Creating and Editing Events in the Public Website WordPress Events Calendar

These instructions don’t touch on every possible field or option in the interface, focusing only on those that are needed to create a single one-time event. Additionally, these instructions assume you have already done all of the necessary prep work for the event (booking the physical room, arranging for any live streaming support, etc.) prior to this step.

Once logged into WordPress:

1. Navigate to the Section in which you want to post an  Event.
2. Hover over Events in the WordPress menu, then click on Add New when that option appears.
   
   • Note: If the Section you are working in doesn’t have Events access enabled, you won’t see this menu item. If you think this is an error, please request support through the IT Service Desk.
3. Type the event title in the Event title field.
   • Note: Remember to follow all Website Standards when naming your page. In particular:
     • Use Title Case.
     • All uses of the word “and” should be replaced with ampersands (&).
     • Keep the title short and make it clear what the Event is about.
     • Event titles can contain letters, numbers and spaces (avoid using punctuation, underscores, or other special characters, other than ampersands).
     • Follow this standard for naming info sessions: [Program or Program Area Name] – [Online (optional)] Info Session
   • Note: the Permalink will automatically populate with the event title at the end of the default event URL the first time you enter an event title, after a short delay.
   • Note: It is common for a new Event to have a title that is very similar or identical to previous and/or future Events. WordPress will add a number to the end of the permalink in such cases, incrementing it for each repeat of the same Event title. For example, the first “Nursing Information Session” would be “nursing-information-session” in its permalink, the second would have “nursing-information-session-1”, the third “nursing-information-session-2”, and so on. This is expected behaviour.
4. Add your description of the event, including all necessary information, in the main editor.
5. Under The Events Calendar, choose the date and specific time of your event (or check the All Day Event checkbox if that is more appropriate for your event).
   
6. Under LOCATION, choose a Venue from the pre-populated drop-down list.
   
   • Note: If your event’s location is not in the list, it will need to be added. Only Publishers and Admins can add new locations, so if you are an Editor, either contact your Publisher or submit a request for support from IT Services.
7. Under ORGANIZERS, choose the Organizer of the event from the pre-populated list.
   
   • Note: In most cases, you can use one of the generic organizers in the list, such as “School of Health Sciences”. Many individuals do not want to have their own personal information displayed on the events they are hosting. But, some do. If the specific Organizer for your event is not listed, and wants to be listed by name, that person will need to be added. Only Publishers and Admins can add new organizers, so if you are an Editor either contact your Publisher or submit a request for support from IT Services.
8. Optional: If there is more than one Organizer for your event, click the Add another organizer button to add more.
9. Optional: If your Event has its own information site elsewhere on the site, add the web address to the URL field under EVENT WEBSITE.
   
   • Note: If the event is an Info Session about a program or group or programs, you can use the URL field to link to the program microsite or umbrella page relating to them.
10. Optional: If you’d like to add a registration option to your Event, follow the “adding a registration option” instructions below.
11. Under Excerpt, add a very short, maximum one-sentence information-rich description of the event.
    
    • Note: As implemented in the BCIT public website, this excerpt will not be visible up on the Event page itself, but will show up in other views, such as the calendar view and in some – but not all – Panels. Therefore, it’s okay and even good for the excerpt to be a shorter repeat of information already entered elsewhere in the Event interface.
12. Optional: Add any tags that apply to your Event in the Tags sidebar.
    
    • Important: For info sessions, add the program code (for example, 5095adcert, a450grcert, 5360nobcit, etc.) as a tag to have the info session show up in your Program automatically. If the info session is about multiple programs, you can add multiple tags and it will show up on all of them.
13. Important: Select at least one Event Category to apply to your Event in the Events Categories sidebar.
    
    • Note: When creating info sessions, you’ll want to make sure that the info session has both the “Info Sessions” category applied, as well as the appropriate sector/path sub-category. If you skip this step, your info session won’t be visible in the lists on the Info Sessions page.
14. Leave all boxes in Event Options unchecked. Sticky in Month View and Feature Event functions are reserved for Institute-level events such as Big Info and Convocation.
15. Once all information is in place and you’re ready to have the Event go live on the site, click Submit for Review in the Publish sidebar.
    
    • Note: While Publishers are able to set a specific future publish date for an Event when they publish it, there is currently no way for an Editor to specify one when they submit an Event for review. For most Events this is unlikely to be important, as adding it to the calendar as soon as possible is usually desirable. However, in some cases there may be a dependency that should prohibit an Events appearance in the calendar prior to a specific date and time. The suggested solution in those cases is to communicate your needs with your Publisher prior to submitting the event for their review (to ensure they don’t accidentally release it earlier than you intended).

In the Event Calendar it is possible to permit attendees to pre-register for an Event and limit the number of seats available. Note: It is not currently possible to charge money for tickets and all tickets will be listed as “Free”.

