Add a Template, Create/Update Events

An event template is an RSVPMaker document that is associated with a recurring schedule, rather than an individual date.

In the example shown below, we’re creating a template for a club that meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7 pm. The template can be used to create many individual event posts, each of which will contain content and settings copied from the template.

To get started, do one of the following:

• Click Add New under RSVP Events, followed by the New Template link in the upper right hand corner.
• Go to the Event Templates screen under RSVP Events and click New Template at the top of the page.

The initial setup screen displayed shows scheduling options including First, Second, Third, Fourth, Last, and Every, along with the days of the week. These settings are used to project the dates of future meeting events.

If you leave the default schedule setting, Varies, the software will project a series of first-day-of-the-month events, and you can modify that schedule as necessary.

When you complete this form and click Save Changes, RSVPMaker creates a draft post for your template and launches you into the WordPress editor so you can fill in the body of the post.

Publishing a template does not automatically populate your events calendar. Once you are ready to create events based on your calendar, click Create / Update on the admin bar at the top of the screen. This option is displayed several other places, including a prompt that appears whenever you publish or update an event template.

The Create / Update screen projects dates according to the schedule you have set and allows you to accept or modify those dates. In this example, we’re seeing all the First Tuesday dates the system has calculated. If the club wasn’t meeting over the summer, or was meeting on a different date because of a holiday, the checkbox could be removed or the date could be changed.

Click Add/Update From Template to create a series of events based on the template.

Update Your Template

It’s not yet possible to edit the schedule associated with your template through the sidebar of the WordPress editor. Instead, click RSVP / Event Options on the admin bar at the top of the screen, which will allow you to update the schedule and other event parameters in a separate window.

Many other RSVP and event display options can be set through the RSVPMaker sidebar within the editor screen. Click the calendar icon in the top right of the screen to see those options.

Whenever you change the body content or settings associated with your template, you have the option of updating events based on that template. The system will warn you if some of those events have been edited separately from the template, allowing you to decide whether they should be overwritten.