Help with the staff app

Use your own manager login for anything to do with staff or pay, not the tablet.

1. Go to the Staff tab and tap the round + button.
2. Fill in Full name, Email, Mobile number (optional), Role (Manager, Front of House or Kitchen) and Pay rate (£/hr).
3. Optional: tap + Payroll and holiday details for payroll number, contract, start date, date of birth and holiday method.
4. Tap Save. Their login email goes out automatically.

Resending: tap their name → Resend login email. Staff can also get a fresh link themselves with Forgot password?.

Leavers: tap their name → Edit → untick Active → Save. They can’t log in, but their hours and holiday records are kept.

Staff tab → Pay & holiday settings. These apply to everyone at the venue (holiday method can be changed per person on their record).

Tap Save — “Settings saved”.

1. Make sure the venue tablet is logged in and on the venue’s wifi — it tells Porchlight your wifi’s address and keeps it up to date.
2. On your manager login, go to Staff → Pay & holiday settings.
3. Under Clocking in, tick Staff can clock in from their own phone when they’re on the pub wifi.
4. Tap Save.

Staff now see Clock in at the top of their Rota page, but only while their phone is on the venue wifi. The tablet PIN pad keeps working as the back-up.

Staff tab → Set PIN next to their name (or Reset PIN on their row in Timesheets). Type it in, or hand them the tablet to type their own.

1. Go to Rota and pick the week with the ‹ › arrows.
2. Make sure Add is selected above the grid.
3. Tap or drag across the hours on a day — e.g. drag 12 to 17 on Saturday.
4. A list of staff opens. Each person shows their usual hours that day, how many hours they already have this week, and any of:
   • Not usual — outside the hours they said they can work.
   • On approved leave / Asked for this day off.
5. Tick one or more people and tap Add to shift.

Taking a shift off: switch to Remove, tap the shift and confirm.

Use All / Front of House / Kitchen to filter both the grid and the list of people.

Copy to next week copies every shift forward 7 days. If next week already has shifts you can Add alongside or Overwrite.

Publish week emails everyone on the rota their shifts, sends a notification, and locks those hours in their availability. You can publish again after changes — staff are told it’s been updated.

Above the grid you’ll see planned wages and hours for the week and covers booked so far. Each day shows its own wages and covers.

Things to check on this rota lists warnings: under-18s working too late or too long, less than 11 hours between shifts, shifts outside someone’s availability or on their holiday, and pay below minimum wage for their age. They’re reminders — the rota still saves and publishes.

Rota → Open shifts & swaps.

• Post a shift: fill in date, start, finish, team and an optional note, then Post shift. Only that team is told.
• When someone asks for it: Give to … (it goes on the rota) or Decline (it opens again).
• Swaps agreed between staff wait for you: Approve updates the rota, Refuse leaves it as it was.

Rota → Holiday.

• Requests to approve: Approve (you can change the hours and add a note) or Decline with a reason they’ll see.
• Who’s off shows the next 6 weeks, including pending requests.
• Block holiday (e.g. Christmas): choose the dates and a reason, then Block these dates.
• Everyone’s holiday: tap Adjust to add or remove hours (use a minus number to take off), with a reason.
• Booking holiday for someone: Request time off → choose them under For.

1. Rota → Timesheets and enter your password (it protects pay information).
2. Tap a name to see their week. Each shift compares rota time with clocked time:
   • Green — on time.
   • Amber — extra hours. Tap Approve if they’re agreed.
   • Red — short or no-show. Choose Pay as scheduled (pay the rota hours), Disallow (pay what they actually clocked) or Amend (fix a wrong clock time).
3. Approve all green clears the easy ones in one tap, leaving amber and red for you.
4. Missed clock-outs to check: Approve, Change time or Decline.
5. When the week has finished, tap Approve week to lock it. After that, any change asks for a reason and is recorded.

Pay summaries are made when you tap Approve on a person’s row, and for everyone when you lock the week with Approve week.

On a locked week in Timesheets you’ll see the accountant pack:

• Send to accountant emails a summary and a spreadsheet (CSV) to the address in Pay & holiday settings.
• Download CSV or PDF summary to keep a copy yourself.

It lists paid hours, rates, holiday and any starters, leavers or changes since the last send. Add a payroll number to each person so the accountant can match them.

1. On the Bookings tab, tap the round +.
2. Fill in name, phone, date, time and party size. Tick Dog, Wheelchair or Highchair if needed, and add dietary needs or notes.
3. For bookings from Facebook messages or email, tick Online enquiry — no phone number needed.
4. Tap the Table button to pick a table (optional), then Save.

