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Online Calendar Program Instructions [ print page ] 1. Setting up your calendar account
1. Selecting a Username. The first step in setting up your calendar account is to select a Username. The Username should be carefully selected because it will be used by two different groups of people. First, the Username is what church members will use to access the calendar online. Thus, it is a name that you will be sharing with many different people. These individuals will be able to view the calendar, but they will not be able to make any changes on the calendar. In addition, the Username will also be used by those who have administrative rights to the calendar. The administrative rights gives these individuals the authority not only to view the calendar, but also to edit and change the calendar. To do this, though, they will need to know the calendar Password in addition to knowing the Username. 1.2. Selecting a Password. Once you have selected a Username, carefully select a Password. Remember, both the calendar Username and Password are needed to access the administrative controls which enable you to create calendars and to edit existing calendars. The Username and Password should only be given to those individuals who have administrative rights to the calendar. 1.3. Entering your ChurchSecretaryToday.com Username and Password. Finally, to activate your account, you will need to enter your personal Username and Password that you use to access the Online Resource Center at churchsecretarytoday.com (you cannot use the generic Username and Password that are printed in each issue of the Church Secretary Today newsletter). Your calendar account will remain active as long as your churchsecretarytoday.com account remains active. The only time you will need to enter your CST Username and Password once is during the set up procedure.
2. Logging in 2.1 Two Login choices: Administrator or Viewer. Once you have your calendar account established, you use the newly selected Username and Password to access your calendars. When you login, you have two options: (1) to login as an Administrator (a person who can create and edit calendars) or (2) to login as a Viewer (a person who can view calendars, but who cannot make any changes). 2.2 Logging in as an administrator. To login as an administrative select the link "Login as an Administrator." You will then need to enter both the calendar Username and Password. You then have two options. You can go directly to the "Admin Home"panel where you create new calendars, or you can go to the "Events Home" panel where you can view, edit and update existing calendars. Once you have your calendars set up, most of the time you will go to the "Events Home" panel. Select the button of the page you desire to login to. Once you are logged in, you can switch back and forth between the admin panel and the event panel. To access the events panel from the admin panel, click on the "View Calendars" link on the navigation bar. To access the admin panel from the events panel, click on the "Admin Home" link on the navigation bar.
2.3 Logging in as a viewer. To login as a viewer select the link "Login as a Viewer." A person who logins in as a viewer only enters the calendar Username. This will take you to your calendar home page. You will be able to view any of the existing church calendars, but you will not be able to edit any calendar. 2.4 How to link to your calendars from your church website. Two options exist on how you can link from your church website to the calendar.
<a href="http://www.churchsecretarytoday.com/calendar/admin/auth.php?viewonly=1&username=CHARLOTTEUMC"> Click here </A> to view the church calendar. 3. Using the Administration Panel (Admin Home)
3.1 General overview. Make sure you are at the administrative panel for the instructions in this section. The administrative panel is where you create and manage new calendars, new categories, and new locations. To access the administrative panel, click on the "Admin Home" link on the navigation bar. Each of the administrative panel options is discussed below. 3.2 Adding a New Calendar. To Add a new calendar simply click on the Add Calendar link and fill out the New Calendar form. Each calendar must be attached to a selected Category. You will be able to select an existing Category (see "Adding a New Category" below) to add the calendar to, or create a completely new Category. Click on the link Add a new Calendar to add the new calendar. Currently you cannot add a calendar image or a calendar icon, but we hope to have the options available in the future. 3.3 Managing Calendars. To view all the calendars that are available click on the Calendars link located in the left column of the page. That will take you to the "Calendar List" section. On this page you are able to delete calendars, edit calendar details or move calendars to a different category. To delete a calendar, click on the Delete link on the right side of the calendar list. Or, click on the calendar name and it will take you to the Calendar Details page. The Calendar Details page will allow you to edit all calendar details, move the calendar to a different category, or to delete the calendar. 3.4 Using and Adding Categories. Each calendar you create is associated with a specific category, and you can create as many categories as you desire. For example, categories could be "Staff Members" or "Church Choirs." A user can then select to see "All Calendars" or just the calendars from a specific category. In short, categories enable you to organize and display your various calendars. New categories can only be added when creating a new calendar or moving an existing calendar. Some common categories you might like to create include Church, Youth, Staff, Choir, Elders, Board, and so on. 3.5 Managing Categories. To view all the categories that are available go to the Calendar List section by clicking on the Calendars link located in the left column. Click on the Category name to view the Category Details page. To delete a Category, click on the Delete link on the Category Details page.
