1. Get started

MacOS, Windows, iOS, Linux, tablet, phone, smartphone, iPad, iPhone, Android, Chromebook, primary, secondary

Overview

Prime Timetable is a school scheduling software designed for both automatic and manual timetabling on any device. The app is used in 100+ countries for scheduling elementary, middle and high schools, universities, school camps and similar.

Video tutorial: Introduction

Check release blog posts for the latest updates. Full features list is available on this web page.

pdf,localization,Afrikaans,Albanian,Amharic,Arabic,Armenian,Assamese,Aymara,Azerbaijani,Bambara,Basque,Belarusian,Bengali,Bhojpuri,Bosnian,Bulgarian,Catalan,Cebuano,Chichewa,Chinese (Simplified),Chinese (Traditional),Corsican,Croatian,Czech,Danish,Dhivehi,Dogri,Dutch,English,Esperanto,Estonian,Ewe,Filipino,Finnish,check,French,Frisian,Galician,Georgian,German,Greek,Guarani,Gujarati,Haitian Creole,Hausa,Hawaiian,Hebrew,Hindi,Hmong,Hungarian,Icelandic,Igbo,Ilocano,Indonesian,Irish,Italian,Japanese,Javanese,Kannada,Kazakh,Khmer,Kinyarwanda,Konkani,Korean,Krio,Kurdish (Kurmanji),Kurdish (Sorani),Kyrgyz,Lao,Latin,Latvian,Lingala,Lithuanian,Luganda,Luxembourgish,Macedonian,Maithili,Malagasy,Malay,Malayalam,Maltese,Maori,Marathi,Meiteilon (Manipuri),Mizo,Mongolian,Myanmar (Burmese),Nepali,Norwegian,Odia (Oriya),Oromo,Pashto,Persian,Polish,Portuguese,Punjabi,Quechua,Romanian,Russian,Samoan,Sanskrit,Scots Gaelic,Sepedi,Serbian,Sesotho,Shona,Sindhi,Sinhala,Slovak,Slovenian,Somali,Spanish,Sundanese,Swahili,Swedish,Tajik,Tamil,Tatar,Telugu,Thai,Tigrinya,Tsonga,Turkish,Turkmen,Twi,Ukrainian,Urdu,Uyghur,Uzbek,Vietnamese,Welsh,Xhosa,Yiddish,Yoruba,Zulu

User guide and the app are available in French, Spanish, German and 130+ languages thanks to auto-translate. YouTube can also auto-translate our video tutorials, and printed/published timetables don't need translation since there are no words in it.

tips, tricks, introduction, guidance, cheat sheets

Video tutorials

It's recommended to watch getting started tutorials (150K+ views) before using the app. Videos are only a couple of minutes long, but packed with tons of helpful info. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch the latest tutorials for free.

basic,terms,glossary,dictionary

Interpret terms as best suits your organization, e.g. use grade instead of class or course instead of subject.

School
Institution designed to allow and encourage student groups to attend school activities under the supervision of teachers
Subject / Course
For instance, Math, English, Biology, but also school recess, lunch, some non-class activities like teacher meetings
Room
Place where school activity occurs, e.g. biology room, history room, but also dining room, reception hall...
Teacher / Educator / Professor / Instructor
Person who teaches, guides, instructs, trains or helps another in the process of learning knowledge
Student
Learner, or someone who attends an educational institution
Class / Grade
Group of students, e.g. "Grade 5", "Year 8", etc.
Group
Class group attending a specific activity, e.g. "English", "French" or "Italian" groups
Resource
Class, Teacher or Room
Period / Time slot
Block of time used for activities
Activity
Structured period of time where a school activity is intended to occur, e.g. lesson, prep-time, lunch, recess, etc.
Card
Visual representation of an activity, e.g. a teacher has 5 lessons of Math which equals to 5 cards
Timetable / Schedule
Table which displays cards
Unscheduled card
Card waiting to be scheduled and therefore placed outside the timetable
Pinned card
Card locked on a specific period, meaning it won't be rescheduled while improving the timetable
Timetable view
Master or individual view that displays activities, e.g. class, teacher, room master view, Grade 8 view, etc.
Timetabler
Person who creates a school timetable
Conflict / clash
Group of cards on the same position or overlapping each other
Gap / Pause / Window
Empty period between school activities
Constraint
Requirement that should be met in the final timetable, e.g. gaps should be forbidden for all classes
Time constraint
Specifying whether a particular school resource or activity is forbidden, unwanted or mandatory in a certain period
Manual timetabling
Working on timetable by manually dragging the cards
Automatic timetable generator
Algorithm that improves a school timetable based on entered data and constraints
Timetable validation
Showing errors and warnings if the timetable is not valid
School scheduling/timetabling software
Software designed to simplify and automate scheduling/timetabling process

2. Account

account,trial

Sign up

To evaluate the software you need to sign up first:

  • Click Sign up on the home page
  • Choose Free plan
  • Type your email and password and optionally provide more info about the school
  • Click Start my free month

A new timetable will be opened, so you can start importing or entering your own data.

login,sign in,log out,logout,sign out

Log in

To start the app you need to log in:

  • Click Log in in the header of the home page
  • Enter your email and password
  • Click Log In

forget,forgot,lost,account,retrieve

  • Go to forgot password page
  • Type your email and click Send code
  • An email containing a code (random alphanumeric string) will be sent to you
  • Copy and paste the code from the email and enter the new password
  • Click Change password

A window will open where you can log in using the new password.

  • Click in the top right corner
  • Click Log out

Your session will end and home page will show up.

user,account

Profile

  • Click in the top right corner and then My profile
  • Set your email, password and first and last name
  • Click Edit

renew

If your subscription is about to expire or evaluation period is over:

  • Go to plans and pricing
  • Select Basic (up to 40 teachers) or Premium plan (up to 100 teachers)
  • Optionally, choose a billing term by dragging year slider to take advantage of special discounts
  • If you are not logged in enter your email and password
  • Click Buy now

Contact us for alternative payment methods or if your school/campus requires a plan which supports more than 100 teachers.

  • Click in the top right corner
  • Click Purchase and then select Free plan
  • Click Add more info in "Step 2. School account"
  • Enter your school name, address, contact name, phone and other info
  • Click Continue evaluation to save changes
If there is more than one account for your school, contact us to merge them.

zip, backup

One of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) rights is Right to Data Portability:

  • Click in the top right corner, My profile and expand
  • Click Create archive
  • Click Download now

Created archive will be available for download within the next 24 hours and contains your school info, timetables and users.

delete,gdpr,terminate,unsubscribe,deactivate,cancel,cancellation request,suspension,termination,disposal,erase

Right to be Forgotten (one of GDPR rights) is available for the Owner who can delete a school account:

  • Click in the top right corner, My profile and
  • Click Delete school account and confirm

The whole account including timetables, users and all related school data will be deleted in the next two weeks.

3. Application

UI, interface, layout

Intro

In order to start the app on any device:

The app consists of timetable view and top/bottom boards.

The top board contains owl icon which opens the main menu. Next to it is a quick toolbar letting you save changes, access history or open timetable. Timetable name is at the center while bell and profile icons are in the right corner.

The bottom board contains card details, play icon at the center and marker, pin, sponge and zoom icons in the right corner.

Application layout

A screenshot of K-12 school with opened main menu and pop-ups showing the list of subjects and notifications

MacOS, Windows, iOS, Linux, tablet, phone, smartphone, iPad, iPhone, Android, Chromebook, laptop

System requirements

windows,mac,ios,ipad,iphone,android,windows phone,chromebook,linux

While in the browser, bookmark https://primetimetable.com/#app which is a convenient shortcut to start the app and open the latest timetable. Desktop icon enables even faster and easier access to Prime Timetable. For instance, in the latest Chrome browser:

  • Click Install Prime Timetable icon in the URL bar or
  • Choose Menu > More tools > Create shortcut... > Create

The owl icon will be added to your desktop. Shortcut can be customized so the app starts in full screen just like other desktop apps. For other browsers check how to create a desktop shortcut to a website and for tablets and phones use a feature called add to the homescreen.

4. Timetable

Create new timetable

  • Choose Open > New Timetable
  • Enter the name of the timetable and description
  • Click Ok

Open timetable

  • Click or choose Open > Open Timetable
  • Select a timetable from the list
  • Click Open

search,find

  • Click or choose Open > Open Timetable
  • Choose All timetables, Recent, Past year, Published or other
  • Optionally choose a tag to further filter timetables (available only if you have previously assigned tags to timetable)

The default filter is Recent showing timetables modified in the last 3 months or up to 3 older timetables.

The URL is updated while changing filters so you can copy/paste it and send to others to filter/open only specific set of timetables.

rename,example

  • Click or choose Open > Open Timetable
  • Select a timetable from the list and click Edit
  • Change name, description and/or tags
  • Click Ok
  • Choose Open > Open Examples
  • Select example from the list
  • Click Open

Examples include:

  • K-12, PreK-8 and K-5 schools
  • Elementary/Primary, Middle and High/Secondary schools
  • International and Art schools
  • Schools from US, Canada, UK, Australia, Europe, Asia, Africa, etc.

Open from file

To open timetable from previously saved file on the disc:

  • Choose Open > Open from File
  • Click Choose File to locate the file on your disc
  • Click Open

The app will convert older timetable formats and import other recognized file formats.

Save changes

  • Click to save changes

All changes will be synchronized and merged across any device you or your colleagues might be using.

Create a copy of timetable

copy timetable,make copy,copy schedule

  • Choose Save as > Copy of Timetable
  • Enter the name of the timetable and description
  • Click Ok

Delete/restore timetable

  • Click or choose Open > Open Timetable
  • Select a timetable from the list
  • Click Delete

restore,recover,undone,backup

  • Click or choose Open > Open Timetable
  • Choose Recently deleted
  • Select timetable(s) from the list
  • Click Undelete
After 1 month of no usage, previously deleted timetables are permanently deleted and undelete is no longer available.

Merge timetables

  • Open base timetable
  • Choose Open > Merge timetables
  • Select timetable that you want to merge with the base timetable and click Merge

If there is already a day, subject, room, teacher, class, group or view with the same name in the base timetable, it will be used as it is; otherwise, it will be added. Periods are going to be merged based on entered start and end times. Activities, clips and marks from selected timetable will be added to the base timetable.

Merge enables working on separate timetables which can be merged later, useful in the following cases:

  • separate timetable for lower and upper schools; merge to find any conflicts for shared teachers and rooms
  • separate timetable for morning and afternoon shifts; merge to create all-in-one timetable
  • work on n-week timetables separately; merge to create the final e.g. month timetable
  • any other case with too many days/periods, e.g. too many 5 or 10 minutes periods, where you would want to split a large timetable into several smaller once and later merge them

There is also another option to work with all-in-one timetable and that is to create specific views for lower/upper school, morning/afternoon shifts and similar.

