The Planner
Plan the day on the Work Planner board, see whether it is sorted, follow it live, keep notes for the day, and prepare for weather and events
On this page
- How is the Planner organised?
- How do I add a job quickly?
- What other quick ways are there to add jobs?
- How do I plan a job in full?
- Is the day sorted?
- How do I read the day board?
- How do I change or remove a job?
- How do I use the toolbar?
- When does a job count as done?
- Where do I keep notes for the day?
- What's in Prepare?
- How do I put the day on the shed TV?
- How does the Planner work with the crew's phones?
- What does Course Activities show?
- Common problems and fixes
The Planner is where you build each day's work: who's doing what, where and when, laid out as a timeline with one row per member of staff.
Click Work in the top bar, then Schedule, or go directly to Work Planner. The page is called Work Planner, and it opens on today's date.
Save time
You rarely need the full task form. Click + by a name to type a job into that person's row, Paste a list you've already written on your phone (or, on Premium, take a photo of the diary or whiteboard), or Start from… last week's same day. A job that matches one of your task templates brings its area, machines, length and the rest of its details with it. Each one is explained below.
How is the Planner organised?
Click Work in the top bar to choose:
- Schedule: today's work board, which this guide covers.
- Plan The Week Ahead: Plan your week opens the Week Ahead Planner (see The Week Ahead Planner); Jobs backlog opens unscheduled work (see Jobs backlog).
- Course Activities: what got done, what's still open, and when each job was last done. See Course Activities.
- Calendar: the club Calendar. See Calendar.
- Prepare: Day Overview checks crew capacity, machinery and yesterday's unfinished work (see Day Overview), then Direction of Cut, Weather Reminders, Events Prep and Course Closures.
- Quick Settings: shift rota, break times, holiday and task template settings.
Every Planner page carries the same row of tabs under its header, so you can move between them without going back to the menu.
Planner Settings is at the foot of the Work menu, under Setup.
How do I add a job quickly?
The quick-add bar sits at the top of the Who's doing what board. Type the job the way you'd say it and press Enter.
For example: Cut greens - Dave, Spray greens @ 06:00 - Steve or Rake bunkers - Billy + Lee. TurfWise picks out the job, the people and the time, and shows you what it has understood as you type. It also checks your task templates, so a job you've set up in Task Settings picks up its area, machines and length. When it's saved, it also gets the rest of the template: priority, instructions and notes, safety notes, weather limits and PPE.
Handy shortcuts
Click in the box to start typing. Use the up and down arrow keys to scroll back through things you've typed recently, and Esc to clear the box.
Quick add is available to managers and admins. If you need more detail than a one-liner, click Advanced at the end of the bar to open the full task form.
What other quick ways are there to add jobs?
There are four more, each built for a moment in the greenkeeper's day. None of them are available on a day that has already passed.
Type a job into someone's row
Click the + beside a name on the board. A box opens under that person's row, and the jobs they've done lately are listed first, then the club's, then your templates.
Start typing — rake b is enough — and press Enter. The job goes in straight after their last one, with its usual length, area and machine. You can add a time or a length as you type, such as rake bunkers 10am 2h, and tea breaks are stepped over for you.
If the job matches one of your task templates, it brings the template with it. It doesn't need to be typed exactly: mow the greens finds Cut Greens, so the job gets that template's area, machines and length. When it's saved, it also gets the rest of the template: priority, instructions and notes, safety notes, weather limits and PPE. The line under the box says which template it's using.
Two templates with the same name
If two templates share a name, such as Cut Rough for two courses, TurfWise uses the one your club used last. If neither has been used yet, it asks you which one you mean. To add a job without its template, click No template.
Keep going
The box stays open, so you can type the next job straight away. Made a mistake? Click Undo on the line that says what was added.
Paste a list
Already written the day in a text or on your phone? Click Paste a list, paste it in, one job per line, and click Read the list.
Names can go either side: Cut greens – Matt 6am, Al: divots on 1 to 9 or Rake bunkers – Jake + Frankie 2h. A line with no name goes to Holding.
Each line is matched to your task templates in the same way as typing into a row. Before anything is saved, the list shows the area, machines and length each job will get, and which template they come from.
