1 ##master-page:HelpTemplate 2 ##master-date:Unknown-Date 3 #format wiki 4 #language en 5 6 == EventAggregator == 7 8 The !EventAggregator macro for !MoinMoin can be used to display event calendars or listings which obtain their data through "aggregation" from pages belonging to specific categories (such as CategoryEvents) or from remote event sources. 9 10 <<TableOfContents(3)>> 11 12 == Creating Events == 13 14 {{{#!wiki tip 15 This documentation discusses only the creation of events on Wiki pages. It is also possible to collect or "aggregate" events from other sources, but the process of creating events using such sources is beyond the scope of this text. 16 }}} 17 18 The easiest way to create an event is to hover over a day number in a calendar and to follow the "New event" link, or if the calendar is being shown as a list, map or table, to select the "New event" link below the calendar content. If you do not have a calendar set up, take a look at the instructions for [[#PreparingACalendar|preparing]] and [[#ShowingEventCalendars|showing]] calendars first. 19 20 Each event must be created on a new page belonging to the appropriate event category. The following action can be used to create a new event page (using [[HelpOnEventAggregatorNewEvent|EventAggregatorNewEvent]]) without looking at a calendar: 21 22 (!) <<Action(EventAggregatorNewEvent,Add an event)>> 23 24 Since each event is represented by a page, creating a new page based on an appropriate template is also sufficient. For pages belonging to CategoryEvents, you can do this by filling out and submitting this form (which uses EventTemplate): 25 26 <<NewPage(EventTemplate,Add an event page)>> 27 28 The event page describes the event in more detail, and the start and end dates of the event must be specified in a definition list so that they can be read from the page and displayed by the !EventAggregator. The EventTemplate provides some guidance, and all you need to do is to replace the `YYYY-MM-DD` placeholders with actual year, month and day values. For example: 29 30 {{{ 31 Start:: 2009-06-28 32 End:: 2009-07-04 33 }}} 34 35 You can add text which is more readable for humans provided that the `YYYY-MM-DD` format values are present somewhere in each entry. For example: 36 37 {{{ 38 Start:: Sunday 28th June 2009 (2009-06-28) 39 End:: Saturday 4th July 2009 (2009-07-04) 40 }}} 41 42 Obviously, duplicating the date information introduces a risk of this information becoming inconsistent, so beware! 43 44 === Adding Time Information === 45 46 In addition to date information, !EventAggregator understands time information; this is specified using the `HH:MM:SS` format (`HH` for hour digits in a 24-hour clock scheme, `MM` for minutes, and `SS` for seconds). The hour and minute details are mandatory; the seconds are optional. For example: 47 48 {{{ 49 Start:: 2009-06-30 10:30 50 End:: 2009-06-30 11:00 51 }}} 52 53 With no additional information, this indicates a time period from 10:30 (10:30am) until 11:00 (11am) without specifying a time zone. Consequently, such a period could be interpreted as applying ''in any location'' or ''in an agreed but unspecified location''. Where such things could lead to confusion, such as in the planning of an Internet meeting where people may join the meeting from many different places, time zone information can be specified. For example: 54 55 {{{ 56 Start:: 2009-06-30 10:30 UTC+0100 57 End:: 2009-06-30 11:00 UTC+0100 58 }}} 59 60 This indicates that the time is defined in a zone one hour ahead of UTC, thus defining a UTC period of 09:30 (9:30am) until 10:00 (10am). It is also possible to drop `UTC` and the last two minute digits where appropriate: 61 62 {{{ 63 Start:: 2009-06-30 10:30 +01 64 End:: 2009-06-30 11:00 +01 65 }}} 66 67 For an event occurring in British Summer Time (BST, GMT/UTC+01) this is a satisfactory means of describing the associated period. However, it can be more convenient to define an event in terms of the wall-clock time at a particular location. Sometimes, a regular meeting may occur at a particular time regardless of the introduction of daylight saving (or summer) time, and people can find it awkward to remember and choose the appropriate time zone, and thus the correct UTC offset. So instead, a time "regime" can be given. For example: 68 69 {{{ 70 Start:: 2009-06-30 10:30 Europe/London 71 End:: 2009-06-30 11:00 Europe/London 72 }}} 73 74 This indicates that in Britain (a "regime" defined for London, Europe) on the specified day, at 10:30am wall-clock time - that is, in the time zone reflected by properly adjusted local clocks - the event will begin, concluding at 11am according to the same clocks. 75 76 For most events, specifying a "regime" should be sufficiently accurate and unambiguous. However, some potential issues with specifying time information in such a way are [[#TimeProblems|described below]]. 