Utilising the Calendar.

I propose a new forum rule where before an event is posted in the Event subforum ( http://www.defiasrp.com/f19-events ), the topic must be able to link to a Calendar event on the forums Calendar ( http://www.defiasrp.com/calendar ).

To help with this, a sub-topic explaining how it works and how to create both a topic and an event.

Would anyone 'actually' check that Calendar? My current view of it is rather clunky, probably because it's never been used during my time. Im personally happy with event dates posted in their own related threads or in the thread name.

It could be a useful tool, but Im not sure making a rule of it is needed. Instead, maybe one or two people could keep an eye on the event thread and put up the various events on the calendar.

The calendar should be made more known, imo. If there was a sticky at the top of the event forum and a rule that it needs to be used, people would probably start checking it more.

Not a rule that you punish people for not obeying, but more a pre-requisite.

If someone does not follow it, and someone notices it, just a friendly nudge to say "Hey, you didn't put that on the Calendar."

People shouldn't feel obligated to use the calendar though. The events section is there, checked regularly, and the in-game calendar is used to full effect.

I'm with Gruff here, if I'm honest.

>_> i didnt know there was a calendar till now

Lock the calendar from anyone posting it in.

Appoint a moderator to create a calendar post for every event posted in the event section, with a link to the event page.

Said moderator will consistently ninja-edit a bigass link to the calendar-post of the event right at the top of every post.

BAM. You now have well-oiled calendar function on your forum.

When I said people shouldn't feel obligated, I was referring to everyone. That includes the moderators.

If you want to use the calendar, go ahead. But we won't be doing it for you.

you can(or could) link to a calendar in the thread making tool. doing it after the fact is just too much work...

So, I was plotting an event and was pretty much confirmed on the date when I realized there was a similar event just five days before that I hadn't seen in the events forum because it was so far down the list.

Apologies for the necro but I do think this thread makes a good point. A working calendar that actually gets used could stop events conflicting and it could make it a lot easier for new people to look through than needing to look through the whole events forum.

It doesn't need to be a rule, but maybe encouraged more? As I said in my other post, a sticky in the events thread could help. Maybe making the calendar more visible too - it doesn't seem like a very important feature when it's just a small link on the top.

Using the calendar would be a great tool.

but again, i don't think moderators should take care of that. Event creators should make sure their event is on the calendar.

I'm not saying mods should be responsible for putting events on there. Just that the system should be changed to make it more visible and usable, and to encourage people to actually bother putting there events on it.

Well this is the current system: its pretty obvious to help event creators put it into the calendar.




the actual calendar isn't at the forefront of the forum that's true. so how would you propose to change it?

taking into account that people don't even bother to spend 30 more seconds on the event thread creation page to actually fill in the date and time.

edit: my personal pet-peeve is that most event creators don't advertise the date and time in the title, but that's a different question...

The most I think I could do is make a thread in the events section that suggests folk put their events on the forum calendar. There aren't many (if any, in fact) ways to make the calendar more obvious in the forum layout.

The only way would be for a mod (me or Gruff, probably) to make a thread and constantly update it with every event that is made. Timna tried this a while back, but sadly it never really went anywhere.

the only possible way I see it, is if you add a Widget...

and nobody wants blood widgets! (and if they do... the world is lost)

xD

though that doesn't add anything if people don't actually add their events to it.


the best thing you could do, imo; is to make a sticky, asking people that make events in the event thread to add the day-date-time to the original title.

Nobody wants widgets whatsoever. Fuck widgets. So says beer admin.

I'll set up a thread tomorrow and see if that helps at all, regardless.

Fuck widgets indeed!

Widgets are a sign that you are not drinking the correct beer. (In forum terms what is a widget?)