Shift Templates - Shifton Help

Create reusable shift configurations with pre-defined times, breaks, and colors. Shift templates save time when you manually add shifts to any schedule.

What Is This?

Shift Templates are pre-configured shift setups that you can reuse whenever you add a shift to a schedule. Instead of entering the same start time, end time, break duration, and color every time, you select a template and the fields are filled in automatically.

Shift templates are managed from the Shift Templates tab on the Schedules page. Once created, they appear in the shift template dropdown when adding or editing shifts on any schedule.

Prerequisites

#	Prerequisite	Details
1	Active Shifton account	You must have a registered company account
2	Admin, Owner, or Manager role	You need permissions to create and manage shift templates

Step-by-Step Instructions

Viewing Shift Templates

Navigate to the Schedules page.

Click the Shift Templates tab at the top of the page.

You will see a list of all existing shift templates.

Each template displays the following information:

Field	Description
Name	The template name (e.g., “Morning Shift,” “Night Shift”)
Time range	The start and end time of the shift (e.g., 8:00 AM — 4:00 PM)
Break duration	The length of the break included in the shift (e.g., 30 minutes)
Color	A color that visually represents this shift type on the schedule
Actions	Edit, Delete

Creating a New Shift Template

On the Shift Templates tab, click the + Create shift template button.

Fill in the template details:

Field	Description
Name	A descriptive name for the template (e.g., “Evening 4-12”)
Start time	The time the shift begins
End time	The time the shift ends
Break duration	The length of the break in minutes (e.g., 30, 45, 60)
Color	Choose a color to distinguish this template on the schedule grid

Click Save.

Editing a Shift Template

Find the template in the list.

Click the Edit icon in the Actions column.

Update the fields as needed.

Click Save.

Note:

Changes to a template do not retroactively update shifts that were already created using it.

Deleting a Shift Template

Click the Delete icon next to the template.

Confirm the deletion in the pop-up dialog.

Existing shifts that were created using this template will not be affected.

Using a Shift Template When Adding Shifts

On the Schedule page, click to add a new shift (or use the context menu on an employee row).

In the Add Shift form, locate the Shift template dropdown.

Select the desired template.

The start time, end time, break, and color fields will be automatically populated.

You can still modify any field before saving the shift.

Click Add a shift to save.

Access Permissions

Role	View Templates	Create Template	Edit Template	Delete Template	Use Template
Owner	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Admin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manager	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Employee	No	No	No	No	No

FAQ

Q: Are shift templates required to create a schedule?
A: No. Shift templates are optional. They are a convenience tool that saves time when manually adding shifts. Automatic schedule types generate shifts without needing templates.

Q: If I update a shift template, will existing shifts change?
A: No. Changes to a template only affect shifts created with that template in the future. Existing shifts retain the settings they were created with.

Q: Can I use the same shift template across different projects?
A: Yes. Shift templates are available company-wide and can be used when adding shifts to any project’s schedule.

Q: Is there a limit to how many shift templates I can create?
A: There is no hard limit. Create as many templates as you need to cover your various shift configurations.

Q: Can I override template values when adding a shift?
A: Yes. After selecting a template, all fields are editable. You can change the time, break, or any other setting before saving the individual shift.

Possible Issues and Solutions

Issue	Possible Cause	Solution
Shift template does not appear in the dropdown	The template was just created and the page has not refreshed	Refresh the schedule page
Template color does not match the shift color	The shift color was manually changed after selecting the template	Reselect the template or manually set the color to match
Deleted template still appears in the dropdown	Browser cache displaying outdated data	Refresh the page or clear your browser cache
Cannot create a shift template	Insufficient permissions	Confirm you have Admin, Owner, or Manager access
Template break duration does not populate correctly	The break field in the shift form requires a specific format	Ensure the break is entered as a number in minutes in the template settings