OSU Events Calendar - FAQ

Environment

• Oregon State University
• events.oregonstate.edu

Event Providers

Entering Events

• How to add events

  • Any person with an OSU login (ONID) may become a ‘user’ of the Localist calendar and submit an event.
  • Click on the Submit Event button, located in the lower right-hand corner of the calendar page, to display the event submission form.
  • After submitting your event it will go into an approval cue and should be reviewed within one business day.
     
• What kind of activities are appropriate to submit?
  • An event is an activity that occurs at a specific time and place and that people attend in person or virtually.
  • The OSU events calendar is a promotional system for advertising activities to make them more visible and to increase attendance.  It is to be used for events advertised to the public that are organized, sponsored or co-sponsored by the university or by OSU-affiliated organizations. The calendar does not include non-university events and usually will not list events simply because they occur at a university facility.
  • For details on the types of events appropriate for inclusion, see our moderation guidelines.
     
• How do I prepare an event for submission?
  • Start with  a relevant and compelling title Title should be the true title and descriptive, not just the name of the series.  The series can be in there, or listed in the description.
  • Event descriptions should be inviting and answer the audience's basic questions about what they should expect at the event and why they should attend. Make your event submission is easy to understand.  Be sure to explain jargon and abbreviations not commonly known or used outside OSU, and check your spelling and grammar before submitting your event.
  • Location:  events can be in-person, virtual or hybrid. 
    • If it is in-person, select the building location from the drop-down menu.  This will allow for your event location to show on the map.  If you type in the location, the map function does not work.  Use the room field to dial in the location by providing the number or descriptive text such as ‘on the front steps’.
  • If the event is available online, the link to view must be included.  It is either placed in the Stream URL or the Ticket Link (if registration is required.)  You may include dial-in information if desired. A contact name, phone number and email are required for all submissions. Take a look at some examples of well-written and not-so-well-written events here.
     
• What picture should I use with my event?
  • Images are displayed within a circular frame.  A centered image at a moderate distance is generally most effective.
  • The best pictures are simple images related to the event being advertised.  For example, a photo of a speaker's face, the building where an event will be held or an item that represents the topic, such as a soccer ball for a soccer match.  Public domain images may be used, and you are welcome to select an image from our image library
  • Pictures to avoid include photographs of a poster or agenda (they cannot be easily read in this format and look messy), and pictures of unrelated items, such as a pencil to advertise a soccer match.
  • If you do not include a picture, a default OSU-related image will be displayed
     
• What do all the fields mean?
  • Form fields are explained in detail here.  See below for some additional content hints
  • ​​​​​​Description
    • There are a few formatting tools available for the description.  You can always cut-and-paste in information, or create directly in the field.  If your description contains a URL, use the link icon to make it a hyperlink your audience can easily click on
      
  • Status
    • This allows you to let viewers know if an event needs to be postponed or is canceled without removing the posting entirely.  You can update the status after your event is live on the calendar.  Note that any changes that you make to your posting after it is approved sends it back through the approval cue.
  • Format and Experience
    • If there is any in-person component, select that in the format field.  You can then indicate hybrid in the experience form, which will then open up more field options for details such as the Stream URL.
  • Filters
    • The more filter fields you complete, the easier your event will be to find by your audiences.  Event type lets your attendees know what to expect.  You should have already addressed this in your description, so selecting this field simply reinforces what the experience will be. 
    • Event topic is very effective for helping your event to appear on certain calendars.  Select all that apply.
    • Audience – make sure to indicate for whom this event is intended.
    • Organization – this is important for the event to show up on college or departmental calendars--—select organizations sponsoring, co-sponsoring or organizing the event.
    • Select Online if this is a virtual or hybrid event.
  • County
    • (Optional) You may select this, especially for focused activities for a specific region.Leave blank for online-only or out-of-state events.
  • Tag
    • Tags can be a great solution to pull together many events under one umbrella such as OSUWelcome, MLKCommemoration and Commencement.  Work with your team to determine what tag to use and then share it out with all the entities that you want to identify their events under the umbrella.  Use the calendar widget or other web tools to pull in events with your selected tag. 
       
