Technical Note - Seminar System

Summary

The ECS Seminar System is a custom-built solution for ECS staff members to notify ECS people about seminars.

Details

Seminars suitable to be entered

The Programming Team are often asked what seminars are suitable to be entered into the system. These are suitable:
  • Anything being hosted by ECS
  • UTDC seminars that could be of interested to ECS students or staff
  • Seminars of interest to ECS students or staff that is being hosted elsewhere in the Wellington vicinity

These are not suitable:
  • Anything longer than a seminar, such as a conference or workshop, should be in the events listings

Adding a listing

HELP Only staff members can add a listing. If you are a student, and wish to have a seminar scheduled (eg. for a PhD proposal) you should talk to a staff member who could add it for you.

Adding a listing is achieved inside the seminar system.

ALERT! Things to note:
  • Speakers should be separated by commas. If a speaker name has a comma (such as "Chris Lewis, University of Bristol"), wrap the sub-clause in parentheses instead.
  • Interest groups are flags attached to the event so people can filter events that do not interest them. By default, the seminar is listed as being of interest to all.
  • The abstract should be plain text only.
  • Events are added to the School Seminar calendar (updated nightly).
  • You can also add your seminar to the Victoria News page at the same time.

Getting seminar notifications

The ECS Seminar System has several notification methods.
  • Seminars mailing list: This emails once when the seminar is entered. If there are updates to the seminar, the seminar administrator can also choose to notify you of the changes. An iCalendar file is attached so you can add the seminar to a computer calendar.
  • WebCal feed: This feed can be added to most calendar programs (including iCal, KOrganizer and Google Calendar) and will automatically download new seminars and enter them into your calendar program. You can even configure Google Calendar to remind you by SMS or email of the seminar.
  • RSS feed: This feed can be added to your RSS reader to stay up-to-date.