How do I create recurring calendar events?

Recurring events are an important part of most businesses. Some uses in CollegePlannerPro include:

• Create repetitive meetings with students on a regular schedule.
• Set internal reminders for annual events, such as “Register for IECA” or “Send out a holiday message to all clients and prospects.”
• Schedule quarterly check-ins with Admissions Counselors at the trending schools among your client base to keep up with any changes in their policies or guidance.

You can create or view a recurring event in all of the locations where you can schedule any event in CollegePlannerPro -- your Calendar, Dashboard, Contact Profiles, and Student Profiles. This guide will help you understand some of the tricks for creating the perfect recurring event type.

Recurrence Patterns

The default on all events is that the event "Does not repeat." The recurrence options are Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Annually, and Custom. The first four options will set your events as an unending series. Custom will allow you to set an end date, or a set number of occurrences for each event. 

• Daily events will occur each day going forward from the first day selected. This includes weekends.
• Weekly events will occur weekly on the same weekday as the initial event. 
• Monthly events will recur on the same weekday and same number of weeks into the month, e.g., "Monthly on the second Tuesday" or "Monthly on the last Friday."
• Annual events will recur annually on the same day of the year as the original event.
• Custom recurrences allow for more options when setting the interval between events in a series.
  • Repeat every [x] day(s) will set a repeat pattern spaced by the number of days apart each event should occur.
  • Repeat every [x] week(s) allows you to select a pattern of having the meeting spaced multiple weeks apart. It also allows you to set a pattern for multiple days in the week. 
    
  • Repeat every [x] month(s) allows you to set the occurrence to be after a certain number of months (e.g., quarterly). You can also set the monthly occurrence to be on the same day of the month, or to be on the same weekday/week of the month.
  • Repeat every [x] year(s) sets a repeat pattern where the event occurs once per year, every other year, etc.
  • Ends options allow you to have the recurrence go on indefinitely, to end on a certain date, or to stop after a certain number of occurrences.

Viewing a Recurring Event

On the Dashboard, Contact Profile, and Student Profile screens, a recurring event icon will show on events with a recurrence. Clicking on the event will show the full recurrence pattern. On the Calendar page, there is no indicator for the recurrence, but each occurrence will show as scheduled in the calendar. 

When viewing a recurring event in a list view on the student profile page, the contact profile page, or your dashboard, only the most recent past occurrence and the next occurrence in the sequence will show. This is to prevent the lists from being overwhelmed with repeating events. The icon indicating that the event recurs is your indicator that there will be more than one event in the series. Clicking on the event card on the profile pages, or on the calendar event on the dashboard page, will show you the recurrence pattern and any set end date.

Set up a new recurring event

Create a recurring event exactly the same way you create any event in CollegePlannerPro. Use the recurring field dropdown to select the repeat pattern.

Event notifications

Notification options for recurring events are the same as the options for any other event type in CollegePlannerPro. Your notification selections will perpetuate for the series of events, so each alert created in the create or edit view will continue for each new occurrence in the series.

Edit a recurring event

It is possible to edit a recurring event. When you edit an event, you will have the option to edit the individual occurrence, all remaining events, or all events in the series.

This Event

When the option to edit "This event" is selected, the individual event is edited, and removed from the series of recurring events. The details associated with the event will all remain, including any notes, location data, etc. Any further edits to the event will affect that event only and not the series.

Note that if you change the date for a recurring event that is not the initial event in the series, this option will be selected automatically, and you will not see the option to edit the series. If it is the first event in the series, you will be able to edit the date for the entire series. This is allows you to make a change to a single occurrence should a participant need to reschedule, or to avoid having an occurrence fall on a holiday.

This and following events

When this option is selected, the series will effectively be split into two in your calendar. All events before the one selected will maintain the original settings, while the selected events and all that occur after this in the series will be affected by the change. This is useful for changes to the alerts, the location for the event, or other updates that would not apply retroactively to past events.

All events

This option will edit all events in the series, regardless of where the selected event occurs within the series. This is useful if the length of the sessions needs to be updated across the board for accurate time tracking numbers. It is also useful if you need to update the color of the event type, or the title of the event and you would like to keep the details consistent for the entire series. 

Recurring Events: Student and Contact View

While you can schedule a recurring event with any of your students or contacts, they are not able to schedule recurring events with you. However, they are able to see the details for recurring events that have been shared with them.

On their Dashboard, recurring events will show the recurring event icon under the event date on the Agenda. On the calendar tab, the icon is also used in the Upcoming Events column, while each occurrence of the event is shown in the monthly calendar view.