How do I schedule a free delivery operation?

Short answer: Open Promotions, tab “Free delivery”, click “Schedule an operation”, set the period and the announcement text, then “Start operation”.

Steps

Open the Promotions page, then the “Free delivery” tab.
Click “Schedule an operation”. The form opens.
If your account has several shops, choose the “Shop” concerned.
Set the start: “Start now” is on by default; turn it off to choose a “Start date” in the future.
Choose the “End date” from the list offered. The dates on offer already apply the rule: “The period ends on a Wednesday or a Sunday, between 10 and 21 days after the start.”
Write the “Text shown on the home page”. The first line is the big headline, the following lines the sub-heading. If you keep #date# in the text, it will be replaced by the end date.
Check the “Preview on the shop”, then click “Start operation”.

Updating the shop

An operation starting straight away requires the shop to be rebuilt: “Updating the shop, this takes about a minute…”. While that runs, the operation reads “Activating”.

An operation scheduled for later will activate itself on its start date.

Following the orders of the operation

While the operation runs, and still once it has ended, its card lists the orders taking part: the customer, the manufacturing step, the number, how many products and the amount, with orders not yet paid marked “Unpaid”. That list is what you use to follow the operation's results.

The “Production” column shows, for each order, the five boxes of the steps under each product on the Orders page:

the boxes follow the order's least advanced product, since that product decides the shipping;
if a product of the order runs into trouble, the second box turns to “Incident”, in red (in orange, “Waiting” only means the product is ordered and on its way);
while every box is gray, manufacturing has not begun yet;
a dash instead of the boxes: the order is not paid yet, so it is not being made.

The orders of an operation are shipped together to the operation's address: an order that is ready can therefore stay at “Marked” until that shipment leaves.

The operation ends by itself the morning after its last day, at 8 am. Orders placed on the final evening therefore do benefit from it.

Going further

You'll know it worked when: The operation appears on the page at the “Active” or “Scheduled” status, and its announcement shows on the shop's home page.