In LabArchives, Application Administrators and Schedule administrators can restrict resources from being booked by creating a blackout time. These can be beneficial when a resource will be unavailable do to scheduled maintenance, or if a building is currently unavailable. If a user tries to book a resource during a blackout time, they’ll receive an error message that explains the existing blackout time.
To access the Blackout Times screen, click on Application Management and select ‘Blackout Times’.
Users can create a blackout time by setting a begin and end date and time, identifying the resource or schedule it applies to, and providing a reason. Once the user clicks the green Add button, the blackout time appears in the list at the bottom of the screen.
If an organization has several ongoing blackout times, users can use the filter tools to identify specific blackout times they’ve created.
If a user needs to modify an existing blackout time, they can click on the pencil and paper icon in the Update column. Blackout times can also be deleted by clicking on the red trash can icon in the Delete column.
When creating a blackout time, users have three options on how to handle existing reservations. Below is an explanation of how each option works:
- Blackout around conflicting reservations: Users can create the requested blackout time, but all existing reservations during that time will not be cancelled.
- Show me conflicting reservations: Users cannot create their requested blackout time, and are instead shown all existing reservations during the requested blackout time in a dialog box, seen below.
- Delete conflicting reservations: Users can create their requested blackout time, and all existing reservations during that time are automatically cancelled.
In the Bookings screen, blackout times appear as pink cells and cannot be clicked on to create a new reservation. Pink cells with a label are blackout times, while pink cells without labels are either buffer times, or represent the opening and closing hours of the schedule.