Screenshot of the Sheperding mode page

Shepherding is organised around Field Service Groups, and all information is displayed in an expandable tree.
VisitsRota provides tools to help you create, maintain, and organise this group data.

Managing Groups

Use Add Group or Edit Group to open the group editor.

Field Service Group

For each group, you can specify:

  • The group name
  • The overseer (or servant)
  • The assistant
  • The families assigned to that group

If the brother caring for the group is a servant, you can select each family and assign them to one of the overseers. This ensures those families appear on the overseers’ schedules as needed.

Managing Families

When you select a family in the tree, several functions become available:

Family Options

Move Family

Move the selected family to a different group using Move Family.

Needs Visit

Not every family may require a shepherding visit.
Select a family and press Needs Visit to toggle the tick box next to their name.

Only families with a tick are included on the generated schedules.

Ordering Families

You can adjust the order of families within a group:

  • Move to Top places the family at the top of the list.
  • Move Up or Move Down gives finer control.

The order matters: schedules are generated in the same order families appear in the tree.
If a family needs priority for any reason, adjust their position accordingly.

Report Settings

  • Starting Month
    Select the month that each schedule should begin with. All schedules will use the same starting month.
  • Number of Publishers per Month
    Choose how many publishers each overseer (or servant, if applicable) should visit in any given month.

Style

Click Style to open a file selection window. You can import CSS or XSL files directly into the application.
The list is filtered to show only files with valid names.

Read more about advanced customisation in the related help topic.

This topic does not cover the fundamentals of writing bespoke XSL templates.
Disclaimer: You import and use third‑party XSL/CSS files at your own risk.

Preview

Displays a snapshot of the generated schedule—one for each elder listed.

Unlike the Elderly & Infirm mode, the Shepherding schedule includes:

  • A Date column
  • A Notes column

These blank fields can be filled in manually by the overseer for personal reference or returned to the brother coordinating shepherding visits for the congregation.

Notes columns. These are provided as blank cells to be filled in manually by the overseer for his own reference and / or to be handed back to the brother caring for the coordination of the shepherding visits for the congregation.