Creating a Calendar Event
- From the Admin Console, choose Calendar > Calendar Events.
- To create a new event, click the "Add Event" button. To edit an event, click the title of an event in one of the lists:
- Upcoming Events: These events have a date either today or in the future.
- Prior Events: These events are in the past. Depending on your instructions, however, they may or may not still be displayed on your Website calendar (see "Show on Calendar" below).
- The New/Edit Event screen will default to the basic view, and you can select the “add more details” link for additional options. On the New/Edit Event screen, complete the fields as necessary:
- Copy details from: If you would like to "clone" the details of another event in your group's calendar, then choose its name from this list. NOTE: when you use the Copy Details feature, the screen will refresh and all of the details you had entered in your new event will be lost. They will be replaced with the details of the event you asked to copy.
- What: This will be the title of your event.
- Where: Type the location of your event. This can be a room name/number, facility, or geographic location.
- When: This is the actual date and time of the event. If your event spans multiple days, then enter the first day here. You can type in the date/time or click on the calendar and clock icons to select the information.
- Description: Enter text here to describe your event. This can include a list of activities, things to bring, etc.
- Where to show it panel (right side):
- Master Calendar: This checkbox determines whether the event will show on the main calendar for your Website.
- Section/Group Calendar: This checkbox determines whether the event will show on your section/group-specific calendars.
- Home Page: If your Website features an "upcoming events" list on the home page, then this option will control whether you would like this event to show in that list. If you clear this checkbox, then this event will show on your group calendar, but not the "upcoming events" list on your home page. See information on the soUpcomingEvents() tag for more details.
- Recurrence: If your event spans multiple days, then select the "Add recurrence" button. See Calendar: Recurring Events for more information.
- Time details: Enter any additional time details regarding. This field will accept any type of text, and you may enter multiple times, days, and other information here.
- Address: Enter the address of the event.
- Location(s): If your organization maintains multiple locations/campuses, and each of them has a Website on SiteOrganic, you'll see them listed here. Check the boxes to indicate which location applies to the event you're entering.
- Deaf Assistance: Choose whether or not this option is provided for your event. If you check yes, then a universal icon for sign language (
) will be shown on your event page. - Show “register” link: If your event requires a signup, you can link to the registration page either on your website or on another website. You will need to specify the label text for the sign up link.
- Show “donate” link: If you’d like to provide a donation option with your event, you can link directly to the donation page or any page URL on your site. You will also need to specify the label text for the donate link.
- Childcare available: Choose whether or not this option is provided for your event.
- Image or Video: To load in an image or video from your website, either type in the location of your image/video or click the "Choose" link to find the image via the File Manager.
- For images: enter the path to a JPG, GIF, or PNG image file. The image will be displayed on your event detail page.
- For videos: enter the path to an MP4 or M4v file. SiteOrganic will automatically add a "video" tag around this file, so that it plays properly in the browser. If you want more control over the height/width/properties of the video, you can also enter a full "video" tag here yourself. The system is smart and will know the difference, so that your tag isn't altered. Please note: videos will not play in Internet Explorer 8 or earlier.
To display a video or image from another website (ie: YouTube, Vimeo), choose the “from another website” option and paste your video or image embed code in the box provided (For more information, see embedding 3rd party videos,care.siteorganic.com/multimedia).
- Cost: If applicable, indicate the cost for your event.
- Contact Info: Choose a contact person from your list of Group Contacts. If you would like to use a contact person who doesn't appear in your list of group contacts (or if you don't have any group contacts entered yet), then use the fields marked "other."
- Click the "Save" button to store your changes. If you click the "Cancel" button, the system will discard your changes and return you to the list of events for your group.
RECURRING EVENTS
When you are entering details for a calendar event on your Website, it may be necessary to repeat the same event over multiple days, weeks, or months. With SiteOrganic, it is not necessary to enter these occurrences separately. As long as they follow a predictable pattern, then you can use the Recurring Events engine to save lots of time.
To make any event a recurring one, do the following:- Check the "Add recurrence" button, and you will see options appear for recurring events.
- Choose the type of pattern for your event (Daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly).
- You'll notice that each pattern allows for a slightly different configuration. Refer to the field labels for specific information on entering your event.
- Once you set your pattern, you must tell the system when the series of events should end. There are two options:
- End after __ occurrences: Use this option to have your event series end after a specific number of entries in the calendar. This is a useful option, for instance, if you choose a Daily occurrence and the event happens over 3 days.
- End On __: SiteOrganic will make enough copies of your event (within the daily/weekly/monthly pattern) to fill the time between the Event Date and the specific end date you choose. This is a useful choice, for instance, if you have an event that should occur once a week for the next year.
Important notes about editing a Recurring Event
NOTE: For the tips below, we'll refer to your main event entry as the "parent" event. Each individual occurrence of your event is a "child" event.
- Once you save the parent event, all of the child events will be created and shown on the Website calendar.
- As time passes and some of your child events expire, you'll begin seeing two entries for your event on the Calendar list screen in the admin console. One entry will be under Upcoming Events, and one will be under Prior events. After all occurrences of your event series are in the past, you will only see a single entry for the event series under Prior events.
- Once your series of events has been created, you may edit or delete and of the child events. This is a very helpful feature if you need to customize specific instances of your event. For instance, change the speaker each week in a class (edit the description), change the meeting room for one week only (edit the location), or even cancel your event on a holiday (delete the child event).
- IMPORTANT: If you edit your parent event, ALL occurrences (i.e. child events) will be changed. This will erase any small changes you may have made to your individual child events.