Filter ongoing events

Ongoing events, such as gallery exhibitions and performance bookings, form a significant and important part of the events many organizations promote.

However, because ongoing events extend over long time periods, they can take over calendars and make it difficult for visitors to find one-time and recurring events.

How are ongoing events different from recurring events?

One of the best ways to promote ongoing events is to create an Ongoing Events filter that lets visitors show or hide the ongoing events according to their needs.

Topic links

• Ongoing Events filter examples
• How to create an Ongoing Events filter

Ongoing Events filter examples

Academic calendar

This academic calendar uses an Event Type filter (outlined in red) to let visitors control the event types they want to see. For example, visitors can see only one-time events by clearing the Ongoing Event and Recurring check boxes.

Community events calendar

This community events calendar uses a Display Ongoing Events filter to let visitors control whether or not ongoing events display in the calendar. With only No selected (the default), no ongoing events display. To display ongoing events, visitors select Yes.

• The image on the bottom left shows the main calendar when ongoing events are hidden, that is, when only No is selected in the Display Ongoing Events filter. The events you see in the calendar are the current day's events.
• The image on the top right shows the main calendar with ongoing events visible, that is, when Yes is selected in the Display Ongoing Events filter. The events you see in the calendar are ongoing events that started in the past.

How to create an Ongoing Events filter

Because creating an Ongoing Events filter involves a number of steps, the process can seem complicated. It's really not too bad, however, as long as you know what settings to use at each step along the way.

Scan the following list to get a high-level sense of what the steps are. Then, refer to the detailed section about each step for specific set-up instructions.

• Step 1: Set calendar views to include past events
• Step 2: Create an Event Kind list of choices custom field
• Step 3: Assign an Event Kind field value to each event you add
• Step 4: Optional: Set up a HideOngoing events filter view
• Step 5: Add a Show which events? filter control spud
• Step 7: Embed the spud code and test the filter

Set calendar views to include past events

By default, many calendar views do not display events that started in the past. This means that ongoing events display only on the date the event starts and not on subsequent dates.

For the Ongoing Events filter to work with these calendar views, you must turn on the option to include events that started in the past.

In some calendar views, you can also choose whether or not to label ongoing events, and you can provide a custom label.

The following instructions describe, for calendar views where the options are available, how to display events that started in the past and label these ongoing events.

For a summary of how each calendar view handles ongoing events, take a look at this table.

To display events that started in the past and label ongoing events

1. In the Publishing Control Panel, click the Calendar spuds tab.
2. For each calendar view you already added, click Edit Settings & Styles.

   Or, to add a new calendar view, click Add a Calendar View.

3. On the Edit Settings page, in the Grouping or Paging section, select Include events that started in the past.

   

   Include events that started in the past option, calendar view settings

4. If you want to label ongoing events, in the Date/Time Options section, for Label ongoing events, select Yes.

   Note that to find the ongoing label options for List view, you have to click the Events tab(s).

   I'd like to know more about List view.

   Optionally, for Ongoing events label, replace the default label with a label you prefer. For example, you might replace Ongoing through with Continues until.

   

   Ongoing event label options, calendar view settings

5. Click OK.

Ongoing event settings and calendar views

Use the following table to determine the views for which you must turn on the option for including past events and the views to which you can add a custom ongoing events label.

Create an Event Kind list of choices custom field

Before visitors can filter events by kind, each event must be identified as a particular kind. That's what the Event Kind custom field is for.

As you saw in the examples at the beginning of this topic, you can set up an Event Kind filter in different ways. In this section, we create a filter with three event kind values: one-time, ongoing, and recurring. While the specific values you use might differ, you can still follow the steps to set up a filter that works best for you.

To create an event kind custom field

1. Follow these general instructions for setting up a new custom field.
2. In the Create a New Custom Field form, name the field Event kind or something similar so it will be clear to event creators responsible for assigning field values exactly what the field is for.
3. For Field type, select List of Choices [create a new list].

   Where can I learn more about list of choices fields?

4. Add three field values, One-time, Ongoing, and Recurring.

   By default, the values are listed alphabetically with One-time first and Recurring last.

   If you prefer, you can change the order. For example, you might want to list Ongoing last.

   How do I set up a custom sort order?

