Row Groups let you bundle rows under a single header. The group header carries a title (for example "Pre-Show", "Timeout 2-2", or "Keynote") and rolls up the timing of everything inside it. You can collapse a group to tidy up a long rundown, then expand it again when you need the detail.
You can also give a group a target duration, such as a 5:00 commercial break, and see at a glance how much time is left to fill or how far over you've programmed.
Grouped rows are also numbered hierarchically: the group takes a whole number and its rows become sub-numbers beneath it (for example the group is 6 and its rows become 6.1, 6.2, and so on).
Who can use this?
Creating, renaming, reordering, ungrouping, and archiving groups, and setting a group's target duration, are available to Admins & ShowCallers. Everyone on the show can see a group's target.
Everyone can collapse and expand groups. Collapsing or expanding only changes your own view and is not saved to the show or shared with other people.
How to create a group
Select the rows you want to group. You can select one row or several at once.
Right-click on your selection to open the row menu.
Choose Create Group.
A new group header is inserted just above the first selected row, and those rows become the group's contents. The header starts with the default title New Group, which you can rename right away.
Renaming a group
To change a group's title, do either of the following on the group header:
Double-click the title to edit it inline, or Hover over the title and click the pencil icon.
Press Enter to save, or Escape to cancel. Clicking away also saves. A group left without a title will show as Untitled Group.
Collapsing and expanding a group
Click the chevron at the left of the group header to collapse or expand it. The chevron points down when the group is expanded and to the right when it is collapsed. Collapsing hides the group's rows so you can scan the rundown more easily.
If a row inside a collapsed group is being tracked live, the header displays a tracking indicator so you can still see progress without expanding the group.
Adding and removing rows
Group membership is managed by drag and drop:
Drag a row onto an expanded group header, or into the group's block, to add it to the group.
Drag a row out of the group's block to remove it from the group.
Drag the group header itself to move the whole group (header and its rows) together. The group collapses while you drag so it is easy to reposition.
Groups always stay together as one continuous block, so a row cannot be dropped in a spot that would split a group.
What the group header shows
Title: the group name, shown in large text.
Group number: the whole number for the group. Hover to reveal a drag handle for moving the group.
Target: the group's target duration, if one is set (see Setting a target duration below).
Total: the combined run time of all rows in the group. When the group has a target, a tag next to the Total shows how far under or over the target the group runs.
Start to End: the range from the earliest start to the latest end of the group's rows.
Muted durations in sub cues are not counted in a group's Total or Start to End timing.
Setting a target duration
A target is the length a group has to fill, such as a 5:00 TV break, a 20:00 halftime, or a 45:00 keynote slot. Once a group has a target, its header shows how much time is still unscheduled, or how far over you've programmed, as you add and edit rows.
A target is for planning only. Setting, changing, or clearing it never moves the start or end time of any row.
Set a target
Click the group's Total, or right-click the group header and choose Target Duration.
Enter the length in Set a target duration. The fields follow your rundowns duration time format (minutes and seconds, or hours, minutes, and seconds). The longest target is 23:59:59.
Click Set target or press Enter.
Pressing Escape or clicking away closes the editor without saving.
A group with nothing programmed yet has no Total to click, so use the right-click menu to give it a target.
What you'll see
Once a target is set, the header shows a Target next to the Total, and a tag beside the Total shows the gap:
Under the target (green, with a minus sign, for example -2m): the time you still have to fill.
Over the target (red and bold, with a plus sign, for example +1m15s): how much you need to cut.
On target: the rows add up exactly to the target.
For example, a group with a 5:00 target and 3:00 of rows shows -2m. An empty group with a 5:00 target shows a Total of 0 and -5m. Like the Total, the gap does not count muted durations.
Change or clear a target
Click the Target (or right-click the group header and choose Target Duration) to open the editor again. Enter a new length and click Set target, or click Clear to remove the target. Setting every field to zero also removes it. You can undo a target change like any other edit.
Ungrouping or archiving a group
Right-click the group header to open its menu. You have two options:
Ungroup: removes the header but keeps every row. The rows stay in the rundown as normal, ungrouped rows.
Archive Group: archives all of the rows inside the group and removes the header. Because this affects the rows, you will be asked to confirm first. The prompt reads "Are you sure you want to archive this group and its rows?" with Cancel and Archive options.
Good to know
No nested groups. A group cannot be placed inside another group.
Collapse state is personal. Collapsing or expanding a group only affects your view and is not saved or shared.
Exports. Group headers carry through to PDF and Word exports as section headers, keeping their titles and hierarchical numbering (for example 6, 6.1, 6.2). Target durations are not included in exports.
Targets need a Duration column. Without one, the header shows no Total or Target, and the menu does not offer Target Duration.
Targets on phones. On a phone, the header shows the gap next to the Total. Setting or changing a target needs a larger screen.
Colored rows. On a group with a fill color, the gap uses the row's text color instead of green or red, so read the plus or minus sign.