This article showcases what Channel Calendars are and how to utilize one within a Channel.
What is a Channel Calendar?
The Channel Calendar is a Google or Outlook calendar that is integrated with Happeo so that all the events in the Channel Calendar are also visible in the Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar view and vice versa.
The Channel Calendar allows you to view all of the Channel Participants' calendars or a select few so as to make it easier to find a suitable meeting time for everyone. You can create an event from the calendar, invite all Channel Participants to that event automatically and reschedule if needed.
How to add a calendar to a Channel
When a Channel is created, you can see the Calendar option in the top left-hand Channel Navigation. If the option is not visible, you can toggle on the Channel Calendar from the Channel Settings under Tools.
By clicking on the Calendar option from the Channel's Navigation, if your environment has both the Google and Outlook Calendar Integrations enabled, you will be given the option to enable one of the providers.
Google Calendar
After selecting Google Calendar as your provider, you will have the option to either add an existing calendar to the Channel or create a new calendar.
By clicking on Create New, you create a calendar that includes all the Channel Participant's calendar events.
The third option is to create a calendar in Google Calendar which is set to be accessible to the whole organization. In this case, the calendar will be linked to the Channel and users can add the calendar to their own Google Calendar.
Outlook Calendar
When you select Outlook Calendar as your provider, for the first time only, you will have to enable the Drive Integration before adding a folder to a channel.
If the application is not authorized, you will have to give permission first to Happeo before you can use or view any files.
If the application was disabled by the Admin after the authorization, the Admin must enable it again. Users will then have to authorize and give permission once more.
How to use a Channel Calendar
- First, navigate to a Channel that has the Channel Widget toggled on
- From there, click on Calendar from the Channel Navigation on the top left
You will then be presented with a weekly view of all the user's calendars who are Participants of the Channel. Make sure that you select the users you would like to see in the Channel Calendar on the right-hand side.
How can you add a Channel Calendar to your Google Calendar?
When a Channel is created and a new calendar is added to the Channel, in the owner’s Google Calendar it will show up under My Calendars.
When viewing Google Calendar:
- Hover over the calendar’s name
- Click the 3 dot column that appears on the right of the calendar
- Select Settings and Sharing
- Scroll down in the settings menu until you see Access permissions for events
- Click Get shareable link
- Copy the link and go back to the Google Calendar
- Click the + sign next to Other calendars
- From the list of options, select From URL
- Paste the copied URL of the Channel Calendar
Google Calendar
Today, day, week, and month view
If you would like to see the calendar for today you can do so by clicking the Today tab from the calendar's top-right menu.
Day will show you your calendar for a specific day, whether it's today or another day. You can switch the view of the day by clicking on one of the dates in the mini calendar on the right-hand side.
Week will show you the calendar for each day of the week, starting from Monday or Sunday till Sunday or Saturday (depending on your User settings). The week view will automatically show today's date in the middle and you can either scroll left or right to view other events happening during the week.
Lastly, the month view will show you all of the events that will take place during a specific month. You can change the view of the month by clicking either the left or right arrow next to the month in the mini calendar on the right.
Creating new events
You can create new events by navigating to the month view and clicking on whichever day you wish to create an event.
From there, you can fill in the following information:
- Event title
- Date, time and duration
- Location
- Guests
- Description
- The calendar the event belongs to
Users
When you navigate through the day, week, or month view you can also select the users' calendars that you would like to view in the aforementioned settings. To do this, find the Users tab on the bottom right and tick the boxes next to the users you wish to see in the calendar. If you would like to add users or groups, you can do so by typing them in the Add users or groups field and clicking Select.
You can also find a simple list on the left that shows which users are part of the Channel and can view their events, plans, and meetings in the calendar.
Resource calendars
Resource calendars can be found underneath the Users tab and function the same way as users do. You can tick the boxes next to the resources (such as meeting rooms) that you would like to see in the calendar.
10-hour and 24-hour view
The 10-hour setting will show all calendar events occurring within a 10-hour span whereas the 24-hour setting will show them in a 24-hour timeframe.
Slots
Slots enable you to view the available time slots of the Channel Participants.
The slot selection can be found in the top-left corner of the calendar.
You can choose between:
- Don't show slots: Does not show the available slots of Channel Participants
- Show 30-min slots: Shows the available 30-minute time slots of Channel Participants
- Show 1-hour slots: Shows the available 1-hour time slots of Channel Participants
- Show 2-hour slots: Shows the available 2-hour time slots of Channel Participants
- Show full-day slots: Shows the available full-day time slots of Channel Participants
A great use case for this tool is if you are, for example, looking to schedule a 1-hour meeting with a Channel Participant and want to see what availabilities there are for this meeting with that Channel Participant in their calendar.
Once you select a time slot, you will see green dots appear below the dates in the mini calendar on the right. If you select one of those days, you can find those hours highlighted in green in the Channel Calendar.
Outlook Calendar
Month and list view
By default, when viewing a Channel Calendar, you will be presented with the month view. To switch between months, you can click on the left or right arrow on the left-hand side.
You can also click on Today to navigate back to the current month and day (if you are not yet viewing it). The current day will then be highlighted.
You can also click on List, which will present you with a list view of all the events of the month you are viewing.
Creating new events
To create a new event, simply click on a specific date (click on the white part of a date block). This will give you the option to:
- Type an event title
- Select the specific day you wish to create an event
- Or select or deselect it as All day
- Search for a location
- Add guests / search for people
- Provide a description
Once you have filled in all the details of the event, you can click on Create or Cancel if you no longer wish to create an event.
Users
You can view a user's calendar by manually clicking on a user on the right-hand side. Alternatively, you can Select All to view the calendars for all of a Channel's Participants.
Access permissions
All Channel Participants will receive access to the Channel's calendar when the Channel is shared. You can contact our support team and request to have a security measure set up so that users will need to request access to a Channel's files and folders. For more information, please see this article.