Smart-Thinker Events Module Configuration Guide
Version 04.03.06
Thank you for trying the Smart-Thinker Events module. We hope you find it useful!
Overview
Please ensure you have read and adhered to these instructions before contacting support.
If you wish to request a new feature, please use the Feature Requests.
If you have found a bug, please raise a support issue by following these steps.
This module guide was written for the configuration on PokerDIY – a poker-related social networking site. Feel free to browse the site to see a live, working example of an Events implementation.
Key Information
- Tested on DotNetNuke 4.3.5 and above.
- Always test modules on your staging server first. Never install any 3rd party module on to your live server without testing it first.
- You can try a free trial on a test DNN installation, but please adhere to our Licensing Agreement.
- Do NOT use caching on this module as it will produce unexpected results.
- Do NOT install the 4.3.1 version of this module twice as it performs Upgrade steps and may duplicate data
- For a quick breakdown of the controls and settings for this module please see our Forums.
Background
Licensing
As of version 04.03.01, this module now has a Parent/Child portal limit check depending on the License you have. Please see our Licensing Agreement for more information if unsure. You can now view the License that your particular module is using in the Module Settings of the Events control (you need to be logged in as Host)
Set up
This module follows the standard Smart-Thinker Architecture of an Upcoming Events screen, My Events screen and an Event Detail screen. This gives more flexibility to display featured Events or offer different Event retrieval methods (randomly or passed-in ID etc.)
The module is split into two different definitions; the Event Detail on it’s own and the Upcoming and MyEvents controls in another. The design we chose on PokerDIY.com was to have a page for Events where a user can see all the upcoming Events and filter them on the list and calendar view, and then a MyEvents control so they can manage their own Events. These controls link to a hidden Event Detail control where advertising is placed as it is a commonly viewed page.
1) Event Detail
To start, first create a page that will be used as a generic Event display page. All Event links will display more information in here by passing in the EventID to this page and the EventDetail control will load up that Event. You need to decide if you want unauthenticated users to be able to see Public Events or not. A Public Event is one that can be seen by non-invited members. You still need to decide who can see it by using Roles. On PokerDIY all users (even logged out users) can see Public Events so we give all users view rights on this page. Note that in earlier versions of this module you had to call this page “Events” – this is no longer a requirement and makes no difference. This page can be marked as Hidden as it will only ever be “called” from a link and the user will not navigate to it.
Add the Event Detail to this page (Smart-Thinker – Event Detail). Note that at this stage it will not display anything as the default display mode is “Passed-In EventID” which means that it is used as a container to display details of passed in Events from other controls as opposed to displaying a specific or random Event. You can now decide which Roles can RSVP to Events, so we gave Registered Users Edit Rights on this control. This means that although everyone can see Public Events they will need to log in to RSVP (anonymous users cannot RSVP to an Event). Note that when you have saved the settings the module may display an error. This is expected as there is no EventID and the Settings page does not pass it save it so when you return the module expects it and throws an error – you can safely ignore this.
When you view the settings for this control you may notice a new custom permission called “Event Admin”. This gives the ability to assign any role to as an Event Administrator, which means they can view all Events, edit them and approve them. They can do and see everything so you should use this permission wisely. If you are not using Auto Approval you may make a new role called “Event Administrators” and then you would give them the Event Admin right on this control (you need to do this in 2 places, the other control being the MyEvents control). Please raise a post on our Forums if you would like to discuss this feature in more detail.
2) My Events
On PokerDIY we added a new page called “Events” and added the Smart-Thinker – Events module definition to the page. This consists of 2 controls – MyEvents and UpcomingEvents.
The MyEvents control is used to show the logged on user the Events which they have created (and all Events if you are an Event Administrator). This is like the control panel for Events for a user. You will need to change the settings to give edit rights to the Roles that you will allow to create Events. On PokerDIY all logged in users can create Events so we gave the Registered Users Role View and Edit Rights on this control (you cannot give View rights to unauthenticated users).
If you are assigning a Role as Event Administrators then you will need to give them the same rights you gave them on the Event Detail page (i.e. the Roles for Event Admin Right must match on both controls).
Note that if you are viewing the MyEvents Settings whilst you are logged in as Host you will see the Smart-Thinker License Type and how many child/parent portals you are license to use this module on.
You can set up a lot of settings and options for Event creation here. You can decide how people are able to invite guests and whether or not to integrate with the Groups or UserProfile modules. If you want Events to skip the approval process then you can select Auto Approval so that they are immediately live and approved after creation.
You now have the option of choosing which Events to display in this MyEvents module. You can show all Events made from all MyEvents modules on the portal (if you had a more complex set up you might have different departments that can make and see only their own Events, but this is rare). You will generally leave this setting on “All Events”.
You can now also choose which Event Detail to link Event Names to in the MyEvents control. This setting should automatically pick up the module and page of the Event Detail module that you created previously.
After you create an Event, you can set up invitations and perform guest management. You can get to this screen by clicking on the little group icon on the right of the Event list.
3) Upcoming Events
The Upcoming Events control is used to display all public Events and Events that you are invited to. It has 3 different modes – List, Calendar or Both. The Calendar view only shows the current month, whereas the List view can show all Events and has many filters to filter data by.
You can decide which Roles can see the Upcoming Events but bear in mind that if you are allowing non-authenticated users to see Public Events they will need to see this control. On PokerDIY there is currently an Upcoming Events control on the home page in Calendar mode, and then a more detailed list and calendar view on the Events page with all the filters.
The Upcoming Events control can also “pull” Events from different MyEvents controls, or from all of them (i.e. portal level, which is the default). This could be useful if you were segregating Events by department or area.
There are various filters that you (as Admin) can set so that the Upcoming Events module only displays certain type of Events, and then you can choose if the user should be able to change these views. You might want to segregate Events by Type or Category and then use different Upcoming Events to display these different “views” of the Events.
You also can select which Event Detail module to link to, but you will probably just use the same one as the MyEvents module. You may want to change this if you were using the Event Detail page for advertising or targeting different people but it is not likely you would need more than one.
Since 4.3.1 you can now also use the RSS feed on Upcoming Events. This is handy so that users can be >