The University’s online calendar, http://calendar.utexas.edu, aka Texas Today, is powered by a a third party service called Localist and is managed by the University Communications office. The COFA Web team works directly with them to set up the “feeds” of our events exported from our sites and imported into the UT Calendar.
The following information is provided to empower COFA content creators to manage events but it can get complicated and the COFA Web team is happy to help. Please don’t hesitate to contact us, cofawebmaster@austin.utexas.edu.
On this page
Automated vs. Manual Sharing
Anyone with an EID can submit an Event manually by logging in http://calendar.utexas.edu.
On our Drupal Websites, there are checkboxes in the Content Creation forms for you to control what is shared in the feed or not. There are also fields that allow you to customize the information that is shared in the “Share with Other University Calendars” field set. Once the box is checked, events are automatically sent to the University calendar the next day. You cannot un-share by unchecking the box, please see the section below for an Event that is canceled, rescheduled, sold out or otherwise changed.
Please allow overnight for the shared content to display then confirm, in a browser that you are not logged into, that your item is displaying on all website pages as desired. If you do not see your content or edit, let us know.
Log in to our wiki to find a link to the feed for your site, where you can confirm that your Event item is included.
Editing on the UT Calendar
Anyone can edit their own manually entered events, but to edit an event that has been shared by the feed requires special access permissions. To see if you have access log in to our wiki. This access allows us to access any COFA related event from any of our departments, including those that are automatically created by the feed. PLEASE BE CAREFUL TO ONLY EDIT YOUR DEPARTMENT EVENTS.
To find a specific Event to edit, use the “Refined Search” fields to select only your department and select only your feed from the “Import Type.”
Or Log in to our wiki to find a link to review Events for your specific department or unit on the UT Calendar.
Recommended Workflows
Create the Event you want to share
Create it on your own website filling out the Content Creation form. Read all inline instructions carefully.
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The Summary, Title, Location, Dates & Times, an Image, Status, Ticket URL & Admission Range, Department Name come from your website.
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You should select the location from the “Map This Event to a Place on the University Calendar” if it is available. Let us know if updates to Places on the UT Calendar are needed.
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Use the “Optional Title and Summary for External Calendars” fields in the “Other University Calendars” field set, if it is necessary to provide more context on an external calendar. For example, the Title might be “Tour” on your website but would be better as “Department Tour” on an external website.
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On most sites you will check the box to Share the event, but on some websites, such as the Butler School of Music site, all events are shared automatically, and you will need to un-check the box on events that you do not want to share.
If you need to edit an Event that is already shared
Deleting an event on your website does not remove it from the external calendar, neither does unchecking the share checkbox. If you need to delete, read the section below if an Event is canceled, rescheduled, sold out or otherwise changed for more details.
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The Location, Dates/Time, the Image, Status, Ticket URL or Admissions Range must be edited on your own website and will update overnight to the UT Calendar.
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If you want the Title or the Summary to be different on the UT Calendar we recommend step 3 in this list above. However, you can edit them on the UT Calendar and they should not be overridden by the feed.
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On the next day, confirm that your edits have propagated to the UT Calendar. If you’re unhappy with the way the event looks after you edit it, let us know.
If an Event is canceled, rescheduled, sold out or otherwise changed
We do not recommend deleting an event once it has been published.
Instead, we recommend using the Status feature. If you assign the Status on the Content Type editor form of your own website, the University and College websites will display the same or similar message after the feed is updated.
You’re also encouraged to remove ticket buying fields or other misleading content. See more recommendations and consider carefully steps for Canceled, Rescheduled and Sold Out events.
If you do really need to delete an event that has already been shared with the University, it must be manually deleted from all calendars. Checking the “Do not Share” or unchecking the “Share” box does not remove the event from the other calendar. Someone must log in to your website, the university and the college website to delete the event. The system is not smart enough to delete it. Remember, most sites published events are automatically shared with the College. In the unlikely chance that you want the event to remain on your site, you must appropriately check or uncheck the box so that it does not share in the feed the next day.
If you want to add more details to the Event on the UT Calendar
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Click the “Admin” button and go to “Upcoming Events” to find your event to edit. You’re encouraged to edit high profile events whether they are entered manually or automatically. Make sure they have high quality imagery and lots of juicy publicity info.
