The Calendar Admin tool is one of the most powerful modules of the CMS4Schools application. All events are organized within this master calendar and may be displayed on any main website page using the calendar page detail tools; Calendar of Events, Mini Calendar, or Upcoming Events. Feeds from rSchools Today, Google Calendars, or Schedule Star can be established to include events from any of these applications as well. While the Calendar Admin has many features available, the only thing that is required before adding/creating events it to add categories. The other sections/settings are optional.
Permission for this module must be assigned within the users' CMS4Schools Account. Users can be given permissions for all calendar categories or only a select few.
Faculty also have access to a calendar module and can create calendars specific to their website. There is an option when creating a calendar category in the main website admin to allow faculty members to include the calendar in their faculty calendars. This would allow you to create a calendar category like "School Year" that contains all the vacation, begin and end term, and parent-teacher conference dates. That category could then be the one place you would need to go to edit dates. Once changes were made they would be reflected throughout your website and not need to be changed in multiple places. For more information on faculty calendars, see Faculty Web Page Administration articles.
Access Calendar Admin
Within the Main Website Administration window, click on Calendar Admin in the left side menu. If Calendar Admin is not visible, you do not have user permissions for this module. See your website administrator to obtain the necessary permissions.
Calendar Admin Main Screen
The Calendar Admin always displays as a monthly calendar.
Dropdown menus for
- month,
- year,
- and category allows for quick filtering capabilities.
- Edit Locations: Once locations are added, driving directions to these locations will be included with any attached events.
- Edit Categories: Categories are used to organize events. You control which events are displayed on a page’s calendar tool by selecting which categories to display within the tool.
- Edit Facilities: Used to identify which facility is used for the events.
- Import: Events may be imported from a tab-delimited text file such as Excel.
- Weekly Email Settings: Members Database and Users Database users have the option of receiving a weekly email of upcoming events.
- Imported/Integrated Calendar(s): Settings for rSchool Today, google calendar, or Schedule Star. The image above only displays the google calendar option.
- Timezone: Will ensure that the dates and times represented in your calendar reflect your local time zone for iCal.
Each date number is a link that takes you to the New Event screen.
Event Locations
For each event with a location, driving directions to the location’s address will be included.
Add Locations
From the main Calendar Admin page, click Edit Locations to open the Event Locations screen.
Click Add Location and the Add Calendar Location screen opens.
Fill in the fields and click Add. The event will now be displayed under Event Locations.
Update or Delete Event Locations
- Update - Takes you back to Update Calendar Location screen where you can edit the location name and address.
- Delete - Deletes the location. If events are attached to this location, you will be warned that deleting it will remove the location from the event, but not the event itself.
Categories
Each event is required to be assigned to a category. Events will be displayed on different pages within your website based on their category.
Add Categories (required)
From the main Calendar Admin page, click Edit Categories to open the Calendar Categories screen.
Click Add Category and the Add Calendar Category screen opens.
- Category Name: Enter the name of the category. Example names include Middle School Fine Arts, High School Volleyball, or Elementary Concerts.
- Custom Font Color (optional): Choose a custom font color by entering the 6-character hexadecimal code. Click the View Hexadecimal Colors link to identify the hexadecimal code for the desired color.
- Can Subscribe? Checking this box allows Members Database users the option to subscribe and receive notifications of upcoming events within this category. The notification details are set up in the Weekly Email Settings.
- Faculty Can Include? Checking this box allows faculty members to display this category within their own faculty web calendar.
- Is a(n) Google Calendar Events, rSchool Today, or Schedule Star category? This choice will be visible if your account is set up to receive a feed from any of these vendors. Checking this will allow you to set up the category to match the integrated calendar category to the CMS4Schools category.
- Click Submit.
Update, Delete, or Import Categories
- Update - Opens the Update Calendar Category, where all options seen in Add Calendar Category screen can be updated.
- Delete - Deletes the category and all events that are attached to it.
- Import - Opens the Import Events screen where events can be imported via a tab delimited .txt file. This screen contains the requirements and specifications for importing events.
Facilities
Facilities can be attached to events similar to locations. Facilities are typically areas within your buildings. By utilizing this feature, facilities usage could be made available to the public by adding a Building Use Calendar to your website. When used in conjunction with a Request for Building Use tool, your website can be used as a facilities management application.
Add/Edit Facilities
From the main Calendar Admin page, click Edit Facilities to open the Event Facilities screen.
Click Add Facility and the Add Calendar Facility screen opens.
- Facility: Enter a facility name
- Allow double booking: Choose to allow or not allow double booking for this facility by selecting the corresponding radio button
- Click Add to create the Facility.