• How do I make my event show up in one of the top-level communities (BEND, CORVALLIS, NEWPORT or PORTLAND)
  • If possible, select a pre-configured event Place. Simply start typing the name of a building (such as "memorial") and select from the suggested matching entries.  Pre-configured places are already associated with the communities in which they reside.
  • Follow the instructions below if you need to enter a location that is not already configured in the system.
     
• How do I enter a location that is not pre-configured?
  • Type the location's name in Place and press the Tab key. 
  • Additional fields (Community and Directions) will appear below the Address field.  Be sure to fill in the Address field to display a map with your event.

• How do I edit or delete my event?
  • Locate and open your event on the calendar, and click on the Edit Event button.
  • Note that your changes will go through the approval cue and may take one business day before your event appears on the calendar again.
  • You cannot edit someone else’s event.
  • If your event changes need immediate attention, email events@oregonstate.edu
  • It is not recommended to actually ‘delete’ your event.  Use the status field to indicate if your event is canceled or postponed.

Other event-related Questions

• Is there an approval step?
  • Yes.  Events are held in a pending queue until reviewed by a moderator.  Approval typically takes no more than 1-2 business days. Events are reviewed for clarity, categorization and appropriate content. Moderators follow these guidelines when reviewing events.
     
• Does the events calendar reserve rooms or collect RSVPs?
  • No.  You will need to reserve space for your event--if needed--before promoting the event on OSU's events calendar.
  • You can create your own registration system using tools like Qualtrics, Handshake or Eventbrite.  Once you’ve created your registration and have a link, place it in the Tickets URL when you submit your event.  This will then appear as a large ‘Register’ button located in the upper right-hand corner of your calendar item.  Remember to only place the URL in this field.  Do not preface it with text like “please register”.  Use the full link as opposed to a bit.ly or beav.es link.
     
• How does "I'm Interested" work?
  • Users can signal interest in attending by selecting the I'm Interested button.  People following the organization associated with the event or the place where the event is held will also display as interested attendees. 
  • This is a great way to gauge interest, but is not a commitment to attend!  For more exact counts, be sure to include RSVP instructions or a link to an external system for registration or ticket purchase.
     
• How do I get my event listed on the Featured carousel?
  • The featured events carousel is used to display a variety of events that are open to the public and appeal to a broad, institute-wide audience. 
  • University Events selects events that meet these criteria. If you’d like your event considered for the featured events carousel, send an email to events@oregonstate.edu.
     
• What can I do to make my event appear in the Trending list?
  • An algorithim is used to determine which events are most popular and most interesting/visible.  You can increase your event's chances of appearing in this list by using some of the features that are included in this calculation.
    
     
• I have a lot of events to submit. Can I bulk-load them?
  • Absolutely! Contact the Contact the Service Desk to request a current Localist .csv file template (spreadsheet).  Update that file with your events and return it to the OSU Event team to load into Localist.
     
• Can I create a private event?
  • Private events are best communicated through targeted solutions, such as email.
  • For large events where specific event calendar features are needed, an administrator can adjust an event to be visible only to people with the URL. Contact the Service Desk for more information.
     
• I have a question or concern regarding user comments.
  • Please contact the Service Desk with your specific question.

Organizations

• How do I approve events for my organization's calendar?
  • You don't have to! Unlike OSU's previous system, this system is not a collection of separate calendars.  All events belong to one big calendar, and events are approved centrally, typically within 1-2 business days.
  • Please contact the Service Desk if your organization has been tagged inappropriately.
     
• Can I request an organization landing page?
  • Organization landing pages are suitable for larger departments, colleges or organizations that host 10 or more events per year, that users are likely to follow, and that may want widgets of their events on their own web pages.  Landing pages are not required to submit an event.  If the organization or group hosting the event does not have a landing page or an event is co-sponsored, just include the organization name(s) in the event description, which is searchable.
  • To request an organization landing page, please see our Organization Landing Page document for instructions and a list of information to provide.
  • Organizations will be periodically reviewed and those hosting no or few events will be removed.
     