5. Import

Import resources

Data can be imported from other software using copy/paste:

  • Open Excel/Word, Sheets/Docs, Notepad or similar app where you have a list of resources
  • Make a selection of resources you want to import, right mouse click selection and choose Copy
  • Choose Import > Days, Periods, Subjects, Rooms, Teachers or Classes
  • Right mouse click on the text field and choose Paste
  • Click Import

Video tutorial: How to import data

In import Sheets document each sheet shows an example of importing days, periods, subjects, rooms, teachers, classes/groups, students and activities. Resources should be separated with new lines (rows) and properties should be separated by columns (TAB character). A resource with an existing name is not going to be imported.

In order to import days:

Imported days will be inserted after the last selected day.

Name Short
Monday Mon
Tuesday Tue
Wednesday Wed
Thursday Thu
Friday Fri

Columns when importing days

In order to import periods:

Imported periods are inserted/merged based on period intervals.

Start time End time Name Short
08:25 09:15
09:20 10:15
10:30 11:20
11:25 12:15
12:15 13:10 Lunch Lunch
13:10 14:00
14:05 14:55
15:10 16:00
16:05 17:00 After school After

Columns when importing periods

You can import only one (name) column and short name and color will be auto-generated while the rest of the columns will have default values, or you can import as many columns as you want as shown in advanced import document and below example.

Name Short Color Tags Notes
?
Custom ID
?
Difficulty
Taught more than once a day Insert day off if taught 2 times per cycle Insert day off if taught 3 times per cycle Exclude from statistics Exclude from the generator and notifications
English Eng #a52a00 Language English language EngID +
French Fre #c4b4ff Language French language FrenchID
Science Sci #004f13 STEM ScienceID 2 + +
Math Mat #00305e STEM MathID 2 + +
Tech TW #00008b STEM TechID
Art Art #4b0082 Art ArtID
Music Mus #593c00 Art MusicID
Physical education PE #800022 PE PeID 0
Lunch Lu #ff6820 LunchID 0 + +

Columns when importing subjects

You can import only one (name) column and short name and color will be auto-generated while the rest of the columns will have default values, or you can import as many columns as you want as shown in advanced import document and below example.

Name Short Color Tags Notes
?
Custom ID
?
Capacity 
Building
Room 101 101 #a52a00 1st floor R101 Main
Room 102 102 #c4b4ff 1st floor R102 Main
Room 201 201 #004f13 2nd floor R201 Main
Room 202 202 #00305e 2nd floor R202 Main
Room 203 203 #00008b 2nd floor R203 Main
Room 204 204 #4b0082 2nd floor R204 Main
Sport Hall 1 SH1 #593c00 SH1 60
Sport Hall 2 SH2 #800022 N/A on Friday SH2 30
Technical Works TW #ff6820 TW 30 Main

Columns when importing rooms

You can import only one (name) column and short name and color will be auto-generated while the rest of the columns will have default values, or you can import as many columns as you want as shown in advanced import document and below example.

Name Short Color Tags Notes
?
Custom ID
?
Max. activities in a row
?
Max. gaps per cycle
?
Max. gaps per day
?
Min. activities to allow gaps
?
Max. deviation from average daily load
?
Min. activities per day
?
Max. activities per day
?
Max. moves between buildings
Count all moves
Emma Willard Emma #a52a00 Language Emma 4 3 1 2 2 2 6 1 +
Jaime Escalante Jaime #c4b4ff STEM Jaime 4 2 2 6
Maya Angelou Maya #004f13 STEM N/A on Friday Maya 4 2 2 6
Clara Barton Clara #00305e Art Clara 4 2 2 6

Columns when importing teachers

You can import only one (name) column and short name and color will be auto-generated while the rest of the columns will have default values, or you can import as many columns as you want as shown in advanced import document and below example.

Name Short Color Tags Notes
?
Custom ID
Groups Start on 1st period Forbid gaps Groups finish at the same time
?
Allowed difference between max. and min. daily activities
5A 5a #a52a00 5th 5A Boys,Girls|Group 1,Group 2,Group 3 + + + 2
5B 5b #c4b4ff 5th 5B + + + 2
7A 7a #004f13 7th 7A French,German|Art,Chemistry,Music + + 2
7B 7b #004f13 7th 7B + + 2

Columns when importing classes and their groups

In order to import students:

Name Short Groups
Alice Toole Alice
Allen Elliott Allen
Andy Welch Andy Group 1, Boys
Billy Austin Billy Group 2, Girls
Brian Sternberg Brian Group 1, Girls
Bruce Hayes Bruce Group 1, Boys
Donna Gordon Donna Group 1, Boys
Eric Reeves Eric Group 1, Girls
Eva Simon Eva

Columns when importing students

For instance, you might want to update only specific constraint(s) for lots of resources at once:

  • Choose Import > Teachers
  • Copy/paste columns you need from the spreadsheet app based on advanced import document
  • Hold CtrlCmd while clicking Import

Instead of inserting, provided columns/properties will overwrite properties in existing resources starting from the last selected item in the grid.

In that way, you can quickly update day names, period names/intervals, specific constraints for lots of resources and similar.

Import activities

The whole timetable can be imported in a single copy/paste action by following the example in the "Activities" sheet and video tutorial How to import data. Resources with non-existing names will be added while importing. Comma is used as a delimiter when there are more teachers, classes/groups or rooms.

Subject Teacher(s) Class(es) Group(s) Count Length Desired room(s) Alternative room(s)
Math Roberta 7A 3 1 Room 1 Room 2, Room 3
English {Eng} Maya, Dan 8A, 7A G1, G2 1 2 Room 4 Room 1, Room 2

Columns when importing activities

The short name is autogenerated based on imported name. Otherwise, you can specify it the first time that item appears, e.g. "English {Eng}" will add a new subject called "English" and a short name will be set to "Eng".

  • Choose Import > Activities
  • Paste your data
  • Hold CtrlCmd while clicking Import

While importing activities if there is no existing resource with custom id or short name equal to specified name in the imported row, then a new resource will be added (short name and color are auto-generated).

  • Choose Import > Activities and follow instructions in the advanced import document
  • Cards from the rows with the same clips column value will be clipped together while importing activities.

6. Data

Basics

Resources are displayed in grids allowing you to manage data efficiently.

order,move up,move down,alphabetic,ascending,descending

Use buttons on the right side of the grid to manage related resources. For instance, in order to add a teacher:

  • Choose Manage > Teachers and click Add
  • Type name and short name
  • Click Add
  • The teacher will be added after the last selected in the grid

Click Edit to edit currently selected item in the grid.

Click Copy to create a copy of the existing item which can be modified independently without affecting the source item.

In order to delete item(s):

  • Select item(s) in the grid
  • Click Delete

The app warns when deleting affects related data, e.g. when a teacher is deleted, all related activities are deleted as well. Therefore, it's recommended to delete/change related data prior to deleting a resource. Keep in mind that if you made a mistake, you can always undo.

Click the desired column name to sort data. For instance, in order to sort teachers by their names:

  • Choose Manage > Teachers
  • Click Name column in the grid header
  • Click it once again to sort in the reverse order

To reorder items:

  • Select item(s) in the grid
  • Use up and down arrows in the bottom right corner of the grid

There is also a keyboard shortcut for reordering: hold Alt and press

There are several ways to select item in the grid:

  • Click desired row
  • Start typing first letters of desired name
  • Use the following keys to navigate and select: PgUp PgDn Home End

In order to select multiple items:

  • Hold down CtrlCmd and click the desired rows
  • Click the start row, hold down Shift key, and then click the end row to select a consecutive group of items
  • Hold down CtrlCmd and press A to select all items in the grid

Selected items can be deleted or reordered using arrows in the bottom right corner of the grid.

Multi-selector enables selecting resources, e.g. when you want to assign an activity to classes/groups, teachers or rooms:

  • Click an item in the source list to select it
  • Click an item in the selection list to remove it
  • Click Ok to confirm selection

It's recommended to add tags (especially in bigger schools), so you can filter resources and narrow the choice. Selected tag is remembered and will be preselected the next time you open multi-selector. In order to make lists bigger resize the window.

Multi-selector is also accessible using keyboard (similar to grid):

  • Use Tab to set focus on the source or selection list
  • Type first letters to find resource in the list or navigate using PgUp PgDn Home and End
  • Press Space to (de)select and Enter to confirm selection
  • Hold CtrlCmd and press A or X to select/remove all
  • Hold Alt while pressing or to reorder selection

info,title,change

Timetable info

Click timetable name or choose Open > Timetable Info to change:

  • Timetable name
  • Timetable description
  • School name
  • School year, e.g. "2022/2023"

School name and school year are displayed as a title and subtitle on the published page and while printing.

Expand to customize timetable to match your school branding, set tags or copy unique timetable identifier.

rotated,rotation,day A,day B,cycle,rotating,6 day,5 day,two-week

Days

  • Choose Manage > Days or click day name in the view

Set the number of days in the timetable cycle by selecting a desired value in the combo above the displayed grid. For instance, set 5 days for 1-week, or set 6 days if you are scheduling Saturdays, or set 10 days for 2-week timetable and so on. Another option is to create a separate timetable for each week or month and later merge them into one. You can also set only one or two days, e.g. "Day A" and "Day B" for rotating schedules. Each day has name and short name.

  • Use horizontal zoom to focus on specific day(s) or
  • Separate timetable into smaller once and later merge them into all-in-one timetable
  • Create a view where some days/periods are excluded
  • Right mouse click day name in the view and choose Copy
  • Right mouse click target day and choose Paste

Check copying cards for more info.

One way is to reorder and then rename days:

  • Choose Manage > Days
  • Use arrows in the bottom right corner of the grid to reorder days and related cards will follow
  • When you are finished reordering, select reordered days and click Edit to rename them

The other way is to add temporary day so that you can switch cards:

  • Choose Manage > Days and click Add to create a new day
  • In the view, click the first day name while holding CtrlCmd to select all cards on the first day
  • Drag cards to newly created day
  • Click the second day name while holding CtrlCmd to select all cards on the second day
  • Drag cards to the first day
  • Click newly created day name while holding CtrlCmd
  • Drag cards to the second day
  • In the view click the newly created day and then click Delete to delete temporarily created day

Yes, you can rename a day to e.g. "9/5/2023" instead of "Monday". Also you can import/merge all days.

