Building scheduler can't see other wards calendars in an event

Scenario:


John has been assigned to be the building scheduler. He is is Ward A.
Samantha is in Ward B in the same Stake as John.


Samantha doesn't have access to a PC, so she calls John to create a calendar event and lock out the kitchen for Tuesday for their relief society.


John creates the event and locks out the kitchen, but can't assign it to Samantha's “relief society” calendar because in the “Calendar” drop down box, the only calendars he sees are those in his ward (ward A).




Question:


Is this a limitation, or is the building scheduler not allowed to see all calendars (for every ward) in the stake?


Have we assigned the rights incorrectly?

No, that's the way the new system works. The solution is to have someone in Ward B, perhaps another member of the RS presidency, or a member of the extended Bishopric place it on the appropriate calendar.

fsiufanua wrote:John creates the event and locks out the kitchen, but can't assign it to Samantha's “relief society” calendar because in the “Calendar” drop down box, the only calendars he sees are those in his ward (ward A).

John didn't create an event. Building schedulers cannot create events*. What appeared to be an event was a reservation which is different from an event. Reservations set aside a location or rooms/equipment at a location for a designated ward or the stake. Until someone in the ward for whom the reservation was made creates an event the rooms will not be scheduled. In this case the kitchen was only reserved for Ward B. This prevents Ward A, Ward C, or any other ward from scheduling the kitchen on the same date and time as the reservation for Ward B.

(*Note: If a building scheduler has been designated as an editor of a calendar then they can create events for that calendar.)

As RussellHltn posted, someone in Ward B who has editor rights to the RS calendar would have to create the event to schedule the kitchen. Until that event is created the kitchen will not be scheduled and anyone in Ward B can schedule it.

fsiufanua wrote:Is this a limitation, or is the building scheduler not allowed to see all calendars (for every ward) in the stake?

Building schedulers can only see the calendars in their own ward just like everybody else. They have no special access to calendars outside their own ward. Everyone within a stake can view events with scheduled rooms/equipment at a location. Building schedulers can see all events taking place at their assigned location(s) through the Reservations section.

jdlessley wrote:This prevents Ward A, Ward C, or any other ward from scheduling the kitchen on the same date and time as the reservation for Ward B.

However, if John forgets about the reservation, and is asked to schedule something for his ward, he could inadvertently schedule something on top of that reservation without knowing it. This is because what the system calls "reservations" (probably better called "restrictions") does not apply to Building Schedulers.

Thus, come Tuesday, he could have a couple of unhappy groups.

The moral of the story: Don't use Reservations in place of events.

If a building schedule has to then get someone else in the other ward to post something on their calendar, what is the purpose of a building schedule. The real problem is that building schedulers need to be able to see all the events scheduled in their specific building, not just their ward. Would it be possible to have the stake technology specialist as part of setting up the location to assign additional calendars to the building scheduler. When buildings have 3 and 4 wards, there is a real problem in coordinating activities.

What do you think of having a building calendar as a stake calendar. If locations are being scheduled, then it is done on a building calendar created as a stake calender.

dwmoore wrote:If a building schedule has to then get someone else in the other ward to post something on their calendar, what is the purpose of a building schedule. The real problem is that building schedulers need to be able to see all the events scheduled in their specific building, not just their ward. Would it be possible to have the stake technology specialist as part of setting up the location to assign additional calendars to the building scheduler. When buildings have 3 and 4 wards, there is a real problem in coordinating activities.

The problem is you're hanging on to the "old way" where everything goes though the building scheduler. Under the new system, the "Building Scheduler" (which really isn't a good name for the new role) only sets aside locations for wards and deals with conflicts. Normal scheduling is "first come, first served". As long as there is no conflict, then the calendar editor can schedule the use of the building.

dwmoore wrote:What do you think of having a building calendar as a stake calendar. If locations are being scheduled, then it is done on a building calendar created as a stake calender.

No, that's a horrible step backwards since now you're having to schedule the building AND the event.

I schedule a stake center and now I am worried that I scheduled a bunch of events, not realizing that I couldn't see the other ward's calendar. Is there any way I can get permission to see the other wards?

I am also the "calendar clerk" so I manage my ward's calendar.

This job will be hugely difficult if I cannot obtain the other wards calendars.

Is there a way to get a link to sync to a google calendar?

blakedhansen wrote:I schedule a stake center and now I am worried that I scheduled a bunch of events, not realizing that I couldn't see the other ward's calendar. Is there any way I can get permission to see the other wards?

There is no way to do that at this time.

Note that the issue where there truly is a double-booking only happens during reservations.

blakedhansen wrote:Is there a way to get a link to sync to a google calendar?

You get your own by going to Settings > Sync. I'd advise against making the resulting calendar public.

dwmoore wrote:If a building schedule has to then get someone else in the other ward to post something on their calendar, what is the purpose of a building schedule. The real problem is that building schedulers need to be able to see all the events scheduled in their specific building, not just their ward. Would it be possible to have the stake technology specialist as part of setting up the location to assign additional calendars to the building scheduler. When buildings have 3 and 4 wards, there is a real problem in coordinating activities.


