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Information was last updated on April 14, 2020 for the release of "Online Events" functionality. Please note:

All public events created prior to April 14, 2020 will not automatically appear on the new Audubon.org feeds (Audubon Near You & Audubon Events pages).  If you want your existing events to appear on Audubon.org, follow the instructions below:

How to edit events created prior to April 14, 2020 so they appear on www.audubon.org/events

  1. Find your event in Audubon Works: https://works.audubon.org/admin/content/events
  2. Click on the Event Title
  3. Click on the "Edit" Tab
  4. Update the following fields & save event:
    1. Hide on audubon.org (Optional): This checkbox should be unchecked if you want your event to appear on Audubon.org. These pages will be promoted by the NAS Marketing and PR Teams and will  help drive more attendees to your events - so we recommend you include all of your public events on audubon.org.
    2. Event Category (Required): Select "Online" "In-person" or "Both." Note: Online only events do not require an address - if that was previously added changing an event to "Online" will remove the address.
    3. Event Time Zone (Required): Select the appropriate time zone from the dropdown menu.
    4. Event Platform (Optional): If an Event Category is "Online" add the platform for the event (Facebook, Zoom, etc.) this information will not appear on any user-facing pages, but will be helpful for internal reporting.

Events added from Audubon Works do not appear automatically on Audubon.org/events, currently every 6 hours they will be imported to Audubon.org/events after saving or editing an event.

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We've built a system to collect event submissions from across the network via Audubon Works. Events submitted here are kept in a single Audubon-wide database, and can be fed into a variety of different online applications, including your State or Center website's events calendar and event listings on Audubon.org.

Think of events posted to Works as classified ads—if you want to drive public attendance to an event, this will hopefully help you do it. The system does not currently provide infrastructure for registration or paid attendance, but it is flexible enough to accommodate whatever system you're currently using. 

If you're a Center, you probably have lots of events—regular bird walks or nature hikes, guided tours, youth programs, etc. If you're a State office, you can use events to promote specific advocacy actions (rallies, etc), or you can choose to aggregate all Center events in your state. Soon, we will roll this system out to chapter leaders, so the state site can act as an aggregator for all events happening across the Audubon network in that state. 

Here's the procedure for loading events. NOTE: You must have an Audubon Works account to load events, and that account must be configured by IT to post your events to the proper Audubon entity (ie, your state office or center). If you have any problems, submit a request to computerhelp@audubon.org.

Step-by-step guide:

1. If you do not already have access to Audubon Works (https://works.audubon.org/user) or need permission to post events to additional public websites, submit a request to computerhelp@audubon.org.


2. From your state or center site's admin bar, choose Content -> Add Content -> Event. You'll be taken to Audubon Works to create the event—log in to Works with your Audubon network email address and password if necessary. 

Alternatively, you can go straight to works.audubon.org and click Events in the main menu bar, then click the orange “Create Event” button in the upper right. If you're a state or center website user, though, it's preferable to use the "Add content" link in your site's admin bar as described above, as that's the only way to take advantage of the automatic syncing and some of the other features described below. 

3. Select "Public websites" when asked where you'd like to display your event, and make sure the website where you'd like the event to appear is checked in the list that appears. In many cases you will only have one option—your site. 

If you do not see the proper entity listed here, submit a Jira ticket for the proper access and we’ll configure your account.




4. Populate the fields on the submission form. Each field has a description of what’s required below, and only those with a red star are mandatory. A brief overview here:

Basic info:

  • Event Category: Choose Online, In-Person or Both  (updated April 2020)
  • Cancelled: If your event is cancelled, you can check the "cancelled" checkbox and it will append "cancelled" to the event title and the event will not appear in feeds on Audubon.org. (updated April 2020)
  • Hide event on audubon.org: If you do not want the event to appear on feeds on Audubon.org (including the Audubon Near You Page & All Events Page), check the checkbox. (updated April 2020)
  • Event Title: The name of your event. Be as direct and succinct as possible.
  • Event Subtitle: A brief, one-line summary of the event that gives more information. This will display on your calendar landing page along with the title.
  • Event Description: The body of your event listing. Here you can provide the full description of the event, along with any information someone would need to have a good time, such as suggested attire for outdoor events, etc. You can include images in the description area if you wish (optional).
  • Event type: Select the type that best matches your event. If you’d like to suggest a new category of event, please submit a Jira ticket.
  • Event Platform: If an event is Event Category "Online, "add the platform the event will be hosted on (Facebook, Zoom, etc). This label will not appear on any customer-facing forms, but will be used for internal reporting. (updated April 2020)
  • Main Image: This is the main image associated with your event. It is optional.

