Setting up Editorial Schedule Templates

Schedule templates are used within a variety of places in both Editorial and Production. Whilst the process is similar for setting up both types of Schedule templates, the following page will deal with Editorial Schedule Templates only. For more information on Production Schedule Templates, please see this page.

Please note that Schedules created in Editorial --> Editorial Admin --> Schedule Templates will also appear in Production --> Production Admin --> Schedule Templates. However, the reverse is not true.

Before you start creating Schedule Templates, you should have created your Tasks first. Next, you must create your Default Schedules. These schedules are designed to allow you to allocate a set of tasks to the creation of a title, and are required for the Editorial Checklist tab,  the Editorial Schedule tab and the Costs tab to function properly.

In the Editorial Module, the schedule types required are the Editorial Checklist Schedule, the Editorial Completion Schedule and the Costs schedule. However, whilst the Costs schedule is used in the Editorial module, it sits within the Production module. As such, whilst it can be configured in the same way as the following process, to edit it once created, you will need to access it from Production --> Production Admin --> Schedule Templates.

Setting Up Schedule Templates:

Select Schedule Templates from the main Editorial Admin menu, and you will be taken to a new screen. The list will be empty if you haven't created any schedule templates. In the image below, we have added some schedules as examples.

1. Click on Create New.

2. Form/Class: Choose a format from the list of options in the drop-down menu, which contains possible publishing formats (ie Book, Video, PB, HB). What you are doing is creating schedules that can be lumped by product type or form. If you are creating your Default schedule, then leave this item at Default.

If you want a format that is not on the list, click on the little blue button called NEW and you will be able to type a name of your schedule manually. To go back to the drop-down menu, click on Select existing.

3. Schedule Type.There are 6 schedule types under the drop down menu that come up when you create a schedule template. The remaining fields will change dependent on the schedule type you choose. The following instructions will take you through the schedule types used in Editorial. For more information on the Production Schedule Templates, please see this page.

Editorial Completion Schedule

Your completion schedule (in this case the default one) is the list of tasks that HAVE to be completed for a title to enter production. For example, the production department cannot begin work until the the manuscript has been received by the author, or the contract has been signed.

You can include as many tasks as is required for your organisations editorial workflow by clicking on the blue 'Add another task'. The tasks that are available in the drop down menu are populated by those tasks previously configured within Editorial Admin, and that have the field 'In Schedule?' selected.

1. Select a Task from the drop-down menu.

2. Add the Duration of the deadline by typing in a numerical value, and chose the Period from the drop down menu as either days or weeks. This is an idea of typically how long this task will take.

3. You can tick the boxes to mark whether your deadline is a milestone or is immovable.

4. Repeat items 4 and 5 until you've added all of the tasks related to that schedule template.

5. You can alter the order in which these tasks will appear in the completion schedule by clicking and dragging the tasks using the arrow to the left of the field.

Once you are done, the default Completion Schedule will appear in the Editorial Schedule tab like this:

Editorial Checklist

Your Editorial Checklist is designed to be a list of tasks that need to be completed within the Editorial Process. Whilst similar to the Completion Schedule in some senses, this is less of a list of tasks that absolutely must be completed before the process can move on, and more of a list of items that need to be ticked off.

The process of configuring this schedule template is the same as the Completion Schedule. Once configured, it will appear in the Editorial Checklist tab like this:

Costs

This is where you will set up a set of costs to remind users about which costs would normally be related to the schedule. This template is used within both Production and Editorial, and as such whilst it can be configured within Editorial, it sits within Production Admin.

Here you can add information about costs connected to tasks and set the basis on which the costs are being built, whether it is a fixed cost or by copies ordered or by a page, and you can set the rate and currency. This will then go into your profit and loss estimation. You can add as many costs as needed by clicking on the blue Add another task button.

Once configured, your Editorial Costs Schedule will appear in the Costs tab as follows:

Top Tips

Once you have created your Default schedule, you can create as many schedules as needed for different formats. If you want to copy an existing schedule, click on the looking glass symbol (shown in the image below) and a pop up window will appear enabling you to choose from the list of schedules you have already created:

Click on the relevant item and the screen will be populated with the tasks related to that schedule. You can start to manipulate in there, adjusting where necessary.

To remove a Schedule template, click on a box in front of the Schedule template and click Remove Selected:

If you change any elements of a template that have already been applied to a project in Editorial, these changes will not filter through to the rest of the system.