private calender entrys

[c23_Mike]

Hi there !

The calender within SMF is quite impressive, but it would be nice if every user can put private entrys in there, so he can use it as personal time manager (without post option). Perfect would this be with import and export from Outlook.

[H]

If you link a topic to a calendar entry, isn't this hidden unless you have access to the post? (I can't remember if this is the case or not)

[snazster]

That's right H, the calendar entry would only be viewable by a user if it was stored in a board which that user had permission to view. 

So, if I was to give each user a personal/private board, they could write their calendar entry, link it to the calendar itself, and use it as a personal calendar. 

But it seems a bit cumbersome.  They'd need to write the calendar entry (post), post it and then go back in and link it to the calendar.  That's something that would need to become a one-touch operation in order for it to be successful.  [Actually, the could go straight to the calendar, post a calendar entry and then link it to their private area - that's slightly better].  Also, I would have to arrange the automatic setup of a private board upon registration. 

I'd need some help with these things, I think.  Any takers? 

[snazster]

I can see where you're coming from - but it's probably not the typical forum I run, nor are the functions typical of a forum. 

My users are school children, and the availability of a personal calendar would be a useful addition to our suite of tools to help with online learning.  It would be one more integrated web-tool available to our learners. 

I'm really keen to base everything we have around SMF, as it does most things we need.  I hope this explains the necessity of a private calendar per user. 

[Norv]

But it seems a bit cumbersome.  They'd need to write the calendar entry (post), post it and then go back in and link it to the calendar.  That's something that would need to become a one-touch operation in order for it to be successful.  [Actually, the could go straight to the calendar, post a calendar entry and then link it to their private area - that's slightly better].

I'm afraid I might misunderstand something here... it seems to me this is a more straighforward operation, as they go to the calendar, post new event, and the site takes them to a page to fill with details. There is somewhere on that page a list with boards, where the thread will be posted, and they need to choose their private board, if more choices are available. They fill the details and press "post". The post appears into the chosen board.
I'm not sure I see anything wrong with this scenario (surely, assigning a private board to each is another story). Should it be (and how) easier than this?

[snazster]

In an ideal world I'd like my users to click on a date, up pops a little box into which they type their event details, then the box closes.  But I agree, the second method I suggested (go straight to the calendar, post a calendar entry and then link it to their private area) isn't too bad at all. 

So I tested it out.  I created a private board, made it accessible only by one membergroup to which I assigned one member.  I then changed calendar posting permissions and this is where the idea fell down.  Users either can post a calendar entry or can't post a calendar entry - I can't allow them to post only on a certain board. 

Unless of course, someone can find a way to modify this? 

[Norv]

How about continuing the experiment, as a member of a restricted group:
- I can post an event in the calendar - checked.
- I do post it,  and it takes me to a form where I fill details about the event. There, I can choose on which board I want to post it, and it comes down to a list of only the boards visible to me. That will mean the common boards, yes, and my private board. And I choose my private board.
Is there something wrong with that?

[snazster]

yes!  The problem with that is I don't want one user posting by mistake in the public area.  A post saying 'assignment due' on 18th in public would appear to everyone and might lull them into a false sense of security, particularly if their assignment was due on 17th and they hadn't made a note of this.  Not the best example, I know...

[Norv]

Ah, I see... school children, yes. Sorry I didn't realize fully

So, as far as I can tell, it all comes to a modification of the calendar (and user details, a board is "linked" to him), which allows either to:
- add a "Post private event" link, apart from "Post event", that would allow to fill details and post it only in one particular board, a board presumably linked to his name.
- assign a membergroup "child" to each child, and when a "child" clicks "Post event", fill its form only with the private board to post in. Do not allow events not linked to posts also.
- "the ideal world" you mentioned - add a "Post private event" that would allow, additional to the title and date, to submit a field, which is a little description of the event, without posting it into any board. The calendar should "know" to only show these private events to their creator and show the description upon hovering with the mouse, or something.

If I understand well, the options look like mods to me, and I wonder if anyone knows if any of them (specially the last) doesn't by any chance already exist out there... The last sounds like a bit of work, but the result seems to me more elegant and understandable.

[c23_Mike]

Hi there !

On my old forum "ikonboard" I modified one forum in that way, that in THIS one forum only personal threads are visible. So there is a privat forum, but in this one private forum ALL persons posts, but everyone sees only his own posts.

So also the calendar entrys FROM this forum has been only visible to the owner.

It should be possible when a user creates a calendar entry, that he does a single checkbox "PRIVATE ENTRY". When checked it creates automatically a post with same topic in this special forum. Maybe some user (groups) ONLY can create private entrys (and not put date entrys for all) with that.

BTW: A calendar entry with automatically creating a forum topic (in a forum allowed for the user) would be at all a nice feature. Now I have for every calendar entry (which also has a topic) do two steps.

So and when we discuss the calendar: HERE is another good idea, vcal for the calendar. With that the entrys could be easily transfered to Outlook. I also mentioned it at my topic starter.