The Event Calendar module can be called with a number of search options pre-loaded.
You might want to highlight upcoming events in the New York metro area, or upcoming training classes, or events put on by a specific chapter or district.
When you create a link from a page to the calendar, you can reference the built-in function directly. But to link to a specific calendar view (for example, events for a specific subgroup and category), you need to link to the calendar using an “External Link”, similar to the following:
http://democlub.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=4001&club_id=245449
Where the first part of the URL will be your domain name and the club_id will be your ID (245449 references the demo club.) page_id=4001 references the calendar.
The following options can be specified as part of the URL link to the calendar:
- &ec=<event category id> - use this option to pre-specify a category.
- &ma=<metro area id> - use this option to pre-specify a metro area.
- &es=<subgroup id> - use this option to pre-specify a chapter or district.
- &reset=1 - use this option to reset any search parameters the user may already have when viewing the event calendar.
If a user has just searched for a specific category of event, then selected a custom calendar menu item to display a weekly calendar, the user would only see events of that category displayed for the week. Resetting the search parameters using this option removes any previously entered parameters to display the calendar specified in the link created. In the previous example, resetting the search parameters would remove the event category search and instead display all events for the week.
The angle brackets are not specified. In place of these, use the relevant ID values, which you will find on the metro area, event category and subgroup administration screens. Event category IDs are found in parentheses after the event category name on the screen where event categories are defined.
In the event calendar manager, click the Configure – Event Categories button.
Metro area IDs are found in parentheses on the Metro Area page. Go to Control Panel – Club tab – Setup section – Metro Areas.
Subgroup IDs are found in parentheses on the Organization Data page. Go to Control Panel – Club tab – Setup section – Organization Data.
Appending &ma=25 to the URL will pre-load the demo club’s calendar with events for metro area ID=25 (which, for the demo club, is the Chicago metro area.)
…content.aspx?page_id=4001&club_id=245449&ma=25
You can also combine options:
&club_id=245449&ma=25&ec=16
will pre-load the demo club’s calendar with “Education and Training” (ec=16) meetings in the Chicago metro area.
The parameters specified in the URL will populate in the event calendar search fields to allow the user to see exactly which events are being displayed, and to further refine the search if they choose.
Specifying Multiple Options at Once
You can also specify multiple event categories or metro areas or subgroups at once, or specify everything except a list of event categories, metro areas of subgroups. This is done using a different but related set of options:
- &ecal=40;50;62
- Event Category Allow List
- &ecbl=23;12;87
- Event Category Block List
- &maal=123;124;125
- Metro Area Allow List
- &mabl=126;127;128;129;130
- Metro Area Block List
- &sgal=1234567;1234568;1234569
- Sub-Group Allow List
- &sgbl=1234571;1234574;1234576;1234577;1234578
- Sub-Group Block List
The Allow options are used to include multiple categories in a custom calendar, while the ...Block… options used to show everything except the specified categories.
For a specified parameter (event category, metro area, sub-group), the …Allow… and …Block… options cannot be used at the same time. If they are, only the …Allow… parameter will be recognized.
However, multiple parameters can certainly be specified at the same time.
&club_id=245449&ecal=4356;4362;4401;4410&sgbl=4301458;1231569;8453166
specifies that the calendar should be displayed showing events from four categories and from every chapter (sub-group) except the three listed.
Using the Search function on the calendar or clicking the Reset button will cancel these settings.