Overview
Schedule criticality is the mechanism that lets Mobaro decide whether a Location is "safe for operation" based on outstanding Checklist work. When a Schedule is marked critical, missed slots on that Schedule pull the Location's operational status to red on the Location Overview Dashboard widget — surfacing immediately to anyone watching whether the park is ready to open. Non-critical Schedules don't drive that signal even if they're overdue. Configuring criticality correctly is the difference between "the Dashboard tells me what matters" and "the Dashboard cries wolf."
The mental model: Criticality answers "if this Schedule is overdue, can the Location operate?" A pre-opening safety check on a coaster: yes, critical — overdue means don't open. A weekly trash-bin audit: no, not critical — overdue is a tracking issue, not an operational blocker.
What criticality controls
A Schedule can be configured with a critical phase — a window of time during which a missed slot pulls the Location's operational status. Outside the critical phase, the same missed slot still surfaces in reporting but doesn't change the Location's "safe for operation" indicator.
Two settings interact:
Whether the Schedule is critical at all — a yes/no setting on the Schedule.
The timing of the critical phase — for example, "this Schedule becomes critical if i enters it's Grace Period" or "once the Schedule goes missing." The exact configuration depends on Schedule type and your organization's setup.
During the critical phase, an outstanding (uncompleted) Checklist on this Schedule pulls the Location's status. Once the Checklist is completed, or once the critical phase ends, the impact clears.
How criticality surfaces on the Dashboard
The Location Overview Dashboard widget shows each Location with an overall status indicator on its header (red / amber / green). This indicator is driven by:
Outstanding Checklists in their critical phase on Schedules scoped to that Location.
Failed answers on completed Checklists (depending on configuration).
A Location showing red on the header tells the team: "there's something critical that's overdue or failed; investigate before opening."
Note: This header indicator is independent of the bottom-bar checklist indicator. The header reflects critical Checklist work. The bottom bar reflects the periods availability of all Checklists. Both can be on the same Location card simultaneously and they answer different questions. See Downtime on Dashboards.
Worked examples
Example 1: Pre-opening ride inspection
Scenario: A coaster requires a pre-opening inspection at 8:00am. The park opens at 9:00am. If the inspection isn't done, the ride can't open.
Setup: Calendar Schedule with start time 8:00am, Grace Period window 8:45–9:30. Critical phase configured to start at the scheduled time and end when the Checklist is completed (or at the Grace Period window's close, depending on configuration).
Result: At 8:00am, if the Checklist isn't yet completed, the Location header turns red. The Park Director's morning glance at the Dashboard shows the ride isn't ready. Once the inspection is done at, say, 8:15am, the header clears.
Example 2: Daily F&B health check (non-critical)
Scenario: An F&B location runs a daily food-temperature log Schedule. Missing it is a tracking concern but doesn't block operation — the location can still serve guests.
Setup: Calendar Schedule, marked non-critical. Compliance reporting still tracks misses, and the Schedule still produces missed-Result records that get approved or rescheduled, but the Location's operational header isn't pulled red by missing this Schedule alone.
Result: Misses surface in compliance reporting and the missed-results queue, but the Location stays green on the Dashboard so attention is focused on actual operational blockers.
Example 3: Annual structural inspection
Scenario: An annual structural inspection on a coaster must be completed before the operating season starts. Missing it means the ride literally cannot open for the year.
Setup: Schedule configured as critical when missing, with a long lead time so the inspection becomes critical well before opening day. Pairs naturally with an Availability Notification (see the Report selection guide) so the inspection team is alerted when the slot becomes available.
Result: Once the slot opens and enters its critical phase, the Location's header tracks readiness. The annual inspection's status is visible at a glance on opening morning.
Anti-patterns to avoid
Watch out for these patterns, which break the signal-to-noise ratio of the Dashboard:
Marking everything critical — if every Schedule is critical, the red status indicator just means "something is overdue" with no prioritization. The Dashboard becomes background noise. Reserve critical for Schedules that genuinely affect operational readiness.
Marking nothing critical — if no Schedule is critical, the Location header never changes color and the Dashboard isn't pulling its weight as a real-time operational tool. At least pre-opening safety inspections should typically be critical.
Critical phase too long — a critical phase that lasts all day means the Location stays red for hours after the actual concern has passed. The phase should be tight enough to reflect "this is currently a concern."
Mixing safety-critical and admin-critical — if a financial reconciliation Schedule and a safety inspection Schedule both show as critical with the same visual weight, operators can't prioritize. Consider whether truly distinct categories of "critical" exist for your park; if so, talk to your CSM about how to surface them differently.
See also
Approving or rescheduling missed Results — for what to do once a Schedule produces a missed Result, regardless of criticality.
Downtime on Dashboards — color states and metric widgets — for the related but separate operational indicator that lives on the bottom of each Location card.
Calendar schedules — setup and behavior — for the Schedule type criticality is most commonly configured on.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Can a Continuous Schedule be critical?
A: Continuous Schedules don't have scheduled slots, so there's no specific moment to evaluate "overdue." They're not typically configured as critical. If you need timing-based operational signaling, use a Calendar Schedule.
Q: Does criticality affect whether a missed Result needs approval/reschedule?
A: No — both critical and non-critical Schedules produce missed Results that need handling. Criticality only affects whether the Location header turns red during the critical phase.
Q: If multiple critical Schedules are overdue on a Location, does it still just show red?
A: Yes — red is binary on the header. To see which critical Schedules are overdue, click into the Location for the detail view.
Q: Can criticality be configured per-slot or only per-Schedule?
A: Per Schedule, with the timing of the critical phase relative to each slot. If you have one Schedule where some slots are critical and others aren't, you likely want two separate Schedules.
Q: How does criticality interact with reporting?
A: Criticality is independent of compliance reporting — both critical and non-critical Schedules produce the same missed-slot records. Reporting filters on miss/completion, not on criticality. Criticality is purely about real-time Dashboard visualization.