77 78 === Supported Event Properties === 79 80 As well as the start and end dates of an event, the following properties are also recognised as being part of an event description: 81 82 Title:: the preferred name of the event in the calendar 83 Summary:: a synonym for title 84 Topics:: a list of topics related to the event - use a comma (`,`) to separate topic names 85 Categories:: a synonym for topics - note that this means "event categories", not "page categories" which are a distinct concept 86 Location:: the location of the event - this may [[#Showing_Events_on_Maps|position the event on maps]] if the location is known to !EventAggregator 87 88 These properties may be incorporated into representations or summaries of events. 89 90 Textual properties can be quoted in a limited way using the verbatim or monospaced text Wiki syntax. For example: 91 92 {{{ 93 Summary:: <<Verbatim(EuroPython)>> 2009 94 Topics:: Python, <<Verbatim(EuroPython)>>, Zope 95 }}} 96 97 === Listing Many Events on a Page === 98 99 Sometimes, it can be useful to list many events or event occurrences on a single page. For example, unlike something like an annual conference where a different event page makes sense for each occurrence of the conference, something like a regular meeting of a group of people might merit its own event page, but it would be inconvenient to make a new page for every single meeting occasion. 100 101 It is therefore possible to list many event occurrences on the same page by adding a new set of properties for each occurrence. For example: 102 103 {{{ 104 Start:: Monday 1st February 2010 (2010-02-01) 105 End:: Monday 1st February 2010 (2010-02-01) 106 Summary:: MoinMoin User Group Meeting 107 108 Previous meetings: 109 110 Start:: Monday 4th January 2010 (2010-01-04) 111 End:: Monday 4th January 2010 (2010-01-04) 112 Summary:: MoinMoin User Group Meeting 113 }}} 114 115 To start a distinct event, just define a property that has already been recorded for the previous event on the page, if any. Usually, the start and end dates will be the most suitable properties for this purpose. 116 117 Be careful ''not'' to start a distinct event with a property that was ''not'' recorded for the previous event: the result will be the property being added to the previous event, even if the property appears adjacent to the rest of the new event definition. 118 119 <<Anchor(TimeProblems)>> 120 === Occasional Problems with Times === 121 122 In most circumstances, specifying a time "regime" should result in an appropriate time zone being deduced and thus defined for an event. In some circumstances, however, such wall-clock times can be ambiguous or ill-defined. For example: 123 124 {{{ 125 Start:: 2010-03-28 02:30 Europe/London 126 End:: 2010-03-28 02:45 Europe/London 127 }}} 128 129 In this example, the given times (2:30am and 2:45am) do not exist as wall-clock times: since British clocks observe GMT/UTC until 2am and then switch to BST (GMT/UTC+01), times between 2am and 3am do not really appear on clocks on that particular day. !EventAggregator will indicate a problem with events specified in such a way, but will still produce [[HelpOnEventAggregatorSummary|event summaries]] assuming that the intention was to schedule such a period as starting 30 minutes after 2am in GMT/UTC and ending 45 minutes after 2am in GMT/UTC, pretending that the time zone preceding the zone change has remained in force for the sake of the event. 130 131 Where the wall-clock time is effectively repeated, !EventAggregator will also indicate a problem with events defined using such ambiguous times. For example: 132 133 {{{ 134 Start:: 2010-10-31 02:30 Europe/London 135 End:: 2010-10-31 02:45 Europe/London 136 }}} 137 138 In this example, the given times (2:30am and 2:45am) ''do'' exist as wall-clock times, but such times appear ''twice'' on clocks: since British clocks observe BST (GMT/UTC+01) until 3am and then switch to GMT/UTC, times between 2am and 3am are visited twice by clocks on that particular day. For [[HelpOnEventAggregatorSummary|event summaries]], the assumption will be made that the intention was to schedule such a period as starting 30 minutes after 2am in BST and ending 45 minutes after 2am in BST, pretending (as above) that the time zone preceding the zone change is the correct zone. 139 140 Naturally, without explicitly specifying a time zone (as an offset from UTC), it is not possible to schedule the above event for the period from 2:30am until 2:45am in the GMT/UTC time zone. However, when !EventAggregator indicates a problem with the event specification, an organiser can be alerted to the problem and thus fully specify the event times. Where !EventAggregator provides an implicitly assumed time (and where the organiser ignores the warnings or does not want to specify the time zone), no-one will be late for (or miss) the event: the earliest possible time will have been chosen, giving participants the opportunity to return at the "correct" time should the assumed time have proven to be "incorrect". 