About Calendar

The Calendar provides a unified view of all community activities, displaying two types of items on a single calendar grid. This makes it easy to see everything happening in your community at a glance.

Calendar Color Coding

Items on the calendar are color-coded to help you quickly identify what type of activity each is:

• Gold/Yellow dots: One-time events—individual gatherings created through the Events system. These can optionally include volunteer roles and can be public or private.
• Blue dots: Recurring event series—events that repeat on a schedule (weekly, monthly). These are labeled "Series" when you click on them. Each occurrence can optionally include volunteer roles and can be public or private.

Calendar Views

There are multiple ways to view calendar content:

• Global Calendar (/calendar): Shows all activities from all communities in one place. Great for seeing everything happening across the SFDS Network.
• Community Calendars: Each community has its own calendar (e.g., /oratorio/schedule) showing only that community's activities.
• My Calendar (/account/calendar): Your personal calendar showing events you've RSVPed to and volunteer roles you've signed up for.
• Dashboard Calendar: When logged in, your home page shows a personalized calendar with your upcoming activities.
• List View vs. Calendar View: Toggle between a chronological list and a monthly calendar grid using the links in the header.

Two Types of Calendar Items

1. One-Time Events (Gold)

Individual gatherings created through the Events system. These can be concerts, social events, meetings, fundraisers, or any other activity. One-time events support RSVPs and can optionally include volunteer roles. Events can be configured as public (visible to everyone) or private (only visible to logged-in members).

2. Recurring Event Series (Blue)

Events that repeat on a regular schedule—weekly (same day each week) or monthly (e.g., first Tuesday). Created using the recurring options in the event form. Each occurrence in the series is a separate event page where people can RSVP and, optionally, sign up for volunteer roles. Series can repeat indefinitely (perpetual) or until a specified end date. Like one-time events, recurring series can be public or private.

Volunteer Roles

Both one-time events and recurring event series can optionally include volunteer roles. When roles are added, members can sign up for specific positions with capacity limits. This allows you to combine event attendance (RSVPs) with role-based volunteering, making it easy to coordinate who is doing what at your events.

Who Can Create Events

• General Events: Any logged-in member can create general events (one-time or recurring) that are not associated with a specific community.
• Community Events: To associate an event with a specific community, you must be a moderator or administrator of that community.

Email Notifications

Stay informed about volunteer opportunities and schedule updates by subscribing to email notifications. You can choose to receive weekly summary emails about open volunteer roles for specific communities.

To manage your schedule notification preferences:

• Visit your Account → Notifications page (requires login)
• Select which communities you'd like to receive open role summary notifications for
• You'll receive a weekly email summarizing all open volunteer roles for your selected communities

You can also enable reminder emails for volunteer roles you've signed up for, receiving notifications 24 hours before or 1 week before the scheduled time. All notification preferences can be customized or disabled at any time from your notification settings.