Ask Slashdot: Events Calendar Software For Local Community? 120
First time accepted submitter hughbar writes "I live in a London suburb that has many activities and classes, yoga, IT [of course], running, art, assorted volunteering and many others. With the help of the local council, we'd now like to make a centralised, searchable database of these, with a number of helpful features: Easy to make submissions, otherwise the whole thing will always be out of date; Web accessible [obviously] but mobile phone friendly as well; Maybe, publish and subscribe, so people can 'subscribe' to yoga listings for example; Handles repeating events, like a classical web calendar; Maybe, can be consolidated with nearby events calendars. I'm aware of MRBS and WebCalendar, but I'm wondering whether there are other suggestions, especially as this is a useful social application. And, yes, I'd like it done with open source, then we can tailor it."
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Google (Score:2, Informative)
Docs for Non-Profit that is.
You just can't beat their calendar for mobile access and colaboration.
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Good, free, but not open source.
Re:Google (Score:4, Insightful)
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Sometimes you get all three (Linux, Android, etc), but not this time.
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I'd bite you tongue on that with Android LOL
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Yeah, I realized that when I said it, but in terms of raw quantity, that is the exception and not the norm (and you might want to redact Android ... it's kind of quasi free and open)
Other notable examples include Mozilla's efforts, Audacity, VLC and... uh, I can't think of any others at the moment. For every truly excellent open source project out there, there are a thousand of 'em where the developers have their heads up their asses and clearly are incapable of thinking from the perspective of their users
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apache, vnc, ssh, mysql, gimp (yes I know its not photoshop - but please show me a competing 'free' editor?), inkscape, dia, .... etc etc etc
are all good programs
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Only free if you’re a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit with the IRS. Otherwise, you pay full price for enterprise level Google domains stuff.
You can still use the free stuff under “just a gmail account,” but if you want your own domain, there’s no more free option from Google.
civiCRM (Score:4, Informative)
Re:civiCRM (Score:5, Informative)
CiviCRM is extremely good at what it does, and works with Drupal, as well as Joomla.
I like Drupal a lot. Drupal is like LEGO bricks you can build anything out of, and if you install CiviCRM on top of Drupal, that's like building the Millennium Falcon Star Wars Edition LEGO along with a spaceport for it. If that interests you, then also add OpenAtrium to your short list of things to check out too. In fact you can combine them if you want and they'll give you complimentary functions, however you might also find OpenAtrium is good enough for your CRM needs. Or you might swap out CiviCRM from your OpenAtrium platform as described, and use RedHen CRM instead.
Whatever direction you choose for CRM, I hope you'll give OpenAtrium consideration towards your requirements, (that is what the White House uses for its workgroup collaboration too). It's a good Space Dock Platform to hold your calendaring, notifications, public/private docs, etc.
http://openatrium.com/ [openatrium.com]
http://redhencrm.com/ [redhencrm.com]
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog... [whitehouse.gov]
Pro-Tip: In a lot of places where I have introduced OpenAtrium, when I get around to installing the sheetnode module, and everyone gets collaborative spreadsheets, I often hit a home run. The spreadsheet usefulness and ajax is extremely good.
https://drupal.org/project/she... [drupal.org]
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I'm not aware of openatrium and redhencrm, so thanks for those!
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Owncloud (Score:2, Interesting)
Hope this helps.
Re:Owncloud (Score:4, Interesting)
Integration with google calendars a must... (Score:3)
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calagator (Score:3, Interesting)
My work in progress (Score:3)
I've been working on such a thing for a smaller scale for just three rural counties. Most of the calendars I've come across are modules in CMSs like Drupal or Joomla, way overkill for a platform and the calendar detail presentation sucks as well as the user entry. Most programmers don't try to understand events.
There are also some web event services out there that are more wide ranging like eventsetter... but they supplement with a lot of ads and you only find a few trees in the global forest of data.
The challenges are (beyond responsive/mobile design and data structure)
- Making a user friendly form where the submission could be directly used by the calendar... I've concluded most of them are useless for the general public (especially here - we may soon crawl out of dialup in some remote parts of our counties!). So the main input is just a text area (preloaded with what needs to be included), which I transcribe into the real form on the admin side. This could be a lot of work for folks doing this for a large suburb, but the results are better as you can standardize the content as you transcode.