Here are some options to consider:

  • Add more days, for instance 'Day A' and 'Day B'. 'Day A' represents 1st semester and 'Day B' represents 2nd semestar. You can copy/paste cards from one day to another and then make necessary changes.
  • The same as the above but with the addition of creating custom views for each semestar/term. For instance, you can create 'Semestar 1' view and exclude days which are not valid for the 1st semestar and create 'Semestar 2' view and exclude days not valid for the 2nd semester. In that way, you can still work on one timetable but have all views in one document.
  • Instead of creating all-in-one timetable, you can create one timetable for the first semester/term and then create a copy to modify it for the second. Later, you can merge timetables if needed.

There are two ways to create a two-week timetable. For majority of cases it is perfectly fine to create one timetable and set 10 days for the number of days in the timetable cycle. For instance, you can copy activities from one day to another, you can create subjects called "Math Week 1" and "Math Week 2", add related activities and use the red marker to forbid time slots for these subjects in the non-related weeks and you can make any manual adjustments for specific days.

The other option is to create two separate weekly timetables and optionally merge them later. For example, let's assume that 4 days in a week have exactly the same timetable and there are some differences only on Friday. In this scenario we have two types of activities:

  • (A) Activities that are held the same number of times in both weeks
  • (B) Activities that are held over one week but not the other.

All other variations boil down to these (A) and (B) types. For instance, there could be an activity occurring 1.5 times per week, which means there are two activities in the first week and one in the second. In that case one activity is type (A) and the other (0.5) is type (B).

Here is the procedure of scheduling such two-week timetables:

  1. Create a new timetable with 5 days
  2. Add all type (A) activities using 'Owl > Manage > Activities > Add'
  3. Forbid Friday using the red marker: pick the red marker and click the Friday
  4. Generate the timetable using play icon
  5. Pin all cards: pick the pin and click in the top right corner of the timetable
  6. Pick the red marker and click in the top right corner to forbid all time slots, then click Friday to free time slots only on that day
  7. Save two copies of this timetable: 'Week 1' and 'Week 2' by choosing 'Owl > Save As > Copy of Timetable'
  8. For each timetable add type (B) activities and generate the timetable again.

Of course, there are many more variations but the procedure is similar.

Periods

time slot,time,times,bell

  • Choose Manage > Periods or click period name in the view

Set the number of periods in a day by selecting a desired value in the combo above the displayed grid. In case you are scheduling breaks, lunch, after school activities or similar, increase the number accordingly. For each period set start/end time (use 24-hour clock) and optionally name.

Choose Help > Options > Period format to adjust how periods will be displayed in the view, e.g. 12 or 24-hour clock or use names instead.

  • Choose Manage > Periods and set the maximum number of periods
  • Use Forbidden position marker to forbid positions that are not allowed

Also, you can create your own view, e.g. 'Lower grades view' and exclude forbidden periods.

Here are some options to consider:

  1. Instead of displaying an interval, you might set a detailed period name, e.g. "08:30 - 09:00 (Friday: 08:40 - 9:10)". The other option might be to set names as P1, P2, P3 and so on and put more info into the legend e.g. P1: 08:30 - 09:00 (Friday: 08:40 - 9:10), P2: 9:15 - 9:45, etc. Desired period format can be configured in the options.
  2. Find the least common denominator, e.g. create a schedule with 15-minute or even 10-minute intervals to accomodate to the difference. For instance, if some activities last 45 minutes and others 15 minutes, add periods with 15-minute intervals and while adding activities choose triple length for activities that last 45 minutes (3 * 15min = 45min).
  3. Custom periods let you create flexible schedules where card interval (length and position) depends on specific resource/day and it's displayed within the cards. Also, custom periods handle scenarios when only specific class(es) have different period intervals on all days.
  4. Create a separate timetable only for day(s) with different period intervals, e.g. create a copy of the existing timetable and then make neccessary changes.
  5. Create your own timetable views which enables scheduling, publishing, exporting, customizing and printing specific resources, days and periods. For instance, you can create views and exclude specific days/periods, so you can work on one timetable with different views for different days/periods.
  6. Ignore differences until you want to print different day(s) and then overwrite period intervals with the list you keep in the spreadsheet app. Thanks to history you can undo overwrites after printing.
  • Multi-select all periods except one and click Delete
  • Click Edit and set start time to e.g. 08:00 and end time to 08:15
  • From the list above periods grid select the number of periods you need

There is also an option to quickly import/overwrite periods by copy/pasting from the spreadsheet app.

Custom periods

Period intervals might vary across classes, e.g. when scheduling both lower and higher grades in one timetable. If you don't want to work with a load of 15, 10 or even 5 minute period intervals to accomodate to differences you might consider using custom periods. In order to add a custom period:

  • Choose Manage > Periods and select a default period to link a custom interval with and then click Add
  • Set start/end time and expand to choose class, subject, room or teacher custom period
  • Select 'Drag related cards to specified interval' action
  • Choose resources/days that custom interval applies to and click Add

Video tutorial: How to use custom periods

When custom period(s) are added, related cards will be resized and repositioned based on the specified custom interval and its default period. Choose Help > Options > Period format > 12-hour or 24-hour clock to display the custom interval in the desired format.

When you drag a card, the card's shadow changes its length and position according to default and custom periods below. Thus, you will know exactly where to drop the card. Also, filters will appear above the periods grid if a timetable has custom periods. Choose a specific resource/day to filter custom periods.

The generator and notifications "understand" only default periods, so there might be cases when conflicts related to custom periods are wrongly reported or ignored.

Shorter cards than related default period interval

If two or more cards are placed on custom periods which are linked to the same default period, these cards will be listed as conflicts regardless of their (custom) period intervals. To illustrate that, let's say that in one default period 09:00 - 10:00 there are two custom cards from 09:00 - 09:30 and 09:30 - 10:00. These cards are considered to be on the same default period and therefore reported as a conflict. Consider the following:

  • Pin cards to resolve conflict
  • Ignore rotation of these cards because rotating conflicts is disabled by default in the published web page or choose Help > Options, expand Advanced options and uncheck Rotate conflicted cards
  • Add custom period with interval you need but linked to default period where there are no cards, e.g. lunch, then put conflicted card there, and the app will not recognize cards as conflicts because they are related to the different default periods
  • Try to use default periods with reduced period intervals instead of custom periods, e.g. 15-minute, 10-minute or even 5-minute period intervals

Longer cards than related default period interval

A conflict when a "custom" card overlaps a card placed on the other default period won't be reported so you need to manually (e.g. visually) check whether such conflicts exist in your timetable.

It's easiest to just replace default periods with custom periods only in specified classes and their related individual views:

  • Choose Manage > Periods and select a default period to link a custom interval with and then click Add
  • Set start/end time, expand , and choose class custom period
  • Select 'Show custom period instead of default in the related individual views' action
  • Choose classes that custom interval applies to and click Add

For instance, the first period in Grade 6A starts at 08:25, whereas the first period in Grade 12 IB starts at 08:15 in the same timetable.

  • Select custom period(s)
  • Use up and down arrows in the bottom right corner of the grid
  • Set custom period name in the following format: "!9:15-9:45" (without quotes)

Cards on custom periods are resized and positioned based on the related default period only, without taking into account potentially different intervals of nearby periods or gaps between them in case custom periods are stretching over them. In the K-5 example all default periods are 30 minutes and with no gaps between them so custom periods are properly positioned and there is no need for further adjusting.

Basically, it's much easier if you can have identical surrounding default period intervals and no gaps between them. Otherwise, you might need to adjust period intervals to accommodate for potential gaps or differences between these default period intervals. Note that you can put any custom period interval e.g. 10:30-11:30, but set different period name to whatever you need to be displayed inside the card, e.g. "!10:45-11:20". In that way you can fine tune the size and position of cards even in scenarios when custom periods are not designed to work.

Subjects

course,courses,edit subject,edit course

  • Choose Manage > Subjects

For each subject you need to specify name (e.g. "Math"), short name (e.g. "Ma"), color and optionally tags, notes and other properties.

If you want to forbid positions only for a specific subject and class, create a new "combined" subject e.g. "7A Math" and then switch to the subject master view and forbid positions for this subject. After that you will want to use the newly created subject when adding/editing related activities.

Difficulty can be set to Low, Medium or High and the generator will try to avoid scheduling too many difficult or too many easy subjects per day. Otherwise, notifications will show adequate warnings.

Set difficulty to Low for each subject if you want to ignore all related notifications, e.g.:

  • Choose Manage > Subjects, select subject and click Edit
  • Expand and set difficulty to Low
  • Click Copy to and then Select all
  • Click Ok and then Edit
  • Choose Manage > Subjects, select subject and click Edit
  • Expand and set constraints to desired values
  • Optionally, click Copy to to copy day off constraints to other subjects
  • Click Edit

If Taught more than once per day is unchecked, placing two or more subject cards a day for one class will be reported as an error, for instance, 2 cards of English on Monday for 5A class will show an error. If there are 10 English cards for 5A in 1-week timetable, errors are not going to be displayed, because there are more cards than days in a cycle and it's impossible to fix these errors. Otherwise, if this option is checked, placing a subject's card more than once in a day will never be reported as an error. Also, notification won't show up if the same subject is taught in different class groups.

If Insert day off if taught 2 times per cycle is checked, that subject will not be scheduled on subsequent days, e.g. having that subject on Monday and Tuesday will show an error notification.

In case that Insert day off if taught 3 times per cycle is checked, having subject on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will cause error notification for a specific class, whereas Monday, Tuesday, Thursday will be valid.

If you need to add English activities that include different classes/groups then you can add only one subject called "English" or something like "English 5 + 6" and then add an activity that includes more classes/groups. Alternatively, you can add several different activities using different subjects and then clip related cards so they are scheduled/dragged together.

  • Choose Manage > Subjects, select subject and click Edit
  • Expand and check Exclude from statistics
  • Click Edit

Activities for subjects excluded from the statistics will not be taken into account when generating statistics. For instance, you might want to exclude lunch, break, recess, teacher meeting, preparation, duty, assembly, after-school activities (e.g. study hall, pack-up) or similar. Subjects excluded from the statistics are displayed in italic.

  • Choose Manage > Subjects, select subject and click Edit
  • Expand and check Exclude from the generator and notifications
  • Click Edit

Non-teaching activities (teacher meeting, preparation, duty, lunch, etc.) shouldn't affect teacher/class load, e.g. max. activities in a row, max./min. activities per day, etc., so you might consider ignoring related notifications. Also, this option can be handy if there are lots of "desired conflicts", e.g. for Physical Education (PE) in the Gym. "Desired conflicts" can be resolved by merging or pinning conflicted cards, or excluding a related subject from the generator and notifications.