3.6 Managing Events. The administrative panel allows you to view, edit or delete events. First, click on the link "Admin Home" on the navigation bar. Then click on the word "Events" located in the left column. To view an Event details, click on the Event name. You can delete events by clicking on the Delete link on the Event list or on the Event Details page. You add new events by using the "Events Home" panel, which is discussed in section 4 below. 3.7 Adding a new Location. One feature of the calendar is the ability to store information regarding the locations of meetings and events so that you do not need to re-enter the location information each time you add an event to the calendar. Some common locations in a typical church might include such locations as church sanctuary, fellowship hall, education building, or something more specific such as "Room 101 in the Christian Education Building." First, click on the link "Admin Home" on the navigation bar. To add a new location click on the "Add Location link" located in the left column and fill out the New Location form. You can also add a new location when you add a new event. 3.8 Managing Locations. First, click on the link "Admin Home" on the navigation bar. Locations that are available to users can be viewed by going to the Location list by clicking on the Location link in the left column. This section allows you to modify and delete locations. 4. Using the Events Home Panel
4.1 Adding a new Event. Events can be added using the Add Events form. To access the form, you must first be in the "Events Home" mode. If you are at the "Admin Home" page, click on the "View Calendar" link on the navigation bar. Then click on the "Events Home" link on the navigation bar. When you first login as an administrator, you can also select an option that takes you directly to the "Events Home" panel. To add an event, select the "Add Events" link. Complete each of the following steps.
4.2 Managing Events. You can view, modify and delete events you have posted by going to the View Events section. To view details of the event click on the event name. For the details page you can make additions and modifications to the event details. 4.3 Adding a new Location. You can add a location only when posting an event. 4.4 Managing Locations. You can view the locations you have added by going to the View Location section. 4.5. Adding a new Contact. You can add a new contact only when posting an event. 4.6 Managing Contacts. You can view the contacts you have added by going to the View Contact section. This section will allow you to modify or delete your contacts. 5. Printing Calendars 5.1 Printing Options. You have three options to print a calendar, based upon which calendar view you select: weekly view, monthly view, or Today's Event. Most people will want to print a monthly view of their church calendar to use in their church newsletter. 5.2 Printing the Weekly View. From the navigation bar select "Views" and then from the drop-down menu select "Weekly View." Next, at the bottom of the right column select the option "View Printer Friendly." This opens a window that displays a day-by-day schedule of activities, which you can then print. Once you are finished printing, you can close that window to return to the main calendar program. 5.3 Printing the Monthly View. This is the view to select if you desire to print a monthly calendar for your church newsletter. From the navigation bar select "Views" and then from the drop-down menu select "Monthly View." Next, at the bottom of the right column select the option "View Printer Friendly." This opens a window that displays a calendar for the selected month, which you can then print. However, you may need to adjust your printing settings to have the calendar print as you desire. For example, you may need to set the printer options from "portrait" to "landscape." You also can use other options, such as a screen capture, or creating a pdf file if you have software that enables you to do those. One important concern is that when you use the monthly view, you have limited space in any given day. So, if you have multiple events listed for one day, it becomes important that you use a small font size to list those events so they call all fit into the available space. That font size (and the title of the event that appears on your calendar) is selected when you add a new event (see section 4 above, "Using the Events Home Panel"). Once you are finished printing, you can close that window to return to the main calendar program. 5.4 Printing Today's Event. From the navigation bar select "Views" and then from the drop-down menu select "Today's Event." Next, at the bottom of the right column select the option "View Printer Friendly." This opens a window that displays a schedule of the activities for the day you have selected, which you can then print. Once you are finished printing, you can close that window to return to the main calendar program. |