Sign Up! (Time Slots)
What It’s For
A Sign Up! event is a schedule. You pick the days, set the hours, and HelpOut cuts them into time slots that guests claim. Use it for parent-teacher conferences, volunteer shifts, carpool schedules, tryout times, and anything else where people need to be somewhere at a specific time.
Setting One Up
- Go to Events > Create Event.
- Choose Sign Up! and click Next.
- Fill in the title and description, and the location if there is one.
- Under Dates & times, click Set dates & times to open the scheduler.
- Build your schedule and click Done.
- Click Finish.
An Example
Parent-teacher conferences on Tuesday and Thursday, 20 minutes each, with two teachers:
- Pick Tuesday and Thursday on the calendar.
- Click Add a block of times on Tuesday.
- Set Starts to 3:00 PM and Ends to 5:00 PM.
- Choose Custom and enter 20.
- Name the first slot “Ms. Rivera” with 1 spot. Click Add another slot at the same time and name it “Mr. Chen” with 1 spot.
- Tick Apply to all 2 days and click Add slots.
That’s six times a day, each with one slot for each teacher: 24 slots in all. Every parent picks an open one, and each slot closes once it’s taken.
A Second Example
A carnival needing volunteers across two shifts on Saturday:
- Pick Saturday and click Add a block of times.
- Set 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and choose Custom with 120 minutes.
- Add three slots: Ticket Booth (2 spots), Ring Toss (2 spots), and Face Painting (2 spots).
- Click Add slots.
That makes two shifts, 10:00 and 12:00, with every station in each. To add a Setup crew to the morning shift only, click the 10:00 time, click Add another slot at this time, name it Setup, and click Save changes.
What Guests See
Guests see your header image, title, and description, the dates the event runs, and the location with a Get directions link. The top of the page also shows how many spots are still open.
How the dates are laid out depends on how many days the event runs:
| Days | What guests see |
|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | Every time on one page, grouped by day |
| 4 to 8 | A row of days, each showing how many spots are open. Guests tap a day to see its times. |
| 9 or more | A month calendar. Days with times have a dot. |
Each time shows its start and end, the slot name, and how many spots are left, or Open to everyone if it has no limit. Initials beside a time show who has already claimed it. Full slots are grayed out, marked Full, and can’t be picked.
A guest checks the time they want, or several times, and clicks Sign Up. A box opens that asks for their name and email. They click Sign up to finish. The Sign Up button stays off until they’ve picked a time.
They get a confirmation email listing each slot with its date, time, and length, along with the location. Their confirmation page has an Edit Response button, and the email has the same link. There, they can pick a different time, or uncheck a time to give it back, and click Update Response.
Once every slot is full, the page says “Looks like everything is covered for this event!” and new guests can’t sign up. Anyone who already has a slot can still use their Edit Response link to change or give it back.
Reading the Results
Click the Entries tab. Sign-ups appear as a schedule, grouped by date and time, with the name and email of everyone in each slot.
Click Download for a spreadsheet with Name, Email, Items, and Response Date. Each slot is listed with its name, date, and time.
To take someone off a slot, click the trash icon beside their name and confirm. That removes them from that slot only and frees the spot. Any other times they signed up for stay. They aren’t told, so let them know if it matters.
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