- Getting people to submit data. This might be a case of having to get traction before it gets going but even then, people are lazy, even if the 'add info' buttons are in plain sight on just about every page. Currently I do 95% of entries.
So, here's mine - http://www.doplaces.com/ [doplaces.com] been on-line about six months now (to get a better idea of events go to the calendar, back to december and view, was alot going on then). It also includes a community directory of groups, businesses services and other locations with mucho cross-referencing between those and the events calendar.
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I'm more into utilitarian, stuff people are looking for, not flashy graphics... and it will improve with time.
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Yeah I have realized, people won't return to your information site just because its pretty, only if provides what they need. I'm not overly worried about the look as long as its informative, easy to understand, and quick use.
I guess the biggest missing point I see is location, need to add something that to locate the user, and better orient them.
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Ok, will check on Mac, I know the font rendering differs quite a bit. On Firefox Linux here.
Re:Sweet Baby Jesus is such a nice guy (Score:2)
Ok maybe I need add roundy corners. Ahh, 'vertical' spacing... got it.
well, actually most everything is a link except the back button and submit for the forms... Most are denoted with a shaded background (work in progress) Its not the standard pardigm, but I think the effect works. Time will tell.
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You mean I have to style the BROWSE, HAPPENING, CALENDAR, and HELP to look more like buttons?
"
Your handy (even on your smartphone) local search
for places, shopping, events and services
in Amador, Calaveras & Tuolumne Counties!
Not sure what to search for?
then click "Browse" or "Happening"!
"
seems to list the area.. guess I should add California to that (you know, there are a bunch of places called Portland...?).. but I do suggest what to click.
I'll get exporting (not sure about importing, most folks up he
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I have in the date boxes, the number of matching events/groups in the calendar view... should make that more apparnt currently (other than the number) it lightens the date shading.
You aren't really seeing the depth yet, though if you go say to an event, you can click to the venue and get the contact details or from the event (or the event host, if listed) events can list participants (entertainers/caterers/vendors, etc) which will then also cross-list back to that event on thier info pages. Beyond dates it
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Fixed the issue with the pointer on hover on table cells that are links, and my calendar wasnt highlighting the dates with events, that's been fixed.
Thanks
it's been twenty years, or forty (Score:5, Insightful)
Explain to me how it's 2014, and this is the same question that I've been asked since I started my web business in 1992? I'm just plain bored with it. We've had twenty years of web calendars, and forty years of software calendars. I've had enough of the question. What a waste of an entire industry. What good is an industry that can't solve a single basic problem in two decades? I'll be 60 in 25 years. I'll have retired twice, and I'll be consulting for random other companies. I swear my very last project, on my death-bed, will be the very same "we need an event calendar, what should we do?".
Show of hands. How many readers here have built, installed, chosen, spec'd, designed, setup, trained, populated, migrated, or exported an event calendar more than six times? I'm approaching about 150 at this point.
Re:it's been twenty years, or forty (Score:5, Insightful)
So you are 35, and you have already done this 150 times and you haven't got ONE suggested solution for a community calendar?
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Re:it's been twenty years, or forty (Score:4, Interesting)
Good luck to you sir, but please grow up a little!
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If I had mod points, I'd give them all to you for a very informative response.
So how about +5 informative, instead.
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If you'd done what I've done, you'd know why.
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I dunno. Given that there are plenty of excellent multi-user calendar solutions, I don't know what industry you're actually describing.
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I'm completely d'accord with the poster (hughbar).
There is always something that does not work.
Either you can only invite people that _have an account_ or are at least in the adress book or you have wiered JavaScript mouse interactions, you change the starting time of the event because by default with the mouse you can only create events at full hours and half hours, then automatically the end time changes (which is in 90% of the cases NOT what I want, especially if it goes via multiple days), the export or
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There's always something that does not work? Every thought of just building your own any way you please?
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We live in the year 2014, not in 1914 or 1954.
