Kick Override

Kick is used to adjust rotation patterns in small, fast turnover, Category Groups. GSelector adjusts Category sequences by moving, or 'Kicking', an appropriate number of Songs to the bottom of their Categories at the end of the previously scheduled hour. This is done in the middle hour of the least important Daypart. In the Kick Override window. Songs are represented by letters of the alphabet, and we only show the first 26 Songs of a Category in the Grid. Any displayed Song letter can be selected to see how that Song will rotate through the week.

The Kick Override window is accessed in two modes, depending on whether the Category Group has been given Slotted or Kicked stacking status in the Category Group Settings window.

The Kick Override grid shows the kicked Song plot. Note that a Song in a Kicked or Slotted Category may not have an Alternate Category assignment, nor may any other Song have an alternate assignment in the Slotted Category.

Accessing this window

Kicked or Slotted stacking - which to use?

Features in this window

Working in this window

See also the Kick Override Order topic.

Accessing this window

1. In the Category Group Settings window, enable one or more Category Groups for Kicked or Slotted status.
2. Then click the Kick button to open the Kick Override window. Note the Kick Override tab cannot be accessed for a Category Group with an Alternate Category assignment.
3. This window can be resized as needed for a better view of the contents of the window.

Click any area in this image for help.

Click any area in this image for help

Kicked or Slotted stacking - which to use?

There are two stacking orders available in the Category Group Settings which give access to the Kick Override tab.

Slotted status places all Songs in the Categories of the selected group in a strict order, which can be defined in the Order tab. In scheduling, the Songs are placed in the log in that exact order: all existing Goals, Adjustments, and Constraints are disregarded. The Kick Override window can be configured to use GSelector's automatic kick settings, or the user can choose to design the Kick settings manually. The Automatic setting adjusts the Category sequence by kicking the appropriate number of songs to the bottom of all Categories in the selected Category Group, when scheduling in the least important Daypart. With Slotted Stacking, the user can access the full range of Kick modes - Manual and Automatic.

Kicked status allows Songs to be kicked manually only, as you specified in the Kick Override window, but Songs are not Slotted, and they remain subject to all existing Goals, Adjustments and Constraints.  

Features in this window

Category Group positions

Selecting a Clock Assignment Grid

Daypart

Toolbar

Automatic or Manual Kick radio buttons

Kick Grid display pane

Show Excluded Pass Orders

Category Group positions  

Common to this window and the subsidiary Kick Override Order window, the Category Group allows the user to see the Kicked or Slotted Category Group they are working in with either tab, showing the total number of Positions for the selected Category Group to the right. Where Songs are grouped in a Packet, they are considered to have one position for Kick purposes. If a packet is kicked, the song at the top of the packet is kicked to the bottom of the packet.

Note: For the top song of the packet to be kicked to the bottom of the packet the packet must be set to spins mode.

Selecting a Clock Assignment Grid

The Kick Override window allows you to view Kicks for any Clock Assignment Grid. The Grid field shows the Clock Assignment Grid being viewed.

1. In the Toolbar, select the Assignment Grid button.
2. Click to display a list of all Assignment Grids.
3. Click the name of the desired grid to see the Kick for the selected Grid.
4. The Kick Grid will update to show the Kick pattern for Clocks assigned in the selected Grid. When editing a grid in Manual Override mode, changes are automatically saved for the selected Grid.

Daypart

When a song in the Category Group selected is assigned to an Alternate Category the Daypart drop-down is visible allowing the user to switch between Dayparts to make changes.

Kick Override window Toolbar    

The toolbar in this window, used in Manual Mode, allows the user to Undo an existing Kick step, select a Clock Assignment Grid to apply a Kick to, specify the highlighted Song in the Kick sequence, and in the Manual view only, Add or Remove a Kick position, or Clear a completed Kick pattern, and in the Automatic view only, copy the Automatic Kick pattern over to the Manual  Kick pattern.

Manual Override selection pane  (Slotted Stacking only)

The two radio buttons in this pane allow the user to select Automatic or Manual Kick. When Manual Kick is selected, the Toolbar Add, Remove buttons are activated and the Manual Time Date Kicks Grid is visible. When Automatic Kick is selected, the Toolbar Copy Automatic Kick button is activated.

Automatic Kick is suppressed when accessing this window for a Kicked Category Group.

Kick grid display pane

The Kick Override grid shows how the Songs will plot given the Kick settings. The first 26 Songs in the category group are represented by the letters a-z. Highlight any letter to see how it will rotate through the week. The window can display up to four Song positions in each cell. Where Category Groups in the selected Clock Grid do not provide consistent Song positions, the grid is left blank. In this image, the Category Group for the selected Clock grid calls for three Song positions for each hour.

Hours containing the selected Song position (in this case, Song A) are shown with a white background. The selected Hour in which the Kick is applied is shown in bold, with a figure showing number of Songs kicked. This applies in both Automatic and Manual Kick modes. The blue highlight shows the most important hour - the hour that is the "center point" for good rotation - where a Kick is applied in that day. If no Kick is applied, the blue highlight is not displayed.  

