Blockout Dates
Posted initially by Planning Center Services
Blockouts let your team leader know that you’re unavailable to serve for a time frame you set. When they try to schedule you for a date, they’ll see a warning letting them know you’re unavailable.
Check out the video below for an overview of the process, and then read the rest of the article for more details.
This article has instructions on blocking out dates in Services. You can also use My Services on Church Center to set blockouts for yourself and your household.
Add Blockout Dates
Click Add blockouts or Block Out Dates in your My Schedule page.
If you have access to your household members in Services, you can also set blockouts for other members of your household.
You can also do this from your profile page.
If you are adding blockouts from your profile, you won’t be able to set blockouts for your household.
Click a date or drag multiple dates on the calendar and start typing the reason for your blockout.
Add additional blockouts by clicking a date or dragging multiple dates to set the start and end dates.
Dates in dark red are dates you’re currently editing; dates in medium red are dates you’ve just added but haven’t saved yet. Dates in light red are dates you’ve added previously and are already saved.
- If you need to add blockout dates for someone in your household, you can click on their picture. Any blockout date added will apply to the people whose pictures are showing.
- Some people have a profile in more than one account, and they can choose if this blockout date is for one account or for all their Linked Accounts.
- Choose your Start and End Dates. End dates are only necessary if the blockout is over consecutive dates.
To specify times, deselect the All Day switch and set the times. - If your date repeats, set the repeat options. If you choose months, you can also specify which day pattern (e.g., the last Tuesday, the first Wednesday), or an exact day (the 27th).
If the blockout is a repeating blockout, put your End Date here. - Write in your reason, so your Team Leader can see it.
- If you create a date in error, click the “Delete” trash can icon on that date during or after editing.
The Save button reaffirms how many new blockout dates you’ll be adding.
Blockouts will block out that time frame for every team in Services. So, if you want to be available for one Team but not another, you can set that time frame as a preference in your profile.
Edit or Delete Blockouts
The calendar on your My Schedule page shows your blockout days with a small red circle. Click on the blockout date in the list to edit the blockout.
You can also edit blockouts from your profile.
Simple Blockouts
Once you click on a blockout, you can change any options or select Delete.
You cannot add repeat options to an existing simple blockout. Instead, delete it and create a new repeating blockout.
Edit or Delete Repeating Blockouts
When editing a repeating blockout, you cannot change the repeating options.
You can change the dates, times, or the reason depending on the option you choose:
- ONE: Only edit the date you clicked on the calendar. All other recurrences will remain unchanged.
- FUTURE: Only the date you clicked and any repeating dates in the future will be changed. Dates prior to the selected date will remain unchanged. Your blockout actually gets split into two blockouts to accomplish this.
- ALL: All dates, even previous ones related to this pattern, will be changed. If you change the date, all other dates will shifted by the same amount.
If you want to delete a date, choose which Recurrence Option you’d like to delete first, then click the Delete button, which changes based on the selected recurrence option.
If you have scheduled the blockout for your household, you can also choose to edit the blockout for just yourself or other household members.
