New Calendar and Honorarium process

Education
#191

I seem to recall at the BoD meeting that approved the first tranche of funding had a rather lenghty list of items in the SOW of desirious features AND I thought it was clearly stated that not everything was going to happen at once but in phases.

The transition period from old to new was … less than painless (especially for Alex) but the new system is by far superior to the old one. From what I’ve seen of the system as a user scheduling classes, from Finance Committee side, room scheduling, class approval, things done under new system appear to go much more smoothly (not perfectly, like August having only 30 days, but smoother)

The new system is incorporating rules to prevent arguments over things like “What really is 12 days?” Additionally, it’s streamling allowed a reduction from 12 days to 10 days (more precisely 240 hours) it won’t let you violate the rule when scheduling. That’s plus. No need to find obscure wiki page. Also, you don’t have to wait for three approvals: system default is unless there is challenge / question about class, then after 72 hours it is automatically approved. Instructors who have waited up day class to get final approval can appreciate this.

System also incorporates other policy rules up front like W9 submissions rather than after the fact when checks are being held because we need a W9. Discussions on when W9’s are required surfaced and resolved at last last BoD and will be incorporated into Revised software when next SOW is issued and funded. TBD

The main “steam engine” has been built and is running, the bells, whistles, and some technical issues need addressing. But it was never promised or sold that it would have more than basic functionally at launch. I think this has been overlooked or minimized in discussions.

When the next revisions are defined and funded (yes, this has to occur because we are having one professional do it rather than build a camel by volunteers - not they aren’t professionals also ) it will be an even better system. I hopefully will see some of the features I would like will appear like the rest of you.

I think Alex has has taken more arrows than the hallway outside CA has nails. Alex, thank you. Now wave your magic wand it make it all things to all people.

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#192

First, for the record, the new calendar system is a huge improvement over the old one. I’m sure there are additional features that (a) were envisioned but planned for a later date and/or (b) might not have been envisioned but might be suggested by members as future enhancements.

Is there an official place that lists future enhancements that are planned so we can stop pestering y’all about them?

Is there an official place to collect all the suggestions for future enhancements so that they can be collated and prioritized (or in some cases dismissed if not practical or desirable) for future releases of the calendar?

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#193

A github repo would be good, can track issues and bugs there

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#194

As someone who now teaches on a weekly basis I think the new system is great.

I understand that there are things that still need to be worked out, and that there are things on the drawing board that are going to be added, but this is one of the easier systems I’ve ever used.

Just wanted to add some positive points here for @AlexRhodes and the others to combat some of the negativity.

9 Likes
#195

Newest Updates added last night.

1.) If there is a conflict for your room, you will now see the class that it conflicts with and a link to the event.

2.) If your class is rejected there will now be a place for “Rejector” to inform the “Rejectee” as to why it was rejected.

3.) Admin privileges on the back-end have been modified. -Wont affect most people.

4.) Contact clean up on the DB. -Wont affect most people.

There will be more updates coming, but wanted to let people know of the few things updated last night.

9 Likes
#196

Big Update.

You can now see your previously taught and attended events in your “Hosting Events” and “Attending Events” section of your account. If your class was rejected you will see it Highlighted in red.

Now that you can see your past events you can now copy previously taught events. If you have taught a class before you can find your event and click on the

Now in the top right you should see a “Copy Event” button.

When you do this it will copy everything except for the date. This includes previous files and Honorarium settings. Always review your class before submitting to make sure everything still applies.

Another minor things is that we added to the message after you create event that it cant take 48 - 72 hours to show on the calendar.

More updates will be coming in the near future.

7 Likes
Repeat Events in Calendar
#197

Awesome! From a casual user perspective this thing is great. I’m sure it’s even better to the people on the back who fling paper to make everything work around here.

I do have a couple of questions/niggles though…
Regarding the login, it has been taking 10s of seconds to get to the login page, and then to process the login. I just checked (from DMS) and that isn’t the case at the moment, so maybe that’s been fixed.