Where: 

  • Event Location Name: The name of the facility where the event is happening, such as "Prospect Park Audubon Center" or "Williamsburg Community Center" 
  • Location special instructions / Contact: An optional field where you can add additional text underneath the address listing. Use this for any special instructions that may not be clear from the address alone, or to put in contact information for help in locating the event/etc.
  • Address: Fill in a valid street address, including city/state/ZIP, for the location. Then click the "show location" button and you should see a preview of the map that will appear on your event.
  • Note: Online events do not require an address (updated April 2020)

When: 

Use this to fill in the date or dates of your event. There are several options. This more or less works like your Outlook calendar. 

  • Time Zone: Choose the appropriate time zone from the dropdown menu. (updated April 2020)
  • All day: Check if this event is all day. Otherwise, fill in the Start and End date in the fields that appear. A calendar widget will appear if you click once into the field. 
  • Repeat: Just like in Outlook, it's possible to create recurring events in the system. Check this box and you will see some new options appear: 
    • Repeats Daily/Weekly/Monthly—you still need to specific the date and time of the first instance in the Start date/End date fields above
    • If you choose Daily/Weekly/Monthly, new options will appear to specific when exactly each event appears. 
    • You must set an end date for the repeating event. You can either enter a maximum number of occurrences, or a specific date where the event will cease to repeat. 
  • A note on editing recurring events: If you make a change to a recurring event, upon saving you'll be asked if you'd like to apply the change to every event in the series, every event after the specific instance being edited, or just the specific event date being edited. 

Registration

  • Registration instructions: This text appears right above the “Register Now” button and can be used to give additional information about how to register. 
  • Registration button URL: The web address attendees should go to register or get more information for the event.
  • Registration button label: The text on the actual button, such as "Register Here"

Attachments

  • If you want attendees to be able to access a registration form or other printable document, attach it here

5. When all of your fields are entered, press the SAVE button at the bottom of the page. This is important!

6. After saving, you’ll get a preview of your event. Note: this isn’t how it will actually display on your site, but most fields should be visible. If you need to correct any errors, click the Edit tab at the top to return to the edit screen.

7. You'll also see a new "Sync now" button at the top of the preview screen. Press this button to run a sync on your state or center site immediately, after which you'll see a report of events added, updated, or deleted. 

To sync events from Works to your site at any other time:

Your site will sync events daily from Audubon Works, so there's no need to sync it manually. But if you need an event to appear immediately, you can force the sync on your own site. 

  1. In your site's admin bar, click the "Run events sync" link. Your events will sync, and you'll see a list of events that were created, edited, or deleted. 

To sync events from Works to Audubon.org (updated April 2020)

If the checkbox for "hide from audubon.org" remains unchecked on the event create and edit page in Works, it will automatically be synced to feeds on the following pages on Audubon.org.https://www.audubon.org/audubon-near-you & https://www.audubon.org/events. Currently the sync runs every 6 hours, so it might take a while for your event to appear on those pages. 

To find an event you’ve already created to edit or remove it:

  1. While logged in, view the event page on your own site and click the "Edit Event Details" tab. You'll be taken to Audubon works, where you can make any necessary changes, including deleting the event. Rmember, for changes to take effect on your site, you must sync with works by clicking the "Run events sync" link in the menu bar. 
  2. OR: to see all events published to Audubon works, go to yoursite.audubon.org/admin/content/administration and click the "Events" tab at the top. You'll be taken to Audubon works, where you'll see a listing of all the events created for your site. You can edit them to make changes on works, then re-sync. 

To delete an event

  1. When viewing the event page on your site, click the "Edit event details tab"
  2. You will be taken to this event's edit screen on Audubon works. At the bottom, press the delete button. You'll be asked if you really want to delete the event—say yes. 
  3. You'll be taken to the Audubon Works home page. You need to return to your own site and run the events sync process for the event to be removed. 

To make events appear elsewhere on your site

Events can now be added to any Editorial Card module on any landing page, or to any Related Content fields on static pages or articles. But to make them look nice, you'll want to fill out their editorial card fields. To access them, click the "Edit Editorial Card Fields" link when viewing the event on your site and add a Title, Subtitle, and Editorial card image if necessary. 




We'll be adding more features to the events system over time. If there's anything you'd like to see, let us know.