UNT Event Calendar Revisited

By Sharon Marek, Web Developer UNT Central Web Support and Kenn Moffitt , PAIS

Last month's article announced the new event calendar. This month's article provides you with more details. -- Ed.

A new and improved UNT Event Calendar is now on the UNT Web. The address is http://www.unt.edu/events The new calendar provides an improved tool to aid in communication between departments, scheduling of events, and event publicity and marketing. The calendar provides the following features:

• An improved user interface that visually displays events at a glance on a monthly basis for information or scheduling.

• The ability to preview scheduled events up to a year in advance.

• The ability to show only a specific category of events such as "Only UNT Events", "UNT and Metroplex Events Combined", or "Academic Dates".

• A user-friendly preference option that allows a user to set the calendar to display only the events that a UNT community member is interested in viewing.

• An easy data entry system to add appropriate new events to the calendar.

• A Master Calendar Coordinator who checks all new events before they are scheduled in the calendar and checks for possible conflicts with other large events.

• Icons incorporated into the calendar that show "heavy expected attendance" or "traffic warnings," which allow a scheduler to pick the most appropriate dates for new events.

• The ability to integrate events scheduled for the Web Event Calendar with the events calendar on the monitors located throughout the University.

• An online reporting function that allows a user to generate a report of UNT events throughout a specific time period.

• A "Help" link that will explain to the user how to use the calendar.

Adding Events

To add events to the calendar, you must first apply for a calendar account. If you click on the "Add New Event" icon from the calendar page, you will have the option to log in with your user name and password if you already have an account. If you don't already have an account, you can click on the "Create a New Calendar Account" link. From this link, you will be asked to supply some basic information about yourself and your intended use of the calendar. The calendar is used to inform the UNT community of events with public appeal for the entire UNT community or that have high attendance or will affect traffic during the event. Once your new account is approved, you will be emailed with the acceptance and can now use the "Add New Event" icon to log in and enter your event.

Once you are ready to add a new event to the calendar. You will be asked general information about the event's date, time etc. When the event is successfully entered into the calendar system, the Master Calendar Coordinator will approve the event. The Master Calendar Coordinator will first check the event for any possible conflicts that might occur. The Master Calendar Coordinator will also make sure that the event is relevant to the UNT community as a whole.

Appropriate events will also be posted to the video monitors that you see all around campus. Reports are also created from the event calendar and sent to the necessary departments such as the UNT Police Department.

For further questions about the UNT Event Calendar check the calendar site http://www.unt.edu/events or contact the Master Calendar Coordinator lisae@unt.edu .