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About the Calendar Portlet

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The calendar portlet allows a calendar to be created for a variety of purposes:  the academic calendar, public events, group/department events or personal events. A calendar can be set to allow authenticated users to subscribe to the calendar.  If a user subscribes to a calendar, the events added to the calendar will show on every instance of the calendar portlet.  If changes are made to an event, those changes will be sent to all subscribers to that calendar.
 
Anyone can create a calendar on their My Pages tab, and although events can be imported and exported (CSV format), this calendar is not intended to replace the Colby Apps Calendar for faculty and staff. 
 
When you see the monthly calendar (no event details) in a calendar portlet, the box for any day on which an event is scheduled, will be yellow.  The date in each box is a link to the Full Size Calendar (a full view) of the calendar portlet, displaying the Day view for the date clicked.  You may also click on the Full Size Calendar Link at the bottom of the portlet.  See below for more information on viewing and navigating the full view of the calendar portlet.

Viewing and Navigating Calendars

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Left Navigation Bar  (Table of Contents)
 
Down the left side of the full view of the calendar portlet, you will find:
  • Month View of a Calendar Page - Located in the upper left of the page, this view of a calendar has the current date highlighted in blue by default.  You can click on a date to load the day view of that date in the main part of the window.  If you click to a date other than today, the blue highlight will move to the date that is being displayed, and the current date will be in red.
  • Calendars List - Just below the calendar is a list of the calendars you have added in this instance of the portlet.  Each calendar has a checkbox beside it, checked by default, so that events on that calendar will be included in any calendar view you choose.  If you wish to exclude a calendar's events from your calendar view, uncheck the box next to that calendar. 
    At the end of the calendar list is an   Add a Calendar link.  Click here to add a new calendar.
  • Subscriptions List - This is a list of calendars to which you have subscribed.  Again, each has a checkbox, which you can uncheck if you wish to temporarily remove that calendar's events from your calendar view.
    At the end of the subscriptions list is a   Browse Shared Calendars link.  Click here to see a list of public calendars to which you can subscribe.
  • Manage Calendars Link - This link takes you to the Manage Calendars page, where you can edit or delete calendars and subscriptions you have added.  You can also add a new calendar from this page and import events (via a .csv file) to a calendar.
  • Export Events for this view Link - Clicking on this link will create a .csv file containing all events currently being displayed in the calender view in the main part of the page.
Calendar View Area 
 
In the main section of the window, you will see the events for the calendar(s) you have selected.  Starting at the top of the window, you will see:
  • Calendar View Options Tabs - The events of the selected calendar(s) will be displayed in the main part of the window.  At the top of this area,  you will see a series of tabs for the different view options:          
          Day       Week      Month           Year         Event List           The background of the current view will be blue, the others will be gray.  Click on any tab to change the view.
  • Current Date(s) Displayed - Below the view option tabs will be the current date, range of dates, month and year, or year being displayed, depending on the view option you selected. 
    Before and after this date you will see <<    >> links to move back or forward a day, month or year.
    At the right end of this same line is the option to  Add an Event.
  • Scheduled Events - You will see all the events for any calendars that are checked in your Calendars and Subscriptions lists. Uncheck any of those calendars to remove those events from your calendar view.  See Customizing Your View of the Calendar Portlet for changing the start time and day and default display format for your calendar view.
    NOTE:  You can click on an event to display the details of that event or edit the event, if you added it.

Subscribing to a Calendar

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Subscribe to a Calendar
 
To subscribe to a shared calendar, you must be in the Full Size Calendar view.  If you are on the page where the portlet resided, either click on the Full Size Calendar link at the bottom of the portlet or click on the title of the portlet (My Calendar if you are on the My Pages tab.)  To subscribe to a calendar:
  • Click on the   Browse Shared Calendars link at the bottom of the Subscriptions list on the left side of the page to open the Subscription Center.
  • In the window will be a list of shared calendars available from the Home tab and folders representing the other tabs.  If the calendar you want to subscribe to is on a different tab, click on the name of the tab to see the calendars available on that tab.  You will now see a Back to Top Level link, allowing you to get back to the starting point, with the list of all tabs.
  • Any calendars to which you have not subscribed will have a Subscribe link after the title of the calendar.  Click on Subscribe.  If you have already subscribed to a calendar in the list, there will not be a Subscribe link. 
  • The page will refresh with a confirmation message at the top:  "Subscription added successfully."
  • Click on the Back to Calendar link to return to the calendar view.
Unsubscribe to a Calendar
 
To cancel a subscription to a calendar, you must be in the Full Size Calendar view.
  • Click on the Manage Calendars link toward the bottom of the left side of the page to open the Manage Calendars page.
  • Under the My Subscriptions section, select the checkbox(es) of the subscriptions(s) you wish to cancel.
  • Click on the Delete Selected Subscriptions button.
  • A window will pop-up asking "Are you sure you want to delete this item?"  Click OK to delete the subscription(s) or Cancel if you don't want to delete the subscription(s) at this time.
  • The page will refresh and the subscription(s) will be gone from the list.
  • Click the Back to Calendar link to return to the calendar view.

