eSPACE and MinistryPlatform Integration: Event Creation Process

Adding an Event within the Event Scheduler and Syncing Occurrences to MinistryPlatform

From the Dashboard:

• Click Add Event, located on the top of your dashboard and the Event Details screen will open

• Expand the Events section of the menu, located on the left sidebar and click Add Event 

From the Item Scheduler:

• Go to the top of the page and choose the drop down menu for either "Daily Item Scheduler or "Weekly Item Scheduler". To learn more about this option, go HERE!

Entering Event DETAILS:

• Enter Event Name (required field)
• Event Description (optional)
• Select Location (if you have multiple locations)

• Choose All Day Event  if you have an event that is lasting all day (12 AM - 11:59 PM).

• If the date has not already been selected, add "Event Start Date/Time" and "Event End Date/Time" (see attached below).  The dates should be the same date, unless you are adding a continuous event from one date to another and want to block out all items for this time frame (ex: Student Lock-out, Conference, Vacation Bible School, etc.).

NOTE: The Event Start time will automatically default to your "Open Time", located within Settings>Advanced>General. If you started the event creation process from the Space Scheduler, the date and time will already be pre-populated.

• If you started this process from a Calendar View, the event start time will already be pre-populated.

SETUP DATE/TIMES:

• Enter "Begin Setup Date/Time" and "End Teardown Date/Time" (based on Admin setting selections within Settings>Advanced>General>Optional Settings) 

A couple of things to note here: 

• If an Admin has made the Setup and/or Teardown Dates/Times required, the user will be required to add these. If a buffer has been added for either one, then these dates/times will automatically pre-populate (see settings below).

EVENT RECURRENCE RULES (Optional):

• You have the option to select Event Recurrence Rules (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly, Custom)

NOTE: When you add a recurring event within the Event Scheduler, you need to sync all desired occurrences to MinistryPlatform one at a time. MinistryPlatform does not have a means to designate events related to each other in an occurrence.

OFFSITE EVENT?

• Is the event going to be held offsite? If yes, select this box and then add your"Offsite Location".

• Now choose which location(s) the event relates to.

PUBLIC EVENT?

• Select Public if this event is to be displayed on the Web Calendar to the general public. The default setting is Private.

EXTRA REQUIRED FIELDS INCLUDED WITH INTEGRATION

• Make your Event Type, Congregation and Program Selections

EVENT CATEGORIES

• Next, select one or multiple Categories (option to make required in Setup>Advanced>General>Optional Settings)

• If an event is saved under multiple categories, you will now see the colors supported on all calendars and schedulers:

ADD NUMBER OF PEOPLE (Option to make required in Setup>Advanced>General>Optional Settings)

• Enter the Number of People expected for the event.

AUTO APPROVE OPTION (Admins Only)

• If you are an Admin, you have the option to disable auto-approve so the event can be processed through normal event approval workflow of Sub-Administrators

EVENT OWNER and EDITORS

• By default, if you created the event, your name will show as the Event Owner. Note: If an Admin has opted to allow users to change the event owner (Settings), then you will be able to make a change here when appropriate.

• Option to add event editor(s) that can make changes to your event and see the event listed on their dashboard grid.

OPTIONAL SETTINGS:

• Add Contacts? - This is a required field and is automatically selected by default.
  NOTE: The first Contact of the event is added as the Primary Contact in the MinistryPlatform event.

• Event Attachments can be added to your event by choosing by selecting files from your computer or a document from your Document Library.

REMINDERS
If  your event is a recurring event over a period of time, you will have the option to receive an email reminder a month before your event ends (see first attachment below) so that you can extend the event OR copy the event and select new dates.

This is what the email reminder looks like!

Event Reminders can be used if you want an email reminder to go to event owners, Admins, and/or Sub-Admins or contacts! You have full control of scheduling your event reminders! You can:

• Select WHO you"d like to remind
• Choose the number of days before the event that you would like the reminder sent, and
• You can add reminder notes!

For internal users only, these reminders can also be found on the left sidebar of your dashboard by clicking Reminders. You can easily see how many unread reminders that you have to the right of Reminders as shown below.

• "Public Calendar Image" - Add an image (see attached below) that will show for event registrations on your public calendar! You will see an expanded thumbnail view of the image as shown below. Notice also that you have the option to "Remove Image". Note: Only events that have been marked public and are in an approved status will show on the public calendar.

• Click SAVE and PROCEED to proceed with adding your Items (Spaces, Resources, and Services) and to continue with the event creation process. If you desire, you can cease the workflow and the event will be placed in the My Drafts grid on your Dashboard.
• Add required contact!

• Then add your ITEMS (Spaces/Rooms, Resources, Services)

You have the ability to select an Item Group so that all of your items pre-populate for that item grouping, saving you time! You can also Filter by Tags to search for Spaces/Rooms based on the tag selection(s).

