Calendar 3.0 released

Discussions about the Calendar Tool at lds.org. Questions about the calendar on the classic site should be posted in the LUWS forum.
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kjens
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Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:36 pm

Re: Calendar 3.0 released

#121

Post by kjens »

Oh, yes, we've said that many a time; "If it's not on the Calendar, it's not happening!" Then ... you have two groups show up intending to use the building at the same time. That leads to many hard and hurt feelings.
That's why I believe we need Ward Level and Stake level "Calendar Specialists." There is SO much training to constantly do because callings are changing all the time. I ALWAYS use the website to look at the Calendar ~ because I know what I'm doing. MOST people are unfamiliar with it. You can't believe how many questions I get about WHY a particular Event didn't show up on LDSTools. I don't know why that can't be an option for people to check if they want to see what's going on in the building.
It's fine to SAY that you need to schedule the Event to see if you can have the building, but again, reality takes over.
Even I get frustrated trying to put an Event on the Calendar and getting multiple "Sorry! No can do!" messages (conflicts noted). For folks who are quite unfamiliar with the Calendar workings, they tend to just give up and CALL someone like me!
**Again, the setup and cleanup times need to be visible somehow (a pop-up perhaps?) like they used to be on the Calendar. That way, someone can "scout" the Calendar for a possible opening and THEN go ahead and either put in a HOLD reservation or schedule the actual Event.
kjens
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Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:36 pm

Re: Calendar 3.0 released

#122

Post by kjens »

scrapsue wrote:
kjens wrote:Well, you could solve the "crashes" by just showing the Event as a "Jones Family Event." In my Stake, I created a STAKE-LEVEL "Family Events" Calendar so those trying to check potential building availability with the (so far un-syncable) LDSTools, are able to see that the building is being used. I .
Your idea for the STAKE-LEVEL “Family Events" Calendar to help people using Tools to find potential building availability seems unusual to me. People can’t & shouldn’t try to use Tools to see if a building is available, They won’t get a complete picture of the events scheduled in the buildings since each Unit can only see Stake & the their Units calendars if another unit has scheduled an event in that building iit won’t show up on Tools for them.
kjens wrote: I DO NOT suggest they use LDSTools for this. This is useful ONLY on the lds.org Calendar website. P.S. We have 3 buildings and 2 additional properties in our Stake that all get scheduled on multiple Calendar Layers by, it seems, zillions of members.
RBeatse
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Posts: 218
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:47 am

Re: Calendar 3.0 released

#123

Post by RBeatse »

I am sorry your calendars get so crazy. The way it works in my Stake is that each Ward has their calendars for their auxiliaries (we have 11 wards, 2 branches, and 4 buildings...one of which is next to a temple and so you can guess we get a lot of weddings). They are expected to reserve their events on the calendar:
*Stake puts their events on in November for the next year, then...
*Wards put their events on, in their own building, (after coordinating with the Agent Bishop of the building) though Jan 31. This includes repeating events (RS monthly, and YM/YW weekly) as well as Christmas parties, etc.
*Wards can put events on the calendar in other buildings in the Stake between Feb 1 and the end of February
*Calendar opens for Private events on March 1.
I schedule ALL private events (when a Bishop gets a funeral, they call me). This is for any event that is not for the Ward or Stake. Funerals take precedent so if one comes and they want Building A and there is an event in there already at that time, I work with the scheduled people and we get them moved (obviously, there are times where that gets hard to do...I have had this job for almost 6 years and have only had to move a wedding reception to another location 3 times, days before the event, but you get what you pay for and everyone knows the rules when they reserve the building). Having one scheduler for all of the buildings allows me to be able to manage all of the properties when things happen.
Are there conflicts at times, sure! But, I do some training for new Auxiliary leaders when they are called, especially for new Bishoprics, and through 2 Stake Presidencies, all has become quite smooth. If someone thinks they have it reserved and someone else is there, folks know to look at the calendar and check or to call me and I will be the final arbiter. Most times, they can work it out. BTW, last year was an average year with 242 Private events in our four buildings (does not include Ward and Stake events).
I REALLY want the setup and cleanup visualization back (that has to be a bug and not a design choice). I also wish there was a screen in the Admin area for "History". It wouldn't have to show every add to the calendar but every update and deletion would be great for when someone says they put it on but now it isn't there and someone else put their event on, but without that, we are still doing ok.
casper684
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Posts: 138
Joined: Tue May 03, 2011 7:12 pm
Location: Camas, WA

Re: Calendar 3.0 released

#124

Post by casper684 »

Many thanks to R. Beatse for comments. Our calendar is run pretty much the same way though our deadlines are a bit sooner. With regard to funerals taking precedent a problem I have had a few times, other stakes will have a funeral so need to move baptism to another stake center for a font. Difficulty is knowing whom to contact in another stake to accomplish this. I finally was able to get contact info for all nearby stake center building schedulers and share this info when necessary. It wasn't easy but well worth the effort.

