The weekly rhythm (how it all fits together)

Weeks run seven days from your chosen start day (Monday unless you picked another at setup — see settings). Most confusion with any scheduler comes from publish/lock mechanics, so here is the whole loop once:

1. Staff paint availability for the current week and the next three — the hours they can work, prefer to work, or would rather avoid (painting availability).
2. You build the week in the Schedule builder — create shifts, drag names onto them, guided by everyone's painted hours.
3. You publish (publishing). Every staff member is emailed their shifts, and that week's availability locks — staff can no longer repaint a week you've already scheduled.
4. After publishing, only future days can be edited — past and current days are fixed history. If your edits change anyone's shifts, send targeted "what changed" emails with one click (notify affected staff).
5. Staff who can't make a shift use the Tradeboard, or request time off for future weeks. You approve both from the Approvals screen.

Two ideas worth internalizing:

• Availability is an input, not a promise. Painted hours guide the builder and power its warnings, but you can always schedule anyone anywhere — the builder warns, never blocks.
• Publishing is the commitment point. Before it: drafts, invisible to staff. After it: staff see it, emails have gone out, and changes flow through future-day edits and the tradeboard.