It's recommended to forbid the time slots where ignored cards are placed, so the generator won't use them for regular cards or count them as gaps.

Ignored subjects are underlined in the grid, while related cards are transparent/italic.

classroom,classrooms

Rooms

  • Choose Manage > Rooms

For each room you need to specify name (e.g. "Physics lab", "Bio lab", "Playground", "Meeting room", etc.), short name, color and optionally tags, notes, capacity, building name and other properties.

Room capacity represents the maximum student seat number and can be used for optimizing room usage for students.

  • Choose Manage > Rooms, select room and click Edit
  • Expand and set capacity to desired value
  • Optionally, click Copy to to copy capacity to other rooms
  • Click Edit

Rooms can be filtered based on desired capacity, e.g. when adding activities.

  • Choose Manage > Rooms, select room and click Edit
  • Expand and set building name
  • Optionally, click Copy to to copy building name to other rooms
  • Click Edit

Rooms can be filtered based on desired building name, e.g. when adding activities and assigning room(s). Additionally, teacher moves between buildings can be optimized by setting related teacher constraints.

staff,educator,professor,part time

Teachers

  • Choose Manage > Teachers

For each teacher you need to specify name, short name, color and optionally tags, notes and constraints related to teacher's positions, load, gaps and moves.

  • Choose Manage > Teachers, select teacher and click Edit
  • Expand
  • Set Maximum activities in a row to desired value
  • Optionally, click Copy to to copy gaps constraints to other teachers
  • Click Edit

Maximum activities in a row assures that the teacher doesn't have more than specified number of subsequent activities.

  • Choose Manage > Teachers, select teacher and click Edit
  • Expand
  • Set Maximum gaps per cycle/day and Minimum activities to allow gaps to desired values
  • Optionally, click Copy to to copy gaps constraints to other teachers
  • Click Edit

Maximum gaps per cycle/day can minimize the number of teacher gaps (pauses/windows) per cycle/day.

Minimum activities to allow gaps assures the teacher has a specified number of subsequent activities before gaps (pauses/windows) are allowed.

  • Choose Manage > Teachers, select teacher and click Edit
  • Expand
  • Set Maximum deviation from average daily load and Minimum and maximum activities per day to desired values
  • Optionally, click Copy to to copy load constraints to other teachers
  • Click Edit

Maximum deviation from average daily load is used to evenly distribute teacher's activities across the cycle. For instance, let's say a teacher has a 5-day cycle with total of 20 activities. Average daily load is 20 / 5 = 4. If the value is set to 1 that means that allowed daily load can be 3, 4 or 5 activities, while 2 or 6 activities in a day will be reported as an error because the deviation is greater than 1.

Minimum and maximum activities per day is used to make sure the teacher doesn't have too few or too many activities per day.

  • Choose Manage > Teachers, select teacher and click Edit
  • Expand
  • Set Max. moves between buildings to desired value and whether moving after a gap should be ignored or counted
  • Optionally, click Copy to to copy Buildings constraints to other teachers
  • Click Edit

Max. moves between buildings reduces unnecessary teacher moves. The constraint requires Building name set for related rooms.

The generator will try to optimize teacher moves for you and notifications will show related warnings when moving between rooms/buildings is not optimized as requested.

grade,grades

Classes

  • Choose Manage > Classes

For each class you need to specify name (e.g. "5A", "5B", "Grade 9", "Year 10"), short name, color and optionally tags, notes and constraints related to positions, load and gaps. When a new class is added, the following set of groups are created: Boys and Girls and Group 1 and Group 2.

  • Choose Manage > Classes, select a class and click Edit
  • Expand and set gap constraints
  • Optionally, click Copy to to copy gap settings to other classes
  • Click Edit

When Start on 1st period is checked, the class activities starts from the first period. Otherwise, gap will be reported as an error.

When Forbid gaps is checked, the class will have no gaps (pauses/windows), meaning there will be no empty periods between activities. Otherwise, each gap will be reported as an error. Also, if a group is missing during a period (e.g. when you divide a class into groups), that period will be reported as an error.

When Groups finish at the same time is checked, each group will finish activities at the same time. Otherwise, missing group(s) will be reported as an error.

  • Choose Manage > Classes, select a class you want to optimize and click Edit
  • Expand and set desired value for Allowed difference between maximum and minimum daily activities
  • Optionally, click Copy to to copy load settings to other classes
  • Click Edit

Allowed difference between maximum and minimum daily activities assures that the class has nearly the same or equal number of activities per day. For instance, if the value is set to 1 and class has 4 activities on Monday and 6 on Tuesday, this difference of 2 activities between days will be reported as an error as it is greater than the set value (1).

groups,division,divisions

Groups

A class can be divided into one or more sets of groups to handle electives (choices/selections):

  • Choose Manage > Classes
  • Select a class on the list
  • Click Groups
Manage group sets and groups

Manage group sets and groups for Grade 12 IB in United States International example

A window with group sets for the selected class is displayed. Add will add a new group set with 2 predefined groups and Edit opens a window to manage groups for the selected group set. For each group you can specify name and short name.

Let's see some examples. In Example 3 5-A class is divided into French and German groups, and related cards are clipped so they will always be scheduled on the same position. In Egypt example 11A class is divided into Art, Cooking and Music groups. Open United States International example and choose 'Owl > Manage > Classes', select 'Grade 12 IB' and click Groups button to inspect groups.

Bare in mind, dragging cards related to different set of groups on the same day and period causes a conflict (red notification). For instance, if there are 2 group sets, Boys and Girls and another group set English, French and Spanish, then mixing Boys with English group will cause a conflict. In order to avoid it, use groups from the same set of groups (the same row), e.g. Boys and Girls, or English and French group. Another way is to pin cards to ignore conflict.

Let's say that two or more classes have the same or similar group sets. Instead of adding group sets for each class you can simply add them once and then copy to other classes:

  • Choose Manage > Classes, select class and click Groups
  • Select group set(s) and click Copy
  • Select classes you want to copy group set(s) to
  • Click Ok

Students

learner,pupil,junior,scholar,add student

  • Choose Manage > Classes
  • Select a class on the list
  • Click Students

Each student has name, short name and groups it belongs to. By adding activities for groups, students belonging to these groups will be assigned to these activities as well.

Students can be imported, sorted, reordered, printed and you can view their statistics.

Each student should be assigned to only one (or zero) groups per group set. For instance, if the group set is French Spanish and German then you should assign only one of these groups per student. If school curriculum allows picking two or more languages from the list then you should revise above group set into French, Spanish, German, French + Spanish, French + German, Spanish + German groups.

The generator will make sure there are no mixes between groups from different group sets on the same position, and thus prevent and resolve student conflicts for you. Additionally, notifications will warn you whenever a conflict occurs.

Individual class view can be filtered by specific student and the browser's URL is updated accordingly, so each student gets a link to their timetable.

Also, while publishing timetable you can get the links to all student timetables.

Alternatively, students can be managed as classes or groups. For instance, students are managed as classes in English College Example as there are fewer students.

lesson,lessons,activities,section,assignment,assign,allocate,allocation

Activities

Choose Manage > Activities to manage and filter activities or view statistics. When adding, editing or copying activities the following can be specified:

  • Teacher(s) - one or more teachers involved in activity (or choose 'No teacher' option)
  • Subject - e.g. Math, English, Biology, but also Lunch, Teacher meeting and similar
  • Class - A class involved in activity, e.g. "Grade 5A" (or choose 'No class' option)
  • Groups - Add specific group(s) to handle electives or include more classes in the activity
  • Activities per cycle - a total number of recurring activities in one cycle, e.g. a class can have 5 English lessons in a week
  • Activity length - a Single, Double, Triple and so on, e.g. if period interval is 30 minutes and the activity lasts 1 hour, the length should be set to Double
  • Desired room - A room where an activity occurs (usually one room, exception might be PE requiring Sports Hall and Gym)
  • Alternative room(s) - If the desired room is unavailable, the generator will try to allocate the activity in alternative rooms

To speed up the process, it's recommended to import activities via Excel/Sheets. By adding activities, cards are created for specified resources. The cards can be freely dragged to the desired time slot or you can let the generator create the schedule for you.

With a couple of adds you can add any combination of activities and their length. Let's say Math teacher John has 3 Single and 1 Double activity in Grade 5:

  • Choose Manage > Activities > Add
  • Select Math, teacher John, Grade 5, 3 times per cycle, Single length and click Add
  • Click Add to add another activity
  • Again, select Math, teacher John, Grade 5, but this time choose 1 time per cycle and Double length and click Add

More... and Groups allow adding activities with more teachers, classes, groups and rooms, e.g. more teachers are needed for teacher meeting and more classes are needed for lunch. You can also combine groups from different classes.

Click "Total: " above the activities grid to switch between full and short names.

recess,snack,break,cafeteria

Lunch

In order to manage lunch, snack, recess, break or similar, add a new period e.g. "Lunch" and place pinned cards there or forbid the whole period.

Lunch as pinned cards

Kindergarten through 5th grade example shows lunch as pinned cards

Lunch as forbidden positions

United States International example shows lunch as forbidden periods

meetings, preparatory, prep, prep time, prep-time, preparation, prepare

Other teacher activities

Other teacher activities include meetings, prep time and similar. There are two common ways to manage meetings: add one activity for several teachers or add meeting activity for each teacher separately and then clip related cards.

  • Add "Teacher meeting" as a subject
  • Add new activity
    • Set Teacher meeting as a subject
    • Assign related teachers by clicking More...
    • Leave classes/groups empty
    • Optionally add desired room
  • Switch to teacher master view and drag meeting cards to desired position and optionally pin them
  • Add teacher meeting as a new activity for each teacher separately
  • Switch to teacher master view and drag meeting cards to desired position
  • Clip related meeting cards so they are scheduled/dragged together
  • Add subject called "Prep"
  • Add related activity, e.g. select specific teacher, "Prep" subject, "No class", set 5 activities per cycle and Single for length

That will create 5 prep cards for the teacher which you can freely drag to desired time slot and pin. Otherwise, the generator can schedule prep time for you, e.g. in order to ensure only one prep time per day/teacher:

  • Switch to subject master view and pick unwanted marker
  • Mark all days and periods as unwanted for "Prep" subject
  • Mouse over the first column for the "Prep" subject and set Allowed number of unwanted activities per day to 1

The generator will try to put only one prep time per day or otherwise, show an error. As an alternative, you can also add a class called "Prep" and assign it when adding Prep activity. In that way, you don't need to specify unwanted marks since the generator will automatically make sure that "Prep" class/teacher has only 1 prep activity per day.

