Replacing a Reservation/restriction with a scheduled event

[russellhltn]

But I believe that restrictions was put there for a reason and that reason is to accommodate the need of reserving particular rooms on particular nights as the Stake has done for so very many years.

Right. It was for the idea of setting aside a regular bock of time for a specific ward for their activities. The details of which is to be worked out by the ward itself. That's really the only valid use of the restriction. Anything else will eventually come back and bite you.

[1968leocomeeatabite]

Say,I think that the feature in reservation that you can block the entire facility of even a room from being schedule would work in the case of the carpet being cleaned or even Monday evenings (FHE) and when the gym floor is to be resurfaced. Just block it from being schedule as the Stake Presidency has directed.

[eblood66]

Say,I think that the feature in reservation that you can block the entire facility of even a room from being schedule would work in the case of the carpet being cleaned or even Monday evenings (FHE) and when the gym floor is to be resurfaced. Just block it from being schedule as the Stake Presidency has directed.

An event would work just as well and could be put on a stake calendar so it has greater visibility.

[1968leocomeeatabite]

Well OK Then, I see what you folks are saying as long as it is scheduled or in a restriction mode it can not be scheduled over the top of something else. Many of you are for; getting it scheduled and doing away with the extra step. You guys make a good point. I am still having a belief in the feature of the restrictions. I see it this way, the restrictions is good because it helps the system work well, especially with the process of getting the leadership trained to using the Calendar correctly.

[eblood66]

Well OK Then, I see what you folks are saying as long as it is scheduled or in a restriction mode it can not be scheduled over the top of something else. Many of you are for; getting it scheduled and doing away with the extra step. You guys make a good point. I am still having a belief in the feature of the restrictions. I see it this way, the restrictions is good because it helps the system work well, especially with the process of getting the leadership trained to using the Calendar correctly.

When used appropriately, I don't see any problem with using restrictions. We do in our stake. But as I see it, really the only appropriate use is to enforce agreements for how the building will be shared. In our building the agent bishop publishes a schedule at the beginning of each year which states which rooms belong to each ward on each Tuesday and Wednesday for youth nights and which rooms belong to the Relief Society for their monthly weekday meeting. Restrictions are created based on this schedule. Those are the only restrictions we use. This has worked well for us.

On the other hand, restrictions are not necessary. Scheduling can be done just fine without them. And they do cause confusion especially for those who don't really understand the new way of doing calendaring.

I would almost say that it's better to not use restrictions when first transitioning in order to avoid their misuse. Once everyone understands the new system then they can be reintroduced and used appropriately.

So I think I respectfully disagree with your last statement. I don't think restrictions are a good tool for helping leaders to understand how to use the calendar. I think they are a useful tool for stakes that already have a good grasp on the new system.

[russellhltn]

Say,I think that the feature in reservation that you can block the entire facility of even a room from being schedule would work in the case of the carpet being cleaned or even Monday evenings (FHE) and when the gym floor is to be resurfaced. Just block it from being schedule as the Stake Presidency has directed.

There are some caveats with that idea:

- The restriction can be placed on top of an existing event. There will be no warning. So whoever planned on using the facility when the carpet is being cleaned will be in for a surprise.

- Anyone with building scheduler rights can still schedule things. Again, no warning.

Only an event will block off the rooms and prevent conflicts (as well as warning you about existing conflicts).

Since there are private events (family reunions, weddings etc.) that are not church events, a calendar is needed for those kinds of things. It could even be a private calendar to prevent members from subscribing to it by default. Placing the carpet cleaning event on that calendar would be a better plan. No surprises.

A restriction for FHE might be appropriate, as there are exceptions to the Monday night rule and it wouldn't be a disastrous conflict if someone did get in.

[1968leocomeeatabite]

When used appropriately, I don't see any problem with using restrictions. We do in our stake. But as I see it, really the only appropriate use is to enforce agreements for how the building will be shared. In our building the agent bishop publishes a schedule at the beginning of each year which states which rooms belong to each ward on each Tuesday and Wednesday for youth nights and which rooms belong to the Relief Society for their monthly weekday meeting. Restrictions are created based on this schedule. Those are the only restrictions we use. This has worked well for us.

Yes this is pretty much how I see our Stake doing it. But they are not really seeing the vision of what can happen with the restriction. So a point that I would like to make is this: If a few or even only the building scheduler and the Stake guy that is helping the building scheduler understand the process goes ahead and puts the restrictions in place, then the rest of the wards in the stake do not need to understand the restrictions but just go ahead and schedule the building as directed in the published schedule at the beginning of the year. The bishopric of each ward understanding what there night insures that the groups within his ward knows the times and nights they are to use, and schedules the entire year with repeating events. If a ward is slow or does not see the need to schedule the place and time at least it is restricted for that ward and they can go ahead and have their activity. This is the way I see it for us as a stake and wards that are just starting to get the ideas that the calendar on lds.org needs to be used.

On the other hand, restrictions are not necessary. Scheduling can be done just fine without them. And they do cause confusion especially for those who don't really understand the new way of doing calendaring.

So my point is that we really keep the idea of restrictions confined to the stake or agent bishop or just the ones that put the restrictions in and let the rest of the membership go to scheduling.

I would almost say that it's better to not use restrictions when first transitioning in order to avoid their misuse. Once everyone understands the new system then they can be reintroduced and used appropriately.