Names TurfWise isn't sure about
If a name could be someone else (Al might be Alex), TurfWise asks you to pick the person before anything is saved. A single initial, such as J, is always asked about, never guessed. Someone off on approved leave that day is marked off today, so you can change it.
From a photo of the diary or whiteboard. On Premium, click Read a photo of the list in the same box and take a photo, or choose one, of the day's jobs: a diary page, the whiteboard or a notepad. TurfWise copies what's written into the box as lines, in the same form as above. Nothing is added yet.
Check the lines
The photo shows beside the box. Check each line against it and fix anything that's wrong. Lines that were hard to read are listed in amber under the photo.
Read the list
Click Read the list. It works exactly as a pasted list: names are matched to your staff, jobs to your templates, and anything uncertain is asked about. Lines that were hard to read are marked Hard to read, and the photo stays open above the list so you can compare.
Add the jobs
Untick anything you don't want and click Add.
If a page covers more than one day, TurfWise uses the day you're planning and lets you switch to the others. Crossed-out items, notes and phone numbers are left out.
About the photo
The photo isn't saved. It's sent once to an AI service to be read, along with your staff names, job names, areas and machines so it can recognise them, and then it's dropped. Good light and a straight-on photo of one page read best. Very untidy handwriting may still need correcting; that's why every line is checked before anything is added.
Start from another day
Click Start from… and pick Last Tuesday (or whichever day it is), The day before, or any other date. On an empty day you'll also see Start from last Tuesday at the top of the board.
Before anything is saved you see the jobs and what's different this time:
- someone on approved leave, or no longer on the staff — their jobs go to Holding, or to someone you pick (a person free at that time is suggested);
- a machine that can't be used — swap it for one of the same kind, or take it off;
- someone not qualified for a job — give it to someone else or send it to Holding;
- a job that's already on the day — it's left out.
Untick anything you don't want, then click the button at the bottom — it says how many jobs and which day, such as Add 12 jobs to Tuesday. Safety checks, routine jobs from the Week Ahead and jobs that run over several days aren't copied; they come from their own schedules.
Change of plan
When the morning doesn't go to plan, click Change of plan. Nothing moves until you click the button at the bottom.
Someone's off
Pick who's off. Each of their jobs is offered to someone free at that time and qualified for it, or to Holding. You can also record the sick day in the same go.
Start later
Hold back greens, tees and approaches (or every job) until a time. Each person's later jobs move along behind, and anything that won't fit before their shift ends is listed rather than squeezed.
Machine down
Pick the machine and what to use instead. Only machines of the same kind that are free are offered.
Tick several jobs
Tick the jobs, then give them to someone, move them to tomorrow, move them 30 minutes or an hour, or remove them.
What gets checked
A job is only given to someone who is qualified for it, and that is checked again at the moment it moves. If a job can't be changed, the window tells you which one and why, and everything else still goes through.
How do I plan a job in full?
Click Add task in the toolbar (or Advanced on the quick-add bar). The Plan a task window opens.
Name the job and pick the area
Enter a Task title and choose a Primary area. Both are required. Set a Priority: Low, Medium, High or Urgent.
Say what kind of work it is
Choose the Kind of work. This isn't just a label: it decides which safety documents and PPE the crew see for the job, and which training the work counts towards.
Start from a template (optional)
Once you've picked an area, Start from a template lists the templates for that area. Choosing one fills in the rest of the form for you to tweak.
Assign the crew
Tick one or more people under Assigned staff. At least one is required. Use Search staff… to find someone quickly.
Set the times
Under Schedule, set the start and end date and time. The form suggests a start based on the person's shift, or the end of their last job that day. If the job runs past someone's shift, you'll see an amber warning, but you can still save it.
Add detail if you need it
Add a Description / instructions for the crew. You can also add Machinery & equipment (your own fleet or hired-in plant) and Products & materials.
Create it
Click Create task. It appears on the board straight away.
Overtime
Two tick boxes cover overtime:
- Mark this task as overtime counts the whole job as overtime.
- Add extra time as overtime only counts the time outside the crew's shift. Depending on each person's overtime setting, that time is either banked as TOIL or paid.
Advanced options
Click Advanced options for Required skills, Safety notes (safety requirements, PPE and hazard notes), an Estimated cost (£) and a Weather dependent tick box.
Is the day sorted?
The dark green card at the top answers that in one line, before you look at the board.
