2024 ML Schedules Summer Guide

Welcome to our ML Schedules Summer 2024 Guide! During the Summer months, many districts take the time to take a deep dive into their ML Schedules system, and do a clean up so that the new School Year can be started on the right foot when classes resume. In this comprehensive resource, we have put together a list of common areas within ML Schedules that could benefit from a little Summer clean up. These tips and suggestions will also be discussed in further detail at our June ML Schedules Webinar that will be taking place on Tuesday June 25th, 2024 (you can register for that session here - https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qV_akybVToe4eUrDz6Lrkw)

We hope that you have an enjoyable and safe Summer!

 

The topics/areas of ML Schedules that will be covered include:

• Cleaning Up Users
• Cleaning Up Approval Paths
• Cleaning Up Fields on the Request Form
• Utilizing Blocked Dates

 

Cleaning Up Users

With another school year coming to a close, there's a good chance that personnel changes are happening at the district. With retirements, building reassignments for staff, etc. it is important to take a look at your Users within the program to make sure that the Manage Users page is up to date and reflects these changes.

You may be looking to add a new staff member to your ML Schedules program - you can do so by following these steps:

 

1. Select Users > Manage Users from the left-side toolbar.

 

 

 

2. Select Actions > Add User

 

3. Enter the Users:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Phone Number
• Email Address
• Send Email Yes/No (to notify User of account creation)
  • Optional Fields:
    • Check the box if using Active Directory
    • AD Username (if using Active Directory)

 

4. Select the Save button to proceed to Group settings for the User. The Group Page will be displayed.

 

 

5. Choose if you want the User to have a new Group or be added to an existing Group. Note: This option cannot be bypassed. A user is required to be associated with a Group for requesting purposes.

 

• If you select New Group, you will need to select the Classification and enter the Group Name.
• If you select Existing Group, you will need to select a Classification, and then a list of Groups will appear to choose from.

Note: For District Staff, we recommend just naming the Group their First and Last Name, unless they are the Group Manager of a specific Group (i.e. specific athletic team, chess club, etc.), or add them to a Group if it already exists.

 

6. Select the Save button to assign Roles to the User if needed.

 

Note: You will only need to assign additional roles to a user if you want them to be able to have greater permissions than simply entering a request through the system.

7. Select the + Add Role button to add Roles that you would like to grant the User (such as Bypass Approval, Edit Requests) Note: Roles are configured in the system under Users Manage Roles.

 

8. Select the Save button at the bottom of the screen to continue to the permission settings.

 

9. Select if you want to add any additional Permissions for the User.

 

 

10. Select the Save button when you are finished.

 

You may need to edit an existing user if they have changed buildings, switched to a new position, etc. - you can do so by following these steps:

 

1. Select Users > Manage Users.

 

2. Select the Pencil Icon () next to the user Note: You can disable a user from receiving emails by clicking the 'Receive Email' checkbox.

• Checked = Receive emails
• Unchecked = Will not get emails

3. Modify the information needed. IMPORTANT Note: If you're adding or editing Roles on a user account please be sure to click the checkmark to the right, or the save option will not appear.

4. Select Save.

 

The last scenario you may be faced with is a staff member leaving the district, and having to inactivate that user from ML Schedules. You can accomplish this by following these steps:

 

1. Select Users > Manage Users.

 

2. Select the Pencil Icon () next to the User you would like to make inactive.

 

3. Scroll down to the bottom of the modal and select Inactivate.

 

Cleaning Up Approval Paths

Your approval paths go hand in hand with updating your users which we previously went over. With all of the changes that can happen with staff during the summer months, you'll want to make sure that your approval paths are updated to avoid any events getting stuck in the approval process once the next school year comes around. This can create a ton of confusion within the district if they are not updated in a timely manner when staffing changes occur.

 

To edit an approval path, you can follow these steps:

 

1. Select Locations > Manage Approval Paths.

2. To edit an approval path, click the pencil icon next to the approval path you're looking to edit.

3. You can click into a step to edit the users that are on that step, or click the Plus Icon to add an additional step to the path.

Note 1: If a user is missing from the drop-down, edit their user account, click the permission tab, check off Space Approver, and click Save. Upon returning to this page, you can then add them to the approval path.

Note 2: If multiple users are selected for one approval step, only one of those users has to act upon the request in order to keep it moving in the process

 

4. Click the Save button.

 

Cleaning Up Fields on the Request Form

Another review of ML Schedules that is perfect to take a look at during the Summer months are your district's request forms and the fields that are included on those forms for groups to fill out when making requests. When cleaning up your fields, it's also a good idea to take a look at fees at make sure that they are up to date as well.

 

For our full article on updating fields, please review our article here.

 

Utilizing Blocked Dates

During the Summer months, there may be a number of different reasons why you may want to limit the number of requests coming in for your facilities. For example, you may be taking advantage of the nice weather and doing construction at a building within the district - you can block the dates that construction will be going on so that no groups can make a request at that location for the given time. Another example would be Holidays such as the 4th of July where you want to block out the whole district.

 

To add a blocked date, you can do so following these steps:

 

1.  Select Admin > Manage Blocked Dates. The Manage My Blocked Dates page will be displayed. 

 

 

2.  Select the  option. The Manage Blocked Dates screen will be displayed that includes the following fields:

• Date 
• Start Time 
• End Time
• Site: Defaults to All Sites (District-Wide Block) or a specific Site can be selected using the dropdown or typing into the box.
• Space: Defaults to All Spaces or a specific Space can be selected using the dropdown or typing into the box.
• Standard Recurrence: Selecting this checkbox will display the default options. Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly.
• Custom Recurrence: Selecting this checkbox will display a Calendar modal and multiple dates can be selected.
• Show to Public: Option to show on the public Calendar.
• Title: Title that will display on the Calendar.
• Additional Information: Optional information that can be viewed when the blocked date is viewed on the public calendar.
• Event Type: Selecting this Field will display Event types that can be tagged to this Blocked Date.
• Classification: Select a Classification you would like to target with this blocked date.
• Notify Users of Blocked Date: Choose who you would like to notify regarding this blocked date. This appears when adding a new blocked date and editing an existing one.

 

Note: There are MAX rules on recurrences

• Daily = 400 days
• Weekly= 420 days
• Monthly = 13 months
• Yearly = 5 years

3. Select the Add button once complete.

 

We at MasterLibrary hope that this guide was helpful to you. We hope to see you at our June ML Work Orders Webinar that will be taking place on Tuesday June 25th, 2024 where we go into these items in more detail. Have a happy and safe summer!