Feature request for managing stake and ward events

This is a feature request. How can I contact the priesthood approval department with this suggestion? Will they see it here?

Our stake calendar is very useful to know what is going on at the stake level. However, now that I'm back in a ward calling serving as bishop I find that the stake calendar contains information that is not relevant for wards. We want to only show stake calendar items that are relevant to our ward. From a ward use perspective I find the LDS.org stake calendar less than ideal for wards because we have to manually re-enter stake events that we want on our ward calendar which causes duplicate events. Or we we have to view all stake calendar events which makes the calendar cluttered with events not relevant to our ward.

Two possible solutions:

We would like the ability to be able to copy or make available on our ward calendar certain stake calendar items. Currently, the only method is to completely re-enter the event. It would save a lot of time if we didn't have to re-enter the appropriate stake calendar event. The ideal method would be for us to select a stake calendar item and then select an option to include it on one of our ward calendars.

Another possible method of would be to provide a way for when the stake creates stake calendar events that the wards are selected at that time so that it automatically shows up on the the specified ward(s) calendar. For example, a stake priesthood meeting should be selected to show up on every ward calendar while a specific ward welfare assignment would only be relevant for a certain ward and not for others.

Then we could filter the view or toggle to display: all stake events, stake events "copied"or "assigned" to the ward calendar, or only ward calendar events.

Can you give examples about events "that are relevant to our ward." The idea behind the calendar is that the members select what calendars are relevant to them. So, for example, a YSA member might select to display the stake YSA calendar, while married members do not. There usually isn't any need for the ward to echo the stake events on their own calendar.

I suspect the real issue is that all the events are lumped into a single calendar rather than breaking them out into separate categories/overlays as intended. That would severely limit the ability to manage the display.

russellhltn wrote:Can you give examples about events "that are relevant to our ward."

The ones I've seen are things like ward specific welfare assignments and ward conference.

The stake could handle this by creating a stake calendar for each ward to be used for stake scheduled ward events. That would add a bunch of new calendars and each calendar probably wouldn't have very many events. And some events may have to be duplicated if they are multi-ward.

But I think the easiest way to enhance the calendar system to better handle this would be to just allow stake administrators create and edit events on ward calendars . Then the stake could just put the events on the appropriate ward calendar. I don't think that would require any changes to how the UI works, just permission changes. Ideally the stake should only be able to edit events they created but that would probably be a bigger change.

When I was the stake exec sec, I created separate stake calendars for: ward conferences, storehouse assignments, temple laundry and cleaning assignments, etc. If members were not interested is those sorts of events, they didn't have to view those calendars.

eblood66 wrote:But I think the easiest way to enhance the calendar system to better handle this would be to just allow stake administrators create and edit events on ward calendars .

That could result to "too many cooks in the kitchen" problem. And I don't think it helps the visibility at the stake level since I'd imagine most stake leaders ignore ward calendars.

I think creating ward-specific calendars at the stake level may be the answer. While there may not be very many events, it's something the ward leaders need to see - but they probably don't want to see all the other ward's assignments. I'm thinking one calendar per unit should do it. I don't think there's a pressing need to sub-divide it any further.

I just checked how my stake is doing it. They have just one calendar for "Stake meetings with stake and ward leaders". Granted, it will have all the units in one calendar, which forces users to ignore the meetings that don't apply to them. But clearly stating the unit in the title helps.

In our stake, we have a stake presidency calendar, a stake leaders' calendar, and a general stake calendar. We put things like ward conferences on the stake leaders' calendar (which anyone can subscribe or unsubscribe to), but we put them on as all-day events instead of events with a specific time. That way, they take up less space and are less intrusive – compared to, for example, making an event with a specific start and end time that takes up an intrusive three-hour block on the calendar.

sbradshaw wrote:In our stake, we have a stake presidency calendar, a stake leaders' calendar, and a general stake calendar. We put things like ward conferences on the stake leaders' calendar (which anyone can subscribe or unsubscribe to), but we put them on as all-day events instead of events with a specific time. That way, they take up less space and are less intrusive – compared to, for example, making an event with a specific start and end time that takes up an intrusive three-hour block on the calendar.

And you can't schedule a three-hour ward conference with reserved resources, such as the chapel, in a meetinghouse that is shared by multiple units. I quickly gave up trying to reserve any rooms for ward conferences.

What we are missing in Calendar is the ability in the Classic Calendar for a stake to put an item on the stake calendar and then select the affected wards. So the event for a ward conference would show on the stake calendar and also only on the affected ward calendar. That is the missing piece.

With the new Calendar, the fix is hard because of its layered system. On which stake calendar do you put the event? If you then select an affected ward or two, which ward calendar displays the event? I think that is something that has befuddled the programmers, choosing a standard stake calendar and an associated standard ward calendar for these types of things (ward conferences, Seminary meetings, other multiple ward events hosted by the stake).

They need to be on a stake calendar all stake leaders see. They need to be on a ward calendar that the appropriate ward leaders will see.

lajackson wrote:They need to be on a stake calendar all stake leaders see. They need to be on a ward calendar that the appropriate ward leaders will see.

I agree the old 1.x calendar was elegant in that respect, but I don't think it's a good idea to bring that back. Each new feature adds complexity and the opportunity for someone to get it wrong. I can just imagine a new ward being created - either they'll see all the stake events for all the wards, or they'll see none of them. It seems like this could go wrong and cause yet more trouble.

Granted, the current system isn't as nice. It would require a extra stake calendar per unit. But within the framework of the current system, I think it would be understandable. It also has it's advantages: For example, a high councilor assigned to "Ward A" can subscribe to the "Stake events for Ward A" calendar. That way, he can see the events connected with his assignment, even though he's not in that ward. And he doesn't have to see all the stake events for all the other wards.