Schedule Protection for Overlapping Rounds

Schedule protection keeps overlapping schedule blocks from sharing judges or rooms. Use it when debate and individual events run at the same time, or when one round may run late into another.

You choose which pairs of blocks cannot share resources. These pairs are called exclusions. Each saved pair applies to both judges and rooms, including parliamentarians.

You can leave the same judges and rooms available across several patterns instead of manually dividing them into separate pools just to prevent overlapping assignments. FTN checks the actual assignments when it places resources. Your usual availability, qualifications, and other assignment rules still apply.

Before you start

Set up your schedule blocks and their start times and durations under Setup → Schedule. Accurate times help FTN suggest overlapping blocks. No exclusions are enabled automatically.

Keep your normal room and judge availability up to date. Schedule protection does not open a room or make a judge available in a block where they are otherwise unavailable.

Set your exclusions before pairing and assigning resources whenever possible. You can add them later, but you will need to resolve any conflicts that already exist.

Step 1: Open Schedule protection

Go to Admin → Setup → Schedule → Advanced, then click Manage Schedule Protection.

Step 2: Select a block and its conflicting blocks

1. Choose a day above the timeline. Times use the tournament time zone shown near the top of the page.
2. Click a block's name on the timeline. That block turns dark teal, and its pattern row is highlighted.
3. Use the checkboxes on the other blocks to choose which ones must not share judges or rooms with your selected block. Checked blocks turn pale yellow.
4. Repeat for other blocks and days as needed. You only need to set each pair once; the rule works in both directions.

Click the name to switch the block you are editing. Click the checkbox to add or remove an exclusion. Checking another block keeps your original block selected.

In this example, Pattern C · Round 1 (C1) is selected, and Pattern A · Round 1 (A1) is checked. Those two blocks cannot share judges or rooms once the exclusion is saved.

A dashed outline marks a suggested overlap with a block in a different pattern. Click Select suggested blocks to check the suggestions on the displayed day, then review your choices. Suggestions do not take effect until you save.

You can also check blocks yourself, including blocks in the same pattern. If a block is missing a start time or duration, it appears below the timeline for manual selection.

Step 3: Allow extra time for late rounds

For the selected block, drag the handle beneath its timeline clip to allow time for delays. The handle moves in five-minute steps. You can also edit the Protect until date and time beside the legend. To use the keyboard, focus the handle and press the left or right arrow key.

Extending the protection period suggests additional overlapping blocks. In the example below, C1 is scheduled to end at 9:45 AM. Extending Protect until to 10:50 AM adds 65 minutes and suggests Pattern B · Round 1, which starts at 10:45 AM. Its box is still unchecked, so that pair has not been selected.

Protect until helps you find exclusions; it does not turn them on or set an expiration time. Check the additional blocks you want to exclude and save. Shortening the protection period does not uncheck existing exclusions.

This changes neither the block's published start/end times nor the customer-facing schedule. If the extra time crosses midnight, use the next day's date and review that day's blocks too.

Step 4: Save your exclusions

Click the green Save exclusions button at the top right. The status changes from Unsaved changes to Saved. The save applies your changes across the editor, including other blocks and days you edited.

Use Discard to return all unsaved edits to the last saved version. If another director changes the schedule or protection settings while you are editing, FTN may ask you to reload and review the latest version before saving.

Example: C1 and A1

Suppose Room 101 and Judge Smith are available for every block that day, and you save an exclusion between C1 and A1.

1. You pair C1 and assign Room 101 and Judge Smith.
2. An hour later, you pair A1. FTN skips Room 101 and Judge Smith because they are assigned to C1.
3. Trying to assign either one to A1 manually is blocked too.

Assigning A1 first works the same way: C1 cannot use its assigned judges or rooms. Whichever block you assign first gets first choice. Exclusions do not reserve a share of the available resources for the block you assign later.

To keep C2 and A2 separate, save that pair as well. Add the appropriate pairs for Pattern B separately. Excluding C1 from both A1 and B1 does not exclude A1 from B1.

A room or judge is not reserved for an entire pattern or day. A resource used in C1 can serve A2 later, as long as that pair is not excluded and the usual assignment rules allow it.

How this affects assignments

• Automatic assignments skip protected resources. This applies when pairing rounds and when re-assigning judges or rooms. If there are not enough eligible resources left, the remaining slots stay unassigned/TBA and FTN reports the shortage.
• Manual changes are checked too. Replacement lists and validation messages identify the conflicting block. Change the assignment or explicitly edit the exclusion; there is no assignment override.
• Late rounds stay protected. Passing the scheduled end time, or finishing a round, does not release its recorded judge and room assignments for an excluded block. The saved pair continues to apply.
• Double flighting within a block still works. Different flight labels in separate excluded blocks do not allow those blocks to share a judge or room.

If assignments already exist

Saving an exclusion does not delete or move existing assignments. For example, if Room 101 is already assigned to both C1 and A1 and you then exclude that pair, FTN flags the conflict. You need to change the room for one of those blocks.

Existing conflicts appear on the Schedule protection page and in Quick Check. Resolve them through your normal assignment tools, such as Pair/Section → View/Edit. You can also use Re-Assign Judges or Re-Assign Rooms when you need to place resources again for selected events.

Reviewing or removing exclusions

To remove an exclusion, select either block, uncheck the other block, and click Save exclusions. That allows future assignments to share resources when the usual rules permit it; it does not automatically reassign anything.

If schedule details change, FTN keeps the saved exclusions and marks affected blocks for review. Reopen Schedule protection, check the pairs against the new schedule, and save after reviewing them.

Click How exclusions work beside Discard whenever you need a reminder. It opens an explanation with the C1/A1 example without leaving the editor.