Tutorials

Welcome to CalTeam! This tutorial will help you get started with creating and managing team schedules on your Mac. CalTeam is a visual scheduling application designed to help you organize assignments, track resources, and manage your team's time effectively.

CalTeam uses a Gantt-style calendar view to display assignments, making it easy to see who is working on what and when. Whether you're managing a small team or coordinating multiple projects, CalTeam provides the tools you need to keep everything organized.

 

1. Getting Started

When you first launch CalTeam, you'll see an empty calendar view. Before you can create assignments, you need to set up your team members, known as "Resources" in CalTeam.

 

2. Creating Your First Resource

A Resource represents a person (team member) who will receive assignments. To create your first resource:

 

1. Click the "Resources" button in the toolbar (person.3 icon).

2. Click the "+" button in the Resources window.

3. Fill in the resource information:

   - Name: Enter the person's name (required)

   - Title: Job title or position (optional)

   - Email: Email address (optional)

   - Phone: Phone number (optional)

   - Photo: Drag and drop a photo or click to select one (optional)

   - Active: Check this box to make the resource active

4. Click "Add Resource".

 

Tip: You can reorder resources by dragging them up or down in the list. This changes how they appear on the calendar.

 

 

3. Setting Up Working Hours

Each resource has their own working schedule. By default, resources work Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with Friday ending at 4:00 PM. To customize working hours:

 

1. In the Resources window, select a resource.

2. Click the "Edit" button (pencil icon).

3. Click the "Working Schedule" tab.

4. Click "Customize..." to adjust working hours for each day of the week.

5. Make your changes and click "Update".

 

Important: Working hours are used by the scheduling system to display assignments on the calendar and to help prevent conflicts.

 

4. Understanding the Calendar View

The main view of CalTeam is a calendar grid that displays assignments across days, weeks, or months. You can switch between views using the segmented control in the toolbar:

 

- Day View: Shows a single day with hourly time slots

- Week View: Shows seven days of the week

- Month View: Shows an entire month

 

5. Navigating the Calendar

Use these controls to move through the calendar:

 

- Left Arrow (←): Go to the previous period (day, week, or month)

- Right Arrow (→): Go to the next period

- Today Button: Jump to the current date

- Zoom Controls: Adjust the size of rows in the calendar (minus and plus magnifying glass icons)

 

Keyboard Shortcuts: You can use arrow keys and "T" key for navigation, and Command-plus/minus for zoom.

 

 

6. Creating Assignments

Assignments are tasks or work items assigned to resources. There are several ways to create assignments:

 

Method 1: Using the Toolbar

 

1. Select a resource on the left side of the calendar (click on their row).

2. Click the "Add Assignment" button (clock icon) in the toolbar.

3. In the assignment dialog:

   - Enter a Title for the assignment

   - Set the Start Date and End Date

   - Set the Start Time and End Time

   - Choose an Assignment Type (Training, Meeting, Project, Task, etc.)

   - Add optional Notes

   - Set Priority (Low, Medium, High)

   - Set Status (Scheduled, In Progress, Completed)

   - Add Tags if desired

4. Click "Create Assignment".

 

Method 2: Click and Drag on the Calendar

 

1. Select a resource on the left side of the calendar.

2. Click on an empty time slot on the calendar.

3. Drag to extend the time range.

4. Fill in the assignment details in the dialog that appears.

5. Click "Create Assignment".

 

7. Editing Assignments

To modify an existing assignment:

 

1. Click on the assignment in the calendar view.

2. Click the "Edit Assignments" button (pencil icon) in the toolbar.

3. Make your changes in the dialog.

4. Click "Update Assignment".

 

Note: If you're editing a recurring assignment, you'll be asked if you want to update just the current instance, all instances in the current week, or all instances.

 

8. Deleting Assignments

To remove an assignment:

 

1. Select the assignment on the calendar.

2. Click the "Delete Assignment" button (trash icon) in the toolbar.

3. Choose what to delete:

   - Current Instance Only: Remove just this occurrence

   - Current Week/Month's Instances: Remove all instances in the current view

   - All Recurring Instances: Remove all instances (only for recurring assignments)

 

Keyboard Shortcut: Press the Delete key after selecting an assignment.

 

9. Creating Recurring Assignments

For tasks that repeat regularly (like weekly meetings or daily stand-ups):

 

1. Create a new assignment using any method.

2. In the assignment dialog, check "Recurring Assignment".

3. Select a Recurrence Pattern:

   - Daily: Every day or every N days

   - Weekly: On specific days of the week

   - Monthly: On a specific day of each month

   - Yearly: On a specific date each year

4. Set the End Date for the recurrence pattern.

5. Click "Create Assignment".

 

All instances of the recurring assignment will be generated automatically.

 

10. Viewing Reports

CalTeam includes built-in reporting to help you analyze your team's workload:

 

1. Click the "Reports" button (chart.bar icon) in the toolbar.

2. The Reports window shows various statistics:

   - Summary of assignments by type

   - Workload distribution across resources

   - Time utilization analysis

 

Tip: You can filter reports by date range and specific resources.

 

11. Managing Resources

In the Resources window, you can:

 

- Add new team members

- Edit resource information and working schedules

- Delete resources (careful: this removes all their assignments)

- Reorder resources by dragging them

 

Keyboard Shortcut: Press Command-1 to open the Resources window.

 

12. Preferences and Settings

Customize CalTeam to match your workflow:

 

1. Open CalTeam > Preferences from the menu bar.

2. Adjust settings such as:

   - Default working hours

   - First day of the week

   - Whether to show weekends

   - Default assignment color

   - Display options for resource information

   - Whether to show assignment hours

   - Whether to allow click-to-create assignments

 

13. Saving Your Work

CalTeam uses standard macOS document-based architecture:

 

- Save: Press Command-S to save your current document

- Save As: Create a copy with a new name (Command-Shift-S)

- Open: Open existing .calteam files (Command-O)

- New: Create a new empty schedule (Command-N)

 

Important: Each schedule is saved as a separate document with the .calteam file extension.

 

14. Keyboard Shortcuts Reference

Here's a quick reference of keyboard shortcuts:

 

Navigation:

- Left/Right Arrow: Navigate between time periods

- T: Jump to Today

 

Windows:

- Command-1: Open Resources window

- Command-2: Add Assignment

- Command-3: Edit Assignments

- Command-R: Open Reports

 

Editing:

- Delete: Delete selected assignment

 

View:

- Command--: Zoom out

- Command-+: Zoom in

 

File:

- Command-N: New document

- Command-O: Open document

- Command-S: Save document

- Command-W: Close window

- Command-Q: Quit CalTeam