Complete Guide to Calendar & Events Management

The Calendar is the central hub for viewing and managing your school's daily operations. It combines published timetables with custom events, staff absences, and substitute assignments to give you a complete picture of what's happening on any given day.

Understanding the Calendar

How the Calendar is Built

The Calendar in TimetableMaster is constructed from multiple data sources:

1. Published Timetables - The foundation of your calendar comes from timetables that have been published. These include all regular classes, lessons, and teacher assignments.

2. Custom Events - On top of the published schedule, you can add various types of events like meetings, exams, activities, holidays, and more.

3. Staff Absences - When staff members are marked on leave, this is reflected in the calendar.

4. Substitute Assignments - When substitutes are assigned to cover absent staff, these are shown as special slots in the calendar.

Important: Only published timetables appear in the calendar. Draft or unpublished timetables will not be visible.

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Calendar Views

Month View

The Month View provides a high-level overview of the entire month:

• See all events at a glance
• Identify busy days and holidays
• Navigate quickly to any date
• View event counts per day

Day View

The Day View shows detailed schedule information for a specific day:

• Faculty View - See schedules organized by teacher
• Class View - See schedules organized by class/section
• Room View - See schedules organized by room

Key Features of Day View:

• Timeline Display - Hours are shown horizontally with period cards placed at their exact times
• Current Time Indicator - A red vertical line shows the current time (only visible when viewing today)
• Search Functionality - Quickly find specific teachers, classes, or rooms
• Lane System - Overlapping periods are displayed in multiple lanes for clarity

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Types of Calendar Events

TimetableMaster supports six types of events, each with its own color coding:

Special Note on Lesson Events

When you select "Lesson" as the event type, the color is automatically generated from the event title. This ensures visual consistency with your timetable where subjects have consistent colors.

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Adding Calendar Events

Adding a Single Event

To add a new event to the calendar:

1. Click the "Add Event" button in the calendar header
2. Fill in the event details:
   • Title (required) - Name of the event
   • Description - Additional details about the event
   • Event Type - Select from Meeting, Exam, Activity, Holiday, Lesson, or Other
3. Set the date and time:
   • Start Date and End Date
   • Start Time and End Time (leave empty for all-day events)
4. Choose participants:
   • Select specific Classes, Faculty, and/or Rooms
   • Or check "Apply to entire organization" for organization-wide events
5. Click Save

Adding Recurring Events

For events that repeat on a schedule:

1. Create a new event as described above
2. Toggle "Recurring Event" to ON
3. Configure the recurrence pattern:
   • Pattern: Daily, Weekly, or Monthly
   • Interval: Every 1, 2, 3... days/weeks/months
   • Days of Week: For weekly events, select which days (Monday, Tuesday, etc.)
   • End Date: When the recurring event should stop
4. Click Save

The system will automatically create all instances of the recurring event.

Recurring Event Examples:

• Weekly Staff Meeting: Every Monday at 3:00 PM
• Monthly Assembly: First Friday of every month
• Daily Morning Assembly: Every weekday at 8:00 AM

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Bulk Import Events

For adding multiple events at once, use the Bulk Import feature:

Accessing Bulk Import

1. Click the dropdown arrow next to the "Add Event" button
2. Select "Bulk Import"

CSV Format

Prepare your data in CSV format with these columns:

Title, Description, Event Type, Date, Start Time, End Time, Classes, Faculty, Rooms

Column Details:

Organization-Wide Events

To create events that apply to the entire organization, use "all" in the Classes, Faculty, and Rooms columns:

Staff Meeting,Monthly staff sync,meeting,2024-12-05,14:00,15:00,all,all,all

Sample CSV

Title,Description,Event Type,Date,Start Time,End Time,Classes,Faculty,Rooms
Math Class,Weekly math lecture,lesson,2024-12-01,09:00,10:00,Class 10A,Mr. Smith,Room 101
Staff Meeting,Monthly staff sync,meeting,2024-12-05,14:00,15:00,all,all,all
Final Exam,End of term examination,exam,2024-12-15,09:00,12:00,"Class 10A,Class 10B",all,Main Hall
Holiday,School holiday,holiday,2024-12-25,,,all,all,all

Import Process

1. Click "Download Template" to get a sample CSV file
2. Fill in your events following the format
3. Either:
   • Upload the CSV file using the file picker, or
   • Paste the CSV content directly into the text area
4. Review the Preview section to verify your data
5. Check for any errors or warnings
6. Click "Import Events"

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Managing Staff Absences

Marking Leave

When a staff member is absent:

1. In the Day View (Faculty tab), find the staff member
2. Click the "Leave" button that appears on hover
3. Fill in the leave details:
   • Leave Type (Sick leave, Personal leave, etc.)
   • Duration (Full day or Half day)
   • Date Range
4. Click Save

The staff member will now appear with a red background indicating they are on leave.

