# How staff are told: email, text and My shifts

> What staff are sent about their shifts and when, the reminders, the Notifications settings, and the record of every message sent.

Who this is for: Anyone with “Run the bar and events roster” (by default: Administrator, Bar Manager).
Last checked in release 2026.10.23, on 23 October 2026.
Source: https://sportsclubos.net/help/roster/notifications/

Staff always see their shifts on their own **My shifts** page. As well, each person is told by email, by text, or both, as chosen on their staff record. They can change that choice themselves once they have signed in. Every message, sent or not, is recorded on the roster's **Notifications** panel.

## What is sent, and when

| When | Who is told | How |
|---|---|---|
| You publish a week | Each person with new, changed or cancelled shifts: one message for the week | Email and text, as they chose |
| You press **Send it again** on someone | That person: their shifts still waiting for an answer | Email and text |
| A shift is coming up, or has not been answered | The person, as a reminder (below) | Email and text |
| A finished shift has no hours reported | The person, once, to report them | Email and text |
| Someone says no, asks for a shift, says they can no longer work one, or asks for time off | The managers | Email |
| You approve or decline a request or time off, or an open shift goes to someone else | The person | Email and text |

Changing a published shift tells nobody until the week is published again. See [Publish the week's roster](https://sportsclubos.net/help/roster/publish-the-week/index.md).

## The yes or no link

An email has a button, and a text a short link, that lets the person say yes or no to their shifts without signing in. It works only for their own published shifts, for 45 days. Answering is a button press on the page it opens, so opening the link alone answers nothing.

## Reminders

Two reminders go by themselves, once per shift, between 8am and 9pm:

- **Before the shift:** a reminder of a coming shift, a set number of hours before it.
- **Not answered:** a reminder to answer, once a shift has waited a set number of hours with no yes or no.

> **Your club decides:** the hours for each. Press **Notifications** on the roster and set **Not answered after (hours)** and **Before the shift (hours)**. Both start at 24. Type 0 to turn one off. Press **Save settings**.

**Send reminders now** sends any reminders that are due straight away. A message says, for example, **Reminders for 2 people. Messages: 2 sent.**, or **Nobody is due a reminder.**

## The Notifications panel

Press **Notifications** on the Weekly roster. It shows:

- Whether email and SMS are on, for example **Email is on, sent from …** and **SMS is on.** When SMS is switched off, people who chose SMS only are not messaged.
- **Reminders**, as above.
- **Open shifts:** whether **A manager approves each request for an open shift**. See [Open shifts and requests](https://sportsclubos.net/help/roster/open-shifts/index.md).
- **Messages:** **Sender name** (the club's name unless you type another), **Replies go to** (an email address replies should reach), and **Tell these people when someone says no**: email addresses, separated by commas. "Left empty, everyone who can run the roster is told."
- **Sent:** the latest messages, each with the person, its state (**Sent**, **Failed**, **Skipped**, **Switched off** or **Not sent**), the time, email or SMS, what it was (such as **Roster published**, **Reminder** or **Said no: managers told**) and where it went. A failure gives the reason.

Press **Save settings** to keep changes. A message says **Settings saved**.

## Texts

A text is short: it says, for example, how many shifts are new or changed for the week, with the link to answer. Its words are the club's.

*For anyone who can: “Wording of text messages”*

An Administrator can change the words of each kind of text on Admin > Settings, Communications tab, under **Text messages to staff**. A word in {curly brackets} is filled in when the text is sent; anything in [square brackets] is left out when there is nothing to put in it, such as a link when no answer is needed. Each shows an example and its length, and **Use the standard words** puts the standard wording back. A text over 160 characters is sent and charged as more than one. Press **Save text message wording**.

> **Note:** Staff answer a text with its link, not by replying to it.

> **Note:** The list of texts on the Communications tab of Settings includes **A shift is cancelled**, described as sent "When a published shift is deleted". Sports Club OS does not send a text at the moment a shift is deleted. A cancellation is told when you next publish: it is counted in the person's one message for the week, so the wording that matters is **A roster is published or changed**. Changing the **A shift is cancelled** wording changes nothing a person receives today.

## Related

- [A staff member didn't get the text about their shift](https://sportsclubos.net/help/roster/q-no-text/index.md)
- For staff: [See and answer your shifts](https://sportsclubos.net/help/me/answer-a-shift/index.md)