Sometimes a friend who isn’t on The Dirty Mule yet is coming on the trip. You still want to assign them gear, track who’s bringing what, etc. — but they can’t accept an invite because they don’t have an account.
Solution: placeholder members. Just a name, no account required.
Adding a placeholder
Crew & Gear tab → Crew section → second form (next to the invite form): Add placeholder. Type their name (first name, nickname, whatever’s recognizable). Click Add.
That’s it. The placeholder appears in the Crew list with their name in italic and a small “(offline)” indicator.
What placeholders can — and can’t — do
Placeholders are pure references. They can’t log in, can’t see the trip, can’t do anything. They exist so the rest of the crew can assign items to them.
When you assign gear to a placeholder, the assignment chip on the item shows their name. The checklist visibly tracks who’s bringing what. The placeholder just won’t be the one checking the box.
Promoting a placeholder later
If the placeholder eventually signs up for an account, the planner can [VERIFY workflow for this — likely an admin action or a re-invite].
Removing a placeholder
Same as removing a real member — the × on their row. Anything assigned to them becomes unassigned.
Naming convention
Use a name that’s recognizable to the whole crew. “Mike” is fine if there’s only one Mike. “Mike-Sawyer” or “Mike (Texas)” disambiguates when there might be more than one. The system accepts spaces and multi-word names — no need to use underscores or hyphens.