All building events deleted?!?

I was just sitting with our frantic building scheduler. She has been using the lds.org calendar to reserve the building and perform her calling. Today she is in a panic because all the events she entered are no longer in the calendar.

So I have several questions:

1. Has there been an update to the calendar system, a bug introduced, that resulted in events being lost?

2. Is it possible for someone from our Stake or at another level to delete scheduled building events in bulk?

3. Is there a way to get this data back, assuming it was removed from the calendar by a supported mechanism?

4. Most important: Who do we call to figure this out?

The building scheduler has decided to go back to paper since "The calendar computer system is not trustworthy." I want to re-assure her and help the ward have confidence in the calendar system. Right now I don't have any answers.

There have been some recent updates to the Calendar system (2.7 and 2.7.1) in the last month, but this is the only report here on LDSTech of all events being deleted.

Before I would be overly concerned, I would do some basic troubleshooting.

• Have someone else in the ward or stake sign in and see what they can see. In particular, ask a ward or stake administrator (such as a ward or stake clerk), since they have permission to see most events.
• Make sure all the calendars are checked in the main calendar view.
• If you're hoping to see events on calendars you are not subscribed to (either by your choice or because they are calendars in other wards), make sure the correct checkboxes in the Locations section are checked.
• Refresh your browser, and/or clear your browser cache.

To answer your other specific questions:
2. There's no mechanism for bulk deletion of events. So if it was done by a person in your ward/stake, it was done manually, one event (or series of repeating events) at a time. That seems highly unlikely.
3. I don't know of any way to restore data that was deleted by an authorized user.
4. If none of those steps above show any events, then you should call the Global Service Center (1-855-LDS-HELP).

And although I know that people can lose confidence in systems when those systems don't work as they hope, I would urge some patience until you've done troubleshooting. I've had people give up on systems when the problem was simply their own mistake. I'm not saying that's the case here, but caution would seem advisable. And at least in my stake, no building scheduler would have the authority to make the decision to go back to paper -- that's the stake president's call.

I suspect your Building Scheduler has been using the restrictions calendar to schedule the building (a bad idea for a number of reason).

With the update to 2.7, the restrictions calendar is no longer a separate item, but streamlined into the main calendar. See 2.7 FAQ on how to view the restrictions under the new calendar.

Note also that if your stake hasn't set locations to "This location can be scheduled by Wards and Stakes", the Building Scheduler may no longer be able to see the restrictions. (Those locations will not be listed under the Locations section on the left side.)

Thank you for the replies!

We did some troubleshooting, as you suggested aebrown. Quite thorough in your suggestions and answers!

Several people reported the same problem, including a member of the bishopric. For example, this is my view now as an Assistant Ward Clerk:

https://plus.google.com/photos/11539773 ... oKQ3JH_-gE

russellhltn, you have hit the answer! When I set the restrictions on, I can see the events! I will have to check with the scheduler to know if she can see the calendar items and then follow up with the stake.

Can you tell me or point me to information about the restrictions calendar and it's proper use? Why should it not be used to schedule the building?

alandd wrote:Can you tell me or point me to information about the restrictions calendar and it's proper use? Why should it not be used to schedule the building?

I would read the help file in the calendar carefully and understand how each feature works.

First, I'll say that the old method of a building scheduler made sense in the days of paper - there could only be one calendar that was THE calendar and fully up to date - and only one person could be in possession of it. But with the on-line tools THE calendar is now on-line and available to all calendar editors. As long as the ward is scheduling their events in the calendar, they can schedule the building at the same time. This way the building schedule is always in sync with the events, and nothing is ever off because an event was canceled or moved and someone forgot to tell the building scheduler.

Note that restrictions can only restrict a building to a specific unit - not to a specific origination. So if a restriction is created to reserve the cultural hall for a RS event, there's nothing to prevent the YM of the same ward from creating an event that uses the same room at the same time.

Restrictions were intended for things where Ward A has Tuesday nights, Ward B has Wednesdays and Ward C has Thursdays. That prevents each ward from creating events on another ward's nights, but leaves them free to schedule their nights.

This is a helpful explanation. Thank you!

I don't know why we still have a building scheduler except to say that our Stake is only recently getting away from publishing paper for everything. We are going through some learning bumps about the use of the online systems.

I will read through the help materials and help train the people using the tools.