Gather offers Calendar integration so that you can share and view events for all participants in the Space. This article will cover how to add a public calendar, how to add a new event to a public calendar—including how to create a custom location link for the event, and how to view existing events.
Warning: Only Owners and Moderators can add a Space-wide calendar to the Space. Also, only one calendar can be integrated into a Gather Space.
Add Space-Wide Calendar
From your Space, click Calendar in the Left Nav Menu to open the Events panel.
If you have not yet added a calendar, you will see the message, "No calendar connected" and "Connect a space-wide calendar in Settings > Preferences."
Click the Calendar in the Left Nav Menu to open the Events panel. If you have not yet added a calendar to your Space, you will see a prompt to do so in Settings > Space Preferences.
Click Settings in the Left Nav Menu. The Settings window opens, with the Space tab and Space Preferences option active. A field displays for you to paste your public iCalendar (iCal) link into. (A public iCal link allows your calendar to display in other computer programs, like Gather.)
To add a calendar, click Settings in the Left Nav Menu. The Settings window opens, with the Space tab and Space Preferences active. Paste your calendar's public sharing link into the Calendar field and click Save.
Finding Your iCal Link
You will need to copy your calendar's public iCal link in Space Preferences and click Save. You will need to refresh your Gather Space to view the calendar once you've added it in Space Preferences.
Note: Make sure you generate a link to your public calendar so that Gather can display it.
If you're not sure how to find your iCal link, here are a few external resources we found. Basically, any calendar that can generate a public iCal link can be used.
Manage Calendar
When a public calendar is added to a Space, it is visible to all guests in the Space. Users in your Space have the ability to create new events when they meet two criteria: (a) they have the Owner, Moderator, or Builder user role, which gives access to event creation in Gather, and (b) they have edit access in the calendar's native application (e.g., in Google Calendar or Outlook). Otherwise, guests can only view events in the Space, but keep in mind they can view all events, not just the ones to which they are invited.
Add New Event
In the Left Nav Menu, click Calendar. The Events panel displays. Click Create new event. The Create new calendar event window opens. Click the Select location drop-down. Any previously created custom Spawn locations will display in the list.
In the Create new calendar event pop-up, click the Select location drop-down to view a list of available custom Spawn locations. Click either Create in Google Calendar or Copy location link to access a link to the custom Spawn location.
Select the location of the event and click Create in Google Calendar. Google Calendar will open, and you will be able to add event details like date and time. The Location field for the event is populated in Google with the link for your custom Spawn location.
Note: If you just want to grab the link for the custom Spawn location, click Copy location link. You can then share the link however you wish. You can also copy the link from your Google Calendar event.
Create Custom Spawn Location
To create a new location specific to your meeting, open the Calendar. Click Create new event. The Create new calendar event window opens. Click the Select location drop-down. Click Create a new location. The Create a location pop-up displays, where you can click Open Mapmaker.
To add a custom location for an event, select Create a location, then click Open in Mapmaker.
Using the Mapmaker, add Spawn tiles with custom Spawn Tile IDs. Once you're done adding your custom Spawn tiles, return to your Space. Click Back in the Create a location pop-up. The new custom location displays in the drop-down list.
Note: Need a brush-up on Spawn tiles? Read our Spawn tiles article.
When the scheduled event takes place, participants in your Space can open the calendar to see the event and easily navigate to the meeting location. They have two options: Locate, which shows them a line to follow to manually navigate to the meeting location, or Teleport, which takes them directly to the custom Spawn location.
View Events
To view the day's events, click Calendar in the Left Nav Menu. The Events panel expands, with a list of events for the current day. The event list shows the event name, the time, and the location. Events in the past are semi-transparent.
Note: Only publicly listed events from the current day on a public calendar will be displayed.
When you click on an event, a pop-up displays with event info. (The amount of info that displays depends on the amount of info entered during event creation.) You may see the full event title; the day, date, and time; the custom Spawn location name, with the room name in parentheses; a list of attendees who have said Yes to the event; and the Locate and Teleport buttons.
You can view the day's Events and click Teleport to go directly to the meeting location if one has been set for the event.
Click Locate to follow a line that leads you to the meeting space. Click Teleport to appear directly in the meeting location.
Notes on Calendar Integration
- If you have not yet connected a calendar (and you have Build permissions in the Space), you can still create new events. If you have a Google Calendar, you can still create an event in the Google Calendar. It just won't show up in the Space's calendar.