> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://tutorials.spellslate.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Status Dashboard

> Ask cast and crew for sizes, availability, and date confirmations from one place. Track who replied and what they said without chasing email and text.

The Status Dashboard is where you send small structured requests to cast and crew and see their answers in one place. It covers the things you ask all the time:

* **Confirm shoot dates** with a cast member (per-day yes/maybe/no)
* **Wardrobe sizes** for a cast member (shirt, pants, shoe, hat)
* **Open availability** for a cast member or crew member on the specific days you choose
* **Contact details** from any contact (their phone number, plus a check of their name and email)
* **Dietary info** from a cast or crew member (restrictions and allergies for catering)
* **Emergency contact** from a cast or crew member (name, phone, relationship)
* **Medical and accessibility notes** from a cast or crew member. This one is private. Only the production owner and admins can send it or see the answers, and answering is always optional for the recipient.

Each request goes out as a single email with a personal link. The recipient answers on a mobile page. You see the answers on their cast or crew profile.

To get a new person set up in one go, send an [onboarding packet](/onboarding-packet) instead: one email with one link that bundles contact details, emergency contact, dietary info, availability, and (for admins) medical notes. The packet shows as a single row here, with its own page and reminder.

## Where it lives

Three entry points:

1. **Project home.** The Status Dashboard widget shows counts (Awaiting, Responded, Complete) plus the most recent activity. Use **Ask someone** to jump to the launcher; use **View all requests** to see the history.
2. **The launcher** at `/projects/:id/requests`. A roster of every cast member (with their character and email) on the **Cast** tab, and every crew member on the **Crew** tab. Pick the person you want to ask.
3. **Cast or crew member's own page.** The Status Dashboard section at the top of the page shows the latest request, the response, and the buttons to send a new one.

## Asking cast

The Status Dashboard section on the cast member page has two controls: **Send onboarding packet** (the bundled setup ask, see [Onboarding packet](/onboarding-packet)) and the **Ask for one thing** menu, which holds the one-off requests below. Both appear when the cast member has an email on file and your plan allows distribution.

### Request shoot dates

1. Open the cast member page.
2. Pick **Request dates** from the **Ask for one thing** menu in the Status Dashboard section.
3. Spell Slate shows you the dates the character is scheduled to shoot, pulled from the approved schedule.
4. Add an optional note. Click **Send request**.

The cast member gets an email and lands on a page with each date and Yes / Maybe / No buttons.

### Request sizes

1. Open the cast member page.
2. Pick **Request sizes** from the **Ask for one thing** menu.
3. Add an optional note. Click **Send request**.

The cast member fills shirt, pants, shoe, and hat sizes. They can fill what they know and leave the rest blank. The values save to their cast profile so you have them for wardrobe and future call sheets.

### Request open availability

1. Open the cast member page.
2. Pick **Request availability** from the **Ask for one thing** menu.
3. Set the date range to show on the calendar (up to 90 days apart).
4. Pick the exact days you want to ask about. Click days on the calendar, or use a preset: **Weekends**, **Weekdays**, **Select all**, or **Clear**.
5. Add an optional note. Click **Send request**.

The cast member sees only the days you chose, each with Yes / Maybe / No buttons. Days they do not touch stay blank and show as **Not answered** on your side.

You do not have to ask about a whole stretch of dates. Pick two days this week, every weekend next month, or any mix.

#### Days they already answered

If a day already has an answer from an earlier request, a colored dot marks it on the calendar: green for yes, amber for maybe, red for no. Hover the day to see the prior answer. The day stays selectable, so you can still ask again when you want a fresh answer. This pulls from every past request for this person, so you see what you already know before you send.

## Asking crew

Crew can be asked for availability, dietary info, emergency contact, and (for admins) medical notes. Sizes and shoot-date confirmation are cast-only because the data lives differently for crew. The example below walks through availability; the other types work the same way from the **Ask for one thing** menu.

1. From the project home, click **Ask someone**.
2. Switch to the **Crew** tab.
3. Click **Send request** on the crew member's row.
4. On the crew member's page, pick **Request availability** from the **Ask for one thing** menu.
5. Set the range, then pick the exact days. The calendar, presets, and already-answered dots work the same as for cast.
6. Add an optional note. Send.

The crew member sees the same Yes / Maybe / No form as cast. The slate header on their form shows their department and role (e.g. "Camera / Gaffer") instead of a character name.

## Asking a group

When you need the same days from several people, ask them all at once instead of one at a time.

1. Open the launcher at **Ask someone**.
2. Stay on the **Cast** tab or switch to **Crew**. A batch is one audience at a time.
3. Check the box next to each person you want to ask, or use the header checkbox to select everyone with an email. People without an email can't be checked; add their email first.
4. Click **Ask selected about availability** in the bar that appears. Or click **Send onboarding packets** to send the bundled setup ask instead; see [Onboarding packet](/onboarding-packet).
5. Pick the days the same way as a single request: set the range, then choose the exact days or use a preset.
6. Add an optional note (everyone gets it). Click **Send requests**.

Each person still gets their own private link and answers on their own. You land on the group results page.