Tags

In order to efficiently organize and use entered data, set tags for resources. Multiple tags are separated with comma, e.g. "9th graders, High school", or "Eng, Middle school". That way, you can filter activities in the Middle school (and export related statistics), create English teachers meeting or copy constraints to 9th graders without having to select them one by one.

  • Choose Manage > Teachers, select the desired teacher in the grid and click Edit
  • Expand
  • Set tags as e.g. "Eng, Upper school" (without quotes)
  • Optionally, click Copy to to assign the same tags for other teachers
  • Click Edit

Now you can filter activities by English teachers and export related statistics, or filter only English teachers when adding activities or creating view.

  • Choose Manage > Classes, select the desired class in the grid and click Edit
  • Expand
  • Set tags as e.g. "5th graders" (without quotes)
  • Optionally, click Copy to to assign the same tags for other classes
  • Click Edit

Now you can filter activities by 5th graders and export related statistics, or filter only 5th graders when adding activities or creating view.

  • Choose Manage > Rooms, select the desired room in the grid and click Edit
  • Expand
  • Set tags as e.g. "Lab, 1st floor" (without quotes)
  • Optionally, click Copy to to assign the same tags for other rooms
  • Optionally, set Capacity and Building name
  • Click Edit

Now you can filter activities by specific tag, e.g. "Lab" or "1st floor", capacity or building name and export related statistics or filter rooms by tags, capacity or building name, e.g when adding activities or creating view.

  • Choose Manage > Subjects, select the desired subject in the grid and click Edit
  • Expand
  • Set tags as e.g. "Eng, Language" (without quotes)
  • Optionally, click Copy to to assign the same tags for other subjects
  • Click Edit

Now you can filter activities by English subjects and export related statistics or create related view.

History

The state(s) of timetables can be controlled by using the Undo/Redo commands and the History panel. To undo the latest action click . To redo the latest undone action click . To display or hide the History panel click .

Timetabling history

Use History panel to undo/redo several actions at once

Use History panel to jump to any recent state of the timetable created during the current working session. Each time you apply a change to timetable, the new state is added to the panel. For example, if you drag a card, draw constraints, improve timetable, each of those states is listed separately in the panel. When you select one of the states, the timetable reverts to how it was when that change was first applied. You can then work from that state. Once you reopen or save the document, all states from the working session are cleared from the panel. If needed, History panel can be resized and dragged elsewhere.

Any action that causes a change to data will be listed in the History panel. Instantly saved actions, such as publishing timetable, changing school name and choosing a different skin will not be listed.

The oldest state is displayed at the top of the list, while the most recent one is at the bottom. When you select a state, the states below it are dimmed. That way you can see which changes will be discarded if you continue working from the selected state.

History remembers the previous 100 states. Adjust the number in the options.

stats,report,reports,track,tracking,hours

Statistics

  • Choose Manage > Activities
  • Total number of resources, activities and hours is displayed in the row just above the activities grid
  • In the beginning of the row click the teacher icon to cycle through teachers, classes, rooms and subjects statistics
  • Select a teacher or tag from the combo to filter activities and see the total activities count and total working hours

Teacher's activities can be filtered by specific subject in case they teach two or more subjects.

  • Click the teacher icon above activities grid to filter activities by class
  • Open class combo to filter activities by specific class/tag and group/student and see their total activities count and total hours
  • Choose Manage > Activities
  • Set desired filters above the grid
  • Click TXT icon to export report in tab separated values file
  • Open file with spreadsheet app or copy/paste the content of file into spreadsheet app to customize and print

Based on selected filters you can export statistics for teachers, classes, rooms or subjects, as well as individual teacher, class, group, student, room or subject statistics. Individual statistics provide more details, e.g. if a teacher teaches two or more subjects, the statistics will be displayed for each subject separately. If some activities are not scheduled, total hours will be approximated based on the average period length.

In order to export more detailed (individual) statistics in one file, hold CtrlCmd when no filter is selected, or when filtering by tags, capacity or building name and click TXT icon.

7. Views

Timetable views

Each view consists of:

  • View type icon
  • Timetable with related cards and
  • Area with unscheduled cards

The view type icon is placed in the top left corner, below the owl, and opens the view picker. The timetable displays cards for the currently selected view. Timetable width can be adjusted by dragging the vertical splitter which divides scheduled from unscheduled cards.

Views are highly interactive, for instance:

  • When you select a card in one view, the app will select and scroll to that card in any opened view and the selected card will blink so you can easily spot it. You can also select more cards at once to perform bulk actions.
  • Any change in one view, e.g. dragging a card or improving the timetable, instantly updates all other views and notifications
  • Markers, pin and sponge can be used in any view
  • The shadow of the dragged card appears in all extra views helping you avoid conflicts
  • The details of the last selected or mouse overed card are displayed in the bottom left corner
  • Use horizontal and vertical scrollbar to navigate across larger or zoomed in timetables
  • As you move the mouse cursor over the timetable, the related day, period and resource names will be shaded to show you the exact position
  • Right mouse click any card or day/period/resource name to open the context menu with more options
  • When the view is changed, the browser's URL is updated accordingly, so you can share URL of a specific master/individual view and Back/Forward buttons can be used to switch to previously opened views

Master views

By default, there are 4 predefined views showing classes, teachers, rooms and subjects but you can also add your own views. Each master view displays the list of related resources in the first column along with cards in the respective rows. Unscheduled cards are grouped by subject and placed outside of the timetable in the same row where the resource is.

Open the view picker and choose , , or to switch to the related master view.

Individual views

In order to switch to individual class, teacher, room or subject view, click the first column (resource name) in the related master view. Individual class view can be filtered by specific student or group(s) (if you have added them). Click student or group to view their individual timetable and click again to remove the filter.

Filtering class view to get individual student timetable

Filtering 6A view to get individual student timetable for Donna Gordon

When the view is changed, the browser's URL is updated accordingly, so you can share a specific student/class/teacher's URL to others provided they have access or the timetable is published online.

Extra views

Extra views can help avoid conflicts, as they provide additional master and individual views all in one screen. Moreover, there is no need to constantly switch between the views, as you get a clear overview of the whole timetable. The shadow of the dragged card appears in all opened views, so you can avoid conflicts while manually dragging the card.

To show or hide extra view:

  • Click any card so that card details are displayed in the bottom left corner
  • Click the class, teacher, room or subject icon in the card details

Video tutorial: How to use extra views

  • Click in the top right corner of the docked extra view

Floated extra view can be freely dragged and resized.

The height of the main and extra views can be adjusted by dragging the horizontal splitters up and down.

custom view

Manage views

In order to create your own view, e.g. to display 5th graders or English teachers only:

  • Choose from the view picker and click Add
  • Type name and short name
  • Choose view type: classes, teachers, rooms or subjects
  • Select resources you want displayed
  • Optionally exclude days/periods and click Add

Now you can schedule, publish, export, customize or print created view.

Video tutorial: How to manage views

  • Choose the desired icon in the view picker

The icon contains the first 3 letters of its short name. For instance:

  • Choose from the view picker
  • Use up/down arrows to reorder views
  • Select view and click Edit
  • Change visibility
  • Click Edit

Hidden on the web means that the view won't be displayed on the published page. For instance, subjects view is often used to mark forbidden positions for difficult subjects, etc. However, it's of no interest to others and therefore can be hidden on the published page. Hidden in the app is the opposite option.

If a view is not needed, e.g. rooms are not scheduled, you can simply hide rooms view by setting its Visibility to Hidden.

Zoom

  • Click in the bottom right corner
  • Use vertical slider to adjust row height (master and individual views are adjusted separately)
  • Use horizontal slider to adjust column width which helps when there are lots of days and periods

Note that row height is also preserved while printing.

Browser also comes with built-in zoom:

  • Hold CtrlCmd and press + or - to zoom in or zoom out
  • Hold CtrlCmd and press 0 to reset zoom to default value

8. Cards

Timetable cards

Cards are a visual representation of an activity. For instance, if the activity occurs 5 times a week, then 5 cards will be created and displayed in the related view. Initially, cards are placed in the same row where related resource is, in the area with other unscheduled cards. You can freely dragged them to the desired time slot or let the generator create the schedule for you.

The size of cards depend on activity length and whether they include the whole class or only a group. For instance, if activity length is set to Double, then the related card requires two (empty) time slots. If a card is created for a specific group in the group set containing two groups, then it will take only half the size, leaving the space for the other group card to be scheduled at the same time slot. The size of cards scheduled on custom periods depends on period interval rather than activity length.

Cards are created for each resource and are always sheduled together, e.g. when adding teacher meetings if you start dragging one card, the others will follow.

In case you don't know which resources should be involved in meeting, PE or some other activity, you can add a separate activity for each resource and later decide by merging or clipping cards.

Drag and drop

move,change,move card

  • Select card by clicking it with the left mouse button
  • While keeping the left mouse button pressed, drag card to a new position
  • Drop card by releasing the left mouse button

On touch devices use a finger to drag cards.

Two or more cards on the same position will be slightly rotated and a conflict notification will appear. Clicking a card below will bring it on top. There are many ways to resolve conflicts:

Cards can only be dragged horizontally across the class, teacher and subject master views to prevent changing the resource by mistake. Room master view allows dragging cards vertically to change scheduled, desired or alternative room. In individual views cards can also be dragged both ways because that affects only day/period.

Note that card can be dragged to a non desired/alternative room. However, this will change the desired/alternative room for that activity and potentially scheduled room for other related cards. Similarly, if you change desired/alternative rooms while editing an activity, all related cards will be updated, too. If this behavior is not desired and you want to freely drag cards in the room master view without affecting related cards, add all rooms as alternative rooms for that activity.

status, status bar, card info

Card details

The details of the last selected card (or the currently mouse overed card if there is no selection) are displayed in the bottom left corner. Icons show/hide related extra views. The text selects a resource in the related grid. Click to edit activity represented by the selected card.

Card details

Showing details of the last selected card: subject, teachers, classes and scheduled + [desired] + (alternative) rooms

Select multiple cards

Select multiple cards in order to perform actions on more than one card. For instance, drag and drop cards, or edit multiple cards, clip, copy, pin/unpin, merge/split, etc. via card's context menu. Click and drag the cursor across timetable. A rectangular marquee will appear, with one corner where you started dragging and the opposite corner where you stopped and all cards inside the marquee will be selected.

Selecting multiple cards by surrounding desired cards with the mouse

Selecting multiple cards using rectangular marquee

  • Hold CtrlCmd while clicking cards to add or remove cards from the selection
  • Hold CtrlCmd while clicking day, period or resource name to (de)select the whole day, period or resource cards
  • Hold Shift while you click the last card that you want to include in the new selection. The rectangular range between the active card and the card that you click becomes the new selection.

