PAGES LIVE

Calendar

The Calendar Page is a tool to publish events, so that site visitors to be informed about what is happening, and to track your company events schedule by month & year.

To add a Calendar page to your site:

Go to the Editing Tools.
Press Live (Php) button in Insert page section and select Calendar page.
Select preferred layout preset. Calendar page has a few predefined layout presets.
Set any other options you want and press OK.

Basics

The Calendar page generally consists of some or all of the following objects: calendar object, calendar events object, one or more calendar navigation objects (selection bar, range/period selection bar, viewtype bar, navigation prev/next bars) and link to administrator screen.

You can preview your Calendar page only when uploaded on a PHP enabled server. To test this functionality offline you can Install your own test server on your PC.

Use the calendar objects to design your own calender. Add/remove objects and change their position on the page.

Calendar object is the main calendar used to display the current month in 1, 3, 6 or 12 months view. If any events are defined for the period, the corresponding days are colored. In case any events are defined for certain day, a hint with list of these events will popup when you move the mouse over them.

At the top right corner of the calendar there is small calendar icon - use this icon to switch to expanded month view. In expanded month view, use the week icons to switch to expanded week view.

Events object is used to display the full event list for the current month(s), with date&time, short description and details.

Navigation objects are used for navigation between months & years.

Selection bar is used for direct selection of month & year. For example, if visitors want to check what events will be conducted in May 2007, they can use this selection bar -

Range/period selection bar is more complicated selector that can be used for period (This week, Next Week, This month, Next month etc) or range (from date to date) selection.

For example, if visitors want to check what events will be conducted this week, they can check the Period radio button, set This week period and press Go button.

If you want to directly call calendar page for certain period, use period= as parameter. Example: http://www.mysite.com/calendar.php?period=0

Use 0 for This Week, 1 for This Month, 2 for This Quarter, 3 for This Year, 5 for Next 7 Days, 6 for Next 30 Days, 7 for Next Month, 8 for Next Quarter and 9 for Next Year.

Viewtype bar is used whenever a wider look of calendar is needed: 3, 6 or 12 months view.

Navigation bars (prev/next) are used to move between months consecutively - . You also have same bars included in the calendar object.

Link to administrator will take you to the Calendar Administrator screen, where you can add/edit/delete events.

Visitors can check the event schedule, but only users with read&write access set in Administration Panel can edit the event schedule.

Events and Categories

Each event consists of Description, Category, Details, Start/End Date, Start/End Time and Location (optional). When an event is added, it is associated to a category, managed in the calendar administration panel.

Colors

Each event category has its own color setting the background color for all calendar dates for that category. For example, if the Birthday category is set to blue, all calendar dates with birthday events will have blue background.

Repeating Events

Events can be defined as one-time or repeating events. A repeating event is repeated every week, starting from event start date.

Database

This page can use either MySQL or flat file database (depending on the MySQL switch in MySQL Settings). All calendar events will be stored in a MySQL database or on the web server in flat files in ezg_data/ folder. You can add multiple calendar pages in your project, and each one will have its own database.

Calendar Settings

The Calendar page is customizable to some extent. You can set default calendar view (1, 3, 6, 9, 12 months), first day of week (Sunday, Monday). You can also customize calendar layout.

The following properties are available in the Calendar Settings panel, accessed from the Editing Tools. Make sure to configure these settings.

Notification

Send Notification to (edit box) - The administrators email address. This address is used for communication with administrator (applicable when Event manager is enabled).
From (editbox) - Specify email address to be used as "From". Use different email address than in "Send to" to avoid email being marked as spam.
Admin Notification (button) - Subject and message for the notification email that is sent to admin when someone register for event (applicable when Event manager is enabled).

Layout

First Day (drop-down menu) - Sets the first day of week in your calendar; you can choose one of the following - Sunday or Monday.
Default View (drop-down menu) - Sets the number of months that will be displayed in calendar by default; you can choose one of the following - 1, 3, 6 or 12 months.
Layout (button) - Change the style for the different elements in calendar layout - calendar and events tables. In general you can directly use any of the Presets (predefined layouts). If you want to modify a layout you can do this by pressing Edit layout link. You can then save the modified layout as new preset and use it later.

When you press Edit layout, small white labels will appear, marking each editable element in calendar layout. Use the Spanner icon to edit the style for certain layout element. Use the Restore icon to restore the default settings; and Refresh button to refresh the preview area.

Labels (button and editable listbox) - Captions used in calendar. You can translate the default captions in your preferred language. Use Default settings button to restore the default settings.

Events

Hide expired (check box) - Hide expired events in your calendar.
Hint for invisible (check box) - Show hint for events marked as invisible (see below).
Hide exp. button(check box) - Remove "Hide Past Events" button in calendar, so that users can hide/show past events.
Events as Tooltips (drop-down menu) - The small calendar icon (placed in the top right corner of calendar), you can switch to month view and then to week view. Check this box if you want events to be included in the hint that shows when you move mouse over a day.
Events reversed (check box) -Show events in reversed order.

Event Manager

Enable (check box) - Enable Event Manager feature. This is extended feature in Calendar. Check below for details.
Show Participants (check box) - Display the registered users list in the calendar events table next to the corresponding event. If not checked, this list will be displayed only after user logs in.

