Trail Life USA

This document provides an overview of the look and function of the Troop Calendar within Trail Life Connect.  Views shown are from the perspective of the Troop Ministry Liaison.

The Trail Life Connect calendar is accessible by clicking the corresponding tile icon on the Dashboard, or the “Calendar” link on the left navigation menu.

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Viewing and Navigating the Calendar

When clicking the Dashboard link or the left menu link to access the Calendar, you will arrive at a monthly calendar view by default.  The current month will be displayed with any single-day, or multi-day events shown on their corresponding dates.  Clicking an event link will open a preview window and provide details for that event.

You can use the back and forth arrows in the upper left to move forward or backward through different months.  (Additionally, the left/right arrows on the keyboard will also move forward and backward by month.  Using the up/down arrows on the keyboard will move forward/backward by one year.)  If you have navigated several months or years away, click the button next to the forward/backward arrows to return the view to “today.”  In the upper right, you can change the month view to a weekly, daily, or list view.  You can also click the print icon to generate a printable PDF of the currently displayed view.

While viewing the Calendar page, you will notice a new set of items appear at the top of the left menu for utilizing “Calendar Filters.”  Use the filter checkboxes to show combinations of where the event originated (Troop, Area, Regional, Home Office or Training.)  Additionally, for Troop level events only, you can filter based on the event type (Meeting, Campout, Hit the Trail, Service Project, Board of Review, Fundraiser, Court of Honor, Open House, etc.)

For a quick indication of the event’s origin, the different levels/areas have been color coded.  A single day event will have a colored circle icon preceding it.  Multi-day events will have a colored border and text.

The color codes are:  green for Troop events, orange for Area events, blue for Regional events, red for Home Office events, and purple for Training Events.  (These colors correspond to similar filtering colors used on the Announcements page.)

Creating Events

If your role has the permission to manage the Troop Calendar, you will have the ability to create events in the Calendar for your Troop.  There are two ways to begin when creating an event:

1. Click an empty date/time in the month, week, or day of the calendar to open the Create Event page.
    *(you can click and drag from one date to another for multi-day events)
2. Click the “Create Event” link on the left menu, under “Calendar.”

The Create Event page presents you with several options for creating your event.

Main Setup Items

• Event Type                 (use the drop-down to select what type of event you are adding)
• Event has activities    (Yes/No toggle, if the event will utilize specifically named activities)
• Title                             (give your event a meaningful title for your members)
• Description                 (add a description, if you wish, including pictures, files, links, etc.)
• Tags                             (add/use tags, if you wish)
• Date & Time                (specify the date(s) and time(s) for your event)
• Timezone                    (change from your default, if necessary. *The created event will appear in the
   correct timezone for any attendees from other areas.)
• Venue Name               (if applicable)
• Venue Address           (if specified, this will create an interactive Google map in the event details.

Advanced event details

• Medical form required (if checked, links are added to the event for the adult and youth medical forms)
• Uniform required (to let your attendees know if they need to wear uniforms)
• Service Hours (specify the number of service hours, if applicable)
• Event Fees (specify the Troop, youth, and adult fees associated with the event, if applicable)

Who can view this event?

• This section is similar to other areas of TLC (documents, announcements, etc.) allowing you to specify where the event will display for specified members to view and/or participate.  You can specify visibility by individual members, specific levels or patrols, or specific roles.  Also present is an option to have the event viewable on a public internet calendar feed.

RSVP details

• Decide whether your event is primarily informational or if you need members to RSVP
• If RSVP is enabled, additional options appear:
  1. After what date will RSVPs stop being collected?
  2. Will you allow members to bring guests?
  3. Who will be notified of RSVPs?

When your event details have been completed, click the green “Create” button to add your event to the Calendar.

Managing Events

If you have been invited to an event, click the event link on the calendar to enter the details where you can click the “RSVP” button to record your RSVP status.

Clicking “RSVP” opens its own page, reiterating all of the event details.  You can choose your response, add a note if you wish, then send your RSVP.

If other members of your Household are invited, their names will be listed as well so you can record multiple RSVPs.  If guests are permitted, you can note the # of youth and/or adult guests you will be bringing (this will assist event organizers in making adequate preparations with regards to materials, seating, food, etc.)  Note in the example above the additional information, links to medical forms, map link, etc.