Click empty cell to reset selection or click any non-selected card without pressing any keys to start a new selection.

  • Hold CtrlCmd and click the top right corner of the timetable

If there are no unscheduled cards then all scheduled cards will be selected. Otherwise, all unscheduled cards are selected.

This can be useful if you want to pin, delete or edit all (un)scheduled cards in which case you need to right mouse click any selected card and choose desired option from the context menu. For instance, pinned unscheduled cards are ignored by the generator.

Edit cards

change,change cards,teaching

  • Select one or multiple cards
  • Right mouse click any selected card and choose Edit cards
  • Change subject, teacher(s), class(es)/group(s), length, desired or alternative rooms
  • Click Edit

substitute,substitution,absence

  • Switch to teacher master view and hold CtrlCmd while clicking teacher name to select all teacher's cards
  • Right mouse click any selected card and choose Edit cards
  • Choose different teacher
  • Click Edit

homeroom,home room

  • Switch to teacher master view and hold CtrlCmd while clicking teacher name to select all teacher's cards
  • Right mouse click any selected card and choose Edit cards
  • Choose desired room
  • Click Edit
  • Select one or multiple cards where teacher assistant(s) are needed
  • Right mouse click any selected card and choose Edit cards
  • Click More... next to selected teachers ( note that current selected teachers are displayed as "Current")
  • Select teacher assistant(s), click Ok and then Edit

repeat

Copy/paste cards

Cards can be copied from one resource/day/period to another:

  • Select one or multiple cards
  • Right mouse click any selected card/day/period and choose Copy
  • Right mouse click resource name, desired day or period
  • Choose Paste from the context menu
Copy/paste cards

Right mouse click day to open context menu

clear,remove,delete

Clear/delete cards

  • Click the and then click card, day, period or resource name, or
  • Right mouse click any card, day, period or resource name and choose Clear from the context menu

Cleared cards will be placed outside the timetable, along with other unscheduled cards.

  • Click the and then click the top right corner, or
  • Hold Shift key while clicking the sponge tool
  • Right mouse click unscheduled card(s) and choose Delete from the context menu
  • Select one or multiple unscheduled cards and then press CtrlCmd + Backspace
  • Choose Manage > Activities, multi-select activities and click Delete

Merge/split cards

Merge allows combining two or more cards into one, thus avoiding conflicts:

  • Right mouse click any conflicted/rotated card to open the context menu
  • Choose Merge

Two or more cards can be merged into one if they are on the same position, have the same subject, length and (scheduled, desired and alternative) rooms, but different teacher(s) and/or class(es)/group(s).

Video tutorial: How to merge cards

Split is the opposite of merge as it creates more cards out of the one when there is more than one group or teacher. For instance, if card has 2 teachers and 3 groups, 6 new cards will be created after split all with only one teacher and one group. In order to split card:

  • Select card(s) which have more than one teacher or group
  • Right mouse click selected card(s) to open context menu
  • Choose Split

Customize cards

change text,template,style,custom text,edit card text,change card text,change card name,edit card name,rename card,card text,change text

To change the text, background color and border in any master or individual view:

  • Right mouse click the card and choose Customize from the context menu or
  • Choose Print > Customize Cards

The opened customization panel shows the related card enlarged. Changing the text, background color or border will update cards in the related view.

Video tutorial: How to customize cards

The text inside the cards can be any combination of class, teacher, room or subject names, their short names or even custom text. Selecting the text options from the list will add the related text to the cards, while clicking a row in the enlarged card will remove it.

Background card color can be picked from the current class, teacher, room or subject, or you can choose no background color.

Card border can be set to: round, square, round (no border) and square (no border).

  • Select one or more cards
  • Right mouse click any selected card and choose Customize
  • Choose Set custom text option from the list
  • Enter text that will be displayed in individual views
  • Enter short text that will be displayed in master views

If you change your mind, click Use default to remove custom text. All textual fields support HTML tags so you can get creative and additionally style the look of your timetable.

Master and individual are customized independently, e.g. you might want to choose short names for the master view and full names for individual views. For instance, if you want to add room short names to all cards in the teacher master view and room names to all cards in the teacher's individual timetables:

  • Switch to teacher master view
  • Right mouse click any card, choose Customize and add room short name
  • Switch to any teacher individual view
  • Right mouse click any card, choose Customize and add room name to all individual teacher timetables

In a similar way, you can customize any other master/individual view. Also, you can create your own view and customize it independently, otherwise, styles are inherited from the related predefined master/individual view.

All customization changes are preserved when you create a copy of timetable. Also, creating a new timetable will copy the customization from the previously opened one.

9. Constraints

time request,block,forbid,restrict,availability,not allowed,time off,part-time teacher

Markers

Marker draws or erases forbidden, unwanted or mandatory positions for classes, teachers, rooms and subjects. When a marker is selected, previously drawn marks will color (red, yellow and blue) while the cards fade away. To draw or erase marks click on any position in the timetable view or any day/period/resource with a selected marker. To drop the marker press Esc or click outside of the timetable.

Markers can be used in any master, individual or extra view and notifications will be updated upon any change.
Specifying constraints with markers

Forbidden (red minus), unwanted (yellow exclamation mark) and mandatory (blue plus) marks in the teacher master view

  • Pick the eraser Eraser marker to erase already drawn marks
  • Mouse over the first column in the timetable while using the marker for forbidden, unwanted or mandatory positions
  • Click Copy to
  • Select resources and click Ok

block,forbid,time off,time request,break

Red marker

In order to draw forbidden positions for specific resources:

  • Switch to the desired view
  • Pick the red marker Forbidden position marker to draw/erase minus signs

For instance, you can specify when a part-time teacher is not available, avoid students having the last period on Friday, forbid already booked room position, avoid having difficult subjects on the last period or ignore gaps.

Video tutorial: How to draw forbidden positions

Yellow marker

Drawing unwated positions is used to avoid or completely miss certain positions for specific subject or resource:

  • Switch to the desired view and pick the yellow marker Unwanted position marker to draw/erase unwanted positions which are displayed as yellow exclamation marks
  • Mouse over the first column (resource name) to open unwanted settings
  • Set allowed number of unwanted activities per week/day
If allowed number of unwanted activities per week/day is set to Arbitrary which is a default value, unwanted positions will be completely ignored by the generator.
  • Choose Open > Open Examples and open Example 3 where all classes have 2 lessons of Physics per week
  • Switch to the subject master view and pick the yellow marker
  • Note that there are 5 drawn unwanted marks displayed as exclamation marks for Physics at the end of every day
  • Mouse over Physics subject to note that Allowed number of unwanted activities per week is set to 1

This means that only one lesson of Physics per class is allowed at the last period. Otherwise, there will be a warning when clicking the bell icon and the automatic generator will try to fix this constraint for you.

Blue marker

Drawing mandatory positions is used to favor or mandate certain positions for specific subject or resource:

  • Switch to the desired view and pick the blue marker Mandatory position marker to draw/erase mandatory positions which are displayed as blue plus signs
  • Mouse over the first column (resource name) to open mandatory settings
  • Set allowed number of missed mandatory activities per week/day
If allowed number of missed mandatory activities is set to Arbitrary which is a default value, mandatory positions will be completely ignored by the generator.
Mandatory settings

Marker settings when mandatory marker is selected

  • Choose Open > Open Examples and open Example 3 where all classes have 2 lessons of Physics per week
  • Switch to the subject master view and pick the blue marker
  • Note that there are 15 drawn mandatory marks (plus signs) for Physics (3 first periods x 5 days)
  • Mouse over Physics subject to note that 'Allowed number of missed mandatory activities per week' is set to 14

This means that one lesson (15 mandatory - 14 allowed to be missed = 1 mandatory) of Physics per class must be placed within the first three periods. Otherwise, there will be a warning when clicking the bell icon and the automatic generator will try to fix this constraint for you.

lock cards, fix cards

Pin

  • Click Pin/unpin timetable tool and then click card(s), day(s), period(s) or resource(s) you want to pin/unpin, or
  • Right mouse click any card, day, period, resource and choose Pin/Unpin from the context menu

The pin is useful when you are satisfied with the position of card(s) and want to make sure that these cards won't be moved while improving the timetable. Additionally, by pinning conflicted (rotated) cards related error notifications will be removed. Also, pinned unscheduled cards will be ignored by the generator. To drop the pin press Esc or click an empty cell.

Video tutorial: How to pin cards

join,clipping,link,relation

Clip

Clipped cards have a little clip icon in the top left corner and will be scheduled, selected, dragged and removed all together. Clipping can be useful for electives, e.g. when one class group has French and the other German language (see Example 3) or when two or more activities from different classes needs to be scheduled at the same time. In order to clip two or more cards:

  • Select multiple cards
  • Right mouse click any selected card
  • Choose Clip

Video tutorial: How to clip cards

Cards which are going to be clipped should be scheduled on the same day/period and have the same length. Otherwise, clip option won't be visible in the context menu. Also, the app won't allow clipping conflicted cards to avoid creating a timetable which is impossible to improve, so additional rules for clipping are:

  • Cards which are going to be clipped shouldn't include the same teacher. Instead of clipping consider merging cards or adding an activity with more classes/groups for that teacher.
  • If the cards which are going to be clipped belong to the same class, then each card should have a different group from the same group set. Otherwise, if groups belong to different group sets consider revising groups or using pin to ignore conflicts rather than clip.
  • There should be enough rooms so that all clipped cards can be scheduled, e.g. if two cards have the same desired room with no alternatives. Consider merging cards instead of clipping.
  • Click any already clipped card
  • Hold CtrlCmd to add additional cards to selection
  • Right mouse click any selected card
  • Choose Clip
  • Right mouse click any already clipped card
  • Choose Unclip

10. Generate

Improve timetable

generator,solver,builder,optimizer,creator,scheduler,engine,optimize,play,module,automatic

Click to start improving the timetable. The automatic generator will try to find the best solution by rearranging cards in order to solve all constraints and avoid any conflicts.

Video tutorial: How to automatically generate a school timetable

  • Hold Shift key while clicking
  • Use keyboard shortcut: CtrlCmd + Shift + Space
  • Clear all cards and then click

Best practices

  • First generate a timetable with no constraints at all and then gradually add them. If the timetable can't be generated even without constraints revise your entered data by checking statistics.
  • The generator will always try to find a better solution no matter how hard the constraints. If there is no progress for a couple of seconds or so, stop the generator and revise constraints or data.
  • Always follow basic timetabling rule: One school resource during one period can be scheduled in only one activity, otherwise, there is a conflict. If you need more resources click Groups or More... to add activities with more than one group, class, teacher or room.
  • As long as there are cards scheduled on forbidden positions, card conflicts or class gaps, the generator will not be working on improving the rest of the timetable because of priorities.
  • Click to open notifications and start resolving them, e.g. pin or merge conflicted/rotated cards, or mark gap position as forbidden, or clip elective cards.
  • Keep in mind that all changes can be reverted using history.

