About the Global Calendar

Note: Depending on administrator settings, this feature may not be available.

The global calendar provides you with centralized access to entries from your private myWebCT calendar, from the calendar for an individual course, and from the calendars for multiple courses. You can also post entries to your course calendars, compile entries from course calendars, and download entries to your Palm™ Date Book.

Note to Designers: Settings for an individual course calendar that you have selected are also reflected in the global calendar. For example, if you set the course calendar to allow students to make private entries only, then students can only post private entries to your course from their global calendar.

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What do you want to do?

• Change the global calendar view
  
• Customizing your global calendar
  • Specify starting day of the week
  • Select course symbols
  • Display calendar entries from multiple courses in the global calendar (create a Customized Course List)
    
• View global calendar entries
  
• Add a global calendar entry
  
• Edit a global calendar entry
  
• Delete a global calendar entry
  
• Compile global calendar entries
  
• Download calendar entries to your Palm™ Date Book
  • Add a course identifier for display in your Palm™ Date Book
  • Download and set up LinkWebCT
  • Download calendar entries
    

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Changing the Global Calendar View | Top

You can change the global calendar view to display entries from your private myWebCT calendar, from the calendar for an individual course, or from the calendars for multiple courses.

1. From myWebCT, click Global Calendar. The Global Calendar appears.
2. To view specific course calendars, from the View drop-down list, select the calendar you want to view:
• To view your private myWebCT calendar, select myWebCT. Click Go. The myWebCT calendar appears.
• To view the calendar for an individual course, select the course title. Click Go. The selected calendar appears.
• To view calendar entries for multiple courses, select Customized course list. Click Go. The selected calendar entries appear. Note: Before you can view this calendar, you must create your customized course list.

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Customizing Your Global Calendar | Top

Customizing your global calendar allows you to:

• specify the starting day of the week for the calendar
• select course symbols
• display calendar entries from multiple courses in the global calendar (create a Customized Course List)

Specifying the starting day of the week | Top

For your global calendar, myWebCT calendar, and individual course calendars, you can either specify the starting day of the week or use the default calendar view. The specified day will apply to all calendars.

1. From myWebCT, click Global Calendar. The Global Calendar appears.
2. Click Customize. The Global Calendar Options screen appears.
3. Under Customize Starting Day of the Week, from the drop-down list, select one of the following:
   • To specify the starting day of the week, select the day.
   • To use the default calendar view, select Language Default.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click Update. The drop-down list refreshes with your selection.
5. To return to the Global Calendar, click Cancel.

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Selecting course symbols | Top

When you allow calendar entries from multiple courses to display in the global calendar, WebCT automatically assigns a symbol to represent each course. Course symbols allow you to determine which course a calendar entry belongs to. The symbol appears next to all calendar entries associated with that course. You can select from a default set of course symbols.

1. From myWebCT, click Global Calendar. The Global Calendar appears.
2. Click Customize. The Global Calendar Options screen appears.
3. Under Customize Course Symbols, make the following selections:
   1. Under Select course, select the course whose symbol you want to change. Note: The existing course symbol is displayed next to the course name.
   2. Under Select symbol, select a new symbol to represent the course.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click Update. The course symbol is changed.
5. To return to the Global Calendar, click Cancel.

Tip: In the Global Calendar, you can see the title of the course associated with an entry by pointing your mouse at the course symbol.

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Displaying calendar entries from multiple courses in the global calendar (create a customized course list) | Top

1. From myWebCT, click Global Calendar. The Global Calendar appears.
2. Click Customize. The Global Calendar Options screen appears.
3. Under Customize Course List, select the courses whose calendar entries you want to display in the global calendar.
4. Click Update. Your Customized Course List is saved and calendar entries from these courses will be displayed in the global calendar.
5. To return to the Global Calendar, click Cancel.

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Viewing Global Calendar Entries | Top

You can choose how to view the calendar. When you enter Global Calendar, by default, you are presented with the current month.