141 142 <<Anchor(PreparingACalendar)>> 143 == Preparing a Calendar == 144 145 Before trying to show a calendar or trying to create any events, you must either decide on a category for your events or on an event source which will provide events to the Wiki. Or you can choose to show a calendar based on both categories and event sources. 146 147 You can create a new category for the purpose of managing events by filling out and submitting this form: 148 149 <<NewPage(CategoryTemplate,Add a new category,,Category%s)>> 150 151 Available event sources should be defined on the [[EventSourcesDict|event sources]] page, and the source name is the piece of information to be noted when preparing a calendar. 152 153 Where categories are to be used, it is not strictly necessary to have a dedicated category for events, but having such categories can make event management easier by preventing event pages getting mixed up with other kinds of pages. And since pages can belong to more than one category, you can still assign event pages to other categories and yet isolate the event pages via their own category when you need to. 154 155 === Defining Event Sources === 156 157 !EventAggregator uses a page called EventSourcesDict to define providers of event information (unless the `event_aggregator_sources_page` configuration setting has been changed). Follow the instructions on the EventSourcesDict page to define new event sources. 158 159 <<Anchor(ShowingEventCalendars)>> 160 == Showing Event Calendars == 161 162 To show a calendar, use the !EventAggregator macro with a list of event categories. For example: 163 164 {{{ 165 ## Show Events and Training categories. 166 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,CategoryTraining)>> 167 }}} 168 169 The calendar, shown by default, is automatically filled out with the details of each event in the specified category (or categories), colouring each event period in an automatically generated colour. 170 171 To use event sources instead of categories, specify them using `source` parameters. For example: 172 173 {{{ 174 ## Show events from the GriCal and FSFE sources. 175 <<EventAggregator(source=GriCal,source=FSFE)>> 176 }}} 177 178 Categories can be combined with sources, thus aggregating "internal" and "external" events: 179 180 {{{ 181 ## Show events from the Events category and the GriCal source. 182 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,source=GriCal)>> 183 }}} 184 185 Specific periods can be defined using the `start` and `end` parameters. For example: 186 187 {{{ 188 ## Show June and July 2009. 189 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,start=2009-06,end=2009-07)>> 190 }}} 191 192 By using specific month values, a fixed window of time can be presented, displaying only events occurring within that period. It is possible to omit `start` or `end` in order to show all events up to (by omitting `start`) or starting from (by omitting `end`) a particular month. 193 194 There are special values which are significant. The `current` value refers to the current month and can be used with the minus and plus operators to refer, respectively, to months before and after the current month: 195 196 {{{ 197 ## Show this and next month. 198 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,start=current,end=current+1)>> 199 ## Show this and last month. 200 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,start=current-1,end=current)>> 201 }}} 202 203 In addition, the `yearstart` and `yearend` values refer to the first and last months of the current year: 204 205 {{{ 206 ## Show this year's events. 207 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,start=yearstart,end=yearend)>> 208 ## Show events from last December to next January. 209 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,start=yearstart-1,end=yearend+1)>> 210 }}} 211 212 === Event Naming === 213 214 The default calendar view shows event names once per week. However, you can choose to show an event name on each day an event occurs: 215 216 {{{ 217 ## Show the name on every day. 218 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,names=daily)>> 219 ## Show the name once per week. 220 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,names=weekly)>> 221 }}} 222 223 === Navigation Controls === 224 225 The above examples have all provided fixed views of known events. However, a set of controls can be added to a calendar in order to let users navigate different time periods. This is done by providing a `calendar` parameter, indicating the name of the calendar, and by specifying a period of time: 226 227 {{{ 228 ## Provide a navigable calendar. 229 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,start=current,end=current,calendar=monthly)>> 230 }}} 231 232 Without any time period, the calendar would show all events, and there would be no real need to provide navigation, since there would be no events outside the displayed period to navigate to. It is possible to omit either the `start` or the `end` parameter and still provide navigation, however. 