RSS

Limit Events (number selection box) - Sets the maximum number of entries to be generated in the RSS feed. Use 0 to output all entries.
Limit Lines (number selection box) - Sets the maximum number of lines to be displayed for each entry in the RSS item description tag. Use 0 to output full description.
Use HTML formatting (check box) - Check it if you want to use the HTML formatting in the RSS feed (Description).
Hide Expired (check box) - Check this box if you want to hide expired events in the RSS feed.
Date inside description (check box) - Check this box if you want to include event start & end dates within RSS description.
Feed Settings (button and editable listbox) - Special RSS settings (Experts only).

Accessible Macros Fields

It is not necessary to keep all the objects that are created by default in your Calendar. If you do not need a selection object, for example, you can delete it. You can also add new objects and order them the way you like it.

Each page has Macros Fields panel, accessed via Editing Tools. This panel contains objects that you can insert on page.

Calendar object - Generates a calendar table.
Calendar events - Generates an events table.
Previous - Generates a previous month navigation bar.
Next - Generates a next month navigation bar.
Calendar viewtype - Generates a viewtype bar.
Category selection - Generates a category selection bar.
Category list ver - Generates a horizontal category list bar.
Category list hor - Generates a vertical category list bar.
Month&year selection - Generates a month&year selection bar.
Range/period selector - Generates a range/period selection bar.
RSS feed button - This object generates a link to calendar RSS feed (see below).
Administrator - Generates a link to calendar administrator panel.
Logged info - Generates a logged info macro in your site - %LOGGED_INFO%. This macro is applicable for protected pages or pages with admin screen (as Online Editable Page, Calendar, etc) and will show username of the logged user along with link to user profile's page and logout link. Check Page Protection for more info on page protection.
Logged - Display 1 when user is logged, 0 when not logged (supported in MySQL project only).
Logged user - Displays the name of currently logged user (supported in MySQL project only).
Guest count - Displays the number of guests currently browsing site (supported in MySQL project only, requires Counter enabled and Monitor users enabled).
User count - Displays the number of users currently logged (supported in MySQL project only, requires Counter enabled and Monitor users enabled).
Users - Displays names of users currently logged (supported in MySQL project only, requires Counter enabled and Monitor users enabled).

Hiding Calendar Events table: If you want to hide calendar events object on calendar page, but still show it in admin screen, use %CALENDAR_EVENTS_INVISIBLE% macro.

Using RSS

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows users to subscribe to websites that have provided RSS feeds. These are typically sites that change or add content regularly, as is the situation with calendar. RSS is a great way for sharing your site updates with users that may be interested. RSS makes use of an XML code that scans the content of your calendar for updates and then broadcasts those updates to all subscribers through a feed. EZGenerator calendar page uses RSS 2.0 format for the feed.

To set RSS feed for your calendar, follow these steps:

Insert an RSS button from Fields panel.
Set the RSS settings in Calendar Settings panel. Read RSS Specification for detailed explanations on each RSS setting.

Using Event Manager

Event Manager (EM) is an extra feature of the Calendar page.

Users with login account can register for certain events (for example, participation in some sales event), and the event manager keeps them informed by sending emails (notifications, announcements, reminders, etc). Only users with login account can register for events. This means that you either have to provide them with such account (as administrator, in Administration panel), or enable Self Registration (so that they to be able to create login account for themselves).

If you have enabled Self Registration in your site, event categories will be listed on the Self Registration form. Users choose which event categories they want to receive announcement emails for. Later, when administrator adds certain event, he can send them Event Announcement, encouraging them to register for the event. When users receive the announcement, they can use the link included and register for the specified event. After registration for event they will get a notification email with details. Administrator will receive notification copy for each registration.

In summary: the administrator defines event --> sends an announcement to registered users --> interested users register for the event --> administrator gets notification email (user also).

Few things you have to set in calendar admin screen, regarding Event Manager:

If you want to add an event for which users may register, check the EM checkbox and define Deadline in Add Event form.
Emails: When you add event, you send Event Announcement. When you change event details, you can send Event Change Announcements. Days before event start date you can send users Event Reminder, to inform them that event is to start soon. Mail types include: Agenda and Generic for other mail you need to send your users. Registration Confirmation,Registration Change and Registration Cancelation are sent to user (and administrator) whenever users confirms, cancel or change their registration.

EVENT MANGER settings

Administrator panel

In the Administrator panel you can manage your Calendar - review, add, edit and delete events.

The Administrator panel is accessible through the Administrator link (placed on the Calendar page) or via Administration panel.

To Insert an administrator link in your calendar page:

Go to the Fields panel.
Drag-and-drop an administrator field in your calendar page.

Add Event

To add event you can either use Add Event link, or click on a particular date in calendar.

Fill in a Short description (required).
Choose a Category for the event.
Fill in Details (optional). You can use here HTML tags to format the text.
Fill in Hidden info (optional). This info is visible only in admin mode, and not by users browsing your calendar. You can use here HTML tags to format the text.
Select Start and End Date for the event.
Select Start and End Time for the event (optional).
Fill in Location of event (or whatever you have named this field).
To set the event as repeating, select Repeating radio button and set repeating period (Week, Month or Year).
In case the Event Manager is enabled, check EM checkbox and set Deadline for the registration. If deadline is not explicitly set here, event start date is taken as deadline.
Press Save button when ready.

In case you need to set certain event content as template, use Save as template button. Later when you add new events template content will be shown as default.