Scheduler Terminology

Job Shift
This term is used 2 different ways; One way is describing a specific job and date, or "slot", ( Ex: Job Shift: Wed, 28 March 2018 - Route 6), and another way is describing a recurring job (Ex. Job Shift: Route 6 Wednesdays).
One-time Assignment
One-time assignments (pickups) are shifts that needed to be filled, usually due to time off or cancellation of the volunteer that normally works the shift. One-time Assignments are highlighted in green on schedules.
Ongoing Assignment
An ongoing assignment is when a volunteer commits to a job on a ongoing or recurring basis. For example every Wednesday (highlighted in blue) or the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month (highlighted in purple) a volunteer performs a job.
Cancel an Assignment
Canceling an assignment removes a volunteer from his/her previously assigned slot. This FAQ explains how cancellations are tracked in the system.
Closed Shift
A Closed shift means a coordinator signed off on the volunteer hours actually worked (and miles driven, when applicable). The volunteers don't get “credit” for their hours/miles until the shift is closed.
Short-Handed
Shifts that have fewer assigned workers than the minimum required workers for at least one position, as specified in the Job Settings, are "short handed" and are displayed in pink on the Weekly and Daily schedules.
Offer
A submission by a volunteer of the shift signup form from the the Help Wanted page.
Daily Shift Reminder
Notification automatically sent by email and/or SMS text to a volunteer on days when they have an upcoming shift.
Contact, Job, or Organization Reminder
These reminders (found in the Reminders tab on a Contact, Job, or Organization profile) are like setting an alarm to remind yourself about something related to that profile, for example: "remind me on Sept 3 at 9 AM to ask Mary when she'll be ready to go back on the schedule". You'll get an email 15 minutes before the reminder time, and upcoming reminders are listed on your home page Dashboard. Note: These reminders are unrelated to the scheduled Shift Reminder notifications.
Contact Relationship
Contact Relationships (found in the Relationships tab on the Contact profile) provide a way to link two contacts in the system. Add a contact's emergency contact, husband, friend, and any other connection.
Delete Contact
You may want to Delete a contact when the contact was created by mistake, or if the contact will no longer be associated with the organization (death, moved away permanently, ....). Deleting a contact automatically removes his/her future commitments. See also: "Deactivate Contact" below.
Deactivate Contact
You may want to Deactivate a contact (aka making a contact "inactive") to put a volunteer on an indefinite leave of absence (injury, chronic disease, personal life change,...). You are not ready to delete the contact yet because a return is still possible, or because you plan continued communication for reasons other than volunteer work. De-activating a person automatically removes his/her future commitments and makes them ineligible to be assigned any new volunteer jobs going forward. If the contact has a user account this will be locked.
Time off
Use time-off to put a volunteer on a leave of absence. The leave can be, say, a week, a month, or a a whole winter. Commitments of the person are automatically cancelled, or put on hold (and later automatically restored, as in the case of an ongoing assignment only) during the time-off period. If the person has time off it makes them ineligible to be assigned any new volunteer jobs during that time period. Any shifts assigned to this contact for the selected date or range of dates are automatically canceled.