How do I schedule Repeating Tasks?

An enhanced version of repeating tasks will allow the council admin to schedule the repeat tasks in different frequencies and over a period of time. New features will provide flexibility to create or update repeating tasks on the basis of weekly, monthly or yearly scheduling. This guide will help you to manage repeat tasks, configure Skip or Alternate options for exception days and Upload repeat tasks in bulk.

How to configure the schedule for repeating tasks?

1. Go to Tasks —> Options —> Repeat
2. Click on Add button to add a new task.

3. A new feature is introduced to manage the schedule for any particular task that is to be repeated over a period of time. 

4. Tick the Schedule check box and a new region for schedule will show up (as below).

5. The administrator can manage the frequency of repeat tasks on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis as needed.

2. Monthly - Three options are available for monthly schedule of any repeating task as follows:

1. The Administrator can select ‘First day of the month’ such as 1st Jan, 1^st Feb, 1^st March etc. or ‘First day of the week of the month’ for example first Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday etc.
2. Last day - Last day of the calendar month.
3. Fixed date - Select any fixed date of the month.

Note: If the repeat tasks need to be scheduled on a daily basis, then select all the days of the week.

Note: If selected date will not be available in next calendar month, then that date will be skipped automatically e.g., 31^st date will be skipped in the month with 30 or less days and next repeat task will occur in the next month.

6. You can configure Start date, Stop date and Start time for a repeat task.

Note: Stop time needs to be configured through Task - Type which is known as default time for the task. A quick guide is shared in the next step to update the default time for any particular task.

7. You can also update the default time for any particular task through following steps:

1. Go to Administration —> Task —> Type
2. Edit the existing task Type and navigate to the Time region.
3. Update the Default time and Unit as needed.

Note: Default time will be calculated from the Start time of the repeat tasks.

8. You can also Exclude exception days by ticking the checkbox against it. (Refer to below steps to configure the exception days)

How to configure exception days?

In some scenarios, we may want to skip or choose an alternate day for the tasks. Any repeat task is scheduled on a particular day but due to some reason the admin wants to skip or reschedule the task then this feature comes handy. Configuring exception days will allow admin users to manage the task schedule as needed. Two new features are introduced in the previous version of Exceptions
Task type 
Type of action – Skip (Skip the task) or Alternate (Choose an alternate day)

1. Go to Administration —> General —> Exceptions
2. Edit any existing exception or Add a new exception.
3. On clicking Task type, you can assign exceptions for any task type.
4. New options are available to Skip or select the Alternate date for the task schedule.
5. If you select ‘Skip’ then you need to select one or more task types for which the action needs to be taken and mention the exception date for which the tasks are to be skipped and add the exception.
    For example, in the below screenshot, all the tasks under selected task type will be skipped on the mentioned exception date: 26-Jan-2023.

6. If you select ‘Alternate’ then you need to select one or more task types for which the action needs to be taken. Mention the exception date and alternate date for which the tasks are to be change and add the exception. 

How to view parent and child repeat tasks details?

1. Go to Tasks —> Options —> Repeat —> Options —> Use filters, select the date range and search for repeat tasks as per Type, Status and Priority.
2. Edit any recurring task and navigate to Recurring task region to view all the child repeat tasks created under the parent repeat task.
3. Navigate to the Timings section and click on View schedule details to view or update the previously selected schedule for repeat tasks.

Note: Once the repeat task has been created then the Subject, Action, Description, Location etc. details will remain the same in all the child tasks.

How to upload the repeat tasks in bulk?

1. Go to Tasks —> Options —> Import-Repeat
2. Click on the Download template button.
3. Fill the tasks details in a CSV file as per the sample data available.
4. Upload the file and click on the Submit button to upload the tasks in bulk.

This will create the repeating tasks as per schedule and task details uploaded in the file. 

Note:

1. Strictly follow the sample data format to avoid errors.
2. If the data is not as per allowed criteria, then errors will show up next to that task’s column. 
3. You have to upload the updated bulk tasks again which have shown errors while uploading.
4. Make sure you are not uploading the already submitted tasks which have successfully uploaded previously to avoid duplication.
5. A task ID will be assigned against all the successfully uploaded tasks.
6. The scheduler will run on nightly basis to generate the tasks.
7. All the repeating tasks will be created 7 days in advance. For example, today is 15^th January, so tonight the scheduler will generate all the tasks for 22^nd January. That will give a buffer window to the administrator to check and edit/make changes to the task in advance.