• What organizational level should be listed?
  • We suggest listing organizations that host 10 or more events per year, as people may wish to follow their activities. In some areas, that would be a college or division.  In other areas, much smaller departments or sub-departments may need their own landing pages.
  • As a general rule, fewer organizations hosting many events is better than a bunch of tiny organizations hosting only occasional events. Users will want to follow active organizations that host a number of activities of interest to them.
  • There is no hierarchical structure or logical nesting within organization landing pages. A user following the College of Science would not also automatically hear about events associated with the Department of Chemistry. However, it is possible to display events for multiple organizations in a widget on your organization's homepage.

Using the Calendar

• Do I have to log in?
  • Logging in is not required to view events or save them to your personal calendar.  Logging in with your OSU ID allows you to: 
    • Submit an event.
    • Click on the "I'm Interested" button.
    • Invite friends to join you.
    • Follow an organization or place
    • Get email reminders from the event calendar about events you are interested in.
    • Post comments and photos about an event, organization or location you follow.
       
• How do I put an event on my personal calendar?
  • You can easily save an event to Google calendar, Apple iCal or Outlook by opening an event and selecting one of the icons displayed in the Subscribe section below the event description.  You do not need to be logged in to use this feature.
  • Want to subscribe to a bunch of events at once?  Just select a filter to display a selection of events​, then scroll to the bottom of the page where you'll see options to "Subscribe to these results"
     
• Where are the notification and privacy settings?
  • By default, notification about events and friend activities is turned on and other calendar users are able to see your calendar activities.  To adjust these settings, log on, click on the pull-down arrow to the right of your image, and select Settings​​​​​​
  • Notification (email) settings are in the Notification tab below Account Settings.
  • Privacy settings are in the Privacy tab.
     
• What does I'm Interested do?
  • Selecting "I'm Interested" places an event on your personal calendar within the event calendar system.  It will send you a reminder to attend and request a review the day after the event occurs.  This helps show the popularity of an event and who hopes to attend.
  • You can also appear in the list of people interested in an event if you follow the organization hosting the event or follow the place where the event is held.
  • I'm Interested is not a commitment to attend an event.  Be sure to read the event and to RSVP, register or purchase tickets if required for attendance.
     
• Are there any guidelines for using the calendar or commenting on events?
  • Submitted content should be in keeping with OSU's policy for Acceptable Use of Computing Resources.
  • Comments and photos are encouraged and welcome!  They should be on-topic and in keeping with the OSU Code of Ethics.
  • If you notice comments that appear inappropriate, please contact the Service Desk to investigate.

Website Owners

• Can I display events on my department's website?
  • Yes!  Several options are available, including widgets, RSS feeds and APIs.
  • For additional help, come to the Open Lab, where you can get help in-person.
  • A tutorial for doing this can be found here.
     
• How do I export calendar events as an RSS feed?
  • RSS feeds can be found on results pages.  The feeds cover up to 1000 events from one month ago through one year from now.  To create a feed, just select a filter, an organization or a place to display a selection of events you would like to export as a feed.  To obtain a feed of all events on the main calendar, click on All Events.
  • If selecting an organization or place landing page, scroll to the bottom of the list of upcoming events and click on "View full calendar."
  • Scroll to the the bottom of the right column and click on the RSS feed to establish your feed.
     
• Can I display a widget on my department home page?
  • Of course!  To create a widget, use the built-in widget-builder tool here: https://events.oregonstate.edu/help/widget.
  • Most groups will only need to select their department/group in the Organizations field and use the default settings.  When happy with your selections, click on Generate Embed Code, and copy that generated code into your web site. A guide to do this can be found here: http://webtech.training.oregonstate.edu/osu-drupal-7/technical-manual/working-content/calendar-widget-integration
     
• I want to do something more advanced than the widget-builder provides
  • Localist provides a robust, read-only, API. API documentation, including its terms of usage, is located here:  https://developer.localist.com/doc/api

Assistance

For assistance, contact the Service Desk.