Substitute Banner

When viewing the Faculty tab in Day View, a banner at the top shows:

• Staff on Leave - Number of teachers currently on leave for the day
• Substitute Teachers - Number of substitutes assigned

Click on either count to filter and see only those teachers.

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Assigning Substitutes

From Day View

1. Find the teacher who is absent
2. Click the "Sub" button that appears on hover
3. The Substitute Assignment view opens showing:
   • The absent teacher's complete schedule for the day
   • Each period that needs coverage
4. For each period, select a substitute teacher from the dropdown
5. The system recommends substitutes based on:
   • Teachers who are free during that period
   • Subject expertise
   • Existing workload
6. Click Save All

Understanding Substitute Slots

In the calendar, substitute assignments are shown differently:

• Yellow border indicates a substitute assignment
• The card shows both the original teacher and the substitute
• Hover for complete details

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Editing and Cancelling Events

Editing an Event

1. Click on any event card in the calendar
2. The Event Modal opens in view mode
3. Click "Edit" to make changes
4. Modify the details as needed
5. Click Save

Cancelling a Lesson

For timetable-based lessons (not custom events):

1. Click on the lesson card
2. Click the "Cancel" button
3. Enter a cancellation reason
4. Click Confirm

Cancelled lessons appear with:

• Strikethrough text
• Red background tint
• The cancellation reason displayed

Restoring a Cancelled Lesson

1. Click on the cancelled lesson card
2. Click "Restore"
3. Confirm the restoration

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Calendar Configuration

Access calendar settings by clicking the "Configure" button:

Display Settings

• Show Off Days in Day View - Toggle visibility of holidays and off days
• Week Start Day - Set which day your week begins (Sunday or Monday)

Working Days

• Select which days of the week are working days
• Non-working days appear grayed out in the calendar

Holidays

Add school holidays and closures:

1. Click "Add Holiday"
2. Enter the holiday name
3. Select the date
4. Add an optional description
5. Choose whether it applies to all or specific entities

Special Working Days

Sometimes you may need to override a weekend or holiday as a working day:

1. Click "Add Special Working Day"
2. Select the date
3. Enter a reason

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Tips and Best Practices

Planning Your Calendar

1. Publish timetables first - Ensure your regular timetables are published before adding events
2. Use recurring events - Set up regular meetings once and let the system handle repetition
3. Be specific with entities - Assign events to specific classes/teachers to avoid clutter
4. Use appropriate event types - This helps with filtering and visual organization

Managing Large Events

For school-wide events:

• Use the "Apply to entire organization" checkbox
• This ensures everyone can see the event regardless of their view filter

Bulk Operations

• Use Bulk Import for semester planning
• Import exam schedules at the beginning of the term
• Add all holidays for the year in one go

Daily Monitoring

• Check the current time indicator to see what's happening now
• Use the Faculty view to monitor teacher availability
• Click on the leave/substitute counts in the banner for quick filtering

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Exporting and Sharing

Print-Friendly Views

The calendar can be printed or exported for sharing:

1. Navigate to the desired view (Month or Day)
2. Use your browser's print function (Ctrl/Cmd + P)
3. The view is optimized for printing

Data Integration

Events and schedules from the calendar can be integrated with:

• School notification systems
• Digital signage
• Mobile apps for parents/students

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Troubleshooting

Events Not Showing

If your events aren't appearing:

1. Check the date - Ensure you're viewing the correct date
2. Check filters - If using Faculty/Class/Room view, the event must be assigned to visible entities
3. Check event dates - Verify the event's start and end dates

Timetable Lessons Not Appearing

If regular lessons aren't showing:

1. Verify timetable is published - Only published timetables appear
2. Check the day of week - The calendar shows lessons for the correct day pattern
3. Verify date range - The timetable must be active for the selected date

Bulk Import Errors

If your bulk import fails:

1. Check date format - Must be YYYY-MM-DD
2. Check time format - Must be HH:MM (24-hour)
3. Verify entity names - Names must match exactly with your Resources
4. Check for special characters - Wrap fields with commas in quotes

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Summary

The Calendar in TimetableMaster provides a comprehensive view of your school's operations by combining:

• Published timetables as the foundation
• Custom events for meetings, exams, activities, and more
• Staff absence tracking
• Substitute assignments

Key actions you can perform:

• Add single or recurring events
• Bulk import events via CSV
• Mark staff leave and assign substitutes
• Cancel and restore lessons
• Configure holidays and working days

Use the different views (Month, Day with Faculty/Class/Room filters) to get exactly the perspective you need for your administrative tasks.

For more help with specific features, check out our other guides on Teacher Substitution Management and Timetable Creation.