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Timetabling Turbo 2024
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 Resources

The Resources pane is the second one after the Institution pane.

Resources tab8.png

You can select it by clicking the Resources tab at the right hand side of the workspace.

Types of Resources

The Resources pane is divided to several pages, one page for each type of resource. Use the toolbar at the top of the pane to navigate between these pages:

Resources types turbo8.png

There are 3 types of time resources (the first two buttons):

  • Semesters (Terms)
  • Days
  • Periods

There is 1 type of conceptual resources (the third button):

  • Subjects (and Sub-Subjects too)

There are 5 types of physical resources (starting from the fourth button):

  • Groups (and Sub-Groups)
  • Students
  • Teachers
  • Rooms (and Buildings)
  • Equipment

Resources turbo8.png

Note: If there is a type of resources that you do not need to schedule at all (such as equipment perhaps), you can disable it and it will not appear anywhere in the program. This is explained in the previous chapter. There are sreenshots in this user's guide that are taken from sample files in which some types of resources are disabled, which is why you will not always see all the above 8 buttons in those screenshots.

What is the difference between resources and activities?

Resources are not the ones that are actually scheduled. You never schedule a standalone resource. What you do schedule is Activities. An activity is formed by associating one or more resources together. An activity can include resources of any type and does not necessarily have to include all the types. Even if only a single resource needs to be scheduled, an activity has to be created for that single resource. Whenever an activity is scheduled, all its participating resources will display that activity in their timetables. The creation of activities is described in the next chapter.

Semesters (Terms) and Days

The first page in the Resources pane is the Days page.

Days page button turbo8.png

The days that you enter in this page are generic, "template like" days. A generic day is not bound to any specific date in the calendar. The activities that are scheduled on such a day repeat during the course of the semester on many dates. They may repeat once a week, more than once a week, or once in two or more weeks. Let's go over the possible scenarios.

Scenario 1: Weekly Timetable

Usually, generic days form the basis of a weekly recurring timetable. If this is the kind of timetable that you are constructing, you need to enter the days like this:

Generic weekly timetable scenario8.png

Scenario 2: Bi-Weekly Timetable

When the timetable is a bi-weekly recurring timetable, up to 14 generic days can be entered. The days can be named accordingly to separate the first week's days from the second week's.

Generic biweekly timetable scenario8.png

Scenario 3: Two Days Timetable

When the timetable repeats itself every other weekday - two or three generic days are enough. For example, if the timetable on Monday, Wednesday and Friday is the same, and so is the timetable on Tuesday and Thursday, two generic days will suffice to represent it:

Generic twodays timetable turbo8.png

How to enter semesters and days?

To add items to the list, click the plus button at the right hand side toolbar. A menu will open up with the following options:

Add days turbo8.png

  • Semester - Adds a new semester to the list.
  • Days of Week - Adds 7 days: Monday, Tuesday, etc.
  • Day – Adds a new day to the list.

To delete a day, select it by clicking it and then click the minus button at the right toolbar. You can also reorder days using the up and down buttons. Select an item in the list and then use these buttons to move it to a different position.

Periods (Lessons)

The second page in the Resources pane is the Periods page:

Timescales page turbo8.png

Periods are intervals which divide the day to time segments in which activities are scheduled. Periods can be named or numbered, for example: Period 1, Period 2, Lunch, etc. Each period has start and end times. Periods can have the same start/end times on all days (scenario 1 below) or have different start/end times on different days (scenario 2 below).

Bell timetable8.png

Scenario 1: One List of Periods

The most basic configuration is defining one list of periods for all days. To accomplish this, click the plus button at the right hand side toolbar and select "Period" or "Periods (5)" (which adds 5 periods at a time). Repeat this until you reach the desired number of periods in the list. You can rename a period by selecting it and then typing its name in the Properties pane below.

It is also important to set the start and end times of each period (also entered in the Properties pane after selecting a period). Make sure that the times you enter do not overlap, and that each period's start time is not earlier that the previous period's end time. When you enter post midday times in 12 hour format, you must append the letter "p", e.g. "4:00 p". Otherwise the program will interpret the time as before midday.