How software works, should work, how it might be developed, how it should be developed is a no brainer meanwhile.
When I buy a car it usually just works.
Why should it be different with software?
Ah, yeah: all the programmers are artists. Software is an art. Sorry, they not even have managed their trait, craftmenship or even their apprenticeship.
Regarding your question: yes, I'm working on my own stuff. The point is not: "anyway you please"! The point is common sen
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"Buy a car...."
Though I in near accord w/both you and GPPoster,
I would like to note that, sticking to a car analogy, Its like buying a car that works for >5 if not >10 years to avoid the viscious lease/trade-in cycle and planned obsolence.
So, the mechanic who craftily repairs and replaces parts (functionality) is something of an artist and someone prized and trusted if good at their trade.
I've been round the same block too many times as you refer to. I love and will only use opensource and have a bias
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There's always something that does not work? Every thought of just building your own any way you please?
Well, that came full circle quickly.
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I'm describing the industry that results in the poster asking this question in 2014. That industry. Where thousands of comments from hundreds of responders will discuss an idea that's been in use for decades.
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The industry has nothing to do with it; it has done its job, at least when it comes to calendaring.
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Then why is this guy, and so many others, still asking for the community for help?
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For the usual reasons: he's lazy, poorly informed, and not very smart. None of those are problems industry can fix for him.
They are common problems in all areas of society.
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Nice comment. Of course, it's not just calendars but basically everything; finding something as simple as a reliable and scalable email client is a challenge.
If you (or other posters) have some thoughts about how we might be able to fix this I'd love to hear it. Next month I'm going to start working full-time on trying to solve this problem because I hope the lack of success is just due too few attempts. Judging by your other replies, the issue is barely even recognized.
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Build your own. If you can't build something from 20 years ago with modern tools, then you ought to get a new profession.
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I did an extensive search of software available at the time and nothing really cut it and had to develop something from scratch. Although it's easy for one-off events, when
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But the goal of hiring IT is specifically to solve the problem. If your IT guy isn't solving a problem for five years at a time, find a new one.
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You sound like a cook in a restaurant bitching about having to cook dinner for all your customers every single freakin' night, how are those ungrateful bastards hungry again?. Seriously, get over yourself.
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No. You've missed the point entirely. I sound like a cook in a restaurant who, among many other things, has been making peanut butter and jam sandwiches for twenty years, and someone starting a new restaurant is asking for a recipe for peanut butter and jam sandwiches.
Get under yourself.
Re:it's been twenty years, or forty (Score:4, Insightful)
Your self delusion and arrogance runs even deeper than you made it sound at first, not a trivial accomplishment.
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I would think its been more like most of recodrded history. at least :-D
A one size fits all calendar would be a nightmare to cover the myrad of applicartions for keeping and tracking time/events.
Also as with most software the world outpaces the original design regularly, and software needs to adapt to new ideas and trends (responsive/minimalist design, phone friendly interface, etc.)
20 years ago we didnt have iphone with GPS and mobile web, facebook, etc.
As Sonny and Cher put it - The beat goes on.
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and you think that calendar software, web calendars, and events in general have changed at all? You think the iphone changed the way we schedule events on a calendar? The iphone entered a world that existed already. It didn't bring new ways of doing things. It simply brought convenient access to the same things. No one wants gps as a part of their calendar. I have no interest in being told about all of the events near to me. Quite the opposite, actually.
And, in case you've forgotten, before there wer
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> I have no interest in being told about all of the events near to me. Quite the opposite, actually.
Well, then that's just you, move along. :-)
People visinting a place would reqally like to know what's going on while they are there, not afterwards. Around here getting the word out usually entails the printing and distribution of printed materials (papers, flyers, etc. Not very efficient. Web calendars help if you have web access... again, not no one thing works for everyone.
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Think harder please. Much harder. Here's some help. Think about everything you think is important, remove everything else that already exists, and see if it works in your own head. I promise, what you've just described doesn't work. And once you add what's needed to make it work, you no longer benefit from those things that you thought were important in the first place.
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Man, I must be taking up some real estate in your mind.