Improvement priorities

Automatic generator is supposed to solve about thirty highly complex requirements. Since these are commonly conflicted and it is usually impossible to solve them all, priority levels have been introduced, which the generator manages in the following way: lower priority requirements will not be solved as long as there are unsolved higher priority requirements.

The problem is that the generator is not always capable of detecting that some requirements cannot be satisfied and will keep trying to solve them at all costs, perpetually working without progress, leaving the rest of the timetable in poor state. That's why it is necessary to prepare quality data in order to help the generator do its best. Notifications are an irreplaceable tool for this task. However, some of the oversights made while entering data cannot be seen even in the notifications. The problem can be solved only if you abide by the following rules:

  • Do not expect an instantly perfect timetable, because it is impossible to know beforehand whether such timetable is even possible
  • At first, set moderate requirements and let the generator automatically create the timetable
  • Only when you manage to get a valid timetable should you gradually increase the requirements and start the automatic improvement again

The generator recognizes three levels of priority, each consisting of a number of individual requirements:

1. Fatal error level

This group includes:

  • card conflicts
  • cards scheduled on forbidden positions
  • class gaps

As long as any of these errors exist, the generator will not be working on improving the rest of the timetable. Here are some typical beginner mistakes that should be avoided at all costs:

  • A teacher/class has so many forbidden positions that some cards must be placed on a forbidden time slot
  • There are more activities you want to put in a room or assign to a teacher than the total number of periods in the timetable
  • Too many forbidden positions for a specific activity and related resources

2. Difficult warning level

Difficult warning level includes only one item: a subject taught in some classes more than once a day. You should make sure to enter as many subjects as really taught in the school and choose the right subject for each activity.

3. Warning level

There are over twenty different warnings that might appear in notifications. The generator will solve them only when all other errors and warnings have been solved.

11. Validate

validator,verify,verification,correct,health,status

Notifications

Notification number in the bell icon shows the total number of errors or warnings. The number is instantly updated along with notifications upon any change. The bell icon shows or hides the notification panel. The panel can be dragged and resized to best suit your device screen.

Video tutorial: How to validate a timetable

The timetable is valid if there are no notifications, which means that all entered requirements and constraints have been resolved. The red notification indicates that the timetable has a fatal error which needs to be fixed, whereas the blue one represents a warning. When red or blue notifications are clicked, related cells will blink in the view, making it easy to spot the problem. To stop blinking click the category title or click the bell icon to hide notification panel.

resolve,ignore,exception,error,warning,errors,warnings,clash

Resolve notifications

In some cases there might be exceptions to the rules, e.g. two or more cards might be purposely scheduled at the same time causing a conflict, or a class gap should be allowed only for lunch (otherwise gaps are forbidden), or unscheduled card(s) should be ignored, etc. These exceptions will appear in notifications and must be resolved first at all costs, before the automatic generator can move towards solving other constraints and conflicts.

Conflicts should be resolved by merging cards. If merging is not possible or desired (e.g. conflicted cards have different subject, room(s) or length), pin conflicted/rotated cards and related notifications will be removed.

In order to resolve gaps, mark a gap as forbidden and related notifications will be removed.

Also, both gaps and "missing groups in the classes" can be resolved by unchecking Forbid gaps:

  • Choose Manage > Classes, select a class and click Edit
  • Expand and uncheck Forbid gaps
  • Click Edit

The notification "subject taught more than once a day" can be resolved by pinning these cards or

  • Choose Manage > Subjects, select a subject and click Edit
  • Expand and check Taught more than once a day
  • Click Edit

The notification "too many difficult or too few easy subjects in a day" can be resolved by setting difficulty to Low for each subject:

  • Choose Manage > Subjects and click Edit
  • Expand and set difficulty to Low
  • Click Copy to, then Select all and confirm with Ok

If you pin unscheduled cards the generator will ignore them and the related notifications will be removed.

Non-teaching activities (teacher meeting, preparation, lunch, etc.) shouldn't affect teacher/class load, e.g. max. activities in a row, max./min. activities per day and similar. Furthermore, it might be helpeful instead of resolving to just ignore "desired conflicts", e.g. for Physical Education (PE) in the Gym. In both cases, consider excluding subjects from the generator and notifications.

12. Export

Save as local file

  • Choose Save as > Local File

Timetable will be downloaded to your disc as an JSON file which can be opened later.

More details about our JSON timetable format can be found in this document.
The app consumes RESTful API and any software can access published timetables and parse the data. For instance, here is a direct link for Example 3 in JSON. You can also consider parsing CSV/TSV outputs.

SIS,MIS,integration,integrate,Student Information Systems,School Management Information System,third-party software

Save as custom file

  • Choose Save as > Custom File
  • Select PowerSchool, iSAMS, SmartSchool or Siged format
  • Customize options and click Download

Use downloaded file to import timetable to other software such as SIS, MIS or similar.

  • Choose Save as > Custom File and select PowerSchool format
  • Optionally set School ID, Term ID, Block prefix and whether subject's name and short name should be switched in the exported columns
  • Click Download and open downloaded file using Notepad or similar software
  • Select the content (e.g. hold down CtrlCmd and press A), right mouse click and choose Copy
  • Switch to Excel/Sheets, e.g. here is a spreadsheet for PowerSchool Import Data Template Instructions
  • Right mouse click cell, e.g. B4 in the above spreadsheet, and choose Paste

The columns in the created PowerSchool file are:

School ID Course Number Course Name Section Number Term ID Teacher Number Teacher Name Room Expression
Specified before exporting Subject ID Subject name Class ID Specified before exporting Teacher ID Teacher name Room ID(s) Period and day short names

* ID is equal to Custom ID or related short name if Custom ID is not specified.

The columns in the iSAMS file are:

PeriodId Set Code Year Group (optional) Subject Teacher Room
= periodCount * (day - 1) + period Class ID + Group ID Class name Group ID Subject ID Teacher ID Room ID

* ID is equal to Custom ID or related short name if Custom ID is not specified.

The columns in the SmartSchool file are:

Activity Class Group (optional) Teacher Subject Room Day Period
Counter Class ID Group ID Teacher ID Subject ID Room ID Day position Period position

* ID is equal to Custom ID or related short name if Custom ID is not specified.

The columns in the Siged file are:

Activity Class Group (optional) Teacher Subject Room Day Start period End period
Counter Class ID Group ID Teacher ID Subject ID Room ID Day position Start position End position

* ID is equal to Custom ID or related short name if Custom ID is not specified.

Hold CtrlCmd and click Download to include period start and end time columns (useful for custom periods).

Save as spreadsheet(s)

In order to export timetable(s) to the spreadsheet app:

  • Switch to the desired master view
  • Choose Save as > Spreadsheet(s)
  • Choose current timetable view or all related individual timetables and click Download
  • Open downloaded html document and select the desired timetable(s) by making a rectangular marquee around them
  • Right mouse click selection and choose Copy
  • Switch to Excel or Sheets, right mouse click cell and choose Paste
  • Create a view which displays only 5th graders or only English teachers or only some days/periods
  • Choose Save as > Spreadsheet(s)

Export grid data

In order to export activities:

  • Choose Manage > Activities
  • Select all activities by making a rectangular marquee around the activities grid: click outside the grid (top-left corner), hold the left mouse button while moving the cursor to the bottom-right corner of the grid
  • Right mouse click inside the grid and choose Copy from the context menu
  • Switch to Excel or Sheets, right mouse click the desired cell and choose Paste

In a similar way you can export teachers, subjects, rooms, classes/groups, days, periods or any other data displayed in the grid.

13. Share

user,users

Share with others

Choose Share > Share with others to manage people who have access to school timetables. The following roles are available:

  • Owner
  • Creator
  • Viewer

Owner is a person who created the school account and is allowed to manage timetables as well as other users and their roles. Creator can manage timetables whereas Viewer is only allowed to view timetables without moving cards or saving changes.

Collaboration

concurrency,multiple users,sync,multi-user

Timetablers can collaborate on the same timetable and at the same time. All saved changes will be seamlessly synced and merged across any device you or your colleagues might be using. For instance, one timetabler can change a teacher's name and the other one their short name, but there will be no overwrites after saving changes.

In the rarest edge case when merging is not possible (e.g. timetablers have both changed the same teacher's name), the app uses "last save wins" model: the name saved by the latter timetabler will overwrite the name saved by the former, while all other changes will be properly merged. Changes made to previously deleted resources will be ignored.

In some cases merging on property level is not desired, e.g. when timetablers change the position of the same card. Merging could cause picking day from one, period from the second and room from the third timetabler. The app takes care of this so that the card's position (day, period and room) set by the last timetabler is respected.

Timetable is updated only when saving changes or when reopened (so timetablers are not being disturbed by potential changes made by others), while published web page is updated within minutes to make sure the latest changes are delivered to all.

Publish to the Web

In order to publish a timetable:

  • Choose Share > Publish to the Web
  • Click Publish
  • Click Copy to share link with others
  • Optionally, click Visit published page to open it in the new window

In that way a class/group, student or a teacher can have direct access to their timetable simply by bookmarking the web page which shows it. Note that individual class view can be filtered by specific student or group.

The published web page is accessible from any device, including phones and tablets. The displayed timetable automatically updates itself to ensure the latest changes have been delivered to all.

  • Choose Share > Publish to the Web and click Publish
  • Choose a skin
  • Choose period format: period number or name, 12-hour or 24-hour clock
  • Choose initially displayed view
  • Check whether you want to resize periods based on duration
  • Expand to check whether switching view is allowed, or to check whether you want to preserve the current zoom values for the master and individual views or to download all links for individual timetables

Choose Open > Timetable Info to set school name and year which are displayed on the published web page.

Check 'Preserve zoom values' and the current zoom values for the master and individual views will also be used on the published web page. For instance, the following URL shows timetable with 150% vertical zoom set in both master and individual views and 200% horizontal zoom in the master view (note that 'zx=200&zy=150&zy1=150' are added to URL): published page for Example 3.

By default, conflicts are not rotated and forbidden and other marks are not displayed on the published page. You can override this behavior by adding rotate=1 and/or showMarks=1 to the URL.