233 234 === Showing Calendar Days === 235 236 To view the individual days in a calendar, it is possible to hover over a day number and select the "View day" link. However, a calendar view can be set up using the macro as follows: 237 238 {{{ 239 ## Show yesterday, today and tomorrow. 240 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,start=current-1,end=current+1,mode=day)>> 241 }}} 242 243 In the above example, specifying a `mode` of `day` sets the resolution of the calendar to that of individual days, and thus the special value `current` refers to the current day (today) instead of the current month. 244 245 In the day view, time information is shown so that it becomes possible to see whether events conflict with each other. In addition, location information is shown above columns of events to help with event scheduling. 246 247 === Assigning Templates and Parent Pages === 248 249 New events can be added to a calendar by following the "New event" links provided when hovering over each of the day numbers; this opens the form provided by the !EventAggregatorNewEvent action. For all events belonging to a particular calendar, it can be convenient to assign a default template page, so that the information provided by such events is consistent. Thus, it is possible to specify such a template page using the `template` parameter. For example: 250 251 {{{ 252 ## Specify a particular template page as the default event page template. 253 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,template=SpecialEventTemplate)>> 254 }}} 255 256 It can also be convenient to add new event pages under a common parent page. This can be achieved by specifying such a page using the `parent` parameter. For example: 257 258 {{{ 259 ## Specify a particular parent page as the default container for new events. 260 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,parent=Events)>> 261 }}} 262 263 Creating an event called '''Meeting''' under a parent called '''Events''' will make the page '''Events/Meeting''', and this will be shown as '''Meeting''' in the calendar. However, if a different parent is chosen, such as '''Meetings''', then the full path to the page will be shown in the calendar: '''Meetings ?? Meeting'''. 264 265 == Showing Event Lists and Tables == 266 267 A more plain view of events can be displayed by specifying the `mode` parameter as follows: 268 269 {{{ 270 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,mode=list)>> 271 }}} 272 273 The `list` value causes a list view to be employed. 274 275 Another alternative view can be chosen by specifying the `mode` parameter with a value of `table` as in the following example: 276 277 {{{ 278 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,mode=table)>> 279 }}} 280 281 This collects all appropriate events into a single table, applying colouring to the cells belonging to a particular event based on that event's topic (or category) information. By default, only the following topics (or categories) cause cell colouring: 282 283 * `conference` - using the `event-table-category-conference` style 284 * `special` - using the `event-table-category-special` style 285 * `training` - using the `event-table-category-training` style 286 287 To define your own topic colours, edit the `event-aggregator.css` file which is provided with the !EventAggregator distribution, and then reinstall that file for each of the Wiki themes of interest. Topics involved in event colouring should be mutually exclusive: more than one such topic should not be specified for any given event. 288 289 == Showing Events on Maps == 290 291 If a map is defined, as described below, and the name of such a map is given when using the macro, it becomes possible to allow a map view to be shown. For example: 292 293 {{{ 294 <<EventAggregator(CategoryEvents,mode=map,map=europe)>> 295 }}} 296 297 The above example will show all events in the given category whose locations are known and are found to refer to places on the `europe` map. 298 299 === Defining Maps === 300 301 !EventAggregator uses a page called EventMapsDict to define and retain the available maps (unless the `event_aggregator_maps_page` configuration setting has been changed). Follow the instructions on the EventMapsDict page to define new maps. 302 303 === Defining Locations === 304 305 !EventAggregator uses a page called EventLocationsDict to define known locations (unless the `event_aggregator_locations_page` configuration setting has been changed). Follow the instructions on the EventLocationsDict page to define new locations. 306 307 == The Default View and Switching Views == 308 309 The `calendar` value for the `mode` parameter causes the default calendar view to be employed, but you can switch the view - effectively changing the `mode` - using the links provided below the view produced by this macro. The map view is only available via a link if a map name has been given using the `map` parameter. 310 311 == See Also == 312 313 * HelpOnEventAggregatorNewEvent - an action providing a form for creating new events conveniently 314 * HelpOnEventAggregatorSummary - an action producing iCalendar event summaries