You can display an aggregate of multiple user’s schedules in a portal or Express Portal using the Scheduler widget.

Before you begin

This article assumes a familiarity with traditional portals or Express Portals.

📖 Further reading

• Creating a Custom Portal

• Express Portals

Step 1: Setting up a portal view

To set up a portal view:

1. From the top navigation, select Database.

2. Select Portals or Express Portals.

3. Select an existing portal, or create a new one.

4. Select the view, or create a new one.

5. Select Edit.

6. Set Layout to Dynamic Layout Editor.

7. From the right navigation, select New Row.

8. Select a Row Layout with two columns.

Step 2: Adding a static content block

We’ll use a static content block to render the list of appointment openings for the registrant to choose from.

To add the static content block:

1. Drag a Static Content Block from the palette and drop it in the right column. A popup appears.

2. Enter a descriptive, user facing name, like Appointments.

3. Select Save.
   

That’s all we need to do with this block. The Scheduler widget takes care of the rest.

Step 3: Adding the Scheduler widget

Drag a Scheduler widget from the palette and drop it in the left column. A popup appears.

In the Details tab, in the Name field, enter a descriptive, registrant-facing name, like Available dates.

Configuring the Scheduler tab

Select the Scheduler tab. Configure the following settings:

• Page Title (optional): Enter an optional internal page title.

• Internal Name (optional): Enter an optional internal name for the schedule.

• Template: Select as many Scheduler templates as apply to this schedule.

• User: Select the users whose combined schedules will be represented as aggregate availability.

• Duration: Set a length for individual appointments, rounded up to 5 minute increments.

  • In the next field, set the time interval when users can book appointments.

  • In our example, meetings are 30 minutes, but users can book a meeting from 2:15-2:45 PM.

• Registration Deadline: Enter the time when registration will close prior to an appointment.

  • This value is in minutes and is rounded up in 5 minute increments.

• Break time: Enter a buffer period in minutes to be added before and after confirmed sessions.

  • A value of 0 allows consecutive (back-to-back) signups.

  • Overlapping sessions (for example, an appointment from 8:30 to 9:00 occurring with an appointment from 8:45 to 9:15) are never allowed to be scheduled.

• Admin Notify Email (optional): Enter an email address to receive an email notification for every registration submission.

• Related Records (optional): Records can be selected and linked to an event or interview. For example, linking an Alumni interviewer or organization to an event or interview.

📝 Note: Duration, registration deadline, and break values

These value are fallbacks. If appointment facilitators set their own durations, registration deadlines, and break venues in their schedules, those values override these ones. Without either, Slate defaults to the Scheduler template values.

Configuring the Location tab

Select the Location tab. Configure the following settings:

• If your sessions are hosted through the Slate Share video platform, select that option from Online Session.

• If your sessions are hosted using an external service, select that option.

• If your sessions are in-person, leave Online Session blank and fill in the location fields that appear below.

📝 Note: Location

The value set in this tab is a fallback. If appointment facilitators set their own location, that value override the location set here. Without either, Slate defaults to the Scheduler template location settings.

Configuring the Display tab

In the Display tab, enter the following configurations:

• Display Target: Select Add to static content: Appointments, where Appointments appears as the name of your static content block.

• Calendar Start: Set this either to the current month or to the first upcoming month with events.

• Calendar Legend: Use these fields to customize the calendar as it will appear in the Active Scheduler Widget.

  • Enter text into Days with availability to replace the default display text, Available Timeslots. Use the color picker to change the color of days with openings on the calendar.

  • Enter text into Days with no availability to replace the default display text, No Availability. Use the color picker to change the color of days without openings on the calendar.

    

• