Group Availability

Group-Specific Availability

While your global availability applies everywhere, you may want different settings for different groups. Group availability lets you customize how your schedule is shared with each Moot you belong to.

Why Use Group Availability?

• Different commitments - Your weekly campaign vs. your monthly one-shot group
• Varying flexibility - More open for close friends, more restrictive for newer groups
• Multiple games - Different availability for your D&D group vs. your board game night
• Cross-timezone play - Groups in different regions might need different hours

Participation Modes

Each Moot you belong to has a participation mode that controls how your availability is calculated and displayed.

Active

You manage your own availability for this group.

This is the default mode for most members. When Active:

• Your global availability applies to this Moot
• You can optionally set custom hours for this Moot only
• You receive scheduling invites and conflict warnings
• Your availability appears in group heat maps

Best for:

• Moots you actively play in
• Groups where you want control over your schedule
• Your primary gaming groups

Default Schedule

Uses your global availability without customization.

Similar to Active, but simpler:

• Your global weekly pattern applies directly
• No group-specific customization
• Your global exceptions apply
• Less management overhead

Best for:

• Groups where your regular schedule works fine
• Secondary groups you don't need to customize
• When you want "set it and forget it"

Always Available

You appear available for all times in this group.

When set to Always Available:

• You're included in all scheduling calculations
• No time restrictions are applied
• The group sees you as available whenever
• Useful for highly flexible players

Best for:

• Groups where you're extremely flexible
• Casual one-shot groups
• When you don't want to miss any sessions
• Backup or substitute players

Never Available

You're excluded from scheduling in this group.

When set to Never Available:

• You don't appear in availability heat maps
• Smart scheduling ignores you
• You can still RSVP manually to sessions you want to attend
• Keeps you in the Moot without scheduling pressure

Best for:

• Moots you're taking a break from
• Groups you're in for the community but not the games
• Temporary situations (busy season, other campaign taking priority)
• When you only attend special sessions

Admin Managed

A group admin sets your availability for this Moot.

When set to Admin Managed:

• Admins can set your availability schedule
• You don't need to configure anything
• Changes are logged for transparency
• You can still see what's set for you

Best for:

• Organized groups with dedicated scheduling
• Rotating player pools with assigned slots
• Groups where someone else handles all the logistics
• Players who prefer not to manage their own schedule

Setting Your Participation Mode

To change your participation mode for a Moot:

1. Go to the Moot's page
2. Click the Availability tab
3. Select your Participation Mode from the dropdown
4. If you choose Active, you can also customize your availability for this group
5. Click Save Changes

Custom Group Availability

When in Active mode, you can set custom availability for a specific Moot:

Setting Custom Hours

1. Navigate to the Moot
2. Click the Availability tab
3. Set your participation mode to Active
4. Customize your weekly pattern for this group
5. This overrides your global pattern for this Moot only

When to Use Custom Availability

Example: Weekly Campaign vs. One-Shot Group

• Global: Available most evenings
• Weekly campaign: Only Thursday nights (that's when this group meets)
• One-shot group: Uses global (you're flexible for occasional games)

Example: Online vs. In-Person

• Global: Evening availability
• Online group (cross-timezone): Night owl hours for players overseas
• Local group: Uses global evening times

Example: High-Commitment Campaign

• Global: Standard weeknight availability
• Long-running campaign: Extended Saturday sessions during the arc finale
• Casual group: Uses global

Custom vs. Global

Admin Capabilities

If you're a Moot admin (or the owner), you have additional availability tools:

Viewing Member Availability

As an admin, you can see:

• Each member's participation mode
• Their effective availability (heat map)
• Any exceptions affecting the group
• Custom availability details (if set)

Setting Member Modes

Admins can change member participation modes:

1. Go to Members tab
2. Click on a member
3. Select Change Participation Mode
4. Choose the new mode
5. Changes take effect immediately

This is useful for:

• Setting up new members before they configure their own
• Helping members who prefer admin management
• Handling inactive players gracefully

Admin-Managed Scheduling

When a member is in Admin Managed mode:

1. Go to Members tab
2. Click the member
3. Select Set Availability
4. Define their weekly pattern
5. Optionally add notes for audit

All admin changes are logged with:

• Who made the change
• When it was made
• What was changed
• Optional reason

Group Heat Maps

Heat maps visualize combined group availability:

Reading Heat Maps

• Darker colors = More party members available
• Lighter colors = Fewer members available
• White/Empty = No one available
• Time slots appear on the x-axis
• Days/Dates appear on the y-axis

How Your Mode Affects Heat Maps

Using Heat Maps for Scheduling

1. View the Moot heat map
2. Identify the darkest (best) time slots
3. These maximize party attendance
4. Use for scheduling decisions

The heat map is your best friend for finding times that work for everyone.

Conflict Detection in Moots

EventMoot checks for conflicts when:

• A new session is proposed
• You're invited to a Moot event
• Smart scheduling calculates times

Conflict Types

Direct Conflict

• Proposed time overlaps with another session you've accepted
• Severity: High

Availability Conflict

• Proposed time is outside your stated availability
• Severity: Medium

Buffer Conflict

• Proposed time violates your buffer time preference
• Severity: Low

Conflict Notifications

When conflicts are detected:

• You see a warning on the event
• The conflict type is explained
• You can still respond (it's a warning, not a block)
• Organizers see aggregate conflict data

This helps prevent the dreaded "I have another game that night" after scheduling.

Syncing Across Moots

Your global availability syncs automatically:

• Changes to your pattern reflect everywhere
• Exceptions apply to all Moots
• No manual sync needed

Group-specific settings are independent:

• Custom availability only affects that Moot
• Participation mode is per-Moot
• Changes don't affect other groups

Best Practices

Choose Modes Thoughtfully

Consider for each Moot:

• How often do they schedule sessions?
• How important is your attendance?
• Do you have group-specific constraints?

Use Never Available for Hiatuses

Instead of leaving a Moot:

• Set mode to Never Available
• You stay connected but unburdened
• Easy to reactivate when you're ready
• Keeps your history and relationships intact

Keep Custom Availability Simple

If using custom availability:

• Only customize what's actually different
• Don't duplicate your global pattern
• Review when your schedule changes

Communicate Mode Changes

When changing your participation mode:

• Consider letting the group know
• Especially for Active → Never Available
• A quick heads-up helps with group planning

Troubleshooting

My availability isn't showing in a Moot

1. Check your participation mode (not Never Available?)
2. Verify you have availability set (global or custom)
3. Ensure your timezone is correct
4. Try refreshing the Moot page

Admin can't set my availability

1. Confirm you're in Admin Managed mode
2. Verify they have admin permissions
3. Check if the Moot has availability features enabled

My exceptions aren't applying to a Moot

1. Global exceptions apply to all Moots
2. Custom availability doesn't have separate exceptions
3. Verify the exception covers the correct dates

Heat map shows me available when I'm not

1. Check for stale group-specific custom availability
2. Verify your global pattern is current
3. Confirm exceptions are set correctly
4. Your participation mode might be Always Available