only all verified applications. An application is verified if the applicant clicks the verification link in the email they receive from Timecounts shortly after signing up. All applications submitted by logged-in volunteers with Timecounts accounts are also verified.

If you select Automatically Accept applications, you may still find a notification in Pending Applications that you have unverified submissions. You will need to manually review and verify these submissions in order to process them.

The second option you're given when setting up an event or assignment schedule is whether you'd like to auto-confirm shifts or manually confirm shifts on your own. If you set your event to auto-accept applications and auto-confirm shifts, verified volunteers who signup will be immediately confirmed for all available shifts that they've selected. All shifts will appear in the schedule as blue 'Confirmed' shifts. But before your event, make sure you've notified or reminded all of your volunteers of their confirmed shifts!

If your event is set to auto-accept applications with manual shift confirmation, then volunteers will not be automatically confirmed for shifts when they signup. Instead, as soon as a verified volunteer selects shifts, those shifts will appear in your schedule as green 'Requested' shifts. You'll need to open your schedule to decide who to confirm for those shifts, and notify BOTH confirmed people and those who are not needed, to avoid any confusion.

Note that shifts will not display to volunteers as full until you have confirmed the maximum number of people for those shifts. Because shifts are not auto-confirmed, you may end up with many more 'Requested' shifts from volunteers than you have slots for each shift.

Using permission settings to approve or accept new shifts and applications

Written by Amanda

Updated over a week ago

When creating an event, you have a choice whether you would like to manually review applications and schedule/confirm participants, or have Timecounts do this automatically. You can edit automatic scheduling settings under Event Details > Participants.

Let me review all applications: choose this option if you'd like to manually review and vet all applications for this event. This option gives you the greatest control over who will be added to your database and who can participate in the event.

Automatically approve applications: Selecting this option will automatically approve all applications from people who are already in your community database, and approve all new applicants who have verified their form submissions. Note that because new applicants will be automatically added to your database, your billing plan may increase automatically. Select this option if it's not important to review applications before confirming participation. 

Let me schedule shifts: Select this option to schedule shifts manually. Requested shifts will appear in your schedule with the title 'Requested'. You can then confirm shifts and notify volunteers of their confirmed shifts as you go.

Schedule shifts automatically: This option will automatically confirm all requested shifts from volunteers. The system will fill shifts as they're requested, and remove filled shifts from sign-up. This is a first-come-first-served option. Volunteers who request many shifts will be confirmed for every shift so long as the shifts are still available when their application is accepted.