I agree with the set up and cleanup needing to be displayed. But will work with Stake Webmaster to get the word out to all members that it does not display.
scrapsue
New Member
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2014 8:30 pm

Re: Calendar 3.0 released

#125

Post by scrapsue »

Many thanks to R. Beatse, & Casper684 our Stake and calendar is handled much the same way except our deadlines like casper 684 are sooner. Another big exception is funerals do not take precedent, Bishops could ask but usually we work around planned Events. We are a smaller Stake than R. Beatse we only have 6 Wards, 1 Branch, and four buildings. I also schedule ALL private/personal events and funerals for our stake.

I also agree with R. Beatse, & Casper684, the set up and cleanup time needs to be displayed as part of the event time. I will try to get the word out to my Stake that the set up and cleanup time does not display.
casper684
Member
Posts: 138
Joined: Tue May 03, 2011 7:12 pm
Location: Camas, WA

Re: Calendar 3.0 released

#126

Post by casper684 »

I do not schedule ALL private/personal events for my stake. We have 11 wards and 4 buildings. Each building has either a ward website administrator or a building scheduler PER WARD. The building scheduler for each ward schedules private events for their particular ward on their building's private event calendar that they have rights to schedule on. This is of course after receiving approval from all bishops in the building for the activity. I am stake center bldg scheduler so keep a close eye on our stake center building calendar to keep it running smoothly. Constantly training about set up and clean up time.
CrockettDR
Church Employee
Church Employee
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:36 am

Re: Calendar 3.0 released

#127

Post by CrockettDR »

We detected excessive calls from the calendar to services causing performance problems in a shared environment with LDS Tools. The good news is that we plan today to release an emergency fix to greatly help this. You should see a noticeable performance improvement loading the calendar when we get this out.
kjens
New Member
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:36 pm

Re: Calendar 3.0 released

#128

Post by kjens »

Thanks, CrockettDR! Is there any HOPE of getting the "setup" and "cleanup" times to again show on the Calendar? One idea I had is that you could add an icon on LDSTools that was "Building" so anyone could see that the building was in use or not. Right now, it ONLY shows a person's own Ward and the Stake Events. People need to be able to see when the building is available.
We are having a VERY hard time with folks who do not look at the Calendar on lds.org but only use the LDSTools. The "concept" of trying to schedule the building to see if there are any conflicts is an extremely hard one to get across ~ especially since we are to do away designated with Ward Schedulers ~ AND because they cannot use LDSTools to schedule.

The training issue is growing due to the apparent "vision" the Church has for the Calendar where every Editor and Administrator is able to schedule Events. It would be lovely to have some Training available online, maybe have some Calendar training included in the Church Leadership Manuals and even a place or person to call when something isn't working or when the online HELP articles do not address the issue one is having. This very much feels like an "orphan" calling in the Church.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
Posts: 34422
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
Location: U.S.

Re: Calendar 3.0 released

#129

Post by russellhltn »

kjens wrote:It would be lovely to have some Training available online,
The training is "hidden" under "help". That's true of all the web apps.
kjens wrote:The "concept" of trying to schedule the building to see if there are any conflicts is an extremely hard one to get across
Hopefully we're just talking about ad-hoc "friends" events and not scheduled church events. To me, the calendar's primary purpose is for the leaders to communicate to the members the ward/stake activities. The building scheduling is just an outgrowth to that to make sure the building use is in sync with the planned events.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
RBeatse
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Posts: 218
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:47 am

Re: Calendar 3.0 released

#130

Post by RBeatse »

I would say it is mostly private events but it is Ward/Stake events also as they schedule a Ward party or other event (RS extra meeting). If they can’t tell if a previous event has cleanup time then they get frustrated when they try to schedule since they do it so infrequently also.
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