Overview of the Timetable management module

The Timetable management module is the heart of Omniscol: this is where timetables are created, configured, generated and published.

For a recurring timetable (weekly/cyclic), it is used occasionally (typically before the start of the school year, when creating a different term or semester, and for structural changes), not daily (for that, use the Timetable module).

For a calendar-type timetable, in higher education, it is conversely the main working screen of the whole planning team, every day.

Planning flow

Building a timetable is not a straight line: after creation and configuration, the core is a cycle — place a few lessons, generate, analyze, adjust, loop again — before a linear sequence that starts at publication (the start of the school year).

You can go back at any time, save along the way, duplicate a timetable to create a variant. The heart of the cycle is detailed in Automatic generation and Manual placement; after the school year starts, touch-ups go through Ad-hoc changes.

Several timetables in parallel

You can have several timetables in your account:

• unpublished drafts (to prepare the next school year while the current year is running),
• timetables for different periods (S1, S2…),
• with Premium, timetables active simultaneously on the same weeks (for example, a weekly morning timetable + a calendar afternoon timetable) — see Multiple active timetables in parallel. This possibility can also be opened contractually on some Standard accounts.

Detailed steps

Each one has its own dedicated page:

The prerequisite: Prerequisites for creating a timetable. Then, eight steps:

1. General settings
2. Sites, time grids, classrooms, resources
3. Assigning teachers
4. Creating the classes and their groups
5. Alignments and groups of groups
6. Distribute the hours and create the lessons
7. Automatic generation
8. Publishing (activating) a timetable

At any time, you can:

• View a timetable (read-only mode), for checking.
• Reorganize a timetable (quick edit mode), to adjust lesson positions.
• Duplicate a timetable (create a draft from an existing timetable).
• Import or export the course configuration as a spreadsheet (see Mass import).

Quick start

If this is your first timetable:

1. First check that your account is set up (settings, school year, subjects, users).
2. Click Create timetable at the top right.
3. Choose the timetable mode (weekly, cyclic, calendar).
4. Follow the steps in order.

If you already have data in a spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets, an export from another program), go directly through mass import: Omniscol creates the structure for you, and you finalize afterwards.