Classes/Event Planning
Modified on 2014/06/10 18:15 by Mark Stahura — Categorized as: Uncategorized
Class/Event Planning
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Planning overview
Basic plan information
Viewing class/event detail
Communication tools
Setting class/event status
registration
Set exception dates
Set up reminder emails
Add content
Lectionary semi-continuous lessons
One-time events
Adding content to rotation classes
Add groups
Planning Overview
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There are three tabs beneath the Classes/Event List on the Classes & Event Planning page: Set Dates, Add Content, and Add Groups.
Each tab contains an important step in creating Recurring Classes or a One-Time Event. When you take action on each step, the words below the tab label will change from red to blue to signal to you that you’ve previously worked on or completed that step.
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Basic Plan Information
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Directly below the Class/Event Planning banner, you will find all the basic information about your One-Time Event or Recurring Classes.
To edit the event’s basic information such as Title and Description, click on the edit link in the event header.
Enter the event title and description.
Viewing Class/Event Detail
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As a Director, to see the Class/Event Detail page for an event within a recurrence, click on the Class/Event Overview link in the header.
See the
Class/Event Detail
article for more information.
When Leaders and Parents click on an event on the Classes & Events page, they will navigate directly to the Class/Event Detail page, because those site access roles do not have access to the Class/Event Editing or Planning pages.
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Communication Tools
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To create a new announcement, click on the megaphone icon. For more on announcements, see the
Church Announcements
article.
Click on the envelope icon to send a message. The email To: field will be auto-populated with your event attendees. For more on sending email from Sparkhouse Online, see the
Message Center
article.
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Setting Event Status
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Event status is a very important task when building your event.
When you first create classes or an event, the event will save with a status of “Draft”.
Once the planning is complete, change the status to “Published” to make the classes or event public.
If you have elected to send email reminders on the Set Dates tab, those messages will release as scheduled. (See the
set up reminder emails
section for more information.)
If you elect to open the event for registration, the event will appear in the Register for Classes or Events panel on Leader and Parent home pages.
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Set Dates
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Under the Set Dates tab, you can enter important information about your event:
Date(s) and exception dates of the event must be entered first. This means you can create events without publishing or opening them until a later date.
The following information can be entered in any order:
Time of the event
Registration (learn more in the
registration
section)
Set up Reminder Emails (learn more in the
set up reminder emails
section)
Set Exception Dates
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In addition to basic scheduling, Sparkhouse Online also gives you the ability to set Recurrence Exception Dates.
Examples:
No Event Scheduled:
Thanksgiving weekend we do not have Sunday School
Non-Sparkhouse Online or Special Sunday:
The first Sunday in December is Christmas pageant practice instead of Sunday school.
(Be sure to create a One-Time Event for exceptions you make for special dates—this will allow you to provide more information about the special activities to Leaders and Parents. If you would like participants to be able to register for the event, don’t forget to set Registration to “Required” on the Set Dates tab.)
Saving Your Classes or Event
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To plan your Event, you can complete three main tasks: Set Dates, Add Content, and Add People and/or Groups.
Save your Event after filling out or changing information on the Set Dates tab.
You do not need to save your Event after entering or changing information in the Add Content or Add Group tabs, because all actions done on these tabs save automatically and instantaneously.
For more information on entering Event information, see the sections on
Setting the Rotation Schedule
If your church subscribes to Spark Rotation content, and if you selected Rotation as the model type on the Create Event page, then in addition to the Announcements and Email icons in the event header, you will also have an icon for setting the Rotation schedule.
Select your Rotation story, workshops and groups.
Click on “Set Rotation Schedule.” Sparkhouse Online will pre-populate a Rotation schedule for you.
For more information on Rotation schedules, see the
Manage Rotation Schedule
article.
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Registration
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Directors can manage registration of leaders and kids via Sparkhouse Online, using the Registration setting. If you leave the Registration setting to "Closed," you will be handling registration yourself through Sparkhouse Online. If you change the Registration setting to "Required," leaders and parents can register themselves for an event; the Director only has to put the registered people into the right groups. Events with "Required" registration appear on everyone's Sparkhouse Online Home page, where they can click through to register themselves or any Family Member with just a few clicks.
To make online Registration required:
Click "Edit" for the selected Event under the Set Dates tab.
Select "Required" in the Registration field.
Directors can make Registration required at any time.
When you save your classes or event(s) to the calendar, they will be highlighted on the Leader and Parent home pages.
Tip:
Click Here
to download "How to Use Spark Online for Program Registration".
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Set Up Reminder Emails
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When Reminder Emails are set up, Sparkhouse Online will send your event Leaders (for Classroom, Lectionary and Rotation model events) or all your class/event participants (for one-time “Other” model events) reminders prior to the class/event.