Working in this window

The Process described

Undoing a Kick

Selecting a Clock Assignment Grid

Highlighting a Song Position

Inserting a Manual Kick

Removing a Manual Kick

Clearing a Kick

Copying Automatic settings to Manual

Selecting a Kick Hour

Setting a Kick for the whole week

Manual Time Date Kicks Grid

Setting a Kick Override Order for a Category Group

The Process described

1. Navigate to Goals | Categories and click the Category Group Settings toolbar button.
2. Select a Slotted or Kicked category group in the Category Group Settings dialog box
3. Click the Kick button.
4. In the Kick Override window, choose (see here ) between Automatic Kick (default) and Manual Kick, when working with Slotted Categories.
5. If choosing Automatic, simply accept the automatically determined Kick settings.
6. To set a Kick in Manual mode, select an hour in the grid, then click the -/+ buttons to remove or add a Kick position or enter the time and Kick number for each day using the Manual date grid above the Kick grid.
7. Click on an hour header to select and set the Kick in that Hour for the entire week.
8. GSelector will Kick Songs (or packets of Songs) as specified. Several Kicks can be applied in one day in Manual mode.
9. Click OK to complete the changes.
10. Click Save in the Categories window.

Undoing a Kick  

 Click to undo the last step taken in the Kick Override screen. See below for how to completely clear a Kick.

Highlighting a Song Position

The total number of available Songs in the selected Category Group is represented by letters of the alphabet. You can select one Song Position to review the effects of Kick  in the Kick Grid. Note that Kick scheduling is designed to work with, and is most effective with, small fast turnover Category Groups. If the number of Songs in the Category Group  exceeds 26, the number of Songs show in the list is restricted to 26, and the user can only select from this number.  

1. Click the arrow next to the Highlighted Song button.
2. Click a Song Position in the list to select that position.
   
3. The Song Position is then represented in the Kick grid in upper case, highlighted on a white background.
4. The remainder of the Song Positions are displayed in lower case.
5. In Manual mode, the user can then select any hour in which to apply the Kick, not just those containing the Song Position.

Adding a Kick

1. In the Kick Override window, select an activated Category Group.
2. Select Manual mode when working with Slotted Categories.
3. Select a Highlighted Song position in the selected Category Group to display the rotation pattern in the Kick grid.
4. Select a Kick Hour in the Grid from which to apply the Kick.
5. Click the Add button to insert one Kick position.
6. Repeat to add a further position Kick, as needed.
7. The selected hour updates to show the Kick that has been applied. The number of Kick positions is shown in the selected hour or hours.
8. Click OK to complete the changes.
9. Click Save in the Categories window.

NOTE:  While there is no limit to the number of Kicks that can be applied, the practical limit is set by the number of Songs being Kicked. Kick is used for small numbers of Songs. If you apply a Kick of seven positions to a five Song Category Group list, effectively only a Kick of two positions is being applied, as the first five Kicks bring the list back to the starting positions. A Kick of four positions, however, would have an effect.

Removing a Kick

1. In the Kick Override window, select an activated Category Group.
2. Select Manual mode when working with Slotted Categories.
3. Select the Kick Hour in the Grid from which to remove the Kick.
4. Click the Remove button to remove one Kick position.
5. Repeat to remove further Kick positions as needed.
6. The selected hour updates.
7. Click OK to complete the changes.
8. Click Save in the Categories window.

Clearing a Kick    

1. In the Kick Override window, select an activated Category Group.
2. Select Manual mode when working with Slotted Categories.
3. Click the Delete  button or press Del on the keyboard to completely clear a Kick. See above for how to undo the last step taken in the Kick Override screen.
4. Click OK to complete the changes.
5. Click Save in the Categories window.

Copy the Auto Kick into the Manual Kick pattern

This toolbar button copies Auto Kick settings to the Manual Kick, which gives you a starting point from which the user can make manual adjustments to try to improve the rotation. If Auto Kick determines that no Kick is needed, then there’s no difference between the two.

Selecting a Kick hour

In Manual Mode, navigate in the Kick Grid by selecting and clicking an hour, or by using the arrow keys to move the selected Kick Hour to an adjacent cell.

Setting a Kick for the whole week

1. In the Kick Override window, select an activated Category Group.
2. Select Manual mode when working with Slotted Categories.
3. Click any hour header
4. That hour is selected for all days in the week as the Kick start hour.
   
5. Where Song positions are already shown in that hour, the Kick number is displayed (see Inserting).

Manual Time Date Kicks Grid

1. Navigate to Goals | Categories and click the Category Group Settings toolbar button.
2. Select a Slotted or Kicked category group in the Category Group Settings dialog box
3. Click the Kick button.
4. Select the Manual Kick radio button.
5. Enter a time and kick number for each day of the week.

6. Click OK to complete the changes.
7. Click Save in the Categories window.

This resembles the way kicks were constructed in legacy Selector. This additional option provides user the ability to type the kick settings rather than manipulate them by using the mouse and the Increase Kick and Decrease Kick toolbar buttons.