A long sought after calendar plugin for Elgg has been created by Kevin Jardine. This add-on, commissioned by the Royal Society of Architects, provides an event calendar for each group created in the Elgg installation.
Event Calendar requires Elgg 1.1 or higher. The only departure for a standard installation is that the plugin’s directory should be changed from event_calendar_0.6 to event_calendar before activating. There is no configuration—the group calendar just appears in the owner’s block as a link when you are in a group.
Clicking on the calendar link brings up the following page.
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In the main content area, there are options for viewing the list of events for a given day, week, or month. In addition there is an interactive calendar/datepicker. The large blank area displays the events. Right now there aren’t any, but to create an event, one clicks the Add Event link on the owner’s block
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There are several fields for information about the event. Note the popup calendar for selecting dates. There is no option for a time, so I put the time in the title. Once an event is created the event appears in the main content area
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This displays all the information entered about the event. And you now have some new options in the owner’s block.
Beyond the options to edit or delete the event, you can add the event to your personal calendar. The entire site’s event calendar can be access through the tools menu of the top bar. In addition, the Events Calendar plugin provides a widget that can appear on your dashboard of profile list the events that you added to your personal calendar.
Returning to the Group’s page reveals an event calendar list all the events for that group in the main content area.
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One last great feature appears as you return to an individual event. Once you are on an event page, a personal event calendars button appears on the owner’s block. If you click on that, you get a list of each user that added the event to their personal calendar.
To customize the appearance of the calendar on the page, edit:
event_calendar/datepicker.css
To change messages, spellings, or wordings, edit:
event_calendar/languages/en.php
This is clearly a well developed plugin width a great depth of presence in the installation in that includes, not only group event calendars, but a sitewide calendar, and a widget to display individuals’ event calendars. The ability to view who else has added an event to their personal calendar is also a great addition.
This is an outstanding extension to the Elgg core and goes far in fleshing out Elgg’s functionality. It is currently version 0.6 beta. I wouldn’t be surprised to see further enhancements of this plugin as new version emerge.
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Tags: calendar, Elgg, event, event calendar, plugin
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I agree this is a fantastic plugin. I think the quality of the plugin combined with the reputation of Kevin Jardine and the funding of a 3rd party institution will go a long way to restoring interest and confidence in Elgg’s platform.
I’m curious to know if you’ve worked at all with Kevin’s new forms plugin. I’ve added it to my site but haven’t yet been able to wrap my head around all of its features. I’m quite sure thought that when I do figure it out, it will prove to be quite a flexible and useful tool.
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Matt–
I think we can look forward to more third party funding in the near future.
The forms plugin is high on my list. Perhpas I’ll get it going today if my other software project cooperates!
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Steve … how was that ‘traditional rib dinner’ on new year’s day?
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Excellent batch of ribs. Something about figid weather makes them cook better on the barbecue cooker!
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Thanks, I was waiting for it
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Hisham–
I’d say it was definitely worth waiting for. It has functionality beyond what I had envisioned.
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