Something big is happening to the university Events Calendar.

A little bit ago Rob Vrabel mentioned we were working on the events calendar and I would like to confirm that we are and we have some great things in store.

We will be running down all the new features in detail closer to launch but here are just a few things to look forward to:

• Completely new interface
• Better listing and search for events by interests and audiences
• Upcoming Deadlines and Reminders are broken out from main calendar
• Images now supported for event promotion
• Image and video gallery available for every event
• RSVP’s to be created and managed by anyone
• Ability to show interest or say you are attending an event even if there is no RSVP
• Calendars will be better organized in the left menu
• Featured event promotion
• Addresses for location of off campus event
• Subscribe by RSS to a category or audience
• Email subscription for upcoming featured events each week

You can view the current calendar at: http://events.wayne.edu/

The issue comes down to lack of information in service request emails. We get on average 40 emails per day that range from changing a few words to a complete list of changes for a site. Sometimes tracking down what site, what page, what content needs to be updated and when it needs to be updated by can take more time than the update itself.

So we are trying something new, a bookmarklet that has some pre-defined fields which gives us the basic information for a request in a standard format. Below you can see what the base email looks like:

Filling out the email

Here is a filled out request, basically replacing the pre-defined labels with your site information.

Installing the Bookmarklet

1. Make sure the “Bookmarks Toolbar” is visible. If it is not, go to menu View > Toolbars.
2. Drag one of the links below into your Bookmarks Toolbar based on how you send email
   1. Using MS Outlook or OS X Mail: Send Web Update
   2. Using Wayne Connect Web site: Send Web Update

Customizing the Bookmarklet

If you only oversee one or two sites and would like to automatically have your site name in the subject of the email just let us know and we can send you a specific bookmarklet just for you.

If you use the online Campus Map to directly link to a building you will notice some changes today with the building and category list page. We added some additional information about every building on the map. Check out the old version (left) and the new version (right) above. Here is also run down of the features.

Full mailing addresses
Each building new has the full mailing address displayed. This information was not available at all before so we added it in.

Easy to read format
Instead of just listing the name and the full URL the names are now the links and the address is directly below it. Linking options are now to the right, there is room for multiple.

Links to campus and Google Maps
Some people don’t like our Flash based map and prefer Google so we included direct links to the locations on Google for those folks. We are in the process of moving away from Flash but don’t have a date when the new map will launch just yet.

Microformats
Each building is equipped with hCard microformat to increase the amount of structured data available for anyone who wants it.

Individual building pages
In addition to the listing page redesign each building or location now has its own page with unique URL to link directly to. It includes a photo and additional information about that building if available.

Upcoming events for each building
On the individual building page the next five events in the Events Calendar taking place at that building will be listed. A screen shot of that is below, click it to see the actual live page.

Thank you everyone who has given us feedback on the campus map. It has all been incorporated in to this recent update and there is still more in the works. We will continue to adjust and tweak it as users needs change.

The Site Index is community maintained so if there is a site that needs to be added anyone can suggest the site. We get an alert and its usually added within 24 hours. They are organized alphabetically and a quick jump to letter menu is located at the top. We also relate “wayne speak” with a regular users terminology. So we have a “University Bulletin” which explains all our programs and courses but at other universities its called “Course Catalog”. We use the same record and have the site under both names so no matter the user they can get to the correct content.

Second Purpose

The number one thing used on wayne.edu is the search. Often users are looking for individual sites and what better resource to get them there than the site index. As users are typing we search through the site index and present them with the sites that match their search. From there they can select one of them with their mouse or keyboard and go directly to the site without having to go through the interim search results page.

Do you maintain a Wayne State site that is not on the list? Suggest it and we will add it.

Well search no further, check out Wayne State Campus Map for food venues around campus!

If you are not familiar with our campus map, click here

Subscriptions

You can choose your calendar or subscribe to the main events calendar (really large list, you have been warned) by visiting the iCalendar page. Subsequently if you want to subscribe via RSS you can still do that at the RSS page.

Saving individual events

When viewing an event, below the contact information is this bar, with the last option on the bar a single ical file will be downloaded and can be imported into your favorite desktop calendar, Outlook 2007, iCal…

Subscribing via Google Calendar

Google calendar is a popular web based calendar and the process to subscribe it straightforward and can translate to most web and desktop calendars.

Step 1:
Find the iCal feed you would like to subscribe to at the iCalendar page, right click on the feed link and select “Copy Link Location”

http://events.wayne.edu/ical/theatre/calendar.ics

Step 2:
Open Google Calendar and click the Add link on top of all your calendars. You will want to “Add by URL”, I have it highlighted below.

Step 3:
Paste in the URL and click Add.

It works by using the characters typed into the search box on the homepage and comparing them with the site index. It finds the top 5 matches and displays them directly on the screen where you can scroll through the list with the keyboard arrows or click on a link with the mouse. It gives direct access to these pages without having to sift through the search results page.

Testing this new feature is pretty easy, it is not enabled by default yet but will be soon. You can enable it for your computer by following the URL below:

http://wayne.edu/?autosuggest

It will stay active until you turn it off by following this URL:

http://wayne.edu/?autosuggest=off

We will be testing this feature for two weeks before we roll it out to everyone. We would love to hear your thoughts and any difficulties you may have with the feature. You can send any questions or comments to wcs@wayne.edu. We listen to all concerns and comments and are always looking to improve the user experience here at Wayne State University.