### The group results page

The results page is a grid: one row per person, one column per day you asked about. Each cell shows their answer (Yes / Maybe / No) or a dash for days they have not answered yet. The header tracks how many have replied ("2 of 5 answered"). Click a name to open that person's individual request. Use **Remind everyone who hasn't answered** to nudge the people still outstanding in one click.

The group also shows as a single row in **Past requests**, so the history stays readable.

## Where the response data lives

The badge tells you they replied. The pages tell you what they said. Three registers, each tuned for a different question.

### The latest response (Status Dashboard section)

When a recipient submits, a **Response** block appears in the Status Dashboard section on the cast or crew member's page. For availability you see headline counts (Yes / Maybe / No / Not answered) plus the days they marked. For sizes you see the values they filled. Days or fields they did not touch are skipped here; open the full response to see them.

This block answers "what did they say in their most recent request?"

### The lifetime picture (Availability section)

Below the Status Dashboard section, the **Availability** section aggregates every responded availability and confirm-dates request for this person. Headline counts (Available / Tentative / Unavailable) plus the dates per bucket, plus an "Aggregated from N requests" footnote and a "Last updated X ago" timestamp.

If a date appears in more than one request, the most recent answer wins. So if a cast member said No for May 15 in March and then Yes for May 15 in April, the Availability section reports Yes for May 15.

This section also appears at the top of the **character board**, so a 1st AD checking on Ramirez sees the picture without needing to open the cast member page first.

This block answers "when does this person say they can work, across everything we have asked?"

### The full per-day grid

For an individual request, the request detail page at `/projects/:project_id/requests/:id` shows every day you asked about, including the blank ones. Use the **View full response** link from the cast or crew page to land here.

This page answers "what exactly did they say for this specific request?"

### Cast profile

Submitted sizes also save to the cast member's profile so you do not have to look at the request to remember them later. Sizes follow the contact forward across future requests.

### Character board spec card

When a cast member submits sizes, the **Actor specifications** card on their character's board updates automatically. Shirt size, pant size, shoe size, and hat size land in the card's fields without you having to copy them across. If the card does not exist yet, Spell Slate creates it on the board so wardrobe sees the data in the place they already work.

When you manually add a sizing field to any specifications card on a character board, the value pre-fills from what the cast member already submitted. A small hint to the right of the suggestion ("= L") tells you Spell Slate already has the answer before you click.

### Putting it together

A 1st AD scheduling day 5:

1. Open the character board for Ramirez.
2. Read the **Availability** section at the top: 5 available, 1 tentative, 0 unavailable.
3. If day 5 falls inside the available bucket, schedule with confidence.
4. If day 5 is missing from the bucket lists, no one has been asked yet. Click into the cast member page and send a request.

## Who's available by date

The **Best dates** section on the Status Dashboard (`/projects/:id/requests`) answers "which day works for the most people?" It lists each date someone has answered, ranked by how many are available, with the count ("3 of 5 available") and the names. It folds together every response across the whole project, so you do not have to open each person to find the overlap.

## Export to CSV

Click **Export CSV** in the Best dates section to download everyone's availability as a spreadsheet. It is a people by dates grid: one row per person who has answered, one column per date, each cell Yes, Maybe, No, or blank for days they have not answered. Open it in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers to sort, filter, or share. The button appears once at least one person has replied.

## Marking a request complete

If the cast or crew member replies via text or in person instead of using the link, click **Mark complete** on their page and add a quick note (e.g. "Got via text"). The note saves to the request, not to the original email body.

You can un-mark complete later. The badge returns to whatever the response data shows.

## What the recipient sees

The recipient gets an email from you. Your name is on the From line, replies go to your real inbox. The link opens a mobile-friendly page styled like a film slate: production title, role label, your producer note, and the form. They can revisit the link any time to update their answer. The link does not expire.

## Statuses

The badge on each request tells you where it is in its journey, from the moment you send it to the moment they reply. The two early ones get asked about most: **Queued** means it has not left yet, **Awaiting** means it is now in their hands.

| Badge       | Meaning                                                                             | Whose move    |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------- |
| Queued      | You hit send and the email is on its way out. This usually clears in a few seconds. | Spell Slate   |
| Awaiting    | The email went out. You are waiting on them to open the link and answer.            | The recipient |
| Partial     | They answered some dates but not all (confirm-dates only).                          | The recipient |
| Responded   | They submitted at least one answer.                                                 | You           |
| Complete    | You marked it complete by hand, for example after they replied by text.             | Done          |
| Send failed | The email did not go out. Open the request to retry.                                | You           |

If a request sits on **Queued** for more than a minute, something is holding up the send. It will not stay Queued on its own. A failed send moves to **Send failed** instead. Reach out if a request stays Queued.

You can only send a reminder once a request reaches **Awaiting**. While it is still Queued there is nothing to remind them about yet.

## Limitations

* Group send for availability is one audience per batch (all cast or all crew). Sizes and shoot-date confirmation are still one person at a time.
* Email only today. SMS is on the roadmap.
* Replies in your inbox stay in your inbox. Spell Slate does not parse them back into the request.
* Sizes and shoot-date confirmation are cast-only.

## Related

* [Call sheets](/call-sheets), the distribution surface this builds on
* [Schedules](/schedule), where the dates come from for confirm-dates requests
* [Managing cast](/managing-cast)
* [Managing crews](/managing-crews)