To add this option:

1. Under Tickets click the + New Registration button.
   
2. Next to Type, add a one-to-two-word description of what the user gets by registering. Examples: “Registration”, “Ticket”, “Seat”.
   
   • Note: Tickets will, by default, include a QR code and instructions to use that code to check in at the event. If no check in is required, add that information to the Type field (e.g., “Registration (no check-in required)”).
3. Optional: If there is a limit to the number of people who can attend the event, add that number to the Capacity field.
4. Click the + Advanced toggle to see more options.
   
5. Optional: You can add a short Description to the ticket that adds any needed extra explanation of what the user is registering for.
6. Optional: If you wish to limit the period of time in which attendees can register for your event, use the Start sale and End sale date and time selectors to do so.
7. Important: Click the Save Registration button to save your changes.
   • Note: Without doing this final step, your RSVP information won’t necessarily be saved, even if you save the Event itself.

You can use Microsoft Teams meetings for your online info sessions. Before you start, make sure you have the following information handy:

• Title of your event
• Event co-organizers: These should be the people required to be at your info session, i.e. presenters, moderator, back-up support, etc. 
• Date
• Start and end times 

To create your Teams meeting:

1. Set up your info session as a Teams meeting in Outlook or the Teams app following Steps 1 to 6 in the Using Microsoft Teams for Meetings KB article. 
   • Ignore Add channel. 
   • Check that Add location is set to Online meeting. 
   • (Optional) Enter whatever details your attendees may need in the description field.  
2. Select More options on the right to adjust your meeting settings. Recommended settings for info sessions:  
   • Who can bypass the lobby? Select Only organizers & co-organizers. You can admit all guests when you’re ready.
   • People dialing in can bypass the lobby should be set to No. 
   • Announce when people dialing in join or leave should be turned off .
   • Choose co-organizers should only include moderators, presenters, and backup support. 
   • Set Who can present to only organizers and co-organzers.
   • Turn off the mic for attendees. You can always unmute them individually if needed. 
   • Turn off the camera for attendees, as well. You can enable individuals to share video as needed. 
   • Leave Record automatically turned off. 
   • Set Meeting chat to off to limit discussion during the info session.  
   • Turn off Allow reactions to limit distractions in the session. 
   • Enable the Q&A to allow your attendees to ask questions and post replies. Make sure this will be monitored by the moderator or another co-organizer. 
   • (Optional) Enable Green room to allow presenters and organizers the ability to test their audio prior to presenting. 
   • Leave Allow attendance report as is.  
   • Ignore Copilot. It is currently locked.
3. Save your meeting options. 
4. Send your meeting invitation to your required attendees (organizer and co-organizers). 

To add this option:

1. Find the meeting you just created in your Outlook or Teams calendar.
2. Open the invitation, hover over Join meeting now, and right click. Select Copy link.
3. Return to your Event page in WordPress.
4. Under Tickets, you’ll find the field for Online Webinar
   
5. Enter the webinar URL/link for the Teams meeting in this field.
6. Important: please note that this URL/link will not appear in the public listing of this event. It will be sent in the confirmation email to anyone who registers for the event.
7. Add any remaining details to your Event page. Once all information is in place, click Submit for Review in the Publish sidebar.

In WordPress:

1. Find the Event you wish to alter in the list of Events and click the Create Revision link below it.
2. Make whatever changes to the content, date/time, tags, categories, or online webinar field you wish to make.
   • Important: As mentioned above, the registration option on the published event will not be visible or editable on the revision copy. You do not need to create a new one. And if you wish to add a registration option to an already published event, you will need to ask your Publisher to do that for you. Do not add a registration option to a revision copy, as this will not be added to the published event.
3. Preview the event and ensure it looks the changed content looks as you expect it to look.
4. When complete, click the Submit for Review button in the Publish sidebar.

Important If you need to save your draft revision and return to it later or if you try to create a revision but an Event appears to be “Locked” but you don’t see a corresponding revision copy, you may need to access the draft via another method, temporarily. See: Accessing Draft or Pending Event Posts that Appear Locked in WordPress.

Microsoft Teams replaced Zoom as the main videoconferencing platform at BCIT. Zoom will no longer be available as of April 20, 2024.  

The following steps will help you update your info session event page with a Teams meeting link and inform registered attendees about the changes. 

1. Create your Teams meeting using the steps and event settings outlined above.
2. Create a revision of your already event in WordPress.
3. Find the meeting in Teams or your Outlook calendar and open the invitation.
4. Hover over Join the meeting now and right click to copy the link. Select Copy Link.
5. Return to your Event page in WordPress and go to the Online Webinar field.
6. Delete the Zoom link and add the Teams meeting link.
7. Click Submit for Review in the Publish sidebar.

To update registered attendees:

1. Export the attendee list for the event. Follow these steps to extract this data.
2. Email attendees to inform them of the change and share the new event link. Note: you only need to do this for attendees who registered before you updated the meeting link. Anyone who registers after you updated the event will receive the invitation in the email confirmation sent by the Events Calendar.