Timeline & phases

The Timeline is where you move your production through its four phases and keep an eye on the milestones that matter.

You will find it under Production in the menu on the left.

Screenshots show the light theme. The app looks the same in dark.

How to advance the phase

1. Open Timeline.
2. Click Advance Phase.
3. Read what the dialog says advancing will do.
4. Click the confirm button to advance.

The dialog lists what is preserved, warns about anything incomplete, and names anything blocking the move. Milestones do not block the move. You can advance with them outstanding, and the dialog says so.

An Owner can undo an advance within 24 hours, from the Timeline page.

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What each phase changes

Several features depend on the phase:

• Public audition sign-ups only go live in Pre-Production, along with the Auditions button on your public website. They close again when you move past it. If your audition link is not accepting entries, check the phase first. You are most likely still in Planning.
• ⚠ Moving to Production sends your rehearsal calls. Your rehearsal plan has to be confirmed first. If the Advance button is disabled, that is usually why. See How to confirm the plan and send the calls.
• Leaving Planning locks your budget plan, if you have built one. From Pre-Production onwards you record actual spend. You no longer edit the plan. If you have not built a budget yet, the dialog says so. You can still build one later: it stays editable until the production moves to its next phase, and the dialog warns you again before that move locks it.

If you are a Manager, your production Dashboard carries a short reminder of where you are, what you can do in this phase, and what the next one unlocks. It has an Advance link straight here.

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How to add a milestone

1. Open Timeline.
2. Click Add beside the phase the milestone belongs to.
3. Give it a title and a due date.
4. Mark it a key date if it should stand out.

Milestones show where you are and what is coming, from auditions through to opening night and beyond. Tick one off when it is done.

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How to close and archive a show

When the run is over, the accounts are settled and nothing is left to change, use Close & archive on the Timeline. Closing and archiving happen together.

You can also archive a show that is cancelled before it opens. In Planning, Pre-Production or Production, Close & archive is the small link under Advance Phase. Archiving keeps the show's budget, documents and records, which deleting it would not.

Archiving does five things:

• The production becomes read-only for everybody, including you.
• It stops counting towards your active production limit, so you can start planning the next show. On the free tier, with its one-show limit, this is what frees you up.
• Ticket sales stop, and the show moves to Past Shows on your public website. A show archived in Planning or Pre-Production never played, so it comes off your website instead.
• Its files stop counting towards your storage allowance.
• Everything stays readable and exportable.

Changed your mind? Restore production brings it back to the phase it was in when you archived it, and makes it editable again.

If you archive during Pre-Production, public audition sign-up closes, but people who already booked an audition are not told. The archive dialog says how many are booked. Use Tell them to send them a message: it starts with a draft you can change, goes out from your organisation, and replies go to your production contact email, or to your organisation's contact email if the production has none. If neither is set, the dialog asks where replies should go. Use an address for the show or for your company, not a personal one, because everyone you email can see it. Their details are also in the Run Sheet.

Before you archive

⚠ Thirty days after you archive, audition files from people you did not cast are permanently deleted.

Those people sent their files for one audition, for a show that is now finished. Our Privacy Policy commits us to clearing them out.

What is kept: files from the people you did cast, anything your own team uploaded, and every auditionee's name and contact details. Only the applicant-uploaded files of people who were not cast are removed.

If you archived by mistake, restore within the thirty days and everything comes back exactly as it was.

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Who can advance or archive

Advancing the phase, closing and archiving, and restoring are all Manager actions.

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