If it’s outside normal hours or the venue looks full, the app asks before adding it anyway. Each card has ✓ (seated), ✎ (edit) and × (cancel). Tap a card for details and its change history.

Walk-in: Bookings tab → + Walk-in (today only) → tap the number of guests (tick Dog first if they have one) → Seat here on the suggested table, or pick another free table.

No-show: tap the booking → No-show. The table is freed and covers stay accurate. Undo no-show if they turn up.

Guests left early: tap the booking → Guests left — free the table.

• Time slider: shows who’s seated at that time. Now jumps back to the current time.
• Seating: tap a booking in Waiting to seat, then tap a table — or drag it onto the table.
• Big parties: you’ll be asked how many to seat at each table. One extra chair is allowed; the rest wait for the next table.
• Press and hold a booking or seated table for details and to change how long they’ll stay (2 hours for up to 5, 2½ hours for 6 or more).
• Tables: tap a table to show its controls — drag :: to move, ↻ to rotate, × to remove. + Add table is at the bottom of the waiting list.
• Zoom with −, + and ⛶ (fit), or pinch.

When Thomas takes a message that needs a call back (a large party, or someone who needs a person), a banner appears across the top.

1. Tap View details — the banner goes, but the callback stays open.
2. Ring them back (tap the number).
3. Type your name under Actioned by and tap Mark as done.

Open callbacks are always in the ☎ list at the top.

1. Bookings tab → Close the venue… (on your manager login).
2. Tick All day, or choose from and until times.
3. Add a short message for callers (optional) — the preview shows what Thomas will say.
4. Tap Close the venue. If bookings already fall in that time, they’re listed and kept — contact them yourself if they need to move.

Thomas and the website turn bookings away for that time. To reopen, tap Remove next to the closure.

? Help and user guide at the bottom of the app opens this page.

After 3 minutes without a tap, a screensaver appears (with a booking QR code where set up). Any tap wakes it without pressing anything underneath, and a new callback wakes it by itself.

The Menu tab is on the venue tablet and managers’ logins. It shows each section in your order, dishes A–Z, with any current specials at the top.

• Every dish shows its name and its allergens. Price, description, calories, “suitable for” and “may contain” show too, if your manager has switched them on.
• Allergens not checked means nobody has confirmed that dish’s allergens with the kitchen yet — ask the kitchen before answering a guest.
• Greyed-out dishes are sold out.
• Type in the search box to find a dish by name or description.

1. Open the Menu tab and tap the allergen they mentioned (for example Milk).
2. The list now shows only dishes that have been checked and don’t list milk.
3. A line underneath tells you what’s been left out — dishes that list milk, ones that may contain it, and ones not checked yet.
4. Tap the allergen again to clear the filter.

1. On the Menu tab, find the dish and tap Sold out. It greys out straight away.
2. When stock is back in, tap Back on.

This works on the venue tablet and on managers’ logins. A dish stays sold out until someone taps Back on — it doesn’t reset by itself overnight, so check the list when a delivery comes in.

1. Menu tab → + Add dish (or the + button at the bottom). To change a dish, tap it.
2. Fill in the name, and the description, price and calories if you want them.
3. Tick each of the 14 allergens the dish contains.
4. Once you’ve checked them with the kitchen, tick I’ve checked these allergens with the kitchen.
5. Under More: the section, “may contain”, suitable for (V, VG, GF, DF, Halal, Kids), whether it can be adapted, a price note, and whether it’s a special (with an end date if you like). You can also mark it sold out here.
6. Save. To remove a dish completely, open it and tap Delete.

Specials disappear by themselves after their end date.

The first time you open the Menu tab, Starters, Mains and Desserts are made for you. Tap Sections to:

• Rename a section, or add a new one (Sides, Sunday Roast, Xmas…).
• Move sections up and down with ↑ ↓.
• Show or hide a section from the tablet — handy for a seasonal menu you’ll bring back next year.
• Delete a section. Its dishes aren’t deleted — they move to Other.

Menu tab → Display on the tablet. Switch price, description, calories, “suitable for” and “may contain” on or off.

The dish name and its allergens are always shown. Switching something off only hides it on screen — nothing is deleted.

Check phone clock-in is switched on (see how) and that their phone is on the venue wifi, not mobile data. The tablet PIN pad always works as a back-up.

Ask them to check junk, and that the email address on their staff record is right. Then tap their name → Resend login email, or they can use Forgot password? themselves.

You can still approve, amend or change clock-outs — the app just asks for a short reason, which is kept with the change and shown to the accountant on the next send.