What do you think of having a building calendar as a stake calendar. If locations are being scheduled, then it is done on a building calendar created as a stake calender.

Here is the problem I am dealing with. Bishops allow members to do family events, mission reunions, social gatherings, organ practices, small group sports, etc. These things certainly do not belong on a public calendar.

blakedhansen wrote:Here is the problem I am dealing with. Bishops allow members to do family events, mission reunions, social gatherings, organ practices, small group sports, etc. These things certainly do not belong on a public calendar.

That's would probably be a good task for the Building Scheduler, providing they have a "Private Events" calendar they can schedule that on.

Which is really a poor design. I could try to schedule and event for several weeks because I can't see the other ward events. We are not hanging on the the "old way" as much as we want to more control of the process. This is especially important when the other ward is technical challenge, i.e. no one is going to use the web site. I also want to know when the other ward schedules basketball in the gym when we have a meeting in the chapel.

pricek wrote:This is especially important when the other ward is technical challenge, i.e. no one is going to use the web site.

From Handbook 2: 13.2.7

Church activities should be planned as far in advance as reasonable. They should be included on the stake or ward calendar. [...]

If an activity will be held at a meetinghouse or another Church facility, planners reserve the facility in advance to avoid conflicts with other activities or meetings.

Technically challenged or not, they'll need to find a way to comply with the handbook. They just can't go rouge.

At this point the system is what it is. The developers haven't told us of any changes or when to expect the next update.

pricek wrote:I also want to know when the other ward schedules basketball in the gym when we have a meeting in the chapel.

1) The second person to schedule an activity for that slot will be advised of a "possible conflict".
2) You could do "defensive scheduling" and include the cultural hall when you scheduled the chapel and release if it someone has a "compatible" meeting in the hall.
3) You can see all events scheduled for that location by switching to week view.

RussellHltn wrote:The problem is you're hanging on to the "old way" where everything goes though the building scheduler. Under the new system, the "Building Scheduler" (which really isn't a good name for the new role) only sets aside locations for wards and deals with conflicts. Normal scheduling is "first come, first served". As long as there is no conflict, then the calendar editor can schedule the use of the building.



No, that's a horrible step backwards since now you're having to schedule the building AND the event.

So it is better to schedule Ward A, call some in Ward B and have them schedule the event? I would rather schedule the building and the event

I think you misunderstand when I said "the Building Scheduler only sets aside locations for wards". By "set aside" I mean that if Ward A has the building on Tuesday nights and Ward B on Wednesday nights, he sets those "Reservations" (more accurately "Restrictions"). That's not the same as setting an event. He does NOT set aside on a event-by-event basis.

Scheduling an event schedules the building. If Ward B needs to schedule something, then a calendar editor in Ward B puts the event on the calendar and selects the building resources at the same time. The Building Scheduler only becomes involved if (with Ward A's permission) they need to schedule something on Tuesday night.

I suggest reading the help file. At least the quick start guides.

One of the most common requests is to view calendars of other wards. I added a little more detail in the help section on this topic. See https://tech.lds.org/wiki/Viewing_calendars#View_calendars_of_other_wards. Through Available Locations, you can view all events taking at specific locations. If you're trying to determine whether there's a conflicting event at your chapel on a specific day, clear all the calendar selections under Subscribed Calendars. Then under Available Locations, select a location. Scheduled events at the location appear in gray; reservations appear in white. Then click the event or reservation to see what kind of activity it is.

Would this solve the problem? Really the traditional building scheduler model (where everyone schedules events through one person) has been discontinued. Building schedulers set restrictions, as RussellHltn said, but they shouldn't be scheduling events for calendar editors. In fact, as mentioned in this thread, building schedulers *can't* schedule events unless they're also an editor or admin. The building scheduler role is to set restrictions and mediate scheduling conflicts.

RussellHltn wrote:By "set aside" I mean that if Ward A has the building on Tuesday nights and Ward B on Wednesday nights, he sets those "Reservations" (more accurately "Restrictions")...

I think part of the confusion with reservations is that we're using an old term in a new way. We should probably have discarded that term and selected a new one to reflect the new calendar model. If you could change the term reservations to something else, would you call it "restrictions"? "scheduling rules"? "time blocks"? something else?

pricek wrote:So it is better to schedule Ward A, call some in Ward B and have them schedule the event? I would rather schedule the building and the event

RussellHltn was describing the method used in the classic event calendar and the classic resources calendar. In the new calendar when an event is created the resources needed are scheduled at the same time as the event.

Those planning an event can view all the events at a location by selecting the week view instead of the month view, reduce clutter of ward and stake events from subscribed calendars by selecting "hide all calendars" below the "Subscribed Calendars" list box, and check only the location at which the event is planned to occur in the "Locations" list box. Reservations will appear in a box with a white background. Events will appear as a box with a gray background.

The week view is used for displaying all the scheduled events and reservations because there is not enough screen real estate to display all the possible events and reservations in month view. Even in week view the display of events and reservations can become quite cluttered.

The current problem in viewing events and resources at a location by those without building scheduler rights is that the events and reservations cannot be correlated directly with the event's/reservation's ward. It is possible to determine which ward an event belongs to by doing a search on the name of the last person to edit the event found in the event details.

