New Feature | Events Calendar

[Kirthag]

You asked! We researched, tested and have chosen a Calendar system for the Stratics Forums!

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The Calendar is all inclusive, meaning it is for all of the Stratics forums and not just one or two boards. Nor is it Shard based. This is to provide a central place in our forums to view the Calendar and any events added to it. Where ever you are in the forum, you can click the "Calendar" link.

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Further, while looking over the General Boards, you will see coming events in the sidebar...
(I turned off ads so I could take better screenies for this post)


This feature is available to anyone who actively posts to our forums.
All events can be added into the Calendar. However, RSS feeds will not be added automatically.


A thorough guide for getting events up in the Calendar will be posted below. This new feature will be implemented in the next few days while all existing Event Boards are migrated into a central board for archiving purposes.

 

[Kirthag]

Adding an Event to the Calendar
For the sake of example, I will use an announcement post regarding forum maintenance.

Please make sure you use the accurate Board for your Event Post. If you are running an event on the Napa Shard, post to the Napa Shard Board. If you are hosting a UO-Meetup, then post it in UHall. Please make sure to follow the RoC and ToS.

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You simply make your post the same way you would any other post. There is nothing special at this point. Once you are satisfied, click the button.

Now that your new thread is posted, expand the "Thread Tools" option located to the right of the Thread Title. (Please note, as an admin, I have a whole lot of other features!) What you will be most concerned with are the "Calendar Add" and "Calendar Remove" features.

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To add the event, click "Calendar Add". An overlay will appear as such:

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Simply select the actual date of your event. Since my post is for Forum Maintenance on the 18th of April, that is what I selected. make sure the Month, Day and Year are accurate.. When satisfied, click

The Screen with refresh and a message will briefly display that your event was added to the Calendar. You will also see a small notice above the OP confirming this post now has a Calendar marker.

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To View the Calendar
Simply navigate to the Calendar by clicking the "Calendar" link in the top bar navigation area:

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Next, the current month's Calendar will appear.

To Navigate the Calendar
To view a different month, simply select the Month and Year you wish to view, then click
Since my post is for April, I selected that month...


And the Calendar updated to display the month of April... and on the 18th is my event...

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To view information about an event, simply click the Link for it:


... and you will be taken to the actual post.



Removing an Event from the Calendar
For the sake of example, I am removing some of the test-events that were posted...

You can go to the Calendar, and click on the link to view the actual Post of the event you wish to remove.
Please note, only the OP (Original Poster), a Moderator or an Admin can remove Events from the Calendar.

When you are at the post, expand the menu under "Thread Tool" which is to the right, immediately above the first post:

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Click on the "Calendar Remove" link. You will be asked to confirm your action. If you are sure, click the Submit button.

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The Screen will refresh and a message will breifly display stating the Calendar setting for the post has been removed. You will also notice, there is no "Added to Calendar" marker above the OP...

 

[Kirthag]

Posting Guidelines & Tips for the Stratics Event Calendar

Posts added to the Calendar will not require any approval by Stratics. It is our belief that the Community, being active and caring members of Stratics and requesting this feature, will be aware of their activities regarding Calendar Events. However, we do have some guidelines to help Community Members regarding this new feature.

1. Recurring Events
   If you have a Recurring Event, simply repeat the process above to add another date to the post. Here is a sample of a post with multiple dates:
   
2. Removing Recurring Event Dates
   Because this is a Post Feature and not actual Calendar Entries, when choosing "Calendar Remove", all dates will be removed. Be careful when adding multiple dates, for you will have to add them all in again if you make an error.
3. RSS Fed Posts will not automatically appear in the Calendar
   As this feature requires some manual settings made to a post, anything fed into the boards from an RSS feed will not go into the Calendar. This does not stop members of the Community (be they a Stratics Volunteer or otherwise) from creating a "supporting post" to bring attention to an RSS fed event, and adjusting the Calendar settings of their post.
   
