Availability overview
Refbook allows users to set their personal availability to influence and restrict the ability for their Administrators to assign them.
Methods to set availability
All availability settings are 'live', meaning that changes are immediately saved and ready to influence assignments. There is no need for administration to approve availability, and your settings can be updated at any time. Availability is all managed in the AVAILABILITY section of the side-bar.
There are three main methods that can be used to set and update availability. These can be worked in conjunction with each other
- DEFAULT: the underlying default settings that will set a users 'general' availability (eg: every Saturday all day, every Sunday 12 noon - 6pm)
- CUSTOM: individual, specific items of availability/unavailability that can be created based on date, times, venue (eg: not available between 2-5 March after 6pm)
- CUSTOM (via Wizard): this is a platform-guided workflow to set custom availability restrictions
- SEASON SELECTOR (if enabled for the competition): logging availability against your competition's specific games (eg: yes/no)
System vs Organisation defaults
The system default model is that all users are Unavailable until some dates/days have been enabled as Available. Therefore upon signing up to an account it's important to set some form of availability so that your connected organisations can assign you, if this is the availability model being adopted by your organisations(s).
The other model is if your organisation has enabled 'Default Competition Availability' for their competition(s). This means that all users will be automatically deemed fully Available unless Unavailability is entered.
Considerations & important understanding
- Availability set using 'Custom Availability' or 'Season Selector' methods will override any Default Availability that you have previously enabled. This means it's good to set a 'baseline' availability first using the Default method, and then add on layers of Custom availability.
- Multiple availability events can be 'stacked' using Custom Availability and there is no need to remove or workaround previously input records.
- Your organisation(s) has the ability to insert a Custom Availability record on your behalf, including if any conflicts have been created against your profile (eg: you also play in a team therefore cannot officiate at those corresponding time slots).
- Unavailability set through Custom Availability is the only method that will reverse/combat your organisation's preference to use Default Custom Availability. It will ignore any Default Availability you have set, as configured by your organisation.
- Changing your availability does not:
- directly notify your administrator of the update (they will be able to view your availability in the platform and incorporate these restrictions when assigning)
- remove you from existing assignments that have previously been accepted. For these reasons, we recommend users are familiar with their organisation's preferences for managing availability and withdrawls.
- Your organisation(s) will always have the ability to ignore your personal calendar and assign you to games. This is a decision made by the organisation administrator and is not configured by Refbook.
Min/Max games
Officials can set guiding limits on the number of appointments per day as part of their default availability. They are guides/preferences only and can be overridden by your organisation.
Availability Status
There are three status' of availability that allows users to provide maximum accuracy to their organisations. These status are used when setting Custom Availability:
- Available: ie: "I'm available to be assigned"
- Unavailable: ie: "I'm not available to be assigned"
- Tentative: ie: "I might be available to be assigned". In other words, a placeholder availability as it cannot be confirmed yet. Tentative availability is only possible through the Custom Availability method.
- if you are available under specific circumstances (eg: certain times at certain venues), this is when Custom Availability is used. For example, "I'm available this Saturday but only if at Venue B after 8pm"
- If you are uncertain on your availability, use Tentative. For example, "I don't yet know my plans because I'm potentially working, so I'm 50/50."
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