Events, in depth

The Events page shows a copy of the parish calendar. The parish keeps its master calendar in its scheduling system. A timer on the server copies the next 90 days of events from that system every 10 minutes. The page reads only the copy. A busy Sunday does not slow the master system, and a family never waits for it. The page shows a Last synced time, so a reader knows how fresh the list is.

The copy of the events stays valid for 15 minutes. That is longer than the gap between two runs. One failed run therefore does not empty the page. If the copy is empty, for example after a restart, the page says that events are loading and asks the reader to come back soon. It does not show an error.

• Every signed-in member sees the calendar, except a guest. A guest account does not get the Events link.
• Events in an internal category stay off the list. The parish decides which events carry that category in its master calendar.

A reader combines four controls. Search matches text. Category shows one kind of event. Date Range offers today, this week, this month, the next month, the next 90 days or all events. View switches between cards and lines. The page counts the matches, so a reader sees at once that a filter is too narrow.

An event page shows the date, the time, the place and the category. If the event takes sign-ups, the page shows Register for Event and sends the reader to the registration.

The calendar is read-only. Staff change an event in the master calendar, and the change reaches the page within one cycle. The page has no sync button for parishioners.

The calendar lists events. It does not take sign-ups itself. An event that needs sign-ups points to the module that owns them, such as Volunteer, Ministry or Conferences. That module keeps the list of people, the payments and the messages. Events keeps one shared view of the parish week, so a family looks in one place first.