5. For Default value, select One-time or whatever value makes sense for the majority of the events your organization offers.

   Making the default the most common value saves event creators time.

6. For Value required, select Yes.

   This prevents event creators from saving new events unless they have assigned an event kind field value.

7. In the Include in Templates section, for Templates, be sure to select all of the templates used by calendars for which you want to filter ongoing events.

   Where can I learn more about event templates?

8. In the Security section, for Visibility, clear Allow this field to be published.

   Clearing this field means the field won't show up in published calendar and event detail views. While the field is key for internal event management, in most cases, calendar visitors don't need to know if an event is tagged as ongoing or one-time.

   If you support event submission, selecting Show this field on the event submission form means that event submitters will have to tag each event they submit as ongoing or regular.

   Where can I learn more about event submission?

9. Click OK.

Assign an event kind value to each event you create

After you create an Event Kind custom field and include the field in the appropriate templates, you're ready to start assigning event kind field values to events.

Keep in mind that, for an Event Kind filter to work effectively, each event must be correctly identified as one of the kinds. Make sure event creators understand which events qualify as each kind and how to use the Event Kind field to tag them.

How can I describe how ongoing events differ from other other event types?

What if I create an event kind custom field after I already added a bunch of future events to my calendar? The new custom field is automatically added to all events that use templates which include the field. However, the field value will be blank. You have to open each event and assign an event kind field value. If you have such a large number of events that a manual process will be prohibitively time consuming, contact Trumba Support about adding field values through a batch process.

To assign an Event Kind field value to an event

1. Open the add/edit event form to create a new event or open the add/edit event form to update an existing event.

   I could use a refresher on adding and updating events.

2. If you're adding a new event, provide the description, location, date, and other key information.

   What's the right way to set up an ongoing event?

3. In the Event Kind field, select the value that makes sense for the event you're currently adding.
4. Click OK.
5. If you have a lot of ongoing events and want to create a calendar view that hides them by default but still gives visitors the option to show them, go on to the optional filter view section that immediately follows.

   If you don't have a large number of ongoing events and just want visitors to have the option of selecting the kinds of events they want to see, skip the filter view section and go straight to Add a Show which events? filter spud.

Optional: Set up a HideOngoing events filter view

A filter view is a view of events pre-filtered by one or more custom field values. You can give visitors the ability to select which kinds of events they want to see without ever setting up a filter view. However, if you promote a significant number of ongoing events, setting up a HideOngoing filter view is probably a good idea.

Pre-filtering the view to include only events that are not ongoing (for example, that have either the One-time or Recurring value assigned in the Event Kind custom field) prevents ongoing events from taking over the calendar and making other events more difficult to find. Visitors who want to see the ongoing events will still have the option of displaying them.

Where can I learn more about filter views?

Tip Before you can create a filter view, you must have created an event kind field and assigned field values to events.

To create a HideOngoing filter view

1. Follow these general instructions for turning on filter views and creating a new view.
2. In the New Filter View form, name the filter view something similar to HideOngoing so you can easily recognize its purpose.
3. For Filters, select the Event Kind (or whatever you chose to call it) custom field you created earlier.
4. In the values drop-down, select One-time and Recurring (or whatever non-ongoing values you added).

   Tip If you're taking the Yes/No approach described in the examples, select the No value.

5. For Show filters in Search info panel, leave No selected.
6. For Include all values in filter spuds, select Yes.

   Including all values in filter spuds means that, even though ongoing events are hidden by default, visitors will be able to display them by selecting the Ongoing value in a filter spud.

7. When your filter view settings look similar to the following settings, click OK.

   

   HideOngoing filter view settings

8. With the new filter view you just created still selected, go on to the next step to add a Show which events? filter spud.

Add a Show which events? filter control spud

You set up and embed a filter spud so that visitors can easily display only the kinds of events they care about.

I'd like more information about filter spuds.

Filter spud set to display one-time and recurring events in the main calendar

Tip If you created a filter view, the filter spud you create must be associated with that view. You'll learn more about this in the instructions that follow.

To set up a Show which events? filter spud

1. In the Publishing Control Panel:
   • If you did not create a filter view, go on to step 2.
   • If you created a filter view, in the Filter view list, make sure the HideOngoing filter view you created is selected.