Timescale periods for all8.png

Scenario 2: Different Periods on Different Days

The program supports a more complex scenario with regard to periods, in which different days have different periods. For instance, let's look at a scenario where the periods on Monday-Thursday differ from the periods on Friday. To set this up, we need to insert another "Periods' List" item (using the plus button). Once we have two periods' lists, we can define the first list's days to be Monday-Thursday and the second list's day to be Friday. It will look like this:

Timescale different periods different days8.png

How to enter periods?

To add periods to the list, click the plus button at the right hand side toolbar. A menu will open up with the following options:

Add periods turbo8.png

  • Periods' List – Adds a new list of periods. The properties of a Periods' List define the days for which the periods are applicable.
  • Period – Adds a new period to the list.
  • Periods (5) – Adds 5 numbered periods to the list.

To delete an item, select it by clicking it and then click the minus button at the right toolbar. You can also reorder periods using the up and down buttons. Select an item in the list and then use these buttons to move it to a different position.

Subjects

The third page in the Resources pane is the Subjects page:

Subjects page turbo8.png

A Subject provides information about what people are studying or doing when they are participating in an activity. For example, a subject could be "Chemistry", "Math", "Lunch" and others. A subject is not a physical resource, thus it does not cause conflicts due to double booking. Each activity can be assigned one subject or more.

Subject turbo8.png

Subjects can be organized in a hierarchy of top-level subjects, sub-subjects, sub-sub-subjects (and so on). A subject can be the sub-subject of several parent subjects. The schedule of a parent subject includes all the activities of its sub-subjects. For example, if "Chemistry" and "Physics" are sub-subjects of "Science", you will see all their activities when you view the schedule of "Science".

Subjects resources page turbo8.png

The subject of an activity appears in each cell in which the activity is scheduled. Like all resources, a subject can be assigned a color. By default, a cell's background color is equivalent to the color assigned to the subject scheduled in that cell.

How to enter subjects?

To add subjects to the list, click the plus button at the right hand side toolbar. A menu will open up with the following options:

Add subjects studio8.png

  • Subject - Adds a new subject to the list.
  • Subjects (5) – Adds 5 new subjects to the list.

To delete a subject, select it by clicking it and then click the minus button at the right toolbar. You can also reorder subjects using the up and down buttons. Select an item in the list and then use these buttons to move it to a different position.

How to create sub-subjects?

To make one subject the sub-subject of another subject, first add both subjects regularly into the list. Then, select the subject which you want to be the sub-subject, and in its properties select the parent subject in the "Sub Subject of" field. For example, to make "Chemistry" the sub-subject of "Science", select "Chemistry" and in its "Sub-Subject of" property select "Science":

Sub subject of turbo8.png

Groups

The fourth page in the Resources pane is the Groups page:

Resources groups page studio8.png

A Group is a name given to a collection of people who participate in multiple activities together.

Do all schools need to enter groups?

No. It's important to emphasize - a group must have more than one activity planned in order to justify its existence. Otherwise, there is no point in defining groups at all. Explanation: Since students can be enrolled to groups but also directly to activities, there is no point in creating a special group for each activity, unless that group is assigned to multiple activities. Because when you assign a group to multiple activities, you save time by making a single selection in each activity instead of repetitively selecting the same individual students over and over for each activity. Examples: Groups are usually used in elementary, middle and some high schools to define the grade classes such as "7-A", "7-B", "8-A", etc. In other high schools groups are rarely used because in these schools each activity has its own list of students (like in a college or a university), and those exact same students do not have any other activities together (so there is no point in creating a group out of them).

A group can be either symbolic or explicit. This means that a group can be created either with or without actually entering the names of the participants who make up the group.

Symbolic explicit group8.png

By default, all groups are symbolic. Because they do not not have any students enrolled to them yet. The next page of the Resources pane is the Students page. In that page you can add students and optionally enroll them to groups (select a student and edit his/her "Groups" property in the Properties pane). When a student is enrolled to a group, all the scheduled activities of the group appear in the student's schedule.

When a group is symbolic, it only conflicts (a "conflict" is when a resource is double booked) with itself and with its sub groups (i.e. you are warned if you try to schedule two activities of the same group at the same time). When a group is explicit and has students enrolled to it, that group also conflicts with all the activities in which its students take part.