If the building scheduler enters the ward and other useful information in the details of the reservation then anyone can tell what ward and why the reservation was made.

johnsonth wrote:I think part of the confusion with reservations is that we're using an old term in a new way. We should probably have discarded that term and selected a new one to reflect the new calendar model. If you could change the term reservations to something else, would you call it "restrictions"? "scheduling rules"? "time blocks"? something else?

This has already been discussed briefly in this thread. That's probably a better place to continue the discussion.

The current problem in viewing events and resources at a location by those without building scheduler rights is that the events and reservations cannot be correlated directly with the event's/reservation's ward. It is possible to determine which ward an event belongs to by doing a search on the name of the last person to edit the event found in the event details.

I'll log a bug to include an enhancement for this. I don't see any reason why the details about the event should exclude the ward information.

johnsonth wrote:If you could change the term reservations to something else, would you call it "restrictions"? "scheduling rules"? "time blocks"? something else?

Some of us chatted about that in the Reservation terminology thread. I think we agreed on "restrictions". "Scheduling Rules" could work. "Time blocks" doesn't quite seem like the right thing.

The main thing to to insure that it's used correctly, not as a replacement for events. Perhaps "Ward Nights". That's a little too narrow, but I think it communicates how it's intended to be used.

A very excellent thread. I found a couple of takeaways from it:

1. Make sure your "events" include a building "reservation". You can have an event without a reservation (nice feature).

2. Don't hang on to the "old way" of doing things and go through the building scheduler for ward or stake reservations/events. You have the ability to create your own reservations, use it. Use the building scheduler to manage conflicts as they arise.

3. Create a "Private Event" calendar for the building scheduler to use for ward members private events. Consider giving auxiliaries access to this calendar.

The only question I didn't see adequately answered is that my leadership would like to, at a glance, see what is scheduled in the building. Where a building can have as many as three or four wards in it, it can be frustrating to schedule a room when you can't (at a glance) see what the other wards have scheduled too.

With the recent updates the ability to see who has the room reserved is present. When you try to reserve the location, the calendaring tool will tell you who has the room scheduled, for what times, and gives contact information. All very important and is a partial solution to the feature being asked for, which is to (at a glance) see which rooms are scheduled on any given day for a location when the location is shared by two or more wards.

So, is it possible to see at a glance if the location is reserved outside of your ward? In recent leadership training I gave that was the number one feature asked for. Perhaps, it could be a toggled feature that is only on when needed to view the entire location's schedule? Otherwise, we would have a clutter problem.

headybr wrote:"reservation"

One caution - reservation was the old terminology for what is now called a restriction. I believe you're using it in the sense of blocking off the building for a specific event. To avoid confusion, we (in the forum) typically use "book", as in to "book the room".

headybr wrote:So, is it possible to see at a glance if the location is reserved outside of your ward? In recent leadership training I gave that was the number one feature asked for.

If you switch to week-view, you see then select a location and see all "bookings" and restrictions placed on that building. You may want to uncheck your calendars to clean up the display. The one downside is you have to look at the details of each item to see what room(s) are involved.

I can click on week view, uncheck all my calendars and locations, then check the one location I want to see, but I don't see the other wards bookings in the same building.

headybr wrote:but I don't see the other wards bookings in the same building.

They may be booking a duplicate building, but most likely they are not be using the calendar, or at least not booking the building for thier events.

I'm not sure I understand a solution to this problem yet...

People are scheduling ward and personal events in a multi-ward building in our stake. These events are scheduled as "stake" events so that everyone in the building will know. But I'm in a completely separate building and ward, and we'd rather not have these calendar items "clogging" our ward (and stake) calendar. I understand their purpose in doing this, but can there be a better way?

ivan72 wrote:People are scheduling ward and personal events in a multi-ward building in our stake. These events are scheduled as "stake" events so that everyone in the building will know.

This is done because people don't understand how the system works.

First: Each ward is responsible for adding their own events. The old model of one person scheduling all events is dead. That method came out of the old paper technology where only one person could have possession of THE calendar for the building. With the Internet, everyone has access.

Second: there is a belief that "if I can't see it, then I could create an event that conflicts with someone else's." That's not true either. As long as the locations are properly set up and everyone uses the "location" field in creating their events, the system will not allow conflicts. It is possible to see all events scheduled for a building by switching to "week" view and selecting the facility on the left side.

In some isolated cases, it may be necessary to create stake calendars for ward events - for example wards that have combined their youth activities. The only other choice there is to record the events in both ward calendars, but that requires effort for both wards in keeping them in sync.

Good luck in convincing leaders to change the way they work.

I just want to echo the need for an at-a-glance look at resource availability in the building.

The only question I didn't see adequately answered is that my leadership would like to, at a glance, see what is scheduled in the building. Where a building can have as many as three or four wards in it, it can be frustrating to schedule a room when you can't (at a glance) see what the other wards have scheduled too.

We are a YSA stake with EIGHT wards sharing the same building, and this leads to a lot of frustration, blindly scheduling activities over and over only to find that there is a conflict.