At this point at least in our stake the building scheduler is using it wrong only because she does not understand how to make restrictions.

So I think I respectfully disagree with your last statement. I don't think restrictions are a good tool for helping leaders to understand how to use the calendar. I think they are a useful tool for stakes that already have a good grasp on the new system.

[/quote]

Thank you for your thoughts and help. I agree that we get the leaders understanding how to schedule the building and keep the restrictions confined to the few that understands how it is suppose to work.

[russellhltn]

If a few or even only the building scheduler and the Stake guy that is helping the building scheduler understand the process goes ahead and puts the restrictions in place, then the rest of the wards in the stake do not need to understand the restrictions ... If a ward is slow or does not see the need to schedule the place and time at least it is restricted for that ward and they can go ahead and have their activity.

If your concern is only that the right ward will have that facility on that day, that will work. But what can happen is that the RS thinks the cultural hall is reserved for them but the youth put a basketball game on the calendar. You need to work things out in such a way that this stays a ward problem and they don't try to drag the building scheduler into it.

You are correct in that wards don't need to understand restrictions, but they should understand that they need to schedule all events including using the location feature - the sooner the better.

[1968leocomeeatabite]

Say,I think that the feature in reservation that you can block the entire facility of even a room from being schedule would work in the case of the carpet being cleaned or even Monday evenings (FHE) and when the gym floor is to be resurfaced. Just block it from being schedule as the Stake Presidency has directed.

There are some caveats with that idea:

- The restriction can be placed on top of an existing event. There will be no warning. So whoever planned on using the facility when the carpet is being cleaned will be in for a surprise.

- Anyone with building scheduler rights can still schedule things. Again, no warning.

Only an event will block off the rooms and prevent conflicts (as well as warning you about existing conflicts).

Thank you for this point! I can see now that in many instances a scheduled event is much better than a restriction. Excellent! In the case of carpet cleaning, who ever schedules the stake calendar, would enter it when all the annual events are entered into the coming year. Much better approach.

Since there are private events (family reunions, weddings etc.) that are not church events, a calendar is needed for those kinds of things. It could even be a private calendar to prevent members from subscribing to it by default. Placing the carpet cleaning event on that calendar would be a better plan. No surprises.

Excellent approach. Question: will this "Private event" show on the week view? So if a group was looking to schedule an event during one of these "private events". Could they go to the week view and see that the carpet cleaning is taking place all day and they will not be able to have in that day?

Question: What are the options that a building scheduler has?
1. Block this makes it so that no calendar editors can schedule an event. Only the building scheduler could change it to an event. RIGHT?
2. RESTRICTION the building scheduler chooses which unit, the dates, & times gets the restriction.RIGHT?
Does the building scheduler have any other choices than these?

In russellhttns statement above "restrictions can be placed on top of events". If the restriction is established 1st then I guess that we are OK, but if the event is established 1st then hopefully the building scheduler would be alert enough to warn the people of the event conflict.

Question: When we discuss a restriction I assume we are talking a "block" or a "restriction" in the sense of a reservation for the assigned units? I assume that they are treat the same?

[aebrown]

Question: will this "Private event" show on the week view? So if a group was looking to schedule an event during one of these "private events". Could they go to the week view and see that the carpet cleaning is taking place all day and they will not be able to have in that day?

Yes, private events, restrictions, and events on other calendars scheduled for a location will all show up in week view when that location's checkbox is checked. So calendar editors can use that technique to see what is coming. Or they can just go ahead and try to schedule the event, and see what conflicts are shown -- that approach can be simpler because it checks the exact rooms for conflicts, whereas the approach of looking in week view only shows that the building is in use, and you have to click into each event or restriction to see which rooms are booked. But either way can work.

As a side note, our stake puts the major cleaning days for our buildings right on a public calendar. It only happens twice a year, and we like having it more visible than if it is on a private calendar. But that's just our local preference.

Question: What are the options that a building scheduler has?
1. Block this makes it so that no calendar editors can schedule an event. Only the building scheduler could change it to an event. RIGHT?
2. RESTRICTION the building scheduler chooses which unit, the dates, & times gets the restriction.RIGHT?

Right. Really, what you call a "Block" is simply a particular kind of Restriction which doesn't have any unit assigned to it.

Does the building scheduler have any other choices than these?

No, at least not because of their building scheduler role. As has been mentioned, a person with the building scheduler role can also be made a calendar editor, in which case he or she would have additional options. But those options come because of the calendar editor role, not the building scheduler role.

Another option (which is actually the best choice in cases where an event is connected to a particular ward) is for the building scheduler to contact the ward calendar coordinator and suggest that an event should be placed on that ward's calendar.

In russellhttns statement above "restrictions can be placed on top of events". If the restriction is established 1st then I guess that we are OK, but if the event is established 1st then hopefully the building scheduler would be alert enough to warn the people of the event conflict.

The challenge is that the building scheduler has no warning at all when a restriction is put on top of an event. Only if the building scheduler does some extra looking around would he or she even be aware that there is a "conflicting" event, because the calendar system doesn't consider it to be a conflict.

Question: When we discuss a restriction I assume we are talking a "block" or a "restriction" in the sense of a reservation for the assigned units? I assume that they are treat the same?

They really are the same. A building scheduler accesses all restrictions the same way; it's just that the blocks don't let any ward schedule on top of them. All other behaviors of a block are just like any other restriction.