• To view the previous month, click Previous month.
• To view the following month, click Next month.
• To view a particular month, from the Date drop-down lists, select the month and year, and click Go.
• To view a week at a time, in the leftmost column of the calendar, click View week for the week you want to view.
  • To view the previous week, click Previous week.
  • To view the following week, click Next week.
  • To return to the Global Calendar screen, click View month.
• To view the entries on a particular day, click the date in the calendar.
  • To view the previous day, click Previous day.
  • To view the following day, click Next day.
  • To view the week (Sunday to Saturday) that the day falls in, click View week.
  • To return to the Global Calendar screen, click View month.

Adding a Global Calendar Entry | Top

Depending on the access level set by designers for each course calendar, this option allows you to add public and private calendar entries. Public entries that are added to your global calendar will also appear in the course calendar(s). Public entries that are added to your course calendar will also appear in your global calendar. Entries that are added to your myWebCT calendar are private and cannot be viewed by other users.

1. From myWebCT, click Global Calendar. The Global Calendar appears.
2. Click Add entry. The Add a Calendar Entry screen appears.
3. From the Select the course calendar to post your entry to drop-down list, select the course that is associated with your entry. Note: If you want to add the entry to your private calendar, select myWebCT.
4. From the Date drop-down lists, select the month, day, and year to which you want to add an entry.
5. In the Summary text box, enter a brief description of the entry.
6. To add a link to a URL, in the URL text box, enter the full URL.
7. To elaborate on the text in the Summary text box, in the Detail text box, enter an explanation.
8. To associate a start and end time with the entry (for example, the start time and duration of a meeting), from the Start time and End time drop-down boxes, select the hour and minutes.
9. Specify the access level:
   • To allow all course members to view the entry, select Public.
   • To restrict the access so it only appears on your calendar, select Private.
10. Click Add. The Calendar screen appears displaying your new entry.

Note: To add an Internal Link to an entry, which is a link to a content page, you must do so from within the course using Calendar. The Internal link will be displayed in the global calendar.

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Editing a Global Calendar Entry | Top

This option allows you to edit only those entries that you have posted.

1. From myWebCT, click Global Calendar. The Global Calendar appears.
2. In the calendar, click the date of the entry that you want to edit. The View Day screen appears.
3. Select the entry you want to edit.
4. Click Edit. The Edit a Calendar Entry screen appears.
5. Revise your entry as required. For more information, see Adding a global calendar entry.
6. Click Update. The View Day screen appears displaying the edited entry.
7. To return to the Global Calendar, click View month.

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Deleting a Global Calendar Entry | Top

This option allows you to delete only those entries that you have posted, one at a time. If you want to delete more than one entry at a time from a course calendar, you can do so from within the course using Calendar.

1. From myWebCT, click Global Calendar. The Global Calendar appears.
2. Click the date containing the entry you want to delete. The View Day screen appears.
3. From the View drop-down list, select the calendar containing the calendar entry you want to delete, and click Go.
4. Select the entry you want to delete.
5. Click Delete. A warning message appears.
6. Click OK. The screen refreshes and the entry is deleted.
7. To return to the Global Calendar, click View month.

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Compiling Global Calendar Entries | Top

This option allows you to compile global calendar entries based on specific criteria. You can compile entries by specifying a date range, a particular calendar, and/or a filter with search value.

1. From myWebCT, click Global Calendar. The Global Calendar appears.
2. Click Compile entries. The Compile Calendar Entries screen appears.
3. From the Select a course entry or a customized course list to compile drop-down list, select the calendar to compile.
4. From the Month, Day, and Year drop-down lists, select the date range for the entries you want to compile.
5. If you want to apply a filter to your search, complete the following fields:
   1. From the Criteria drop-down list, select the calendar entry field you want to search.
   2. From the Comparison drop-down list, select the comparison term to apply to your search.