Also, it seems to be pretty aggressive about logging me out. Is that only tied to an open window session? Is the cookie being set for a very short (like 10 minute) time frame? Personally I would prefer it to just leave me logged in!

Thanks again, this is all quite an improvement!

#198

I apologize if this has been answered already. So I had a fun little tie dye class. One person registered by the end of the night I had four people participating.
I do realize they need to register to be in the class. But, if this happens in the future can one apply for the honorarium after the fact?

#199

Ooooo. Copy event. Sweet!

#200

The other thing about this situation is I would have signed-up/attended and brought a friend with their kid if I had a way of knowing it wasn’t going to be mobbed/packed (which I really would have bet it was going to be). Would really like to be able to see a list of sign-up-ees for a class or event; wouldn’t need to include personal contact details, but would be great to be able to understand who and how many are attending.

1 Like
#201

How do I find out if the minimum amount of people signed up for the class to be eligible for honorarium? I announce my events on Facebook as well and by word of mouth so many attendees would never know about this sign up process. I didn’t even know about it until right now.

I’m pretty sure my class from last night didn’t have enough signed up to get approval but I did have a good turnout for the class. Does this mean I’m out of luck? Also I changed the start time of my class, it was approved for honorarium but I wanted to add an hour so I had to cancel the approved class and recreate a new one but it was to late to request the honorarium, so does this mean I’m out of luck?

Also I got an email today that a class that teaches acrylic painting isn’t a class it is a workshop.
The definition seems to say a workshop can also be a class where people learn. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/workshop So the excuse in my mind is not a good one because it is confusing to me that teaching people how to paint and have fun is not acceptable for honorarium.

I sent a reply but never heard back. I’ve sent other email to admin but never get a response, did the contact email change?

It can often take me 6 to 7 hours just to set up and help run the acrylic painting class. Part of the honorarium is sent to Creative Arts for the paint supplies and the other goes to the teacher who often sends it to the charity that the event is part of. So for me this class is all work and very hard work at that and I never take any of the money into my own pocket. So it is frustrating to see that I can’t send money back to Creative Arts for helping me run this class with supplies and also pay a teacher, yeas a teacher, to teach and guide people on how to paint a picture. I’m baffled that this kind of acrylic class has always been approved in the past but is it now not acceptable.

I’m a little upset but am wanting to work with the system, I just need to know what the system is wanting.

#202

[email protected] is correct, they will reply when they get a chance to.

The system right now is in a state of flux as the new process is being figured out. I’m not sure if we have a good set of guidelines, can someone start a wiki page on the process and requirements of using new calendar system?

#203

The best way to do it is to create a link to the Dallas Makerspace page that has the sign-up so their email and class count shows up. It will also allow for payment processing if required.

Hope this helps. David Kessinger, Finance Committee

@uglyknees

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#204

A few bugs, old and new:

  1. I’m still unable to create classes; just a cryptic error to fix items in red with nothing actually in red. Extremely odd; I was able to create a class one time, never since.
    1a) When I look at hosted classes the one class I did host successfully doesn’t show up. This may not be a bug, it may be that the new list of events you hosted is only for future events.
  2. When I look at my attending events it shows an Aug 17 National Bench class which I enrolled in but later canceled days before the event. I don’t think it should be listed as a class I attended.

I’d be happy to participate in further testing on these and other issues.

Thanks.

#205

If you goto your event you can see everyone who is registered for the event.

#206

Be sure that you are logged in when you check your class attendance or it won’t show. I try to do a couple hours before class starts and print it for my records

#207

Please send an email to admin

#208

How do I view an event in the past?

#209

Click on Calendar view (upper RH corner). Use the month scroll arrows if necessary.

P.S. If you are logged in, and use the “My Events” option, it should show all your events including those in the past (without the Calendar view option).

1 Like
#210

Looks like you got your answer in the thread