Matrix

The Matrix is the many-weeks scheduling grid for a Service: every serving position down the side, every plan in the date range across the top. Each person you pick is on the schedule straight away; nobody is emailed until you press Send, which notifies everyone at once. Planning Center calls its matching view the Matrix too; WorshipMetrics used to call it Schedule.

Where to find it

1. Go to Plan > Services.
2. On the Service's header row, click Matrix.

The Matrix has no row of its own in the sidebar. On the web app its address is /app/plan/services/matrix; old links to the Schedule page still open it. Tech Manager has the same grid. The arrow at the top left (Back to Services) returns to Plan > Services.

Read the grid

• Rows are grouped by team, one row per position. Rows come from Plan > Teams. When the grid is wider than the window and you scroll sideways, the position names and each team's name stay at the left edge.
• Each column is one plan: the date, the weekday, and the week's title or Series when it has one. Under the heading, a bar shows how full the plan is, then Full or "N needed", and "N not notified" when people on that plan haven't been told yet.
• In each cell, people appear as small chips with a first name and last initial. A check mark means confirmed, a "?" means asked and waiting, an amber dot with a dashed amber outline means Not notified yet (on the schedule, but nobody has told them), and a crossed-out name means declined. Hover a chip to see its status. A Time after the name (for example "9:00") means the person covers only that Time.
• A small PCO mark on a chip means Planning Center scheduled that person (hover it: "Scheduled in Planning Center"). Planning Center sends their request and reminders and takes their answer; WorshipMetrics emails them nothing about it.
• Greyed-out cells mean the position belongs to a different Service than that column's plan.
• When people on weeks outside the range are still waiting, a line next to the week arrows says "N more not notified on other weeks. Move the dates to send them."

Fill a slot

1. Go to Plan > Services and click Matrix on the Service's row.
2. In the cell you want, click the red "N needed" button, or the small + when the slot is already full.
3. A panel opens with the position name and date. Change People needed if this week needs more or fewer people.
4. Type in Search people… and click a name. Names without warnings are listed first, then by scheduling priority (First, Often, When needed). "No email" marks people who have no email address. Someone who declined this spot is listed too, marked Declined, with the names that have warnings; see "Ask someone again after they declined" below.
5. If the person shows Unavailable, Double-booked or Off-team, you are asked Schedule anyway? Click Schedule to go ahead.
6. The person appears in the cell with the amber Not notified yet dot. They are on the schedule now and count toward the slot. Repeat for every slot. The panel reminds you: "They're on the schedule as soon as you pick them. Nobody is emailed until you press Send."

A person with no email address, or with email turned off on their profile, is marked confirmed instead, because they can't be asked by email.

Schedule from the People panel

The People panel on the Matrix lists everyone in your people list beside the grid, so you can fill many cells without opening each one.

1. Go to Plan > Services and click Matrix on the Service's row.
2. If the panel isn't showing, click People in the row of controls above the grid. It opens on the right. The Matrix remembers whether you left it open or hidden (Hide people closes it).
3. Narrow the list with Search people…, the team filter (All teams) and the position filter (All positions). A team shows everyone on any of its positions' rosters; a position shows its roster. The line above the list counts the people shown, for example "12 people on Drums".
4. Read the notes on each name: Unavailable if they marked a date on screen as unavailable (hover for the dates), "2 scheduled" for how many cells they already hold on screen, and, with a position picked, their priority (First, Often or When needed).
5. Drag a name onto a cell. While you drag, the cell says Add here, or the warning (Unavailable, Double-booked or Off-team).
6. Or, without dragging: click a name to pick it. A bar says "Adding" and the person's name, and every cell they could fill shows Add here (amber when there is a warning; hover it for the reason). Click Add here in each cell, then Done (or press Esc).

A warning asks Schedule anyway? first, exactly as in the cell's own panel. The person lands with the amber Not notified yet dot, and nobody is emailed until you press Send.

To see how everyone fits one cell, click that cell's "N needed" button or its +, and close the cell's own panel if it opened over the list. The People panel then shows "Fit for" with the position and date (for example "Fit for Sound · Oct 12"), and each name says Eligible, In this cell, Serving that day, Declined, Declined in Planning Center, or a warning, with their priority for that position. Declined means they said no to that spot; they can still go back on it (drag them there, or pick them and click Add here), and they're asked again when you press Send. Declined in Planning Center means they said no there; they aren't offered for that spot (hover it: "Said no to this spot in Planning Center, which is where they're asked again. They can't be put back on it here."). Click the x beside "Fit for" to clear it.

The list shows 100 names at a time. When there are more, it ends with "N more. Search to narrow the list."

Move someone to another cell

1. Go to Plan > Services and click Matrix on the Service's row.
2. Drag the person's chip from one cell to another. While you drag, the new cell says Move here (or the warning).
3. If there is a warning, you are asked Schedule anyway?.
4. If the person was already told they're serving, you are asked whether to let them know they're no longer scheduled in the old spot: Move and tell them, Move, don't tell them, or Cancel to leave them where they were. Someone never notified moves with no question and no email.
5. The chip appears in the new cell with the amber Not notified yet dot. They hear about the new spot when you press Send.

Chips Planning Center scheduled (with the PCO mark) and declined chips can't be dragged. A cell won't take someone who is already in it, unless they declined that spot. A moved person covers every Time of the new plan; to narrow that, open the plan's Teams tab.