  • Create a view for specific resources, days and periods
  • Choose Share > Publish to the Web
  • Choose Share > Social Networks
  • If timetable is not published, click Publish and customize it by choosing skin, period format, etc.
  • Click or to share timetable on Facebook or Twitter
  • Choose Share > Embed Timetable
  • If timetable is not published, click Publish and choose skin, period format, etc.
  • Copy generated Html code and paste it into your website
  • Optionally, adjust Html code to suit your website, e.g. change background color, size and similar
  • Choose Share > Publish to the Web
  • Click Unpublish

A previously published timetable will no longer be accessible to everyone.

Advanced customization

Timetables can be completely customized to match your school branding. With a bit of HTML and CSS knowledge you can:

  • Add custom school logo
  • Set custom font family, size and colors, e.g. to match styles in your school website
  • Make any other HTML or CSS changes

United States International and K-12 examples are already customized with the most common changes:

  • Open United States International or K-12 example
  • Choose Open > Timetable Info and expand
  • Examine Custom HTML and Custom CSS, copy/paste and adjust to suit your timetable needs
  • Choose Open > Timetable Info and expand
  • Copy and customize below CSS and paste it into Custom CSS:
    .c .t {
      font-size: 10px; /* set custom font size in the master view */
    }
    .single .c .t {
      font-size: 11px; /* set custom font size in individual views */
    }
    .title, .year, .dayBorder, .periodBorder, .nameBorder, .c .t {
      font-family: 'Open Sans'; /* change font family */
       font-weight: 300;
    }
  • Click Ok

All textual fields in the app support HTML tags so you can get creative and additionally style the look of your timetable. Below are some examples that you might find helpful.

Set period name to:

<b>Lunch</b><br/>11:00 - 11:30

That will display Lunch in bold weight and interval will be in the next line.

Set teacher name to:

<span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 14px; color: red;">Mr. John Cleese</span>

That will display Mr. John Cleese in red, with bold letters and larger font.

14. Print

15. Help

Options

Choose Help > Options to customize the following:

Skin

Choose blue (default), green, red, violet, orange, pink, cyan, brown, gray or dark skin.

time

Period format

Choose period name or number, 12-hour or 24-hour clock for displaying period intervals in the views. For instance, if you choose 'Name or 12-hour clock', you can customize a specific period by setting period name to e.g. "Lunch" thus overriding the default 12-hour clock display.

Default view

Set master view that will be displayed when application starts.

Save reminder

Set save reminder interval. Default is 20 minutes.

Resize periods based on duration

By default, all periods appear to have the same size in the view regardless of their actual duration. Check this option if you want to resize periods based on their actual duration.

Choose Help > Options and expand to customize the following:

History states

Set the number of history states that you can undo/redo.

Show tips & tricks

The owl will hoot useful info related to the current context if this option is checked. Experienced timetablers might want to hide tips & tricks and uncheck this option.

Rotate conflicted cards

Set whether or not conflicted cards should be rotated (checked by default).

Show notification number

Set whether notification number in the top right corner should be shown or hidden.

issue,problem,bug,error

Troubleshooting

  • Click in the top right corner:
    • Click My profile to make sure that you are logged in and that you are assigned Creator or Owner role
    • Check your expiration date because your account might have expired and you need to extend subscription

lock,locked,abuse,terminate

  • Save your schedule as a local file to create a backup on your device and optionally save changes on our server
  • Force refresh in your browser, e.g. CtrlCmd + F5 so the app can load properly
  • Try installing any other modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge...) and try again
  • If the issue persists, contact us and we will get back to you as soon as possible

Tips & tricks

prevent,loss,undo,restore,undelete,history

Before making any changes, consider the following:

In order to restore previous version:

  • Open a copy from the server, disc or archive
  • Restore previously deleted timetables
  • Recover data from daily backups:
    • Send us name and the exact date of the timetable you want to retrieve

If your internet connection is lost or our website is temporarily not available:

  • Contact us to make sure there is no workaround for your scenario.
  • Use pin to fix cards on specific positions that resolve your constraint and let the generator handle the rest. If the generator can't make a progress try pinning cards on different positions that also resolve your constraint.
  • Customize related cards so they are easy to spot, e.g. set red as a background color and/or uppercase custom text like 'MUST BE LAST!'. In that way, you can generate several valid solutions until your constraint is resolved. When timetable is finished you can set any other background color and/or remove custom text. Creating custom views which displays only specific resources, days and periods (instead of looking at the whole timetable) can also help in detecting whether constraint is resolved.

Keyboard shortcuts

Key combination Action Key combination Action
CtrlCmd+O Open timetable CtrlCmd+S Save changes
CtrlCmd+Z,Y Undo/redo Esc Drop marker/pin, cancel, close window
CtrlCmd+1 ... 9 Switch to related view CtrlCmd+Alt+1 ...9 Toggle extra view
CtrlCmd+,,Home,End Navigate through individual views F11 Toggle full-screen
CtrlCmd++,-,0 Zoom in/out/reset, hold Shift for vertical, Alt for horizontal zoom CtrlCmd+D Opens data window
CtrlCmd+Alt+D Manage days CtrlCmd+Alt+P Manage periods
Switch to left/right tab CtrlCmd+Alt+H Show or hide history panel
PgUp PgDn
Home End
Select up/down, page up/down or the first/last item in the grid/list Type first letters Find item in the grid/list
+ or Insert Add new item Enter Edit selected item, submit form
Alt +, Reorder items in the grid CtrlCmd +, Reorder items in the selection list
Backspace or Delete Delete selected items CtrlCmd + click Multi-select
Shift + click Range selection CtrlCmd+A Select all items
CtrlCmd+C Copy selected cards to clipboard CtrlCmd+V Paste items into grid
CtrlCmd+M Toggle marker CtrlCmd+. Toggle pin
CtrlCmd+Backspace Clear/delete selected cards CtrlCmd+Alt+N Toggle notifications
CtrlCmd+Space Improve timetable CtrlCmd+Shift+Space Generate from scratch
CtrlCmd+P Print timetable CtrlCmd+Shift+P Print individual timetables
CtrlCmd+Alt+Shift+P Publish to the Web CtrlCmd+U My profile
CtrlCmd+Alt+I Timetable info CtrlCmd+Alt+M Merge timetable
CtrlCmd+Alt+O Application options F1 User guide

Frequently asked questions

General questions

Watch getting started tutorials to get familiar with the basics. Videos are only a couple of minutes long, but equals a week long training seminar that you can watch at your own pace and serve great as a demo.

Additionally, you might want to inspect automatically generated examples and search user guide for any topic you are interested in, e.g. search for "part-time teacher", "lunch", "clip" and similar. Contact us if you have any question.

The app is used in many different educational organizations including:

  • Kindergarten, elementary or primary schools
  • Junior/middle/high or secondary schools
  • International schools
  • Private schools, e.g. language, art, music, dance, special education schools...
  • Campus schools
  • Universities

Due to flexibility, the app is also used for scheduling various events like:

  • School camps
  • Teacher duties
  • Exams
  • Courses
  • Online events
  • Conferences

However, there are some scenarios in which the app has limited capabilities or is not helpful at all. For instance, American college requires different scheduling software. Also, the app won't assign activities for you. Instead, you are in the full control when managing activities and the app helps in finding the optimal time slots for already assigned activities by avoiding conflicts and resolving constraints such as forbidden positions for part-time teachers and similar. Also, the app will help you to quickly change allocation (via bulk edit) and try different options to see what works for you, but again, it won't do any assignment for you. One example could be when you want the app to optimize the number of students and reschedule them in some other activities. This is something you need to do manually, e.g. assign students to different groups and control the number of students in these groups on your own so they are optimal based on your requirements. The only exception to 'no assignment rule' is when you specify 'Alternative rooms' then if the desired room is unavailable, the generator will try to allocate the activity in alternative rooms.

When in doubt please contact us and tell us more about your scheduling requirements.

In order to evaluate some printing/exporting options you need to open one of our examples. Other than that, no limits.

There is no need to create more than one account. Instead, choose Share > Share with others to manage people who have access to school timetables. The following roles are available: Owner, Creator and Viewer.

Data questions

Yes. Check this example for all-in-one timetable. If there are different period intervals for specific grades then use custom periods and take a look at K-5 example. Also, consider creating separate schedules for lower, middle and high schools if it's too bulky for one document. There is also an option to merge timetables later or create custom school views.

Set number of periods per day to the maximum number of periods for all days and then use Forbidden position marker to forbid positions that are not needed. Read more about periods.

Custom periods let you create flexible schedules where activity interval depends on specific day/class/subject/teacher. Read more about custom periods.

Check 15-minute interval example. Basically, add periods with 15-minute intervals and while adding activities choose triple length for activities that last 45 minutes (3 * 15min = 45min). Use horizontal zoom if there are lots of days/periods.

With a couple of adds you can add any combination of activities and their length, e.g. choose Manage > Activities > Add and select Math, Teacher John, Grade 5, 3 times per week, single for length and click Add button, then repeat it, add another activity and again select Math, Teacher John, Grade 5, but this time choose 2 times per week and double length.

Choose Manage > Activities > Add. More... and Groups buttons allow you to add activities with more than one teacher/class/group/room. Read more about activities.

No. Timetablers can collaborate on the same timetable and at the same time. All saved changes will be synchronized and merged across any device you or your colleagues might be using.

Generator questions

Switch to teacher master view and use Forbidden position marker to forbid positions that are not allowed. Read more about markers.

If you use the clip, the cards will be scheduled/dragged all together.

The goal is to generate an error-free timetable. Some errors and warnings can be easily resolved, e.g. conflicts can be resolved by pinning conflicted/rotated cards or by ignoring specific resources, class gaps can be resolved by marking gap as forbidden using Forbidden position marker. Read more about notifications and how to resolve them.

The generator will always try to find a better solution no matter how hard the constraints. If there is no progress for a couple of seconds or so, stop the generator and revise constraints or data. Read more about the generator and its priorities.

Sales questions

Saving changes is disabled, your account might be locked and after some time your data will be deleted. If you want to continue using it, purchase the software.

You can check prices on the home page. We offer special discounts (up to 40%) for multi-year purchases. Choose a billing term by dragging year slider located below Basic and Premium plans.

Yes. Plans are related to the total number of unique teacher names in all created timetables.

Please do contact us. In general, the price is proportionally higher, e.g. for 150 teachers it is 1.5 * the price of Premium plan, for 200 teachers it is 2 * the price of Premium plan and similar discounts are applied for multi-year purchase.

Yes, for multi-year purchase. If you want to take advantage of special discounts (up to 40%), select Basic or Premium plan and then choose billing term by dragging the year slider below.