Calendars and Events

A great Brightspot feature is being able to add events and calendars to webpages. These make it easy to keep track of and make users aware of the exciting new happenings that are going on in your field. This feature guide will explore how to create a calendar, how to create an event and how to display the two different content types on a page.

Events

Events looks a little different than a normal content type. Most of the places to edit an event are found in dropdown menus and not in the main section. Please consult the video guide below for guidance on creating and configuring events.

Create a Calendar Event

Calendar

Calendars can be configured to display, sort, and filter events in a variety of ways.

Calendars have three different types: Single Day, Week, or Month calendar page. These types can be selected by searching for the Calendar type in the main Brightspot searchbar.

Once a calendar has been created, filters can be configured to show only specific events by choosing a section or further filtering events by primary and secondary categories. This functionality is quite powerful when a calendar has a variety of different event types. However, when a calendar contains events belonging to only one category and/or filter, filtering options will not appear by default.

Calendar Module

There is also an option to use a calendar module that can be displayed in an aside or other places across a site. This requires special work. Please follow the calendar API tutorial at this link. To use this functionality, events must be created and then an Event Calendar Month page must be created separately. After both have been created, existing events can be configured to appear on the calendar.

Publishing Events to a Calendar

Pushing events is different from sharing events with another calendar.

When you share events with another site, you allow promos for your events to appear in lists on that site. When you click on a link to an event, it directs you back to the site that published the event. For example, a department site might share events with the college site. If someone clicks on the event on the college site, they'll be directed to the event page on the department site.

When you push events to another calendar, you create a copy of your event on that other site. Setting the event to push with updates will ensure that any changes you make to the event on your site will be reflected everywhere you've pushed it. For example, a department might push an event to the university calendar. If someone clicks on a link to the event on the university calendar site, they'll see the event page on the university calendar.

In most cases, sharing events is preferred over pushing events. This reduces duplication and complexity. However, if site editors prefer to approve events before they are published, then pushing events is better. At BYU, allowing everyone to share directly to the university calendar could create problems, so events are pushed rather than shared there.

For a video explaining how to push and receive events, click here.

Receiving Pushed Events

Brightspot sites by default are not configured to receive events from other websites. This functionality can be enabled by following the below steps.

1. Open the Brightspot editor interface.
2. Open the site where you want to push your content (this assumes that you have been granted access to this site).
3. Click the menu button in the top left.
4. Open the Admin section.
5. Click Sites and Settings to open the site settings page
6. Scroll down to the Shared Content section and open it.
7. Toggle the Accept Pushed Content switch on.
8. Click the + Add Push Share Type link.
9. Set the Type of content to Event.
10. Set the Sites to the sites that should be able to push content to this site.
11. Scroll down to Available Update Modes and click + Add.
12. Choose the update mode or modes you want. Make sure to put the primary update mode in the first position.
13. Click Save at the bottom of the screen.

Pushing Events to the University Calendar

Events published on the University calendar (calendar.byu.edu) are considered public events and must conform with the BYU Speakers and Events Policy. This policy states that "...any event that (1) is intended for an audience broader than a single college or educational support unit, (2) will be open to the media, or (3) is planned to be streamed publicly or recorded to be shown online, event organizers must obtain approvals from the applicable department chair or director and from the applicable dean or executive director. Once these approvals are obtained, approval must be obtained from the responsible vice president..." (see the full policy for exceptions). These approvals must be obtained before events can be pushed to the University calendar.

If you have questions about sharing events with the university calendar, contact the Director of Internal Communications at University Communications (universitycommunications.byu.edu/contact).

Once permission has been obtained, the steps below outline how to push an event to the University calendar.

1. Open your website in the Brightspot editor interface.
2. Create a new event or open a previously created event.
3. Toggle the Submit to University Calendar switch on to indicate you have met all approval requirements.
4. Click the Publish button in the top right to publish your event.
5. Click the gear icon in the top right corner (next to the publish button) to open the event menu.
6. Click Push with Updates in the menu list.
7. In the Share Content window, use the dropdown to select Calendar (the university calendar site) under Select Site To Send To.
8. Click Share Content.
9. You should see a banner above the event indicating that it has been pushed to Calendar.
10. The event is pushed to the calendar website as a draft.
11. The University Communications calendar director will receive an email message indicating that you have shared your event to the calendar.
12. Once approved, the event will be published and appear at calendar.byu.edu.

Pushing Events to Another Calendar

Events that are not hosted on the University calendar do not require approval. The steps below outline how to push an event to another website assuming that the other site has granted event sharing permission.

1. Create a new event or open a previously created event in the Brightspot editor interface.
2. Do not toggle the Submit to University Calendar switch on.
3. Click the Publish button in the top right to publish your event.
4. Click the gear icon in the top right corner (next to the publish button) to open the event menu.
5. Click Push with Updates in the menu list.
6. In the Share Content window, use the dropdown menu to choose the site where you want to push your event.
7. Click Share Content.
8. You should see a banner above the event indicating that it has been pushed to the site you specified.