Your RSVP will indicate your intention to attend, as well as any note you included.  If you need to change your RSVP answer, you can do so by opening the event again and clicking the “Change RSVP” button.

If you are the creator of a Calendar event, you can move the event on the Calendar view page if needed.  This could be due to inadvertently adding the event onto the wrong date, or the need to reschedule to an alternate date.  To move your event, you can click and drag it to a different date.  All other event details will remain unchanged, other than the date.  If you also need to change the times or any of the other details, you can click into the event itself and click the “Manage Event” button.

Clicking to manage your event will also allow you to view the “Event Overview” tab, containing useful reporting information regarding who you invited, maximum attendees, RSVPs and percentages, etc.

If attendees did not have an opportunity to RSVP through Trail Life Connect, but you know their status, you can manually click and drag names from the “Incomplete” list on the right into one of the 3 categories on the left (Going, Maybe Going, Not Going.)  RSVP data will update upon a page refresh.  Clicking the colored circle indicators will also change the RSVP status for a member.

Above each of the RSVP sections, you will see an email icon within the status header.  You can click this icon to begin an email message that will go specifically to the individuals within that list.  (Email the incomplete list to remind them to RSVP.  Email those who are “Going” to provide them with updated details.  Etc.)

The resulting email screen will be specific to that event and provide you with the option to select/change any of the status categories as well for refining or broadening the email audience.

The Email content section behaves like the normal Trail Life Connect email tool – you can utilize an alternate email template, specify a different subject, and type a manual message if the default message needs to be altered.  Coded options are included in the default message body, specific to the event, and a hint section below the message also provides other options.

Additional Manage Event Tabs

In addition to the Overview tab and the Setup tab you will find a tab for “Activity Plans” and a tab for “Event Participants” (if the event includes RSVPs.)

The “Event Participants” tab provides an alternate view of who is participating in the event.  The default view shows who is ‘Going,’ but the filter can be altered to show other RSVP statuses as well.  This list, in part or in whole, can be exported to an Excel or CSV file if desired using the corresponding buttons at the upper right of the list.

The “Activity Plans” tab allows you to specify which Woodlands Trail lesson plan(s) and/or Navigator/Adventurer Badges will be covered during the event.  This can be helpful for regular Troop meetings so all involved can know the topics to cover for the evening.  This information is also helpful for events where specific lessons or badge work will be covered as part of the event’s activities.

Fill in the Level, Patrol, leader information, items, sub-items, and add any relevant notes then click the “Create” button.  You can continue to add activities and badges for each level to provide full transparency.

Repeating Events

For events that repeat (such as weekly Troop meetings,) first create the initial event fully and save it on the starting date.  Then, click to open the listed event on the Calendar to bring up the preview window.  Click the clipboard icon in the upper right – this will copy it to the Calendar clipboard on the left menu.  The copied event name will appear below the other items within the Calendar Filters menu.  You can then click and drag the named event on the left menu and then drop it onto any/all other dates where the repeating event will occur.  All event information will be identical, with only the dates being different.  When you have completed the creation of the repeating events, you can click the trash can icon to the right of the copied event to remove it from the left menu clipboard.

Calendar Section on the Dashboard

Also, on the Trail Life Connect Dashboard is a section for listing upcoming calendar events.  The left column displays a list of events you are attending (“Events: Going.”)  Below that listing is a section for “Area/Regional/National Events Requiring Response” (only available for those leaders who can manage the Troop Calendar.)  This section displays upper-level events your Troop has been invited to participate in.  To allow members to engage and participate, a leader must open the event and choose the option to “Join event as Troop.”  If no one from the Troop will participate, then the leader can choose to “Decline event participation as Troop.”  (Clicking the “Decline” option will remove the event from the Troop’s Calendar.)

The right column of the Dashboard Calendar section will display other upcoming events that you have been invited to which are occurring within the next 30 days.  Filtering is available for this section, if needed, to focus on certain levels or event types.  Each listed event within the Calendar section of the Dashboard is also a link that will take you the details of that particular event.