Update or Delete Event Facilities
- Update: Opens the Update Calendar Facility, allowing you to update the facility name and double booking status.
- Delete - Deletes the facility. If events are attached to this facility, you will be warned that deleting it will remove the facility from the event, but not the event itself.
Import Events
From the main Calendar Admin page, click Import to open the Import Events screen.
- Choose the category to import events into or choose All Categories to import the events into all categories.
- Click Continue
- Outlines the requirements for file type and placement of date to complete the import.
- Choose File: Select the .txt file to import
- Click Import Events to complete the import.
Weekly Email Settings
From the main Calendar Admin page, click Weekly Email Settings to open the Weekly Email Settings screen.
Every Thursday night approximately at midnight, an email will be generated to all users with a valid email in the Members Database and Users Database who have requested to receive this weekly update. This email will contain a calendar displaying upcoming events from the main calendar.
Here are the settings details:
- Customize Subject Line: Enter a Subject line or leave blank to use the default Subject line
- Intro: In the text box, enter the text that will be included at the top of each of these emails
- Include Category: Check the box to include the category for each event
- Day of week: Choose from the drop-down list the day you wish the email to be sent
- # of events: Choose the number of days into the future the list of events should include.
- Test email: A test email can be generated by supplying an email in the text box and checking the box
- Turn off Automated Weekly Email: You are able to turn off the Automated Weekly Email by checking this box.
- Click the Update button to save setting changes.
Timezone Settings
Setting the Timezone enables iCal users to accurately sync with the Calendar of Events on your webpage.
From the main Calendar Admin page, click Timezone to open the Timezone for iCal screen.
- Choose the appropriate region from the drop-down list and click Continue.
- Choose the appropriate Timezone and click Save Timezone.
You will receive notification that your choice has been saved.
Integrated Calendar(s)
Google Events (shown), rSchool Today, or Schedule Star links will be visible only if your account has been previously set up to sync with either of these applications.
Calendar Events
Add an Event
Click on the date number that you would like to add an event to and a New Event screen will open for the selected date.
- Event Title: This is the text that will appear on the calendar describing the event. It is recommended that you enter an Event Title. If left blank, the event description will appear as the title.
- *Category: Choose the desired from the dropdown list. This will be your only means of organizing all your events; therefore, we strongly recommend that you have these categories set up prior to adding events to your calendar.
- *Date: The date will pre-populate based on the date selected from the calendar admin, but you may enter a different date if desired.
- Date description: This field is used only if additional information is necessary.
- Begin and End Times: Enter the time the event will begin. If known, enter the time the event will end.
- Description: Use this field to provide further clarification for an event. For example, you can enter the main contact for the event with an email address. To view this description, Website users will need to click on the event on the calendar.
- Location: Choose the appropriate location for this event from the drop-down box. If the location does not appear in the drop-down, you can click on the New Location button to add the new location to the database. By selecting a location, users will be able to click on a link to open driving directions to this location.
- Extra Location Text: This text area could be used to enter written directions to an event or to include specific location information, For example, please enter through the main entrance or north side gym doors.
- Facility Use Yes/No: If checked Yes, this event will appear on your Building Use Calendar.
- Attachments: Documents that provide additional event information may be attached to this event. You can click on the Add Another Attachment link if you need to add more than one attachment.
- Links: URLs may be attached to this event. You can click on the Add Another Link option if you need to add more than one URL.
- Recurrence: Each radio button (except None) when chosen will display options for the recurrence.
- Allow to RSVP: Check this box if you want your Web site users to be able to email an RSVP for this event. If you check this box, you will be asked to enter an email address where these RSVPs will be sent.
When all the desired information have been entered, click the Submit New Event button at the bottom of the page. The event will populate on the Calendar Admin.
Update an Event
Within Calendar Admin, click on the event on the calendar that you want to update. This will bring up the Update Event screen for this event. You can then make any desired modifications to the information for this event. If this is a recurring event, you will need to check the boxes next to the events that this change needs to apply to. Click the Update Event button at the bottom of the page to save the changes.
Delete an Event
Within Calendar Admin, click on the event on the calendar that you want to delete. This will bring up the Update Event screen similar to the one above. If this is a recurring event, you will need to check the boxes next to all the events that need to be deleted. Click the Delete Event button at the bottom of the page.
View Events on your Website
The Calendar Admin link on the left side administration menu bar is used for adding, editing and deleting events only. To view events, you will need to add a Calendar of Events, Mini Calendar or Upcoming Events tool to a page.
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