Just like subjects, groups can have sub groups. A group can be both a sub group and a parent group. A group can even be a sub group of multiple parent groups. Such a group will appear underneath each of its parent groups in the list. All the sub group's scheduled activities appear in the timetables of all its parent groups (and their parent groups as well and so on). Two sub groups of the same parent group are not considered as conflicting unless there is at least one explicit student who is enrolled to both of them.

Groups resources page turbo8.png

How to enter groups?

To add groups to the list, click the plus button at the right hand side toolbar. A menu will open up with the following options:

Add groups studio8.png

  • Group - Adds a new group to the list.
  • Groups (5) – Adds 5 new groups to the list.

To delete a group, select it by clicking it and then click the minus button at the right toolbar. You can also reorder groups using the up and down buttons. Select an item in the list and then use these buttons to move it to a different position.

Students (Pupils)

The fifth page in the Resources pane is the Students page:

Resources students page turbo8.png

A Student is a human individual who takes part in a group or an activity.

Student turbo8.png

Do all schools need to enter students?

No. Student names need to be entered only if personal student timetables need to be created. If you only need a timetable of classes or groups, there is no need to enter students at all.

An individual student's timetable includes all the activities in which the student takes part either directly by being enrolled to the activity, or indirectly by being enrolled to the group which is enrolled to the activity. Like all human resources, scheduling a student in two different activities at the same time causes a double booking conflict.

Students resources page turbo8.png

How to enter students?

To add students to the list, click the plus button at the right hand side toolbar. A menu will open up with the following options:

Add students studio8.png

  • Student - Adds a new student to the list.
  • Students (5) – Adds 5 new students to the list.

To delete a student, select his/her row and then click the minus button at the right toolbar. You can also reorder students using the up and down buttons. Select a student in the list and then use these buttons to move him/her to a different position.

Teachers

The sixth page of the Resources pane is the Teachers page:

Resources teachers page turbo8.png

A Teacher is a human individual who teaches or supervises an activity.

Teacher turbo8.png

A teacher's timetable consists of all the activities in which he/she takes part. Scheduling two overlapping activities of the same teacher is considered a double booking conflict by the program.

Teachers resources page turbo8.png

How to enter teachers?

To add instructors to the list, click the plus button at the right hand side toolbar. A menu will open up with the following options:

Add teachers turbo8.png

  • Teacher - Adds a new instructor to the list.
  • Teachers (5) – Adds 5 new instructors to the list.

To delete a teacher, select his/her row and then click the minus button at the right toolbar. You can also reorder teachers using the up and down buttons. Select a teacher in the list and then use these buttons to move him/her to a different position.

Rooms

The seventh page in the Resources pane is the Rooms page:

Rooms page turbo8.png

A Room is the place where activities happen.

Room building turbo8.png

Rooms can be organized in a hierarchy of buildings and rooms. Buildings make it possible to display a combined timetable of all their rooms' activities. Of course, if this functionality is not required, it is perfectly reasonable to define all the rooms as a single list without using a hierarchical structure at all.

Rooms resources page turbo8.png

How to enter rooms?

To add rooms (locations) to the list, click the plus button at the right hand side toolbar. A menu will open up with the following options:

Add rooms turbo8.png

  • Room - Adds a new location to the list.
  • Rooms (5) – Adds 5 new locations to the list.

To delete a room, select it and then click the minus button at the right toolbar. You can also reorder rooms using the up and down buttons. Select a room in the list and then use these buttons to move it to a different position.

How to enter distances between rooms?

The program allows the entry of distances from a room (or a building) to other rooms (or buildings). A distance, in this case, is the time it takes to travel from one location to another. These distances are monitored by the program when you schedule activities. If a person is scheduled in two activities, each activity being in a different location, the program verifies that the duration (in minutes) between the time at which the first activity ends and the time at which the second activity starts (i.e. the gap between them) is at least the specified distance between these two locations. If it is smaller, the program warns about a distance conflict. For example, you can define that the walking distance between two buildings is 10 minutes. The program will warn you if you try to schedule someone in an activity which requires him/her to travel less than 10 minutes from a room in the first building to a room in the second building.

A room/building has a property named "Distances". This property defines the distance (in minutes) between that location and other locations. To fill in the distances, first click that property in the Properties pane. In the popup list, click near the room/building for which you would like to set the distance and then type the distance (hours:minutes).

