Running online events
You can add online events in the Calendar module, distinguishing them from events that meet at a physical location. For all events you will set the event's Location in ChurchSuite, selecting between physical or online. Event locations are surfaced wherever the event is set visible - in Embed (Calendar, Featured events, Event feeds, and JSON feeds), the Event Page, in My ChurchSuite (My Events) and Connect (Events List). Here's how it works...
In this article
Setting an online event location in ChurchSuite
Joining an event online
Online platform suggestions
The functionality outlined in this article is compatible with any online meeting platform that provides you with a unique meeting room URL. Some platforms optionally require meeting participants to enter a PIN or password to join a meeting - this will need to be communicated to the event's sign-ups before the meeting and should not be included in the event's location name or description, which may be visible to others where the event is listed.
You might like to look at:
- Zoom
- Skype
- Google Hangouts
- Whereby (formerly Appear:In)
Setting an online event location in ChurchSuite
Working within the Events section of the Calendar module select Add event (for a new event) or Edit an existing event's settings.
On the Add event or Edit event pop-up, switch Location from Physical (default) to Online.
The URL field is surfaced where you can enter the known online event meeting application URL. For an existing Physical event being updated to an Online event, you may also wish to optionally update some of the other event location details, such as the event Name and Location name to reflect the new online event status. The maximum URL length is 100 characters, but free tools like bit.ly can be used to convert long URLs into shorter ones. For sequence events, where the same online URL will be used for all future events in the sequence from today, tick Update sequence at the end of the pop-up and Save the event.
Online events are easily distinguished in ChurchSuite when viewing the location field shown on the event profile. Where a meeting URL is specified, the location is clickable from ChurchSuite and launches the meeting in a new browser tab.
You can filter the Events section of the Calendar module by Location using the Advanced Search to see just Physical or just Online events.
The location Name (but not the URL) is also shown in Embed and Connect event lists.
...and the same styling carries through to Event Pages...
Joining an event online
As seen in the previous section, an event's physical and online location is shown throughout the ChurchSuite ecosystem wherever the event is visible (determined by the event Visibility settings). The functionality is not dependent on the event Status. For events with an online location and URL, the location may be clickable (explained next) and will open the online event meeting URL in a new browser tab on the user's device.
Events without sign up
For an online event that does not have sign-up enabled, and where the event meeting URL is set, the online location name is clickable by anyone viewing the Event Page. In this way, you can run online events that are open to anyone able to access the event page without requiring people to sign up to participate and join you online. For example, here on an embedded Event feed...
...and when viewing the event in My ChurchSuite.
Events with sign-up enabled
For an online event that has sign-up enabled, and where the event meeting URL is set, the online location name is not clickable by anyone viewing the Event Page. However, those who have signed up can use the clickable online location name link in their sign-up confirmation email...
...and the online location name link is shown on the event page in My ChurchSuite.