NOTE: With the integration and selecting Spaces/Rooms, you can only have 1 Parent Building and 1 Child Room hierarchy only within MinistryPlatform! 

• Click Next to proceed to Resources and enter the same way as Spaces
• Follow the same steps to select Services

NOTE: Currently, we only write Spaces/Rooms to MinistryPlatform without Services or Resources; however, you can add them within the Event Scheduler to complete your event scheduling process and approval, then be able to view them on your internal calendar and more!

SETUP
The Setup screen allows you to see if there are any required forms attached that need to be completed. There will be an exclamation mark next to it to, indicating it is incomplete. Once it is completed, there will be a green check mark and a print icon, allowing you to print the completed form. Within setup, you also can add/edit configurations, view documents, associate any item to a space, and add notes, which are reportable.

• Click the green edit button to edit any item, including configurations, notes, and associations of Resources and Services to particular Spaces, then SAVE.

• If the Space/Resource/Service selected requires a form to be completed, a red warning (red exclamation point) will be indicated.  

• Simply click on the form to complete. Once all of the required form questions have been completed, click SAVE.

• Once the form has been saved, you'll see a green check-mark next to the form, indicating it has been completed. The attached form can also be printed at any time.

• Click Next (Schedules tab) where you will see your current schedule and can also add any additional schedules. This should be used when you want to add a new schedule to your event with the option to change the name for your new schedule, keep or change the items associated with the original schedule, and choose new dates, recurrence rules, etc. A good use for adding schedules is when you have a wedding as main event and you want to add a new schedule for the rehearsal, and perhaps another for the reception. This keeps all schedules under the umbrella of the main event, which is the wedding. On the calendar, the schedules are shown according to the date, with the main event name and schedule name. On the Availability tab, the present and future schedules (not past) are visible, with occurrences from all schedules in date order. If you are ready to submit your event for approval, simply click on Submit Event.
• Click Next (Availability tab). This will display all of the recurring present and future schedules/dates/occurrences , the Spaces, Resources and Services associated with the occurrence, and the status of the item.
   

• If there are conflicts, you will see a conflicts warning....

• and any item conflicts will show "Conflicted", highlighted in RED. 

Correcting Conflicts

• Click See All Conflicts, if there are any
• Click Edit Occurrence
• Remove check mark(s) from conflicted Item(s)
• Add new Item(s)
• Click Save & Return to event
• Once event is completed to your satisfaction, either click Show Event Summary or Submit Event.

• You can edit, cancel, or delete any occurrence by selecting the appropriate button above the occurrence.

• If another occurrence is desired, click the Add Occurrence button. Event information will be cloned, but date, time, etc., can be changed. A good use for this is if you want to add a one-off occurrence or need to add one more occurrence. If you are ready to submit your event for approval, simply click on Submit Event.

• Click Submit Event to submit the event for approval OR continue to the ShowEvent Summary button. This will display a summary sheet of the event where you can email it, download it, or print it. You can also submit the event here.
• Conversations - Here you can begin a conversation regarding the event with any users associated to the event or others outside of the event.
• History - Here, you can view the history of the event (edits, approvals, etc.), from creation to current status.

Note: When you add items to an event, you can save an event as a draft to come back to later on and complete. To access drafts from the Dashboard, simply go to the "My Drafts" grid. These will be all events you have created or edited, that were not submitted for approval.

Once you've added an event within the Event Scheduler, you can sync your event occurrences to MinistryPlatform one at a time. Go to the Availability tab and select the Sync to MP button for the desired event occurrence as shown below.

You will then be able to see View in MP where you can view the event occurrence with ease!

Here is the occurrence within MinistryPlatform!

CANCELING AN OCCURRENCE WITHIN THE EVENT SCHEDULER

To cancel an occurrence, go to the Availability tab, and select Cancel Occurrence, located above the desired occurrence.

A new window will open where you can give a cancelation reason and select Yes to cancel.

You will then be able to view the canceled occurrence and will have the option to Sync to MP.

When you select Sync to MP, a new window will open where you can confirm the sync to MinistryPlatform.

Next, you will have the option to cancel the occurrence in MinistryPlatform by selecting Cancel in MP.

A new window will open to confirm that you want to cancel the event in MinistryPlatform.

Then you will have the option to View in MP.

When selected, you can view the canceled event in MinistryPlatform!

NOTE: If you delete an event or event occurrence in the Event Scheduler, you will need to do the same in MinistryPlatform.

To view ALL synced MinistryPlatform events within the Event Scheduler, go to the left navigational sidebar and select Events >MP Events.
NOTE: Here you can search for events, export to Excel or PDF and filter by column header. You can also click on the Event ID or Event name to view the event. You can also select Re-sync to MP.