Blockout dates

Blockout dates are the days a volunteer can’t serve, such as a family vacation or a work trip. Volunteers add them in the member portal, and staff see them as an orange dot on the volunteer’s name in the schedule.

How volunteers add them

1. In the member portal, open My schedule.
2. Under Dates you cannot serve, choose Add dates.
3. From: the first day you can’t serve.
4. To: the last day. Leave it empty for a single day.
5. Why (optional): a short reason for your scheduler, such as “Holiday”, “Work” or “Family”. Up to 200 characters.
6. Choose Save. The dates are listed under Dates you cannot serve, with your reason.

Remove dates

1. Next to the dates, choose Remove.
2. Confirm with Remove. Your scheduler may ask you for those dates again.

To change a blockout, remove it and add it again.

How staff see them

• In the schedule, an orange dot follows a person’s name on any date inside one of their blockouts. Point to it to read “Blockout on this date”. See The schedule.
• The dot appears once the person is on the date. The Who list you choose from under Add doesn’t show blockouts, so check for the dot after you add someone, and before you choose Send requests.
• Staff see the dot, not the details. No staff screen lists a person’s blockout dates or their reason yet.
• Volunteers add their own. There’s no screen yet for staff to add a blockout for someone. If a volunteer tells you they’re away, take them off the date or mark their answer for them (choose their name, then Mark declined).

What a blockout does, and doesn’t do

• It applies to every team and position the person serves on.
• It’s a warning, not a block. Staff can still put the person on a date inside it.
• It doesn’t say no for anyone. If the volunteer is already on a date inside a new blockout, the date stays on their My schedule page with a You are blocked out badge. They still answer it themselves: No, I can’t, or Change to no if they had said yes.
• Whole days only. A blockout covers whole days, from the first to the last. It can’t cover part of a day, and it doesn’t repeat.
• The service’s own day. A service counts on its date where it happens: in its campus’s time zone, or your church’s when the campus has no time zone of its own (or the service has no campus). A Sunday evening service is on Sunday, even where it’s already Monday somewhere else.
• Past dates drop off. Once a blockout’s last day has passed, it leaves the list. With none ahead, the list says “None ahead.”
• The reason is for your church’s schedulers. Other volunteers never see it.

Good to know

• Who can do it. Any member who serves can add and remove their own blockout dates, once their portal login is linked to their record. Owners, administrators, ministry leaders and staff see the dots in the schedule.
• Your church’s subscription. Blockout dates are part of Services, which depends on your church’s subscription (Core, Pro or Elite); see Your plan.

If something isn’t right

• Save is grayed out. Fill in From. If you filled in To, it must be the same day as From or later.
• “The dates were not saved” or “The dates were not removed.” Try again. If it keeps happening, ask your church.
• “No record is linked to your login yet.” Your church needs to link your login to your record. Staff do it on the person’s record, under Portal login.
• There’s no My schedule page in the portal. Your church doesn’t use Services in the portal yet.

What DCX support can do

With your permission, DCX support can open a support session on your church to look at the schedule with you and see why a blockout isn’t showing as you expect.

How this compares with Planning Center

If you’re coming from Planning Center Services:

• Where volunteers add them. In Planning Center, volunteers block out dates from My Schedule in Services, or in Church Center. In HoW, they add them on My schedule in the member portal, for one church or for all of their churches (Planning Center can do both).
• Every team, in both. A blockout applies to every team the person serves on, and it warns the scheduler without stopping them.
• Times and repeats. Planning Center can block out part of a day and repeat a blockout (such as the last Tuesday of every month). HoW takes a whole day or a range of days, and doesn’t repeat.
• Reasons. Both ask for an optional reason. Planning Center shows it to the team leader; HoW keeps it for your schedulers, but no staff screen shows it yet.
• Dates already asked for. In Planning Center, blocking out a date you’ve already been asked for shows a conflict, where you decline or ignore the request. In HoW, the date shows You are blocked out, and you answer it when you are ready.
• Asking for blockouts. Planning Center schedulers can send their team a request to add blockout dates. HoW doesn’t have that yet.