Updating a Calendar

There are a number of ways you can populate your calendar with events.

Required event information

Whichever method you choose, you should always fill out the following fields:

  • Subject/Name/Title - Name of the event that will show up on the calendar. Keep it relatively brief and do not include information covered elsewhere (location, date).
  • Location - Name of the location, building or address (can be left blank if this is an event with no location).
    • We recommend keeping this relatively short and adding directions or additional information (such as floor or room numbers) in the description for the event.
  • Start Date & Time
  • End Date & Time - You must include an end time, unless you select "All day".
    • Events must end the same day they begin. If you have a multi-day event, you will need to create a new event for each day.
  • Description (recommended) - Add extra context, links, directions, etc.

How to add events to a website calendar

Navigate to the appropriate calendar page and follow the steps below to sync a calendar or add an event.

Sync with a Google Calendar or Outlook feed

First, you need to get the calendar's iCal URL.

  • To get the calendar feed URL, for an Outlook calendar, contact IT.
  • To get the iCal feed URL for a Google calendar, log into the account that hosts the Google calendar and go to calendar.google.com. Hover over the calendar, click the three dots, and select Settings. Scroll down to Integrate calendar and copy the Public address in iCal format.

Once you have the iCal URL, go to the calendar page and click the External Calendars tab. To sync with a Google or Outlook Calendar, click the +ADD ICAL FEED button.

Add iCal Feed

Paste the iCal URL in the box. Click Add Calendar. It may take a few minutes or longer to complete the initial sync with the calendar.

Add Google Calendar iCal URL

Import events in a spreadsheet (.csv file)

To import events through a spreadsheet, you must format the spreadsheet in exactly the right way. Download an example spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet must have the following columns:

  • Event (required) - Name of the event that will show up on the calendar. Keep it relatively brief and do not include information covered elsewhere (location, date).
  • Location - Name of the location, building or address (can be left blank if this is an event with no location).
    • We recommend keeping this relatively short and adding directions or additional information (such as floor or room numbers) in the description for the event.
  • Start Date (required) - Should be in format month/date/year (1/1/18, 10/31/18)
  • Start Time - This must be in military time (17:00 for 5 p.m.) or the "Time" format per Excel (5:00:00 PM) - both examples are represented in the example document linked above.
    • You must include an end time, unless you select "All day" (last column)
  • End Date (required) - Should be in format month/date/year (1/1/18, 10/31/18). 
    • Events must end the same day they begin. If you have a multi-day event, you will need to create a new event for each day.
  • End Time - This must be in military time (17:00 for 5 p.m.) or the "Time" format per Excel (5:00:00 PM) - both examples are represented in the example document linked above.
    • You must include an end time, unless you select "All day" (last column)
  • Category - If your department/division uses categories, input the appropriate category (contact the Site Administrator if you aren't sure).
  • Description (recommended) - Add a description giving extra context for the event. Unfortunately, you cannot include formatting in the spreadsheet. If you want to go back and add formatting, links, images, etc., you will need to go in and edit the individual event(s) after you import them to the website calendar.
  • Price - Leave blank.
  • Currency - Leave blank.
  • Contact - Leave blank.
  • Event Registration - Leave blank. Contact the Site Administrator if you would like to enable registration for an event.
  • Member Participants - Leave blank.
  • Nonmember Participants - Leave blank.
  • Payment Provider - Leave blank.
  • Is All Day - You must put TRUE (for an All-Day event) or FALSE (in which case you must have Start Time and End Time filled out)

You must save the spreadsheet as a .csv (Comma delimited) file. There are other types of .csv files, so make sure you choose the right one.

Save as CSV Comma delimited file

Once you have the spreadsheet ready, go to the calendar and click the Import Events icon (calendar with red arrow pointing down).

Import Events icon

Click the Choose File button next to Source File and find the document. Then click the Import Events button.

When your spreadsheet is finished importing, an IMPORT RESULTS box will appear, letting you know how many events were imported. It may also show errors. You can click Download Error Log to see a spreadsheet of what the issues were. It could be a duplicate event or a column or date/time that was completed incorrectly. 

Import Results page

Click the View tab to make sure your events imported. Even an event that has an error may have imported, so check before you try importing again, or adding the event manually (described below).

Add events manually through the website calendar

You can individual events manually by navigating to the main view of the calendar and clicking the green + icon.

Add an event manually to a calendar

Fill out the information as follows:

  • Subject (required) - The name of the event, which will show up on the calendar.
  • Location (required) - Name of the location, building or address
    • We recommend keeping this relatively short and adding directions or additional information (such as floor or room numbers) in the description for the event.
  • Start Date (required) - You must enter a start time unless you select "All day".
  • End Date (required) - You must include an end time unless you select "All day".
    • Events must end the same day they begin. If you have a multi-day event, you will need to create a new event for each day.
  • Category - If your department/division uses categories, select the appropriate category (contact the Site Administrator if you aren't sure).
  • Contact - This allows you to put yourself (or another staff member with a CMS login) as a contact. The event will show your name, which users could click to email. 
  • Enable Recurrence - Check this if this is a recurring event.
  • Event Registration - Allow users to register for the event through the website calendar. This will pop open more options. Contact the Site Administrator before utilizing this option.
  • Color - Leave blank, unless you have permission to make this event appear in a different color in the calendar.
  • Icon - Leave blank.
  • external_event_id - Leave blank.
  • Region - Leave blank.
  • Participants - Leave blank. This would allow you to add CMS users or email addresses that are participating in the event. This would show to the public.
  • Description (recommended) - Add a description of the event. This can include photos, video, links to relevant pages on the site, directions or a link to a map, etc.
  • Attachments - Another way to attach files related to the event. You could attach a flyer, registration form, etc.
  • Published Calendars - This event will publish to the calendar you started on. If you want to publish it to other calendars on the website, contact the Site Administrator or relevant Department Content Manager first.

Click Add Event. Navigate back to the calendar and look at the event.

Fields to add a new event manually to a calendar