The email contains the basic class or event information, the recipient’s role in the class/event, the group s/he is assigned to lead, and a link to the Sparkhouse Online page where s/he can watch the prep video, if applicable, and download materials.
If the recipient replies to the email, the reply message will be sent to the inbox of the person who created the event.
This tool ensures that class or event Leaders not only have easy access to their materials, but also that they are reminded of their participation commitment with enough time to prepare.
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Add Content
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Under the Add Content tab, drag lessons and stories from the recommended Scope and Sequence for your curriculum onto the date(s) of your class/event.
To preview a resource, click the magnifying glass to the right of the Bible verse under the "Resources for this Event" banner.
To remove a resource, click the X to the right of the Bible verse under the "Resources for this Event" banner.
Tip: For more information, see Drag and Drop and Resources panel articles.
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Lectionary Semi-Continuous Lessons
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During certain times during the Lectionary year churches have options for which readings to use in the Sunday worship service. Most churches use the “thematic” option, but sometimes churches opt to use what is called the “semi-continuous” option. When planning a Spark or Whirl Lectionary event or recurring classes, content will auto-populate for each week, according to the Lectionary readings. For weeks in which there is a semi-continuous option, an asterisk will appear next to the lesson name. If your church is using the semi-continuous reading in worship that week and you would like to use the semi-continuous lesson content, follow the steps below (if you don’t know if your church uses the semi-continuous readings, the person responsible for worship planning at your church should be able to help):
On the Set Dates tab, check that particular day as an exception date. Save the change.
Click on the Classes & Events tab and find your Lectionary event in the event list. Click the “copy” action button to create a one-time event with just the People and Groups from your Lectionary event.
Change the model to “Other."
On the Class/Event Planning page, go to the Content Tab and find the appropriate semi-continuous story in the Resources panel and add it to your plan.
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One-Time Event with an “Other” Model
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If you are planning a One-Time Event, add any content from the Sparkhouse Online library and/or any files uploaded by your church. This flexibility is unique to one-time “Other” model events. (In other words, files uploaded by your church can only be added to One-Time Events or as content in a Rotation Custom Workshop.)
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Adding Content to Rotation Classes
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Adding content to a Rotation class has two steps. First, drag the name of the story from the Resources panel on the right-hand side of the Content tab. (Only one Rotation story can exist for a single recurring event. For tips on scheduling multiple Rotation recurring events efficiently, see Copy Event.) A blue “Choose Workshops” button will appear.
When clicked, the Content tab will refresh, and a list of Spark Rotation Workshops will appear. If you will not be doing one of the workshops during the Rotation for your selected story, click on the “X” action button on the workshop line. If you need to add additional workshops or custom workshops, click on the line at the bottom of the page.
Tip: For Rotation recurring classes, having the same number of weeks, groups, and workshops ensures that all of your groups will rotate through all of the workshops.
Once you are done deleting unnecessary workshops and adding additional or custom workshops, add workshop Leaders by dragging their names from the Resources panel on the right. This will ensure that the workshop content is delivered to your workshop Leaders. For more information on how to add Leaders to events, see Drag and Drop. Click “Save and Return” to go back to the story selection page of the Content tab, or click on the Rotation Schedule icon to view or manage how your groups move from workshop to workshop over the course of the recurring Rotation classes.
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Add Groups
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By dragging a group from the Resources panel into an age level, you are indicating that the members of the group will be participating in the event(s) (for more information see Drag and Drop and Resources Panel articles.) This action also ensures that once the event is saved to the calendar, the Leader of the group will receive the teaching materials for that age-level. (Saving to the calendar is a separate step, for more on this see Setting Event Status.) This was made to be flexible so that churches can assign age-level content to groups as they see fit. If you do not need content for a specific age-level, do not put groups in that age-level.
Single-Room Sunday school and Groups that Need Multiple Age-Levels of Content
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If you have a group that includes kids from multiple age-levels, simply put the group in more than one age-level. This will ensure that the Leader is able to view and download all age-appropriate lesson content for the group.
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Adding Groups to a Rotation Event
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Adding groups to Rotation events is slightly different than adding groups to Classroom or Lectionary model events. All Rotation Shepherds (group Leaders) receive the same content. For that reason, groups do not need to be put into age levels.
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Adding People and Groups to a One-Time “Other” Event
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Events with an “Other” model allow Directors to select both people and groups from the Resources panel. Unlike Classroom or Lectionary planning, people and groups do not need to be put into content age levels. All participants will receive Class/Event Reminders and will be able to download event content.
Related Articles:
Sparkhouse Online Basics
Home
Classes & Events
Class/E
vent Detail
Create Recurring Classes or a One-Time Event
Group Management for Classes or an Event
Add Group Members
Library
Admin
Message Center
Sparkhouse Online Director Role
Edit Recurring Classes or an Event
Quick Links
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