Creating new calendars and events

Tags: Flow

Calendars allow you to visualize organization level events in your reports down to team level events and meetings. Use these instructions to set up a calendar and create events within that calendar.

Who can use this?

 Core
Plus
 
  

 

Permissions

You need the Manage calendars permission in order to view and create calendars. Learn more about Administrative permissions.

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Create a calendar

Create as many calendars as you would like. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind:

  • Teams should only subscribe to one calendar that is visible on the Date filter.
  • Try and keep only one Organizational level calendar visible in the Date filter.

To create a calendar:

  1. Click Settings in the top navigation of Flow. 
  2. In the left navigation under Report Settings, click Calendars.
  3. Click Add calendar.
  4. Fill in the following fields:
    1. Calendar name
    2. Calendar description
    3. Calendar type
      1. Organization - Select this option if your events are applicable to all teams and Users.
      2. Group - Select this option if your events are applicable to only a select group of teams. You will need to subscribe teams to group calendars.
    4. Show On - Select where you would like your events to appear
      1. Reports - Events will appear directly in your reports
      2. Date Picker - Use this option to create creating custom date ranges or sprint cycles. Events will appear in the Date Range filter in your report so you can easily navigate to a specific time frame.
  5. Click Save.

Your calendar is now available in the calendar list on the Calendars page.

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Bulk importing calendars

You need the Manage calendars permission to bulk import calendars. You can import many events into your calendar at the same time. To do so, first create a CSV file of events. 

To bulk upload calendar events:

  1. Prepare a .csv file with the following columns:
    1. Calendar Name
    2. Event Name
    3. Start Date/Time
    4. End Date/Time
    5. Timezone
    6. All Day
    7. Category
    8. Hide
  2. From the Calendars page, click Bulk upload (.csv).
  3. In the modal, choose a file to import.
  4. Select Overwrite items if found and Add calendars if not found according to your needs.
  5. Click Next
  6. Confirm your import and click Yes, import.

If no errors were found, you will see a success message.

If errors were found, you will see an error message with a link to view the results of your upload. Click  See detailed results to view the fields and rows that need edits.

Your file should look something like this:

Tips & Next Steps

After creating a new calendar, check the group type and show the columns on the Calendars page. Organization means the calendar and its events are for the whole org. Group means they are just for certain teams. The Show on column determines where the events for that calendar are visible either in the Date Picker, on the Reports, Both or None.

Subscribe teams to calendars to be sure that the events are visible to relevant teams. See Calendar subscriptions for more information.

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Add events

To adde events:

  1. Click on any calendar in your calendar list to view the Calendar details page.
  2. On the Calendar details page click Add event.
    A modal appears.
  3. In the modal, input the following information:
    • Event Name
    • Date of Event and Timezone
    • Repeating - With any repeating event you can select an end date if applicable or have it set to repeat indefinitely.
      • Does not repeat
      • Daily
      • Weekly
      • Monthly
    • Event Type - There are three types:
      • Informational
      • Meeting 
      • Time Off
  4. Once you have filled out all your event details click Create.
  5. Click Add event to create more events or click Done.

You can edit your event at any time. Learn more about your Calendar details page.

Note: If you create a recurring event, Flow creates an event for each day that it repeats.

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Adding Events in the Project Timeline Report

Once you have created a calendar, you can also add events straight from the Project timeline report.

Tip: The Add event button will only be visible in the report for users that have the Manage calendar permission.

To add events in the project timeline report:

  1. Click the Add event button to open the Add event modal.
  2. Select the calendar name from the drop down menu that you wish to add the event to, then click Next.
  3. Fill in the details of the event, then click Create.
  4. On the next screen, review and edit your event or add another event. If you are finished, click Done.

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Where will my events appear?

You can see your calendar events in two different places depending on the Calendar Show On setting.

Show On: Reports

If you set your calendar events to show on reports, those events appear in your reports. 

To make sure your events are showing up where needed:

  1. Set the events filter to include the type of calendar events you are wanting to view:
  2. If your calendar events are under a group calendar, filter by the subscribed team.
    Once you have those two filters set appropriately you'll see your events appear as shown below:
Tip: Filter to both organizational and group calendars to see both types of events. As seen above, the org level event is in pink and the group level event is in purple.

Show On: Date Picker

The Date Picker is designed to create custom date ranges, specifically sprints. These are generally associated with a group calendar with specific teams subscribed. Events associated with a calendar that appear in the Date Picker will appear regardless of what is or is not selected in the Events filter. For any event that is set to show on the Date Picker, ensure you are properly filtered to the correct team, if the events are only assigned to a specific team.

To turn on custom date ranges:

  1. Click Settings in Flow's top navigation bar.
  2. In the left navigation under Report settings, click Configurations. 
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the General tab to the Custom Date Ranges section. 
  4. Toggle on Enable custom date ranges and customize your label.

If you choose a group calendar for custom date ranges, make sure to subscribe teams to the calendar.

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If you need help, please contact Pluralsight Support.