Getting started with the Calendar module

Introduction to the Calendar module

Welcome to ChurchSuite's Calendar module! This module enables you to manage all your events in one place, from large events for your members and supporters to smaller, internal-use events such as staff meetings. A separate Bookings module is provided for room/resource bookings for the events you run. You can easily control each event's visibility and status so that each event is promoted to just the right audience - in ChurchSuite, in My ChurchSuite, on social media, in your communications, at your Information Point through the Connect 'Events List' and through your website using the embeddable calendar and embeddable event feeds. For each event, you can optionally enable sign-up, create tickets (free, paid and pay on arrival), add custom questions to the sign-up form, send invitations and record event attendance using Event Check-In

The Calendar module also includes Leave management functionality. Knowing when key team members are on leave is a vital part of event management, so we've made it easy to manage user leave requests - including a 'leave approval' feature if your internal HR processes require an accept/decline response to leave requests.

We encourage you to read this article in full to familiarise yourself with the module's key features and customisation options available and to acquaint yourself with some of the basic concepts and terminology you'll see within the module and our other Calendar module support articles.

Next Steps

Review the module's settings: Head into the module settings via the cogwheel icon in the top right-hand corner of the page. Review the settings and, if you plan to use the module to manage staff leave, add any custom leave types you wish to track.

Add event categories: This Support Article takes you through adding event categories. Categories help with event filtering - for your module users in ChurchSuite but also for website visitors viewing an embedded calendar or event feed. Event categories also control which bank account ticket income is paid out to when an organisation uses multiple bank accounts for different income streams.

Add events: This Support Article talks you through the process of adding events step-by-step. Consider adding events as a sequence where they repeat. Try out the event sign-up functionality - there are powerful related features to adding tickets, custom event questions and sending event invitation. You might also explore the event Checklists which will help you and your team stay on top of all the things that need to happen before and after an event.

Explore the web-embeddable event features: Check out our Support Article to see how easy it is to embed upcoming event feeds and calendars in your website. Once embedded, your website remains up to date as you make changes in ChurchSuite!

Set up leave entitlement: A helpful feature of the Calendar module - and an essential part of event management - is being able to effectively manage the leave and other absences of key staff members. For each staff member, add a Leave Setup defining their leave allowance for a leave year. Staff members will then be able to submit leave requests. Leave approval is also supported for designated line managers. There's more information here. Note that leave setups can only be add for Users.

Check out our short training videos...

Terminology

Here's a list of terms you may see across the ChurchSuite modules and in our support articles:

Events are entries in the Calendar. These can be internal-only, member-facing or public-facing; they can simply be for information or can have sign-up enabled, with tickets and event questions added where appropriate.
Categories are a way to group events together based on the 'type' of event they are.
Leave Setup is how we refer to a user's (staff members) leave entitlement - and where you'll manage that entitlement. Leave Setups can be created to include approval by a line manager.
Leave Requests are users' (staff members) requests for annual leave, sickness leave or other leave types listed in your module settings. These can be submitted by users with access to ChurchSuite.
Sequenced Events are events that repeat (either regularly or irregularly) and are linked together. You can edit the details for a whole sequence of events without having to access each individual event to make changes.
Sign-Ups are people who have signed up to attend an event.
Check-Ins are people who have been checked in to the event and are marked as attending.

Calendar module features at a glance

Add or import individual and sequence events and categorise them within the calendar
Set physical event locations or run online events through the meeting URL
Control event visibility and sign-up settings on an event-by-event basis
Manage event status, set pending events as confirmed or cancel an event with a button click
Embed your calendar or event feeds into your website
Increase engagement by enabling sign-up for events
Manage event planning to-dos with checklists to ensure everything required happens before and after the event
Create tickets - free, pay online, pay on arrival, and hidden tickets
Manage event and ticket capacity
Add custom questions to the sign-up form to collect all the important information needed to manage the event
Send event invitations and track responses
Record event attendance using the check-in functionality
Allow sign-ups to self-cancel, with an optional reason, should they be unable to attend
Communicate with those who have been invited, signed up or checked in
Integrates intuitively with other modules, connecting events to rotas, resource bookings and service plans
Get your ChurchSuite calendar linked to your calendar application by subscribing to an iCal or Google Calendar feed
Manage user leave requests with accept/decline approval and optionally auto-add unavailability to the Rotas module

Got a question?

You’ll find the answers to most questions in our support articles - they're all available through the Support beacon located in the bottom-right corner of each page in the Calendar module - just search by topic, phrase or keyword. You can also access the Support Article library on our website. And if you still can't find something you're looking for, click to get in touch with one of the ChurchSuite team - we’re happy to help!