Three Ways to Schedule

Open Settings and the Scheduling tab. Under How checkrides get scheduled, below your waitlist settings, three options sit side by side, and you choose one:

  • Manual — Schedule every checkride yourself. Your availability blocks show on your calendar for your own planning, and you offer checkrides from the calendar or your waitlist.
  • Automatic — Automatically offer checkrides to applicants on your waitlist. The scheduler offers your availability up to the number of days ahead you set, following your Scheduling Priority.
  • Self-Serve — Allow applicants to book available slots themselves. Each date opens for booking at its release under your release schedule, optionally after a head start in which the scheduler offers it to your waitlist first.
The Scheduling tab with the waitlist switches above Manual, Automatic and Self-Serve side by side, and Self-Serve chosen, showing the release schedule
The Scheduling tab with the waitlist switches above Manual, Automatic and Self-Serve side by side, and Self-Serve chosen, showing the release schedule

Under the option you choose are settings specific to that mode. Changing how checkrides get scheduled never touches checkrides already booked.

Before You Choose Automatic or Self-Serve

Both need something to schedule: at least one checkride type and one testing location. Until you have both, they are greyed out, with links to the Checkride Types and Locations tabs. You will also want availability blocks on your calendar, since without them there is nothing to offer or book.

A DPE with no location yet: a note that the waitlist, Automatic and Self-Serve need a checkride type and a location, with links to add them, and Automatic and Self-Serve greyed out
A DPE with no location yet: a note that the waitlist, Automatic and Self-Serve need a checkride type and a location, with links to add them, and Automatic and Self-Serve greyed out

Automatic

"Offer checkrides [30] days in advance." sets how far ahead the scheduler offers checkrides to your waitlist. Below this, you can select your Scheduling Priority. See How the Automatic Scheduler Works.

Automatic chosen: Offer checkrides 30 days in advance, and the Scheduling Priority
Automatic chosen: Offer checkrides 30 days in advance, and the Scheduling Priority

Self-Serve

Set your release schedule, whether only applicants on your waitlist may book, and the waitlist head start. See Setting and Changing Your Release Schedule and Letting Applicants Book Open Slots.

Self-Serve chosen: the release schedule and the next release, Limit self-serve to waitlist applicants, and the waitlist head start
Self-Serve chosen: the release schedule and the next release, Limit self-serve to waitlist applicants, and the waitlist head start

Saving: What Changes Right Away

Save Changes saves the whole tab, with all of its settings. Some changes take effect the moment you save, in which case you will be asked to review these changes and make sure they are what you expect.

If your scheduling changes would open dates for booking right away, close dates that are currently open for self-serve, start the automatic scheduler offering dates, or put deadlines on offers that are out, a dialog lists exactly which blocks and dates are affected. If nothing is affected immediately, your new settings save straight away.

The Review this change dialog listing the dates that open for booking, the dates offered to the waitlist, and offers that will expire
The Review this change dialog listing the dates that open for booking, the dates offered to the waitlist, and offers that will expire
  • Switching to Self-Serve opens every date your release schedule has already released, at once. Offers out on those dates expire after their wait. With the head start on, the scheduler starts offering the dates inside their head start period to your waitlist.
  • Leaving Self-Serve: "Applicants will no longer be able to see your availability or book checkrides for themselves. Booked checkrides and any outstanding offers are not affected." In Automatic mode, the scheduler starts offering the dates within your configured "days in advance."
  • Turning on Automatic, or raising its days in advance, starts offers on the dates now inside that window, listed under "Automatically Offered to your Waitlist Immediately".
  • Turning on the head start, or lengthening it, starts offers on the dates now inside it.
  • Changing your release schedule opens any dates that come after the configured release would have already opened them, skipping any waitlist head start period if already past it, and closes any dates that are no longer beyond the configured release.

If something changes while the dialog is open (someone books, or the scheduler runs), saving shows the dialog again with what the change does now.

The Waitlist

The Waitlist settings: Enable Waitlist, and Allow Discontinuance & Disapproval beneath it
The Waitlist settings: Enable Waitlist, and Allow Discontinuance & Disapproval beneath it

Whether applicants can join your waitlist is set at the top of the same tab, under Waitlist, with Enable Waitlist. Beneath it, Allow Discontinuance & Disapproval decides whether they can join the waitlist or book an open self-serve checkride slot for a retest; it is off for a new account, and works only while the waitlist is on. Applicants you put on your waitlist for a retest yourself, for example with Add to Top of Waitlist after recording the result, can book your open slots either way. Automatic Scheduling needs applicants on your waitlist to offer to; Self-Serve works with or without one, unless you limit booking to your waitlist.