User guide / Your schedule

How shifts are detected

Behind the scenes, Bettersubbook decides which events are shifts, guesses a role and place, and treats the rest as busy time. Here's the logic, so you can predict and improve its guesses.

The same detector is used for files, calendar links, Google and Microsoft, so a shift is treated the same way no matter how it arrived. It's a best guess. It can't read minds, which is why nothing becomes a shift until you approve it in Review.

The three outcomes

Outcome	What it means
Shift	Offered in Review with a guessed role and location.
Inservice	A training session. Tracked on your Shifts tab, but there's nothing to submit, so no Autofill.
Busy time	Everything else: classes, meetings, other jobs. Used by Best Available and shown on the desktop calendar.

How it reads an event

First it flattens the title, description and location to plain lower-case words. So ARC-Indoor, arc_indoor and ARC (indoor) all read the same. Short codes are matched as whole words: “lg” no longer matches “Algebra”, nor “lts” “Adults”.

It's a shift if it has a role word: LG, HLG, LTS, lifeguard (also “life guard”, “lifeguarding”), guard, shift, swim lessons, swim instructor, learn to swim. Or, more weakly, if it only mentions a known place.
A place on its own is ignored when the title looks like a course (for example “KIN 350”), because classes meet at Freer Hall and the ARC too.
Role is guessed in this order: HLG (head guard, head lifeguard, HG), then LTS, then LG.
Location is the first place mentioned: CRCE (or Campus Rec East), Freer, or ARC Indoor / ARC Outdoor. A bare “ARC” is left blank, because it could be either pool. You pick it in Review.

Examples

Event title	Result
LG – ARC Indoor	Shift · role LG · location ARC Indoor
HLG @ CRCE	Shift · role HLG · location CRCE
Swim lessons	Shift · role LTS
Lifeguard shift	Shift · role LG · needs location
Work at the ARC	Weak match · location left blank (could be either pool)
KIN 350 (Freer Hall)	Busy time (looks like a course)
Algebra tutoring	Busy time (“lg” is not a whole word here)
In-service training	Inservice (tracked only)

Tip

Want better guesses? Put the role and place in your event titles, like “LG – ARC Indoor”. It takes seconds and every future scan benefits.

Inservices

Inservices are training sessions. They get a role, HLG or LG (LTS doesn't do inservices), and need no location. One found in a calendar or file is marked HLG if it starts at 6:30 PM on Sunday or 7:30 PM on Tuesday or Thursday, and LG otherwise. You can change the role in Review. See the cheat sheet for the standard inservice times.

What counts as busy time

Everything that isn't a shift, except events you declined, events marked “free” (transparent), cancelled events, and all-day events.
Anything you skip in Review goes back to counting as busy time, because it was probably a class or another job.
Repeating busy events (a weekly class) are stored as one recurring block that applies from its first upcoming session to its last, so next semester's class doesn't block this month.

Repeating shifts

A weekly shift is shown in Review as one stack, not a dozen separate entries. Repeating shifts are filled in about five months ahead (a rolling window: always today plus 150 days). Weekly shifts at different places, or in different roles, stay as separate stacks.

Other behaviors

Every page of results is read, so busy calendars aren't cut off.
The same shift on two calendars, or one you already saved by hand, is offered once.
Detection understands English event titles, dates and times.

Something missing or unclear? Tell us and we'll fix the guide.