- Not yet · Still 36% of time available means someone has nothing on, a routine job for that day isn't on the board, or a job is waiting in Holding for someone.
- Nearly · 2 to sort means everyone has work but something needs a look.
- Yes · ready for your staff means there's nothing left to sort.
Under the answer you'll see Staff in, Planned, Still free and In holding. The hours come from the same checks as Day Overview: each person's shift, less breaks and approved leave. The hours under each name on the board come from the same place, so the two always agree.
The To sort list says what to do next. Show highlights that person's row on the board; Open takes you to the machine or record; Put them in Holding adds the missing routine jobs so you can drag them onto someone.
Who sees the card
The checks are for managers. Anyone else sees the board without the figures.
Once the day starts
On today's date the page switches to Live by itself once the first shift starts. The card then asks How's today going? and shows who has clocked in, how many jobs are done, which are On now and how many are still To come. Use the Plan / Live buttons to switch back at any time.
Live follows the clock. A job is On now during its planned time, and it's done once that time has passed. Jobs on the board get a dark outline with On now while they're running and a tick when they're done.
How do I read the day board?
The Who's doing what board shows one lane per member of staff, with the hours of the day across the top. The Staff column names each person.
- Coloured bars are jobs, coloured by area. Hover over one to see its times and area. An OT badge means it's overtime.
- Grey shading at either end of a lane is outside that person's shift.
- Amber bands are break times.
- Amber absence bars show holidays, sickness, TOIL and other time off. A part-day absence shows the hours taken and sits at the end of the person's shift, so the rest of their day is still free to plan.
- A red line marks the current time when you're looking at today.
- Under each name you'll see the hours they still have free, Full when their day is planned, or how far over they are. In Live it shows when they clocked in instead.
The conditions row
Under the hours there's a row with the temperature, rain and wind for each hour, from your club's hourly forecast. The shaded part before Sunrise is dark. The light green band is the spray window: the hours that meet your club's spray limits. A spray job that runs outside it is flagged in the card.
Your spray limits
The wind and gust limits are your club's own. Set them under Settings › Club & course › Weather & integrations, safety thresholds. The Today spray card and the morning brief use the same limits.
If the row says there's no hourly forecast, the forecast doesn't reach that day yet (it runs about two days ahead).
People who aren't working that day, for example because a weekend rota is running, are tucked into a Not working today row you can expand. Click someone's name to open their staff profile.
Time off counts against capacity
Holidays, sickness and TOIL all reduce the hours a person has left, including part days. If someone has a two-hour TOIL booked, their lane shows two hours fewer to fill.
Moving jobs around
- Drag a bar to another lane to hand the job to someone else.
- Drag a bar left or right to move it earlier or later. It snaps to 15-minute steps.
- Drag a bar into Needs attention at the bottom of the board to flag it. Drag it back onto a lane to assign it again.
- Click a bar to open it and edit the details.
The routine list
On the right, Routine lists that weekday's routine jobs, the same list Plan the Week Ahead uses. A tick means it's on the board. Click Add to put it in the Holding row for the day, then drag it onto someone. One-off jobs waiting for a day stay on Plan the Week Ahead.
How do I change or remove a job?
Click the job's bar to open Edit task. From there you can:
- Change any detail and click Save changes
- Click Repeat Tomorrow to create a copy of the job for tomorrow, with the same staff, machinery, products and area. The original is left as it is, and the board jumps to tomorrow so you can see the copy.
- Click Delete task, then Yes, delete to remove it
Changing a job's machines
When you swap or remove a machine on a job, its fuel and hours records change with it, so the right machine is charged when the job finishes. A machine that already has hours, meter readings or fuel logged against the job keeps its record. On a finished job only the plan changes — reopen the job first if you need to change which machines it used.
A job's machines are only changed here, on the desktop. The phone app shows them but can't change them.
How do I use the toolbar?
The toolbar sits just above the day board:
- Previous day, the date picker and Next day move through the calendar. Today jumps back to today.
- Plan / Live (today only) switches between planning the day and following it.
- Day / Week / Month switches between this board, the Week Ahead Planner and the Calendar. Week opens the week holding the day you're on, and each day's name on the week board opens that day here.
- Shed board opens a read-only, full-screen version of the day in a new tab (see below).
- Record a spray application opens the spray logger. See Spray Logger.
