How to Apply the Master Roster (Level 4) and Re-Apply Safely
Applying the Master Roster (Level 4)
"Apply" is the one-click action that takes your Master Roster (the template) and creates dated shifts for a specific period (the reality). After Apply, the same data is visible in the Living Roster (Level 5) where you operate it day-to-day.
Where to find it
Not a separate sidebar item. From Master Roster, click Apply at the top-right.
Step-by-step
- Open Master Roster for the Stream.
- Click Apply.
- The Apply modal opens:
- Period start date — defaults to the next un-applied roster period start (Monday)
- Number of fortnights — usually 1; can apply multiple if you build well in advance
- Streams — defaults to the current Stream; multi-select to apply several at once
- Review the Preview — counts of shifts to be created per Stream and per Craft Group.
- Click Confirm Apply.
A success toast shows the count of shifts created and a link straight to the Living Roster for the new period.
⚠️ Re-applying — what happens to existing changes
Re-apply will overwrite Level 5 changes for the dates you re-apply.
If you've already moved staff around on the Living Roster for next Tuesday and then re-apply the Master Roster covering that week, your Tuesday changes are blown away. The system warns you with a list of dates that have manual edits — read it carefully before clicking Confirm.
Tips & common mistakes
- Read back the dates aloud before confirming. This is the easiest "oh no" in the whole product — applying to the wrong period blows away changes people have already made.
- Apply per-Stream, not all at once, until you trust the workflow. Multi-Stream apply is powerful but mistakes are wider.
- If you forgot to apply, just apply now. Late is fine; staff will be notified at publish.
Recovering from "I applied to the wrong period"
- If the period is in the past or already published: don't re-apply blindly. Check the dates and re-apply only the wrong dates.
- If you applied to a future period that you didn't mean to: open Living Roster for that period, multi-select all cells, Delete — or use Bulk Delete Assignments.