# Published and Unpublished Shifts

Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/published-and-unpublished-shifts

> Why shifts must be published before Support Workers can see them in the app.

Scheduling add-on - This feature requires the Scheduling add-on, which is available on Astalty Premium. See How to enable Scheduling.

## Overview

By default, when you create a support in Astalty, it is created as an unpublished shift. Shifts must be published before they are visible to Support Workers in the app.

You can identify the status of a shift by its appearance:

- **Unpublished Shift** - The event uses a dashed border.
- **Published Shift** - The event uses a solid border and fill. Its colour depends on your organisation's [Schedule Colours](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/schedule-colours).

![Shifts on the Schedule side by side: published shifts with a solid border and light blue fill on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18, and unpublished shifts with a dashed border on Thursday 19 and Friday 20.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/unpublished-shifts-4.png)

## Publishing Shifts

There are several ways you can publish shifts:

**Individually**:

- Open a specific support, then open the **three-dot menu** beside the Support Worker's name and select **Publish Shift**.

![A support with the three-dot menu on the Support Worker's shift card highlighted and an arrow pointing to Publish Shift in the open menu.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/publish-shift-1.png)

- From the **Actions** menu in a **Direct Support** or **Group Support**, select **Publish Shifts**.

![A support with the Actions menu open and highlighted, and Publish Shifts highlighted in the list.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/unpublished-shifts-6.png)

**By Day**: Switch to the Daily View, select the date, and publish all shifts scheduled for that day.

**By Week**: Switch to the Weekly View, select the week, and publish all shifts scheduled for that week.

**By Fortnight**: Switch to the Fortnight View, select the fortnight, and publish all shifts scheduled in that period.

**By Date Range**: Use the date range filter to review unpublished shifts and publish them in bulk.

![The Schedule in Fortnight view with an arrow pointing to the highlighted Publish button, which shows the number of shifts to publish, above solid published and dashed unpublished shifts.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/unpublished-shifts-3.png)

When you publish shifts from the calendar view, a pop-up will appear showing all shifts that are about to be published. Any unassigned shifts will be listed first so you can review and address them before proceeding.

![The Publish Shifts pop-up for a single day, listing shifts by Worker, Shifts and Details with Unassigned first, a warning that there are 2 shift clashes with a View Shift Clashes Report link, a warning that assigned Support Workers will be notified immediately, and the Publish button.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/publishing-shifts-1.png)

### Publishing Every Shift That Matches Your Filters

Use **Unpublished Shifts** when you need to publish more than one page of results without selecting each page separately:

1. Open [**Scheduling > Unpublished Shifts**](https://app.astalty.com.au/scheduling/unpublished-shifts).
2. Search or apply filters until the table contains the shifts you want to publish.
3. Tick the checkbox in the table header to select the current page.
4. Select **Select all \[number] matching shifts** in the selection bar.
5. Select **Publish**, review the number of shifts and the count for each assigned worker, then confirm.

The review also lists unassigned shifts. Publishing makes those shifts active, but there is no worker to notify until someone is assigned. Assigned Support Workers are notified immediately and see the shifts on their schedules.

You can publish up to **2,000 matching shifts** at once. If more than 2,000 match, narrow the search or filters and publish smaller batches.

> **Review the results again if they change**
>
> Astalty checks that the matching shifts have not changed between the review and the final publish action. If another scheduling change adds, removes, or updates a matching shift, Astalty refreshes the preview instead of publishing. Review the new result and select **Publish** again.

## Unpublishing Shifts

You can also unpublish a shift before making changes. For example:

- Adjusting travel details
- Unassigning and reassigning a Support Worker
- Editing other shift information

> **You don't have to unpublish to swap a worker**
>
> Unpublishing first is optional. [Reassigning a Support Worker](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/unassigned-shift#reassigning-a-support-worker) works on a published shift and leaves it published, notifying both the outgoing and incoming worker straight away.
>
> Unpublishing beforehand doesn't make the swap a quiet one: unpublishing an assigned shift already notifies that worker it has been removed from their schedule (see [Published and Unpublished Notifications](#published-and-unpublished-notifications)). It only holds back the *incoming* worker's notification until you republish.

Open the support, open the **three-dot menu** beside the Support Worker's name, and select **Unpublish Shift**.

Once changes are complete, you can republish the shift.

![A support with the three-dot menu on the Support Worker's shift card highlighted and an arrow pointing to Unpublish Shift in the open menu.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/unpublish-shift-1.png)

You can also select **Actions** > **Unpublish Shifts** on a Direct Support or Group Support. It only appears while the support has a published shift still to come.

![A support with the Actions menu open and highlighted, and Unpublish Shifts highlighted in the list.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/unpublish-shifts-1.png)

> **Clocked shifts cannot be unpublished**
>
> You cannot unpublish a shift after the Support Worker has clocked in or out.

