Link Events to Calendars

Hopefully you're starting to see the symbiotic relationship between event registrations and calendar events. The fact that they share the same guide should tell you that they go together like peas and carrots (or steak and potatoes). We've also seen that groups can be linked to registrations, and that content channels also have a role with calendar events.

You might be wondering how you're going to manage all these items for a specific event. We did too, so we worked hard to make it as simple as possible. Here’s how.

While you can link registrations, events, groups and content channel items many different ways, here's the easiest:

  1. Create your event group that the registration will place registrants into.
  2. Create your calendar event and occurrence.
  3. While editing your occurrence select the Add Linkage button. There are a few linkage options for you, which we’ll summarize here and then describe in more detail 
  4. After saving the occurrence, you can optionally enter any content channel items you need for your event. See 

Once you create these linkages, you can view and manage them from either the calendar occurrence, group or event instance detail screens.

URL Slug Required

The URL Slug must be used in order to have event registrants be automatically placed into the correct group.

Adding Calendar Linkages

As noted in the section above, you have different linkage options available to you when creating a new calendar event and occurrence. In this section we’ll look at each option in detail.

No Registration Required

Select this option when you don't need a registration but still want to have a URL slug associated with an event.

In the example pictured above we’re not linking the calendar occurrence to any registration instance. However, we can still create a handy URL slug.

Tip

URL Slugs: Say what?!
A "slug" is a common web term that refers to a part of a web address that identifies a page, or component of a page, using human-readable keywords. If you're not Noah Webster, that means instead of saying Registration?RegistrationInstanceId=153 you can say Registration/SummerCamp2021. In most cases the slug can be whatever you want but try to use only letters and numbers (e.g., SummerCamp2021) if possible because some special characters may cause issues with browsers. Keeping that in mind, dashes are commonly used (e.g., Summer-Camp-2021) without causing problems.  

Keep in mind when using the No Registration Required option that you might need to add some page routes on your external site. To get the URL slug to work, you’ll need a page route similar to events/{slug} or campinfo/{slug} on the page that has the Calendar Event Item Occurrence Lava block. The route must include {slug} because this tells the system where to look for the linked event occurrence.

Create Registration Instance

You would use Create Event Registration Instance if you want to link the event occurrence to a registration instance that hasn’t been created yet. This means you can create a registration instance directly from the calendar instead of creating it separately and having to link them later.

If the screen pictured above looks familiar, that’s because it’s the same information you’d use to create a registration instance from outside of the calendar. Just like any time you add a registration instance, you need to have a registration template set up first. If a template doesn’t exist for the instance you’re trying to create, you’ll have to go back and add one.

Use Existing Registration Instance

You’ll use this option if you already have a registration instance that just needs to be linked to this calendar occurrence.

As you can see in the example pictured above, all you’ll need to do is pick the template and instance, and then give it a Public Name. Like the other options, you can also create a slug and link to a group from here.