Tech Forum

Which is really a poor design. I could try to schedule and event for several weeks because I can't see the other ward events. We are not hanging on the the "old way" as much as we want to more control of the process. This is especially important when the other ward is technical challenge, i.e. no one is going to use the web site. I also want to know when the other ward schedules basketball in the gym when we have a meeting in the chapel.

pricek wrote:This is especially important when the other ward is technical challenge, i.e. no one is going to use the web site.

From Handbook 2: 13.2.7

Church activities should be planned as far in advance as reasonable. They should be included on the stake or ward calendar. [...]

If an activity will be held at a meetinghouse or another Church facility, planners reserve the facility in advance to avoid conflicts with other activities or meetings.

Technically challenged or not, they'll need to find a way to comply with the handbook. They just can't go rouge.

At this point the system is what it is. The developers haven't told us of any changes or when to expect the next update.

pricek wrote:I also want to know when the other ward schedules basketball in the gym when we have a meeting in the chapel.

1) The second person to schedule an activity for that slot will be advised of a "possible conflict".
2) You could do "defensive scheduling" and include the cultural hall when you scheduled the chapel and release if it someone has a "compatible" meeting in the hall.
3) You can see all events scheduled for that location by switching to week view.

RussellHltn wrote:The problem is you're hanging on to the "old way" where everything goes though the building scheduler. Under the new system, the "Building Scheduler" (which really isn't a good name for the new role) only sets aside locations for wards and deals with conflicts. Normal scheduling is "first come, first served". As long as there is no conflict, then the calendar editor can schedule the use of the building.



No, that's a horrible step backwards since now you're having to schedule the building AND the event.

So it is better to schedule Ward A, call some in Ward B and have them schedule the event? I would rather schedule the building and the event

I think you misunderstand when I said "the Building Scheduler only sets aside locations for wards". By "set aside" I mean that if Ward A has the building on Tuesday nights and Ward B on Wednesday nights, he sets those "Reservations" (more accurately "Restrictions"). That's not the same as setting an event. He does NOT set aside on a event-by-event basis.

Scheduling an event schedules the building. If Ward B needs to schedule something, then a calendar editor in Ward B puts the event on the calendar and selects the building resources at the same time. The Building Scheduler only becomes involved if (with Ward A's permission) they need to schedule something on Tuesday night.

I suggest reading the help file. At least the quick start guides.

One of the most common requests is to view calendars of other wards. I added a little more detail in the help section on this topic. See https://tech.lds.org/wiki/Viewing_calendars#View_calendars_of_other_wards. Through Available Locations, you can view all events taking at specific locations. If you're trying to determine whether there's a conflicting event at your chapel on a specific day, clear all the calendar selections under Subscribed Calendars. Then under Available Locations, select a location. Scheduled events at the location appear in gray; reservations appear in white. Then click the event or reservation to see what kind of activity it is.

Would this solve the problem? Really the traditional building scheduler model (where everyone schedules events through one person) has been discontinued. Building schedulers set restrictions, as RussellHltn said, but they shouldn't be scheduling events for calendar editors. In fact, as mentioned in this thread, building schedulers *can't* schedule events unless they're also an editor or admin. The building scheduler role is to set restrictions and mediate scheduling conflicts.

RussellHltn wrote:By "set aside" I mean that if Ward A has the building on Tuesday nights and Ward B on Wednesday nights, he sets those "Reservations" (more accurately "Restrictions")...

I think part of the confusion with reservations is that we're using an old term in a new way. We should probably have discarded that term and selected a new one to reflect the new calendar model. If you could change the term reservations to something else, would you call it "restrictions"? "scheduling rules"? "time blocks"? something else?

pricek wrote:So it is better to schedule Ward A, call some in Ward B and have them schedule the event? I would rather schedule the building and the event

RussellHltn was describing the method used in the classic event calendar and the classic resources calendar. In the new calendar when an event is created the resources needed are scheduled at the same time as the event.

Those planning an event can view all the events at a location by selecting the week view instead of the month view, reduce clutter of ward and stake events from subscribed calendars by selecting "hide all calendars" below the "Subscribed Calendars" list box, and check only the location at which the event is planned to occur in the "Locations" list box. Reservations will appear in a box with a white background. Events will appear as a box with a gray background.

The week view is used for displaying all the scheduled events and reservations because there is not enough screen real estate to display all the possible events and reservations in month view. Even in week view the display of events and reservations can become quite cluttered.

The current problem in viewing events and resources at a location by those without building scheduler rights is that the events and reservations cannot be correlated directly with the event's/reservation's ward. It is possible to determine which ward an event belongs to by doing a search on the name of the last person to edit the event found in the event details.

If the building scheduler enters the ward and other useful information in the details of the reservation then anyone can tell what ward and why the reservation was made.

johnsonth wrote:I think part of the confusion with reservations is that we're using an old term in a new way. We should probably have discarded that term and selected a new one to reflect the new calendar model. If you could change the term reservations to something else, would you call it "restrictions"? "scheduling rules"? "time blocks"? something else?

This has already been discussed briefly in this thread. That's probably a better place to continue the discussion.

The current problem in viewing events and resources at a location by those without building scheduler rights is that the events and reservations cannot be correlated directly with the event's/reservation's ward. It is possible to determine which ward an event belongs to by doing a search on the name of the last person to edit the event found in the event details.

I'll log a bug to include an enhancement for this. I don't see any reason why the details about the event should exclude the ward information.

johnsonth wrote:If you could change the term reservations to something else, would you call it "restrictions"? "scheduling rules"? "time blocks"? something else?

Some of us chatted about that in the Reservation terminology thread. I think we agreed on "restrictions". "Scheduling Rules" could work. "Time blocks" doesn't quite seem like the right thing.

The main thing to to insure that it's used correctly, not as a replacement for events. Perhaps "Ward Nights". That's a little too narrow, but I think it communicates how it's intended to be used.