University to launch new calendar application

May 31, 2013

The University Calendar (http://calendar.wfu.edu) doesn’t see a lot of visits in the summer. But that doesn’t mean things aren’t happening.

Communications and External Relations (CER) Digital is launching a new University calendar application Thursday, June 6, to make it easier to submit events and, in turn, attract more attendees to those events.

The new calendar is a partnership with the online calendaring solution Localist. Other partners with Localist include Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, and Georgetown University.

Students, faculty and staff are all invited to use the new calendar to submit and share their events. But that’s not the only feature this calendar offers:

• User accounts and profiles: All University users will be able to log in using their WIN credentials to submit events, RSVP, post reviews and more. Each user has a dashboard to manage all content submitted.

• Widgets: Want to post a list of events or a mini-calendar on your website? Use a widget! This tool allows you to display a filtered set of events on your University website easily. Users of CER-managed websites will gain access to a special WordPress-centric widget that offers additional control.

• Social sharing: Users can connect their social accounts to their calendar accounts to view tweets on Twitter while still on an event page or leave tips at a venue with Foursquare integration. In addition, Facebook events can be connected to University calendar events to show a full picture of who’s planning to attend. And of course you can always share events with friends and followers using the social icons on each event.

• Filters and search: Find or discover interesting events using the search bar or filter by event type, department or intended audience. For instance, you can view only athletic events, or those intended for University staff.

We hope to enable more features in addition to these very soon!

CER Digital will work with University departments to transition their Google-based calendars in CER-managed WordPress websites to the new calendar. We’ll also provide tips and best practices to help folks take advantage of all this application has to offer.

All events submitted to the current calendar will be migrated to the new calendar. A redirect to the new calendar will be put in place at launch.

Please contact Patrick Beeson, the director of digital communications, with any calendar-related questions at beesonps@wfu.edu or ext. 4516.

May your summer be eventful!