Should we add an events directory to the community site?

It would be nice to have an official event listing on the community site. We have had camps in the past and this hackathon coming up, and folks might even want to be able to post about smaller local events that they have like a meetup where Elgg is being discussed (even if it isn't the primary/only topic).

Should we do this? If so, which plugin should we use?

There is this stalled attempt at creating an official plugin: https://github.com/elgg/events

There are also several other options here on the community site I believe. Kevin Jardine's, Ismayil's, ColdTrick's, etc.

Update:

I'd like to get a proper comparison of the plugins just so we know what we're getting into. Please help fill out this spreadsheet with as much info as you can. Add features to the list if they're missing

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BItcmvednA7GnkQFe4_BW4xASlhxrwFH4xUjbGaoYac/edit#gid=0

It would be nice to consolidate around one data model/API that covers all the use-cases and port that into the official events plugin. Other plugins can then provide their own custom UI enhancements. We are going to be incentivized to support whichever plugin we install on the community site, so we might as well make it official and let the whole community benefit from the enhancements.

  • I have to say that I like the idea of Matt's/Ismayil event calendar. Especially the google calendar features  It would be even better if I receive a notification when attending which I can easily add to my personal calendar (google/outlook).  If I do receive a personal calendar on elgg, It would be required to sync otherwise such a feature seems to be redundant

    I also use event manager from Cold-trick, which indeed is a very nice plugin but lacks support of such features.

    My vote is therefore for the Matt/Ismayil event plugin for now, unless the Coldtrick guys are willing to work on the missing parts.

  • Evan, Google allows multiple calendars per account. On top, you can include calendars by URL. Our implementation only maintains a relationship with the calendar in order to simplify the UI. Additionally each calendar has a unique iCal feed URL that can be shared/imported to e.g. Google

  • @Ismayil, OK, that's a good point -- it's basically just another way to group a set of events. Like "Company holidays" or something like this. I feel a little better about it after thinking about it now.

    I do like the ical feed feature, too. Pretty critical for any event implementation if you ask me...

  • I'd like to hear from the ColdTrick folks before we make any decisions, though...

  • I've filled in the googlesheet. The Event Manager has a large focus on Event organisation (seats, locations, workshops and waitinglist features) and is less an agenda (but of course still possible). I think for the Elgg community the biggest need is the ability to list Events and the abililty for users to RSVP (so it will show up on their own profile). I am not familiar with the other tools, but it think they both have features enough for the Elgg community.

    There is the risk that people would like to use the Elgg community to organize/promote their event. Is that what you want? Because there are other tools that would probably do that better (like meetup.com). Besides that there is currently very little stuff to add to the agenda... 2 events per year? Do we really need a agenda tool for that? You could also add a meetup.com widget that shows Elgg events, and choose to advice users to add their events there... just an idea.

  • Agree with @Jeroen that, for Community's needs, a full plugin (with configuration and custom views to display event listings where and how we want them) seems a bit much. We could just add a static microdata-infused listing to the site and link to the blog post(s) and edit as needed.

  • In terms of what we'd put on such a calendar - we do have point releases every 2 weeks and minor releases every few months.  I'd forget about them if it wasn't for Evan :)

    Also it may encourage more events like the hackathon.

  • I don't know if you need to go as far as an agenda etc. People could post a document or something if they needed outlining an agenda.

    The RSVP, number attending etc is already there and are probably the main points. The iCal feature would be valuable for those that might sync their calendar.

    @Evan mentioned company holidays as a great example, if your community had a number of businesses there would be events for each of them.

    I'm sure there are many others that would serve a community of diversified users. One of the showcase websites for example is Nurses Lounge, http://www.nurseslounge.com/ which could have multiple events throughout the year for different groups.

    One of my Elgg projects I just set up is motorcycle related. There are hundreds or thousands of motorcycle events each year in the U.S and other countries some only for a day and others that run for a week. The current events plugin is perfect for that.

    Another project is relating to seniors. Many retirement home offer an open house for a single day, again the current events program is perfect for that. Many senior centres or clubs have single day events, again perfect.

    Many events can be repeating, here in Ontario Canada we have Friday 13th at Port Dover where motorcyclists meet up. In my city, every third Sat of August they have the Salvation Army Toy Ride.There are probably others but those were two in my area that came to mind.

    Since you guys are the programmers and I'm not, you know which way to go as far as the code goes. I only know some of the area's I use and can use events for.

    As for meetup.com, unless I'm wrong, it's events and that's it, elgg is so much more.

     

     
  • The reasons I want an events plugin here, not just on meetup:

    • I want Elgg to ship with an official events plugin because that is such a common need for a community.
    • Our historical direction has been towards more dogfooding (e.g. consolidating google groups discussion into the community)
    • Our static pages have gone out of date before (and that's embarassing).
    • I do ultimately want people to be able to list their local elgg events here, though that would have to undergo some quality review or something because we don't want to list a bunch of events that just get cancelled for lack of interest or lack of follow-through by the organizers.

    But yea, I'd really like to have an event page for the hackathon instead of just a discussion group post. The associated information is much richer (as Steve points out, we could be getting microdata and search engine support).

     

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