Ask someone again after they declined

In the Matrix, a person who said no to a spot stays in its cell as a crossed-out chip, and you can put them back on it directly.

1. Go to Plan > Services and click Matrix on the Service's row.
2. In the cell with their crossed-out chip, click the red "N needed" button, or the small + when the slot is full.
3. Find them in the list: they are marked Declined (hover it: "Said no to this spot. Pick them to put them back on the schedule; they're asked again when you press Send."). Click their name. You can also drag them from the People panel onto that cell, or pick them there and click Add here in it.
4. Their chip changes to the amber Not notified yet dot: they are back on the schedule, and nobody has emailed them.
5. Press Send. They get the request again.

Someone who declined in Planning Center (a chip with the PCO mark) is not offered: Planning Center asks them, so ask them again there.

Notify everyone you scheduled

1. When the grid is filled, click the Send button at the top right. It counts the people who will get an email, for example "Send 5 notifications".
2. Read the confirmation, for example "Notify 5 people?". It counts the new assignments and the plans they are on. Each person gets one email listing everything new for them across the weeks on screen, with a yes and a no for each. People already notified aren't emailed again.
3. Click Send. A message says how many people were notified about how many assignments, and the amber marks go away.

If some emails couldn't be sent, the message says how many; those people keep their mark, so press Send to try again. Send covers only the weeks on screen; move the dates to reach the others.

Change the weeks shown

• Use Weeks shown to show 4 weeks, 8 weeks or 12 weeks.
• Use the left and right arrows to move earlier or later. Today jumps back to the current weeks.

See other Services in the same grid

In the Services list on the left, tick another Service. Its plans and teams join the same grid, so you can see when one person is serving at two Services. Church-wide teams show once and are marked Church-wide. The Service you opened from can't be unticked while it is the only one.

Remove someone or change who's needed

• Point at a person's chip and an x appears on it; click the x to remove them. From the keyboard, press Tab until the x on their chip shows (its name is "Remove", the person, the position and the date) and press Enter. On a touch screen the x always shows.
• Someone never notified (amber dot), who declined, whom Planning Center scheduled, or who can't be emailed comes off with nothing sent.
• For someone already told they're serving, you are asked "Let them know they're no longer scheduled?". Click Remove and tell them to email them, Remove, don't tell them to remove them without an email, or Cancel to keep them. The email goes only for a plan still to come.
• Change a slot's People needed in its panel. The count is for that one plan.

Positions Planning Center staffs

On a plan imported from Planning Center, positions that came from Planning Center are Planning Center's to staff. Their cells show the people Planning Center scheduled, with the PCO mark, and the small + instead of "N needed". Their panel has no People needed. A column holding any of them shows no fill bar and never says Full; its "N needed" counts only positions WorshipMetrics staffs. Positions created in WorshipMetrics keep their counts.

Open one week's plan

Click a column heading. That plan opens on its Teams tab, where you can schedule people for that date only, notify that plan with its own Send button, or use Send again on one person.

Troubleshooting

Send is greyed out

Its tooltip says "Everyone here has been notified": nobody in the weeks on screen is waiting to be told, or you haven't added anyone yet. People waiting on other weeks are not counted; the "N more not notified on other weeks" line says so. Move the dates to them.

A volunteer didn't get the request

If their chip has the amber dot, nobody has notified them yet: press Send. If they were notified and haven't answered, click the column heading to open the plan and use Send again next to their name on the Teams tab; the Matrix chips don't have it.

"No serving positions for this Service yet"

Add teams and positions on Plan > Teams for this Service (or church-wide), then reopen the Matrix.

"No plans in this window"

There are no plans in these weeks. Create them on Plan > Services with + Add plan, or widen the range with Weeks shown.

The People panel says "No people match." or "Nobody is on the … roster yet"

"No people match." means the search or a filter hides everyone: clear Search people… and set the filters back to All teams and All positions. "Nobody is on the … roster yet" means the team or position you filtered by has no roster: add people to it on Plan > Teams, or filter by something else.

A cell won't take the person I'm dragging

The person is already in that cell (and didn't decline it), or you are dragging a chip back onto the cell it came from. Chips Planning Center scheduled and declined chips can't be dragged at all. A person who declined that spot in Planning Center can't be put back on it here either: ask them again in Planning Center.

A person is missing from the picker

They are already in that cell, or they aren't in your people list yet (add them on People > People). Someone who declined the spot is not missing: they are listed with a Declined mark among the names with warnings, so search for them. The one exception is someone who declined in Planning Center (a PCO chip), who isn't offered; ask them again in Planning Center.

I can't find the x to remove someone

The x on a chip appears only when you point at the chip or reach it with Tab; on a touch screen it always shows. Chips are small, so point right at the person's name.

"Couldn't load the Matrix"

Click Retry. If it keeps failing, reload the page and check your connection.

Good to know

• The plan's Teams tab works the same way: picking someone puts them on the schedule, and nobody is emailed until Send. Its Send covers that one plan.
• Answers come back from the email links or from People > My Schedule.
• The web app and Tech Manager show the same grid, People panel included. On a narrow window the panel moves below the grid.
• Dragging, Add here and the cell's own panel all schedule the same way: on the schedule at once, Not notified yet, nobody emailed until Send.