Comparison Term	Description
Contains	Text or numbers in the specified field must match any part of the text or numbers entered in the Value text box.
After	Searches fields with alphabetical information. Text in the specified field must start with words/letters that occur alphabetically after the words/letters entered in the Value text box.
Before	Searches fields containing alphabetical information. Words in the specified field must start with words/letters that occur alphabetically before the word/letter entered in the Value text box.
Equals	Content of the specified field must match exactly with the text or numbers entered in the Value text box.
Starts with	Text in the specified field must start with the letter entered in the Value text box.
Ends with	Text in the specified field must end with the letter entered in the Value text box.

3. In the Value text box, enter a search value.

6. Select the type of entry you want to compile. You can compile public entries, private entries, or both.
7. Click Compile. The Compiled Calendar Entries screen appears.
   • To print your compiled entries, use your browser's Print command.
   • To return to the Calendar screen, click Done.

Downloading compiled calendar entries | Top

You can download the compiled calendar entries to a text file, edit them, and then upload and import them again. Note: This option is only available for individual course calendars. You cannot download the myWebCT calendar or a customized course list.

1. From the individual course calendar, compile the calendar entries that you want to edit.
2. From the Compiled Calendar Entries screen, click Download. Your browser's file download screen appears. Follow the on-screen instructions.
3. When the download is complete, click Done to return to the Global Calendar.

Note: To upload and import the edited calendar entries, you must enter the course and use Calendar. For more information, see Importing a text file.

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Downloading Calendar Entries to your Palm™ Date Book | Top

Important: To use this feature, you must be connected to the Internet.

This feature allows you to download entries from all of your WebCT course calendars to your Palm™ Date Book using the Palm HotSync operation. Once you have performed your first HotSync, subsequent HotSync operations will retrieve only new or modified entries.

Currently, you can only download entries from WebCT to the Palm Date Book; you cannot upload entries from the Palm Date Book to WebCT. Entries modified or deleted in WebCT will be reflected in your Palm Date Book. However, entries added, modified, or deleted on your Palm Date Book will not be reflected in WebCT course calendars.

To download calendar entries to your Palm™ Date Book:

1. Add a course identifier for display in your Palm™ Date Book
2. Download and set up LinkWebCT
3. Download calendar entries

Adding a course identifier for display in Palm™ Date Book | Top

Before you download entries from your WebCT course calendars to your Palm™ Date Book, add a course identifier for each course so that each entry will be associated with a particular course. The course identifier will be displayed in your Palm Date Book.

1. From myWebCT, click Global Calendar. The Global Calendar appears.
2. Click Customize. The Global Calendar Options screen appears.
3. Under Customize Course List, under Course Title, select the courses whose calendar entries you want to display in your Palm Date Book.
4. Under Course Identifier, enter an identifier for each course. For example, if the course is English 100, you can use the identifier "ENG100." Note: Due to the Palm's screen size, it is recommended that you limit the number of characters for each identifier.
5. Click Update.
6. To return to the Global Calendar, click Cancel.

Downloading and setting up LinkWebCT| Top

1. Go to the LinkWebCT Software Download page.
2. Download the LinkWebCT zip file, and unzip it on your computer.
3. Run the setup.exe file.
4. Restart your HotSync Manager.
5. To install the LinkWebCT.prc file on your Palm™, perform the HotSync operation. Once the HotSync is complete, LinkWebCT appears on your Palm Home screen.

Next, enter your LinkWebCT settings.

6. From your Palm Home screen, click the LinkWebCT icon. The LinkWebCT settings screen appears.
7. Under Server Name and Port Number, enter the URL (server name and port number) of your institution's WebCT installation. This is the same URL that you enter when accessing your WebCT course. For example, http://webct.institution_name.com:3600 where
   webct.institution_name.com is the server name and 3600 is the port number.

8. Under User ID, enter your WebCT ID.
9. Under Password, enter your WebCT password. Note: For security reasons, your WebCT password will not be displayed on your Palm.
10. Click Save. Your LinkWebCT settings are saved, and you are now ready to download global calendar entries.

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Download calendar entries | Top

Warning: Your first HotSync operation may take a long time.

1. Connect to the Internet.
2. HotSync your Palm™. The new and modified calendar entries from all of your WebCT courses are downloaded to your Palm Date Book.

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