     

2. On the Control Spuds tab, add a filter spud.

   If you need help, follow these general instructions.

   If you already have one or more filter spuds set up, you can add another filter spud configuration. Learn more.

3. On the Edit Settings for Filter page, for Template, select a template in which the Event Kind custom field is included.
4. For Filter by, select Event Kind (or whatever you named the custom field).
5. In the Label field, type the filter spud label that visitors will see. For example, you might type Show which events?.
6. For Allow, select Multiple Values.

   This lets visitors display multiple kinds of events (for example, one-time and ongoing) at the same time.

7. For Show Blank Filter Value, select No.

   

   Show which events? filter spud settings

8. If you want to customize how the filter looks, click the Styles tab.

   If you set up global spud style settings, customizing will be quick and easy.

9. At the bottom of the form, click Preview to preview the spud settings.
10. When you're satisfied, click OK.

Embed the spud code and test the filter

With everything in place, you're ready to embed the main calendar and filter spud code into the same webpage on your site.

Tip If you already embedded the main calendar spud code and you just created a new filter view, you must replace the original main calendar spud code with the filter view code described in the instructions that follow.

To embed the main calendar and filter spud code

1. In the Publishing Control Panel:
   • If you did not create a filter view, go directly to step 2.
   • If you created a filter view, in the Filter view list, make sure the HideOngoing filter view you just created is selected.

     

2. On the Calendar Spuds tab, in the Main Calendar Spud section, copy the spud code.
   • If you're embedding the calendar for the first time, paste the spud code into the appropriate location in the code for your webpage.
   • If you created a filter view and you're replacing existing code, find the spud code for the main calendar and replace it.

   I'd like a refresher about the code I copy when I have more than one spud on the same webpage.

3. On the Control Spuds tab, in the Filter section, copy the spud code, and embed it into the same page on your website where you just embedded the main calendar spud code.
4. Take the following steps to test the filter spud and confirm that it's working properly.

   Note that the value names you chose to use in your filter spud may differ from the examples provided here.

   • Open the webpage where the spuds are embedded.
   • If you set up a HideOngoing filter view, the Ongoing check box in the filter should be cleared and no ongoing events should be displayed in the main calendar.

     In the filter, select Ongoing. Ongoing events should display.

   • Clear Ongoing. Ongoing events should disappear.
   • Select Ongoing and clear One-time and Recurring. Only ongoing events should be displayed.

   Tip If the spud isn't working properly, work through the Troubleshooting checklist that follows to resolve the problems.

Troubleshooting checklist

When I first view the page, even though Ongoing is not selected in the filter, I see ongoing events in the calendar

• Look at the main calendar spud code you pasted. Confirm that it contains the filterview URL parameter. The code should look like this, where name is the web name of your calendar and filter view name is the name of the HideOngoing filter view you created.
  <script type="text/javascript">
  $Trumba.addSpud(
  { webName: "name",
    spudType: "main",
    url: {filterview: "filter view name" } });
  </script>
• If you don't see the filterview URL parameter in the code, follow the steps described here to copy the main calendar spud code.

When I first view the page, all options including Ongoing are selected in the filter

• Look at the filter spud code you pasted. Confirm that it contains the filterview URL parameter. The code should look like this, where name is the web name of your calendar and filter view name is the name of the HideOngoing filter view you created.
  <script type="text/javascript">
  $Trumba.addSpud(
  { webName: "name",
    spudType: "filter",
    url: {filterview: "filter view name" } });
  </script>

  Tip If you have added more than one filter spud configuration, your filter spud code may also contain a spudConfig value. Learn more.

• If you don't see the filterview URL parameter in the code, follow the steps described here to copy the filter spud code.

The filter spud lists other values but the Ongoing value isn't listed

• In the Publishing Control Panel, in the Filter View list, select the HideOngoing filter view you created. Click Edit. In the Filter View form, select Include all values in filter spuds, and then click OK.

Nothing happens in the calendar when I select or clear values in the filter

• Confirm that you turned on the Include events that started in the past option for the calendar views you're using.
• Confirm that each future event on your calendar has a value assigned in the Event Kind (or whatever you decided to name it) custom field.