# Building and finalizing your lineup > Set up lanes and numbering, spread out the parade's energy, order your units, and understand what locking the lineup does before you commit. The Lineup tab is where you set the marching order of your parade and lock it in. Every unit gets a lineup number, and the app figures out which lane each unit stages in based on your map and each unit's length. Finalizing is the most consequential click in the app, so this guide is blunt about what it does. The view has three sub-tabs: **Configuration** (lanes, numbering, spacing, and the lineup map), **Units** (the order itself), and **Applicants** (entries waiting for a decision). ## Get your units in Three ways units arrive: - Approve entries from your [application form](/help/parade-application); approved entries become units. - Click **Add a Unit** to create one by hand. - Use **Import CSV** (under the **More unit actions** menu, the three dots) to bring in a spreadsheet. You can also export to CSV or XLSX from the same menu. Give each unit a real length if you know it. Units without a length are assumed to be 20 feet, and if that guess is wrong, the app may warn that your lineup overflows the available space when it actually fits, or the reverse. ## Set up your lanes A lineup lane is a staging lane that merges onto the route. Lanes let units gather in parallel and roll out in order, which is how you fit a big parade into a small staging area and keep stepoff moving. You draw lanes on the **Map**, not here, using the **Add Lineup Lane** tool (see [editing your map](/help/map-editing)). The number of lanes you draw sets how many numbering series your parade has. Once they exist, open the **Lanes & Marshals** card on the **Configuration** sub-tab to set how they're numbered. ![The lineup Configuration sub-tab](/help-media/lineup-configuration.png "The Configuration sub-tab: lane numbering, spacing, and the Finalize Lineup Map button.") ### Numbering: by hundreds or sequential Under **Unit numbering system** you choose how units are numbered across lanes. This matters more than it looks, because the numbers end up on staging signs, in emails, and in every group leader's head on parade morning. **By 100s** (the recommended default) gives each lane its own hundred-series: the first lane is `100, 101, 102…`, the second is `200, 201, 202…`, the third is `300…`, and so on. - *Advantages:* the number is self-locating, like hotel floors. Unit 205 knows they belong in the 200s lane without being told. Lanes stay independent, so inserting or removing a unit in one lane never renumbers the others. It scales cleanly to as many lanes as you have. - *Disadvantage:* a spectator counting units along the curb sees gaps. If the first lane ends at 118, the next unit is 200, and they wonder where 119 through 199 went. **Sequential** numbers units `1, 2, 3…` continuously across every lane, and labels the lanes `A, B, C` so "Lane B, Unit 15" stays unambiguous. - *Advantages:* no gaps, so it feels natural to anyone counting along the route. - *Disadvantages:* group leaders have to remember two things, their lane letter and their number. And inserting a unit ripples the numbering across lanes. It makes the most sense for single-lane parades, where there's only one number to track anyway. ### Stepoff order and marshals When you have two or more lanes, a **Stepoff order** control appears. Facing stepoff, it sets which side gets the lowest numbers: **Right side first**, **Left side first**, or **Custom order** (drag the lanes into any sequence). Try both directions; the lane list updates instantly so you can see which matches how units will actually drive in. The same sheet sets marshal staffing: **one marshal for every N units** (12 by default), and it shows how many marshals that works out to. When you finalize, marshals reassign automatically to match the final order. ## Order the lineup On the **Units** sub-tab, drag units up and down in the **Lineup Order** list. A green **Unsaved Changes** bar appears at the bottom; click **Save Order** to keep your changes or **Cancel** to discard them. ## Spread out the parade's energy This is the single biggest lever on how your parade feels, and it's worth doing deliberately. If you cluster all your bands, big floats, and loud units together, you get a wall of energy up front and a long, flat stretch behind it. The spectators at the far end of the route, and everyone in the last part of the run, get a dull show. The goal is the opposite: spread the highlights so every block and every few minutes has something worth watching. You can arrange this by hand, or click **Smart Sort** to do it automatically. It opens the **Smart Sort Lineup** dialog with a set of rules, all on by default: - **Spread out loud units** so two high-volume units aren't back to back - **Spread out same unit types** and **same org types** so similar entries are interleaved, not bunched - **Spread out large units** and **animal units** so they're not stacked together - **Separate animals from loud units** so a marching band doesn't startle the horses behind it - **Avoid large vehicle before walkers** so a slow float isn't tailgating a walking group - **Pack sections efficiently** to use your staging space well You can also tell it to **spread out units with specific tags**, and **pin** units you want kept exactly where they are (a color guard that must lead, a sponsor float in a promised spot). Click **Apply to Lineup**, review, then **Save Order**. ### Warnings Whether you sort by hand or with Smart Sort, the **Warnings** section flags clustering as you work: - two high-volume units back to back - a run of the same unit type (two in a row is a gentle nudge, four or more is a real problem) - an equestrian unit next to a loud band, since the animals may be startled - two nonprofits next to each other Each warning is a suggestion, not a block. If you'd rather not chase them one by one, the panel points you at **Smart Sort** to resolve them in one pass. ## The two finalizations, and why order matters This trips people up, so read it twice. There are two separate locks: 1. **The lineup map** is finalized first, on the **Configuration** sub-tab, with the **Finalize Lineup Map** button. It locks your lanes, spacing, and numbering. 2. **The lineup order** is finalized second, on the **Units** sub-tab, with the **Finalize Order** button. That button stays unavailable until the lineup map is locked. If you drew a multi-lane lineup but haven't set numbering yet, the Units tab shows a **Lane numbering not configured** notice with a **Configure** button that takes you to the right place. Two things are hard blockers on finalizing the order, not just warnings: units exceeding the available lineup space, and applications still pending. Resolve both first. ## What finalizing actually does Clicking **Finalize Order** freezes every unit's number. Those numbers are what you print, email, and paint on staging signs, which is the whole point: they stop changing. After finalizing: - Dragging is disabled. To change the order you use **Move**, **Swap**, or **Replace** on a unit, and the app walks you through where it goes. - A moved unit gets a decimal number. Move a unit between #6 and #7 and it becomes #6.5. That looks odd, but it's deliberate: every other unit keeps the number you already told them. - If you truly need to reorder everything, click **Unlock**. It makes you type the word `unlock` because it means every number you've already communicated can change. Treat it as a last resort. > Finalize when your entries are settled, not before. A good test: would you be comfortable printing staging signs today? If yes, finalize. If you're still expecting applications, wait. ## Print the lineup paperwork Those staging signs aren't something you make by hand. Three built-in documents in the **Documents** tab turn your finalized order into paper: - **Unit Number** (under Unit Documents) generates one large-format sign per unit: the lineup number, big enough to read from a moving truck. Use **Download → All Sheets as One PDF** to print the whole set in a single run, and your cone-drop crew posts them along the lanes so unit 205 finds its spot without asking anyone. - **Unit List (Lineup Order)** is the master roster in marching order, for the clipboards at check-in and the announcer stand. - **Lineup Lanes** (under Map View Documents) is a printable map of your staging lanes, for staff who have never seen the site before parade morning. Because these fill themselves in from your live data, a post-finalize **Move** or **Swap** just means reprinting the affected sheet, not redoing anything. See [Generate parade-day paperwork](/help/documents) for how the document editor and batch downloads work. ## Staggered arrival times By default you give everyone the same lineup window, set in **Settings** under the **Lineup Times** card (with separate windows for general, vehicle, and walking groups). Turn on **Use Staggered Lineup** there and the app instead assigns each unit its own arrival time based on its position in the order, front units earliest. If you stagger, finalize the order first, since the times follow it.