In this Issue:
Recent LibCal Update
- Redesigned Calendars & Events
- Event Search
- Event Draft Mode
- Homepage Redesign
- Publishing Workflows
- Calendar Permissions
- Event Import
- ... and more!
On the Twelfth Day of LibCal, Springshare Gave To Me...
The holidays are almost upon us, and that means altered library hours, upcoming vacation time (woo hoo!), and special holiday events.
Use these LibCal tips to ensure that your library's holiday schedule goes off without any Ho Ho Hold-Ups!
1. Highlighting Holiday Events!
With our latest update to LibCal, it's easy to showcase your upcoming events, especially your holiday ones, with the new Gallery Box type in LibCal.
Here's how:
- Create your 'Holiday Events Calendar' and make sure it's Public
- Navigate to Admin > Look & Feel > Homepage Editor
- Add Box to your desired column and Select 'Upcoming Events' as the Asset Type
- Choose your 'Holiday Events Calendar' > Select 'Gallery Display' type > Choose the Rotation Speed
- ...Voilà! You're promoting and showcasing your holiday events on your LibCal homepage.
Mobile users can view upcoming holiday events using your mobile-friendly LibCal!
2. Displaying Holiday Hours
Setting your Holiday hours is easy; communicating them to your public... not so much. Plus, remembering all the webpages where you display library hours is a task only Hercules could love. And all it takes is one negative tweet from a user complaining that the library hours are confusing, or even worse, conflicting, to really put a damper on the holiday spirit.
Make things easier by using the LibCal Hours module!
- Create a template for your 'Holiday Hours'
- - Admin > Hours > Templates
- Navigate to Libraries > Edit Hours
- - If Libraries & Departments have varying Holiday Hours, create multiple templates!
- Select your date range > apply 'Holiday Hours' template > Voilà!
- All your widgets will be automatically updated to reflect your Holiday Hours
3. Syncing Your Holiday Vacation Time
The upcoming Holidays mean that your normal schedule is, well... not so normal. And updating your schedule availability in multiple places is the last thing you need to be thinking about. Plus, if you're using My Scheduler in LibCal, you don't want to accidentally leave your schedule open if you're not available.
Drummer boy! Drum roll please...... 2-Way Sync with Outlook/Exchange and Google Calendars!
Put simply, connect your Outlook or Google Calendar to your LibCal My Scheduler. If you're on vacation for the Holidays, marking yourself as 'Out-of-Office' in your native calendar will automagically push your 'unavailable' status to LibCal's My Scheduler. Users won't be able to book an appointment with you, because you won't be bookable.
One caveat: appointments that were booked before you're marked as unavailable will not be canceled. You'll need to manually cancel that appointment.