Setting guide availability helps prevent scheduling conflicts and gives auto-suggest accurate data when recommending assignments.
Why Availability Matters
Before assigning guides to trips, set up their availability for the season. This prevents accidentally scheduling someone on their day off or during a pre-committed engagement.
Marking Availability
- Go to Guides and open a guide's profile.
- In the Availability section, you'll see a calendar view.
- Click individual dates to toggle them between available (green) and unavailable (gray).
Unavailable dates show as grayed-out cells on the Guide Board.
Bulk Range Selection
To mark a date range as unavailable (e.g., a guide taking two weeks off):
- Click the start date.
- Hold Shift and click the end date.
- The entire range is selected.
- Mark the selection as unavailable in one action.
This saves time compared to clicking each date individually.
Recurring Patterns
For guides with regular schedules (e.g., unavailable every Monday), set up a recurring pattern from the guide's availability settings. The pattern automatically marks those days as unavailable across the season.
Availability vs. Assignment
Availability is a signal, not a hard block:
- A guide marked as unavailable on a date will still appear on the Guide Board with a warning indicator.
- You can still assign them if needed (e.g., if they changed their plans).
- The system shows the conflict so you can make an informed decision.
Assignments are the actual commitments that appear on the board as confirmed time. Availability tells you who should be free; assignments tell you who is committed.
How Availability Affects Auto-Suggest
The auto-suggest algorithm only recommends guides who are marked as available for the given date. Unavailable guides are excluded from suggestions entirely.