What the setup questions mean
A plain guide to each setup question, from your planner's language to its start month, and where to change each answer later.
Setup opens with a welcome: select Let's get started. Then it asks up to seven questions. On most of them a preview of your real planner sits beside the questions on a computer, or below them on a phone or tablet, and redraws as you answer. On a phone or tablet, pinch it to look closer; it springs back when you let go. Select Back at any time to change an earlier answer, or the X at the top left to leave.
The questions
- Name: first the Planner language, the language printed on the pages (English unless you change it). Then Your name, which appears on the cover in the preview as you type. Continue opens the book.
- Theme: the look of every page. Pick Modern, Whimsical or Mixed, pick Start from scratch for a plain planner, or pick one of Your saved themes if you have any.
- Select your start month: the month your planner begins, from the next twelve. It covers 12 months from there. Under it, Your week: Starts on and Days included (4, 5, 6 or 7). A month past what your subscription covers turns orange when you pick it, and you can add a year right there: see Why can't I pick the start month I want?.
- Layout: the kind of weekly planner, how many rows it has (2 to 10), and whether the rows run down the side or across the top. A Rotating Day Planner also sets up its letters or numbers here, under Your cycle.
- Enter your subjects (or class periods, time blocks or blocks, depending on your planner): a box for each row. Type your own names, or leave a box empty to keep the name shown in grey. On a Time Block Planner, each row has its start and end time too, and its name is optional.
- Roster: add your class lists, or select Skip for now. A short clip beside the question, or under it on a phone, shows a roster filling the names in a gradebook. Rosters belong to your account, so every planner can use them.
- School calendar: your first and last day of school and the days your school is closed, all optional. On a Rotating Day Planner, your cycle starts on your first day of school. Then select Create Planner.
Good to know
Picking one of your saved themes skips Layout and the row names, and the week questions under the start month, because your theme already answers them.
Tip
Is Continue or Create Planner greyed out? Select it anyway. Whatever it still needs is outlined in red.
Changing an answer later
Most answers live in Planner settings. The kind of weekly planner, the rows and the days are changed in Theme Studio: see Choose a weekly layout.
Updated October 23, 2026
Was this helpful?
Related articles
- Create your first plannerAdd a planner to your Library with New, then open it and answer the setup questions. Your planner is ready when you finish.
- Choose a weekly layout: subjects, time blocks or rotating daysPick a Subject, Time Block, Class Period or Rotating Day Planner. You can switch later without losing a single lesson.
- Change your planner's languagePick the language printed on your planner's pages in setup, or later under Planner language in Planner settings.
- Create a class rosterAdd a class roster with your students' names once, and use it in every planner you own. Type the names or upload a spreadsheet.
- Why can't I pick the start month I want?Setup offers the next twelve months. A month your subscription doesn't cover turns orange, and you can add a year right there. Months are fixed at setup.