- Add absence records time off without leaving the Planner.
- Add task opens the full task form.
- Start from…, Paste a list and Change of plan are the quick ways in above.
Recording an absence
Click Add absence, choose the staff member and the type (Annual Leave, Sick Leave, TOIL and so on) and set the dates. A single-day absence can be marked as a Half day. The board updates as soon as you save.
Choosing TOIL asks for a date and a number of whole hours instead, and the person needs enough TOIL banked to cover it. A TOIL booking is kept separately from holidays and sickness, but it still comes off their day. Reload the page if it doesn't appear on the board straight away.
Premium
Recording absences and TOIL is part of rotas, timesheets and leave, which is included with Premium.
For approvals, balances and the rest of leave, see Absences and leave.
When does a job count as done?
You don't need to tick jobs off. Each job finishes by itself once its planned time has passed, using the hours it was planned for. Those hours go into labour costs, fuel, machine hours and the reports.
If a job didn't go to plan, click its bar and put it right:
- It took longer or shorter. Change its time or duration and save. The hours on the job follow, and so do labour, fuel and machine hours. If you've already recorded the real time in Course Activities › History, that figure stays.
- It didn't happen. Delete it. Any materials it used go back into stock, and its machine hours come off.
Which jobs finish by themselves
Only jobs with a time on the board and someone on them. Jobs in Holding, blocked or weather-delayed jobs and safety checks stay open until you sort them. A job you change after its finish time is left as you set it.
Where do I keep notes for the day?
At the bottom of the planner, under the board, is Notes for this day. Type anything worth keeping, such as closures, visitors or what got done or didn't, then click Save notes.
The note belongs to the day you're looking at, past days included. It also shows on the shed board.
When you're looking at a project's linked jobs, Mark linked jobs as complete still ticks those off together.
What's in Prepare?
The Prepare group in the Planner menu holds the pages for getting ahead of the weather and the calendar. Each has its own guide:
- Day Overview: is the day ready to go? Crew, hours, machines, left-over jobs and the day's weather.
- Weather Reminders: tell TurfWise the weather a job needs and get a nudge on Today and your phone when the forecast says it's coming.
- Direction of Cut: the mowing pattern for each surface on each day of the week.
- Events Prep: your upcoming tournaments and events and the work needed beforehand.
- Course Closures: the most recent closure assessments.
Premium
Events Prep (tournament preparation) is included with Premium.
How do I put the day on the shed TV?
Shed board shows the day's plan, who's in, the weather and course conditions on one read-only screen, so the crew can see it in the mess room.
Open the board on the TV
On the TV's web browser, go to turfwise.co.uk/board. It shows a pairing code.
Pair it
On your phone or laptop, click your initial at the right of the top bar, then Settings › Club & course › Shed displays. Under Pair a screen, type the six-character code from the TV, give the screen a name (it starts as "Shed TV") and click Pair. Managers and admins can do this. The code on the TV changes every ten minutes.
Leave it running
The TV signs itself in and keeps the board up to date.
How does the Planner work with the crew's phones?
Jobs you plan here appear in the TurfWise mobile app for the people assigned to them. The crew can start, complete or skip a job on their phone, and those updates come back to the Planner.
A job's machines are set here, on the desktop. The phone shows them on the job but can't change them. If someone on an older version of the app adds or changes a job's machines, that part isn't saved; the rest of their edit is.
What does Course Activities show?
Course Activities answers "What's been done on the course?" for the last 7, 30 or 90 days: jobs done and still open, each area's hours and jobs, and when each job was last done on each area. Hours are planned hours until someone records the time a job really took.
See Course Activities for the full guide.
Common problems and fixes
- "No staff on the roster for this day" or someone is missing. Only active staff with Include in work planning & performance analysis ticked on their staff record get a lane. See Adding staff.
- Someone's lane says the wrong number of hours left. Hours left come from their shift pattern, minus breaks and any time off. Check their shift pattern under Settings › People & attendance › Shift patterns. See Settings.
- A TOIL booking isn't showing on the board. TOIL only appears once it has been approved. Check its status on the staff side, then reload the Planner.
- "Couldn't move the task. Please try again." The move didn't save. Click Dismiss and drag it again.
- The green card says "Couldn't check the day". The checks didn't load. Click Check again; the board underneath is still right.