Preview visit series
What it's for
Preview visit series turns a daily, weekly or monthly pattern into dated visits for an existing job. It helps you review the dates and scope labels before scheduling. Previewing creates no appointments. When the dates look right, Create these visits adds every dated visit to the job in one step, as unassigned visits for dispatch to staff later.
For an open job, use Preview series in Visits, under Visits and parts
on the job record. The address is
/jobs/<id>/visit-series. Use Back to job to return to that record.
Tabs
There are no tabs. The screen has Series details and, after a successful preview, Dated visits with the create action below the list.
Panels and controls
The header shows the job number, service site and time zone used for the preview. Site access instructions appear above the form when they are recorded on the site; review them before scheduling.
Series details contains the start date, local time, cadence, interval and requested visit count. Every sets the number of cadence intervals between dates: Weekly with Every set to 2 means every two weeks. Scope label names the work; each result adds its sequence, such as “Repair condenser · visit 1”.
Blackout dates and Holiday dates exclude dates you enter. Holidays are not added automatically. Weekends either allows weekends or skips Saturdays and Sundays. Skipped dates offers two choices:
- Extend until the visit count is met continues along the same cadence until the requested count is reached, subject to the calendar limit below.
- Keep the original slots; fewer visits considers only the original number of slots. Excluded dates reduce the result count, possibly to zero.
Preview visits displays the result without saving appointments. Dated visits reports the number returned against the number requested and lists Visit, Date, Local time and Scope. An empty result asks you to adjust the dates, cadence or closed-date policy. Invalid inputs show a message and keep the entered form values available to change.
Create these N visits appears below a preview that has at least one visit. It recalculates the dates from the series details on the server, so the visits created always match the series rules rather than any edited list. Each visit is unassigned, starts at the chosen local time and runs for the job's usual duration. Creation is all or nothing: if any date cannot be placed, for example because the job is closed, no visits are created and the message names each date and the reason. When the only problems are warnings, such as a date already in the past or one that lands after the agreement's response window, the message names them and the button becomes Confirm and create these N visits; choosing it creates the series and records the confirmed warnings on each visit's schedule history. Choosing the button twice, or resubmitting the same preview, creates the series once. After creating, you return to the job record with a confirmation. No technician is assigned and no availability is checked; assign technicians from the job or the dispatch board.
Monthly dates stay anchored to the starting day. A January 31 start therefore produces February 28 in a non-leap year, then March 31. Dates use the displayed time zone and retain the chosen local time across daylight-saving changes. If that time does not exist on a visit date during a clock change, the preview asks you to choose another time.
What it accepts
| Field | Format | Required | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start date | Calendar date | Yes | Must be a valid date |
| Local time | 24-hour time, HH:mm | Yes | Must be valid and exist on every included date in the displayed time zone |
| Cadence | Daily, Weekly or Monthly | Yes | Choose one of the listed patterns |
| Every | Whole number | Yes | From 1 to 12 cadence intervals |
| Visit count | Whole number | Yes | From 1 to 52 |
| Scope label | Text | Yes | From 1 to 200 characters after trimming surrounding spaces |
| Blackout dates | Local dates, YYYY-MM-DD, separated by commas or spaces | No | Every entered date must be valid |
| Holiday dates | Same format as blackout dates | No | Enter holidays explicitly; no holiday calendar is assumed |
| Weekends | Allow weekends or Skip Saturdays and Sundays | Yes | Controls whether weekend dates are excluded |
| Skipped dates | Extend or keep the original slots | Yes | Controls whether exclusions extend or shorten the result |
Blackout and holiday lists together accept at most 520 dates. The extend option examines at most 520 candidate slots; if it cannot fit the requested visits, it asks you to change the cadence or closed dates. A series that runs outside the supported calendar range is also refused. The same limits apply when you create the visits.
How to configure it
The job's branch time zone is used when set; otherwise the company time zone is used. The initial start date is today in that zone. Local time initially uses the branch's opening hour, falling back to the company's opening hour. The initial pattern is weekly, every 1 week, for 4 visits, with weekends allowed and skipped dates extending the series.
The scope label initially uses the job summary, or “Job scope” if it is empty. Site access instructions come from the service-site record. Blackout dates and holidays start empty and are entered for each preview. Opening hours set the initial time; neither the preview nor the create action checks working-hour or technician availability conflicts.
Who can see it
The screen and its create action require access to Jobs. Owners, office managers and dispatchers have that access with the standard roles. Custom roles and branch scope can restrict access. A direct link or a submitted form cannot open or add visits to another company's job or a job outside your selected branch, and deleted jobs or service sites are unavailable.
See Roles & permissions and Multi-visit jobs for related access and scheduling guidance.