4. All Posts using this feature are still just Posts
   All that is different is there is an association for displaying links in a calendar format for the post. Hence, there is no necessity for moderating what goes on the calendar. It is simply another feature to a post.
5. Posts will display in the Calendar in a Numeric then Alpha order
   When crafting your title, consider using the Shard Name first and the time last. If you put times first, but you are citing Pacific time, another listing using Eastern time, it could be very confusing for people.
6. The Title of a Post is the text used for the Link on the Calendar
   This is actually important. If you are posting an In-Game event for a Shard, you want that to be known immediately on the Calendar. So when you craft your title, make sure to use the Shard Name in some way.
   This is a sample for my Story Night on Napa Shard...
   
   Calendar View
   
   
   Thread View
   
   
   Napa Board View
   
   
   Sidebar View
   
   
7. It is not completely necessary to have the Shard Name in the post title, but it is kind of redundant to have the date there:
   
   
   But then, a time would not be a bad idea.

What is posted is the OP's judgement. As this is a new feature, we do expect some experimentation of sorts. It is our belief that a "commonly accepted" format will be adopted and encouraged by the Community.

Enjoy this new feature! Comments are now open.

 

[Kirthag]

If anyone experiences any issues or has questions about the Calendar, feel free to post here.

 

[DJAd]

Can events be added that don't have a thread on Stratics? Its the dev meet and greet on Drachs today (April 1st) but its not on the calendar. I clicked the "submit" button on the calendar page but it didn't do anything.

 

[Kirthag]

The Calendar feature is an addon to a Post. There needs to be a Post for it to work.
You are free to make a Post on your shard board, then to add the Calendar info to that post. It will then appear on the Calendar.

 

[DJAd]

The Calendar feature is an addon to a Post. There needs to be a Post for it to work.
You are free to make a Post on your shard board, then to add the Calendar info to that post. It will then appear on the Calendar.

I have found another example. There is already a thread about the dev meet and greet on Europa (HERE) but the poster didn't add it to the calendar. I tried to add it but cannot as I didn't create the post.

This calendar could be such an awesome feature but its not as great as I was expecting. Maybe the moderators and admin should add the events rather than asking other members? (as they can edit posts etc.)

I would love to help but I just don't have time to go onto Facebook, Stratics and on the EM websites, find all the dates and times of events and then make a thread here for each one. If they could just be added directly to the calendar it would be a lot easier.

 

[Kirthag]

The particular addon we are using for the Calendar display is a post-feature, not a actual calendar feature. I had to weigh the pros and cons of using this particular feature vs getting an entirely different piece of software for calendaring. This was the better option, and provides services for those who really want to use it. It would be best for the community if members would use the post feature...

Of course, the Mods and Admins can add the date to a post, but if the OP doesn't _want_ to have their post added to the calendar, well, it is not the place of the volunteers at Stratics to make that call. Awareness of the posts' calendar feature is always best - and by sharing the process with others is a better way to handle this.

It is still a new feature, and one that may be slow to be adopted. I was aware of this when I implemented it. If the EMs wish to add their stuff to the calendar, then by all means they have the ability just like everyone else. We'll let them know about the feature, that is the best we can do.

 

[Scribbles]

Any chance the EMs of UO will be posting to this?

 

[Kirthag]

That is up to them....
However, when EMs post updates to their official site(s), it is fed via RSS into the Shard Boards. Most of the EMs make a bulk-list of events for a given time period, generally a month.

There is nothing stopping Community Members from making a "highlight" post based on the EM's RSS feed, then adding the calendar date to the post. *hint*

Of course, you can always ask your EMs to post.

And if any of the EMs still need access, permissions and stuffs, or if they have any questions or concerns, they can always pm @Zuckuss , @Oscar the Grouch or myself.

 

[Kirthag]

NEW CALENDAR FEATURE - WEEKLY RECURRING EVENTS

Now you can add your Weekly Recurring event with ease!

Follow the process above to bring up the gump. A new link is there called "Advanced":


Clicking that will bring up two columns for your recurring event:


This is only for WEEKLY events.

Enjoy!