Creating a Calendar

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Before you can add events to your calendar, you need to create the calendar.  You must be in the full or main view of the portlet to create a calendar, subscribe to a calendar or add new events.  Click on the name of the portlet (My Calendar if you are on the My Pages tab) or the Full Size Calendar link at the bottom of the portlet.
  • On the left side of the window, below the month view of a calendar page, click on the  Add a Calendar link.  This will open the Add/Edit Calendar View window.
  • Enter the following information:
    Calendar Name
    Description (optional) 
    If you are creating a group calendar on a campus groups page, you also have a choice to
    Allow any user to subscribe to the calendar.
    Allow only users with access to this page to subscribe.
    NOTE:  You cannot allow users to subscribe to your calendar on your My Pages tab.
  • Click on Save to create the calendar or Cancel if you don't wish to create the calendar at this time.
  • If you have saved your calendar, the new calendar will appear under the   Calendars   header.
NOTE:  You can only manage a calendar (add/edit events) on the tab and page where it was created.  So for group calendars, you may want to create the calendar on the Main page and not the Public page.  Especially if you want to only allow users with access to this page (members and leaders) to subscribe. 

Adding or Editing Events

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You can add/edit/delete an event on the calendar on your My Pages tab on any calendar to which you have administrative rights.  If you are the leader of a campus group, you can add/edit/delete events on the calendar on your group's main page. 
 
Add an Event
  • Click on the  Add an Event link in the upper right corner of the calendar portlet.  This will open the Add/Edit Calendar View window.
  • Enter the following information:
    Event - Enter the event name.
    Description (Optional) - Enter additional information about the event.  This will be displayed when the event name is clicked on to view the details of the event.
    Calendar - Select from the drop-down list the calendar to which the event should be added.
    Location - Enter the location for the event.
    All Day Event Checkbox - If this is an all day event, click this checkbox.  All Day Events will be displayed at the top of the Day view of a calendar.  It will appear on all other views as just the Event name, with no start and end times.
    OR
    Start Date and Time - Select a start date and time. 
    End Date and Time - Select the end date and time.
    Occurs Details - The default for an event is Once.  Or you can have the event repeated weekly (default), every day, every week day, every other week, every month, every other month or yearly.  You can repeat an event indefinitely, or you can select a date to end the reoccurance.
  • Click on Save to add the event to your calendar or Cancel.
Edit an Event
  • Go to the Full Size Calendar view.
  • Find the event you with to Edit and click on it to display the details of the event.
  • Click on the Edit this Event link to open the Add/Edit Calendar View.
  • Make your changes.
  • Click Save to update the event or Cancel to leave it as it was.
Delete an Event
  • Go to the Full Size Calendar view.
  • Find the event you with to Edit and click on it to display the details of the event.
  • Click on the Delete this Event link.
  • You will get a confirmation pop-up saying "Are you sure you want to delete this item?"
  • Click OK to delete the item or Cancel to leave it on your calendar.

Customizing Your View of a Calendar Portlet

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You may take the following steps on the page where the portlet appears or on the main or full view of the portlet.  (You can get to the full view by clicking on the title of the portlet (My Calendar, if you are on My Pages tab) or the "Full Size Calendar" link in the bottom right corner of the portlet.)
  • Click on the (Customize) icon on the right hand side of the title bar of the calendar portlet to open the Customize Portlet My Calendar (or the name of the portlet you are customizing) window.
  • There are two tabs in this window:  Preferences and Settings.  The options are described below.
  • Make your changes.
  • Click Save.  NOTE:  In order for all changes to be saved, you must click Save on a tab before going to the other tab. 
  • When you have finished making changes, click on Exit to return to the main view of the portlet.
Preferences Tab
 
Day Click Action - Select what happens when you click on a day name or date in any calendar view.  The options are to open the daily view (default) or add an event.
 
Default Maximized Calendar View - Select the the calendar view you'd like to see by default when opening the calendar.  The options are day, week (default), month, year or event list.
 
Week Start Day - Select the day on which to start the week.
 
Day Start Time - Select the hour at which to start the display for the daily calendar view.  NOTE:  Hours between Midnight and the selected time will be displayed on the previous day.
 
Settings Tab
 
Default View Type - Select whether the portlet on the originating page shows a Month calendar or a text-only listing of upcoming events.