Introduction to Events
Add an Event
Edit Your Event’s Information
RSVP to an Event
Make Your Event Private
Send a Message to the Guests of Your Event
Invite People to Your Event
Export a List of Event Attendees
Follow an Event
Create Multiple Events Instances
Add an Event to Your Google Calendar
Introduction to Events
Events are a great way for members to connect, whether in person or virtually, at a designated time and place. Use the Events feature to let your members know about upcoming meet-ups, concerts, parties, conferences, or gatherings related to your network. You can invite anyone to an event, even people who haven’t yet joined your network!
Each event can include the time, location, image, description, comment wall, and a list of RSVPs.
As an event creator, you can choose your event’s privacy settings, which can be edited along with other event details even after the event has been created. You can also send a message to everyone who has been invited to the event. Please note that as the event creator, you will not receive a copy of the message you send out to all guests.
As the Network Creators (or administrator), you will have the ability to determine who can create events on your Ning Network and to choose how those events display across your network. Check out the related articles for more information on attending, using, creating, and managing events on your Ning Network.
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Add an Event
To create an event, head to the Events page and click the “+” button. This button may also appear as “+Add Event”, depending on your settings.
You will need to fill in the event name, location, description, as well as upload an event image. To add an image, you can use either the Upload button to select your image or drag and drop the image you wish to use into the “Event Image” field. We recommend 400 x 400 pixels. You can use larger images, but you will want to keep in mind that they will be cropped square. In the “Description” field, you can add text, hyperlinks, and images. You will also be able to adjust the time zone for your event, using the drop down menu.
If left unchanged, your event’s privacy will be set to Public, which will allow any member to RSVP. You can change this to Semi-private or Private. Semi-private events will have their event name, date and time, and event image visible on the Events page. However, members who have not already been invited will need to request an RSVP. Private events will not appear on the Events page to members who have not been invited.
Members will be able to RSVP to an event on both the Events page as well as the on event itself. Please note that no email notifications are sent out when someone RSVPs to your event. If you choose, you can disable RSVPs altogether, which will prevent you and other members from seeing how people have responded. You can also hide the guest list to protect invited members’ privacy.
Hit the Publish button to save and post your event!
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Edit Your Event’s Information
To edit your event, head to the event’s page and select “Edit Event” from the Options drop down menu.
You can change any information about your event, including the privacy level, or even close it to new attendees.
If you make any major changes to your event, such as changing the date, time, or location, you may want to let invited members know. As the event creator, you will be able to message members who have RSVPed that they are going, might go, are not going, or have not yet RSVPed.
You can send members an update – or a reminder – about your event by selecting “Message Guests” option from the Options drop down menu on the event’s page.
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RSVP to an Event
You will be able to RSVP to an event you have been invited to on both the Events page and on the event itself.
From the “Are you going?” drop down menu, you will be able to choose between three options: Going, Might go, and Not going.
You can change your RSVP at any time. Simply reopen the drop down menu and select a new option.
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Make Your Event Private
On Ning 3.0, you have three privacy options when creating an event: Public, Semi-private, and Private. By default, Public will automatically be selected when creating a new event. However, you can change this to one of the other two options, depending on how much event information you wish to share with other members.
Anyone will be able to view your public event and RSVP to it. With a semi-private event, your event’s name, date, time, and image will appear on the Events page. However, members who have not already been invited will need to request an invite.
Private events remain hidden from members who have not been invited. Since they don’t appear on the Events page, members who have not been invited will not be able to request an invite.
Should you wish to, you can edit the privacy of your event at any time. Simply select “Edit Event” from the Options drop down menu on the event’s page to make your changes.
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Send a Message to the Guests of Your Event
As the event creator, you have the ability to send a message to the people you invited. To send a message, open the Options drop down menu on the event detail page and select “Send Message”.
Choose which guests to message based on RSVP options: Going, Might go, Not going, and Have not yet RSVPed. You will even be able to select multiple RSVP options at once.
If you are the Network Creator or an administrator on an event’s page that you did not create, you will see “Message Settings” listed in the Options drop down menu instead of “Send Message”. Here you will be able to subscribe and unsubscribe to messages about this event.
Please note that as the event creator, you will not receive a copy of the message you send out to your guests.
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Invite People to Your Event
As part of the event creation flow, you will be prompted to invite people to join your event once its created. You can send more invitations to your event at any time using the “Invite More People” link on the event details page.
You will be able to invite any members on the network, whether or not you are friends. As you start typing out a member’s name, related names will autocomplete under that field. In addition to member names, you can also enter someone’s email address, even if there is not yet a profile with that address on the network.
If you are the event creator, you can disable RSVPs, hide the guest list, or even close the event to new attendees when you are creating or editing your event.
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Export a List of Event Attendees
As the creator of an event, you can export a list of attendees. This will generate a comma-separated (.csv) text file you can open using a program like Excel.
To export this list, click on the “Export List of Attendees” link in the “Event Details” section of an event’s page. Save the file to your computer and open it with Excel or similar program to view the list. This list will contain information about members attending your event, including their name, email address, and a link to their profile.
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Follow an Event
If you find an interesting event you’d like to keep track of, you can use the “Follow” feature to receive an email whenever there is a new comment added to the page for that event.
To follow an event, click on the name of the event and then scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Follow – Email me when people comment” button. If you’re already following an event and would like to stop doing so, this button will appear as “Following”. Simply click that to stop receiving email notifications about new comments on the event.
You also have the ability to follow all events so that you get notified whenever a new event is added. Simply click the “Follow – Email me when there are new items” button at the bottom of the Events page. To stop following new events, click the “Following” button.
By default, you’ll automatically follow all events you create or comment on. That way you won’t miss a thing on any of your events!
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Create Multiple Events Instances
With Ning 3.0, you can create multiple instances (or copies) of the Events feature. Each instance has its own settings, so the settings can differ from one instance to another.
To create a new Events instance, head to the Site & Pages section of the Social Site Manager. Click the blue “+Add a Page” listing under Main Navigation and select “Events” as the page type.
If you would like one instance to host official events put on by your network’s administrative team, select “Administrators” from the “Who can contribute” drop down menu as you go through the page settings. You can make another instance a space where everyone can create their own events by selecting “Members”.
You can also customize privacy settings and the URL of each instance you create so that it’s different from other Events instances on your network.
Once you’re done going through the page settings for your new Events instance, hit the Save button. From here, you can start adding events or create another instance!
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Add an Event to Your Google Calendar
Events on Ning 3.0 can easily be added to your Google Calendar, so you can keep all of your commitments in one place. To add an event to your calendar, click the Google Calendar button below the “Are you going?” drop down menu.
You’ll then be prompted to sign into your Google account if you aren’t already logged in. If you are signed in, you’ll be taken to a Google Calendar event details page. Make any desired edits to the event, then hit the Save button.
Please note that if you change your RSVP from going to not going or should the event be canceled on the network, this will not reflect on your Google Calendar. You will need to log back into your Google account, locate and open the event, and hit the Delete button to remove the event this account.