How to Manage Program Types and Season Types

Last updated July 6, 2026 · Admins and office staff

Program types and season types are the reusable categories behind your programs and seasons — Fertilization, PHC, Aeration for programs; Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Snow for seasons. The system ships with sensible defaults, so most companies never need to add their own. This guide covers reviewing, adding, editing, and deleting both. To create the actual seasons and programs, see Set Up Seasons and Programs.

Before you start

  • These two lists don’t have their own sidebar entries. You reach them from the create/edit forms, or by direct link:
    • Program Types — the Manage Program Types link next to the Program Type dropdown on the Add Program form.
    • Season Types — the Manage Season Types link next to the Season Type dropdown on the Add Season form.
    • (The links open in a new tab so you don’t lose the form you were filling in.)
  • System defaults are read-only. Entries that ship with the product can’t be edited or deleted — you create your own type instead.

How the two lists differ

Both work the same way, with one difference worth knowing:

  • Season Types clearly mark shipped entries as System default and hide their Edit/Delete controls (a badge shows instead). Season type names must be unique (ignoring capitalization), checked against both your own types and the defaults.
  • Program Types show Edit/Delete on every row, but deleting a type that’s in use is still blocked (see below).

Both lists share the same fields: Name (required), Description (optional), and Sort Order (optional — lower numbers appear first in dropdowns).

Steps

Review the existing types

  1. From the Add Program or Add Season form, click Manage Program Types / Manage Season Types.
  2. Browse the grid. On Season Types, entries with a System default badge are built in and locked.

Add a type

  1. On the Program Types or Season Types list, click Add Program Type / Add Season Type.
  2. Fill in:
    • Name (required) — e.g., “Aeration” (program) or “Irrigation” (season). Season type names must be unique.
    • Description (optional).
    • Sort Order (optional) — lower numbers sort first in dropdowns.
  3. Click Create …. You’ll see a success message and land back on the list, where the new type is now available in the matching dropdown.

Edit a type

  1. Click Edit on the type’s row (available only for your own types, not system defaults).
  2. Change the details and save.

Delete a type

  1. Click Delete on the type’s row and confirm.
  2. Deletion is blocked when the type is still in use:
    • Program type in use — “N program(s) are using the type ‘…’ — change those programs to a different type first.”
    • Season type — you can’t delete a system default; company types can’t be deleted while in use either.

What happens next

New and edited types appear immediately in the Program Type / Season Type dropdowns on the create and edit forms for programs and seasons. Deleting a type removes it from those dropdowns (once it’s no longer in use).

Tips & best practices

  • Start with the defaults. They cover Fertilization / PHC / etc. for programs and Spring / Summer / Fall / Winter / Snow for seasons — most companies don’t need to add anything.
  • Add a type before you need it. If a program or season needs a category that isn’t listed, add it via the Manage link, then return to your form and pick it (the form reloads the dropdown).
  • Snow/Winter naming matters for storms. Storm events only offer seasons whose type is a snow/winter type. If your snow season doesn’t appear when creating a storm, check that its season type name contains “Snow” or “Winter”. See Storm Events.
  • Use Sort Order to surface your common types at the top of long dropdowns.

Troubleshooting

  • “A season type with this name already exists.” — season type names must be unique, ignoring capitalization, across both your types and the system defaults. Pick a different name.
  • “Cannot delete: N program(s) are using the type ‘…’” — reassign those programs to a different type (Program > Edit) before deleting the type.
  • “Season type not found or is a system default.” / “Program type … may already be deleted or in use.” — you tried to edit or delete a built-in default, or the type is still referenced. System defaults are permanent; create your own type instead.
  • I don’t see Edit/Delete on a season type row — it’s a System default (shown by the badge). That’s expected; those can’t be changed.
  • I can’t find these lists in the sidebar — there’s no dedicated menu entry. Open them from the Manage Program Types / Manage Season Types links on the Add Program / Add Season forms.
  • A program shows its type as “(no longer in type list)” — the program type it used was deleted. Open the program’s Edit form, pick a current type, and save.

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