## Bulk Actions from the All Shifts Page

In addition to publishing and unpublishing shifts from the calendar view, you can publish, unpublish, and delete shifts directly from the **All Shifts** page. This is useful when you want to manage shifts across multiple days or workers in one place. The page also shows cancelled shifts and lets you filter by cancellation status - see [How Cancellations Appear on Shift and Support Lists](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/support-cancellations#how-cancellations-appear-on-shift-and-support-lists).

![The All Shifts page, highlighted in the Scheduling menu, with two unpublished shifts ticked and the Publish and Unpublish buttons in the selection bar highlighted, Unpublish greyed out.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/allshifts1-guide.png)

### Bulk Publishing

To bulk publish shifts from the All Shifts page:

1. Navigate to the [**All Shifts**](https://app.astalty.com.au/scheduling/all-shifts) page.
2. Select the shifts you want to publish using the checkboxes.
3. Click **Publish** in the selection bar above the table. It is only available when every selected shift is unpublished.

A confirmation pop-up will appear listing the affected Support Workers and their shifts. Review the list to ensure everything is correct, then confirm to proceed. Assigned Support Workers will be notified immediately once the shifts are published.

![The Publish Shifts confirmation pop-up asking whether to publish 11 shifts, noting that assigned Support Workers will be notified immediately, and listing each Worker with their shifts, unassigned first.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/cleanshot-2026-04-16-at-17.19.41@2x-guide.png)

### Bulk Unpublishing

To bulk unpublish shifts from the All Shifts page:

1. Navigate to the [**All Shifts**](https://app.astalty.com.au/scheduling/all-shifts) page.
2. Select the shifts you want to unpublish using the checkboxes.
3. Click **Unpublish** in the selection bar above the table. It is only available when every selected shift is published.

A confirmation pop-up will appear listing the affected Support Workers and their shifts. Review the list before confirming. Assigned Support Workers will be notified immediately that the shifts have been removed from their schedule.

![The Unpublish Shifts confirmation pop-up asking whether to unpublish 13 shifts, noting that assigned Support Workers will be notified and the shifts removed from their schedules, and listing each Worker with their shifts.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/allshiftsunpublish-guide.png)

### Bulk Deleting

You can delete several shifts from the All Shifts page in one step, instead of removing a roster one shift at a time.

1. Navigate to the [**All Shifts**](https://app.astalty.com.au/scheduling/all-shifts) page.
2. Select the shifts you want to delete using the checkboxes. A shift already sitting in a timesheet batch can't be ticked.
3. Click **Delete** in the selection bar above the table. When the bar also shows **Publish** and **Unpublish**, **Delete** is under the **...** (More actions) button.

![The All Shifts page with three shifts ticked and the More actions menu open in the selection bar, showing Delete beside the greyed-out Publish button and the Unpublish button.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/all-shifts-delete-action-menu-guide.png)

A **Delete Shifts** dialog opens, summarising what will be removed (for example *This deletes 3 supports*) and listing every affected Support Worker with their shift dates and times. Tick **I understand and would like to proceed**, then click **Delete**.

![The Delete Shifts dialog stating it deletes 3 supports and cannot be undone, listing the affected Worker with their shift dates and times, with I understand and would like to proceed ticked and the Delete button.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/all-shifts-delete-confirmation-guide.png)

> **Deleting a shift can take the whole event with it**
>
> Selecting a shift that belongs to a Support, Group Support or Internal Event deletes that **entire event** - including every other worker's shift on it, along with its notes, travel and charges. Deletion cannot be undone. Only the occurrences you selected are removed; other dates in a repeating series are left alone.
>
> If the shifts you delete are every remaining future occurrence of a repeating series, Astalty closes the series out so it stops expecting shifts that no longer exist.

A shift can't be deleted when:

- The Support Worker has clocked in or out of it.
- It's in a timesheet batch.
- Its Support or Group Support has invoiced or voided charges.
- Its Support belongs to a Group Support and deleting it would leave a gap in another Participant's coverage.

If any selected shift fails one of these checks, **nothing is deleted** - Astalty lists which shifts failed and why, with a **Deselect Blocked Shifts** button so you can remove them from the selection and retry with the rest.

Deleting notifies the assigned Support Worker only if the shift was already published - an unpublished shift isn't visible to them, so there's nothing to notify.

## Published and Unpublished Notifications

When you publish a support, the assigned Support Worker will receive a notification in the Support Worker app. The type of notification will depend on how the shift is published - whether you publish an individual shift or publish shifts in bulk from the scheduler using the daily, weekly, or date range view.

If you unpublish a support, the Support Worker will also receive a notification to let them know the support has been removed from their schedule.

## Key Points

- Shifts are unpublished by default when created.
- Published shifts use a solid border and fill.
- Unpublished shifts use a dashed border.
- The colour itself can be changed in [Schedule Colours](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/schedule-colours).
- You can publish or unpublish shifts individually, by day, by week, or by a selected date range. You can also publish every shift matching the current filters from **Unpublished Shifts**.

## Publishing Workflow

See [Publishing Workflow](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/publishing-workflow) for a suggested review and publishing process.

## Published & Unpublished Overview

The following video provides an overview of published and unpublished supports.

Video walkthrough: published unpublished shifts.