Distances property turbo8.png

Equipment

The last page in the Resources pane is the Equipment page:

Equipment navigation page turbo8.png

Equipment are movable physical items which may be required for an activity. For example: TV, Projector, Microscope etc.

Equipment studio8.png

Equipment is the only type of resource which is quantified. An equipment's quantity is the number of items of that resource available in stock. It is assumed that these items are all equivalent to each other. The program allows scheduling multiple overlapping activities which use that equipment only up to the specified number of items. When more activities are scheduled at the same time than the number of the items in stock, a conflict is reported by the program saying that there are not enough items to accommodate all the overlapping activities which require that type of equipment.

Equipment resources page turbo8.png

How to enter equipment?

To add equipment to the list, click the plus button at the right hand side toolbar. A menu will open up with the following options:

Add equipment turbo8.png

  • Equipment - Adds a new equipment type to the list.
  • Equipment (5) – Adds 5 new equipment types to the list.

To delete an equipment type, select it and then click the minus button at the right toolbar. You can also reorder equipment using the up and down buttons. Select an equipment type in the list and then use these buttons to move it to a different position.

Efficient Entry of Resources

In this section we'll describe (and remind of) some features of the program which may save you time in entering or editing the data in the Resources pane.

How to assign colors automatically?

Instead of assigning a color to each resource manually, the program has an option to assign colors to all the selected resources at once. This is done by clicking the paintbrush button in the right hand side toolbar. A popup menu will open up with four options:

Assign colors8.png

  • Assign random bright colors - Automatically assigns bright colors to all the selected resources.
  • Assign random dark colors - Automatically assigns dark colors to all the selected resources.
  • Assign shades of the same color - First allows you to pick a base color (either bright or dark) and then assigns variations of that color to all the selected resources.
  • Remove colors - Removes the color assignment from all the selected resources.

Note: In case only one resource is selected, colors will be assigned to all the resources in the list.

If you do not like the randomly assigned colors, you can assign the colors again. Different random colors will be assigned each time. Of course, you can also manually change a color assigned to any resource by selecting the resource and then picking a different color in the Properties pane.

How to edit names quickly using only the keyboard?

In order to speed up the process of data entry, the program provides a possibility to edit the resources' names using the keyboard, without having to use Properties pane at all. This Editing Mode is turned on by clicking the pencil button at the top right corner of the screen:

Pencil button studio8.png

In the Editing Mode, clicking any resource's name in the list lets you immediately edit that name. You can continue the entire editing process using the keyboard alone: when done editing one value, press the up or down arrows on the keyboard to move to the next or previous resource. If there are several columns with data, you can use the Tab key to move to the next column. When done editing, press Enter.

Subjects editing mode turbo8.png

How to select multiple resources?

When several resources are selected, all the changes that you make in the Properties pane affect all the selected resources. This is a big time saver because you don't need to repeat the same operation over and over for each resource separately. Therefore, we will now learn how to select multiple resources. There are 3 ways to accomplish this:

  • The first way is to hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard pressed and then click the items you wish to select. Each item you click will be selected. Another click on the same item will deselect it.
  • The second way is applicable in case there is a continuous range of subsequent items that you would like to select: you select the first item simply by clicking it, then scroll down to the last item, hold down the Shift key on the keyboard and then click the last item. This selects all the items in between these two items.
  • The third way is by using the mouse. You can click an item and then without releasing the mouse button move the mouse down to the next item. It will be selected as well. Continue moving the mouse until you reach the last item and then release the mouse button.

Multiple selected resources turbo8.png

Note: The above described steps are relevant only when the Editing Mode is turned off. If the Editing Mode is turned on, clicking an item initiates its editing and does not affect its selection. In such case, first turn off the Editing Mode by clicking the pencil button to be able to select many resources.

How to edit the properties of multiple resources?

When you need to set the same property value to many resources (e.g. select the same parent subject for 20 subjects), you do not have to do it for each resource separately one by one. What you can do is first select all the resources and then edit the property in the Properties pane. Your change will be applied to all the selected resources in a single operation.

Bulk property editing turbo8.png

The next chapter: Activities.

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