Thanks for the suggestion. I guess then, in your belief, I'm tilting at just my own personal windmills. I can live with that. :-D
New Calendar Software - Would Love Opinion! (Score:1)
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So take me out to dinner or something, and we can talk as friends.
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If you're asking me for my professional review of a product, contact me professionally, give me a budget, and I'll give you an invoice. If you're asking for my personal review, I just don't find that fun.
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Umm, I don't think you've understood me. I'm not bemoaning any lack of an adequate tool. I'm responding to the original poster who is asking for one. It's that question that I'm bemoaning. I believe that there are many adequate tools, and I believe that it's really easy to build your own -- as I've done so many times throughout my career.
If you're a waitress, then I don't want to talk over lunch. Let's talk over a jazz performance instead.
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That's infinitely more usable than your name, apparently. If you aren't going to put your name to your arguments, then they aren't worth anything at all.
Jon Udell knows this stuff and helps all who come. (Score:1)
elmcity (Score:2)
Jon Udell's elmcity [cloudapp.net] project (FAQ [jonudell.net], quickstart guide [jonudell.net], source [github.com]) may be of interest.
Google (Score:1)
calendar.
Drupal (Score:2)
Drupal would fit this project well. Here is what you can accomplish with Drupal for your project:
- Visitors may register for accounts. The usual suspects like CAPTCHA for the registration & login form, password reset feature, e-mail verification, etc.. are either core or available with modules.
- Members can subscribe to event listings via the notifications module.
- Members can PM other members.
- Visitor's or registered users may post events with moderator approval
- Using the views, taxonomy, better
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Good point (Score:2)
You bring up a valid point about having the same event repeating on several different intervals. Note to the OP: you can repeat an event every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00 PM. However, as hazah stated, you can't repeat the same event on Monday at 7:00, Wednesday at 8:00, and Friday at 6:00 without having to kludge something together.
I don't think the interface entry is a show stopper though. If CSS alone doesn't provide a good looking, intuitive interface, then it can be cleaned up nicely with the
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how about a facebook page? (Score:2)
There's quite a lot you can do with Facebook pages, and a lot of people will already have username/pwd there.
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Well, I did not get that from the original submission. I hope you don't end up wasting public funds to re-invent Facebook and then realise that people are not aware or not willing to sign up for yet another region-specific social network.
Your basic problem is "nearby". (Score:2)
Your basic problem is "nearby".
You need to find the intersection of where you are normally located, and where the events are normally located, combined with the radius you are willing to travel, and the radius that the even planners are willing to consider "these people are local". In a lot of cases, "these people are local" are not defined by distance, but by geographic boundaries, such as boroughs, which are administrative divisions within a county. They may also apply to self selecting groups, such as
Elgg (Score:1)
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LocalWiki, aka Davis city wiki (Score:1)
It's one table, like this (Score:1)
Tried Podio? (Score:1)
I've found podio.com to be very useful (and free as in beer) for these types of things. Easy to build web forms and integration with Google Calendar and other calendaring tools.
The Events Calendar Pro (Score:1)
Our Community uses Localist (Score:1)
Calagator / ActivateHub (Score:1)
The source is available on github: https://github.com/calagator/c... [github.com]
There is also ActivateHub (which is a fork of Calagator) - Demo http://portland.activatehub.or... [activatehub.org], Source: https://github.com/activate/Ac... [github.com]
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Betteridge's law: (Score:2)
Open data collaborative agenda. (Score:1)
SOGo? (Score:2)
Trumba (Score:2)
Consider Trumba. It's not a free service, and it will cost you around $100/month, but they give you a lot for your money. We've been using them for our local public-facing calendar (~500 events a month) for several years.
Bedework (Score:1)
The best tool depends on what are your primary needs about managing events (calendaring vs organizational).
If your needs are most about calendaring, Bedework ( http://www.jasig.org/bedework [jasig.org] ) imho is the best open source calendaring solution (powerful and flexible public/private calendars, group calendaring, categories, CalDav, public event submision, repeatitive events, web and mobile clients, rss, based on standards, etc)
If your needs are more oriented to organize the events themselves (p