Back to All Guides
Master SchedulingDifficulty: Beginner ~10 min tutorial

Mastering Schedule Setup & Generation in 4 Steps

Complete walkthrough from setting academic terms to generating and publishing conflict-free timetables

01

Create Academic Terms & Bell Schedules

Define your active scheduling window and period structures

Open Terms & Bell Schedules Pages

Open the Terms Page to set up your active term name and start/end dates. Then navigate to the Bell Schedules Page to define your daily period structure, period names, start/end times, and break slots.

Step 1 • Terms & Bell Schedules Pages
Term & Bell Schedule Configuration
Active Term
Fall 2026 Term
Bell Schedule Name
Standard Weekday Schedule
Period Structure
7 Periods (e.g. 08:00 - 08:45)
Break Designation
Period 4 (Morning Break)

💡 Configure working days and period times in the Bell Schedules Page.

Pro Tip: Mark break periods (like Lunch or Assembly) as 'isBreak' so the solver engine leaves them unassigned.

02

Add Cohorts, Teachers & Daily Limits

Register student sections and faculty profiles

Open Cohorts & Teachers Pages

On the Cohorts Page, add your student groups (e.g. 10-A, CS Block A) with grade levels and capacity. On the Teachers Page, register faculty members with short codes, departments, and maxPeriodsPerDay limits.

Step 2 • Cohorts & Teachers Pages
Cohort & Teacher Profiles
Cohort Name
10-A (Capacity: 40)
Teacher Role
Lead Mathematics Teacher
Teacher Short Code
MATH-01
Max Periods / Day
6 Periods / Day

💡 Set unique short codes for teachers under the Teachers Page.

Teacher short codes (e.g. MATH-01) are displayed inside compressed grid views for easy reading.

03

Configure Rooms, Courses & Constraints

Connect subjects to teachers, room types, and scheduling rules

Open Rooms, Courses & Constraints Pages

Add rooms on the Rooms Page with codes, capacity, and RoomType (CLASSROOM, LAB, AUDITORIUM). Create courses on the Courses Page with code, periodsPerWeek, assigned teacher, and course sections. Set Hard and Soft Constraints on the Constraints Page.

Step 3 • Rooms, Courses & Constraints Pages
Course & Constraint Matrix
Course Code
PHYS-101 (4 Periods / Week)
Room Type
LAB (Capacity: 30)
Hard Constraints
Teacher Consecutive Limits & No Gaps
Soft Constraints
Spread Subjects & Balance Workload

💡 Toggle global constraints under the Constraints Page.

Enable 'Spread Subjects Evenly' so a course section is not scheduled multiple times on the same day.

04

Generate, Review & Publish Timetables

Run the generation engine and manage timetable status

Open Timetables Page

Navigate to the Timetables Page and click 'Create Timetable'. Select your Term and launch generation. Inspect the generated timetable grid, view by Cohort or Teacher, and switch status to PUBLISHED.

Step 4 • Timetables Page
Timetable Status & Grid View
Timetable Status
PUBLISHED
View Switcher
Master Grid / Cohort / Teacher
Drag & Drop
Interactive Entry Swapping
Print Output
Print Schedule (Browser Print / PDF)

💡 Click Print Schedule in the timetable viewer toolbar to produce clean documents.

Timetable status progresses from DRAFT ➔ GENERATING ➔ GENERATED ➔ PUBLISHED.

Ready to build your master timetable?

Put these steps into action using Auto Timetable Generator's AI engine.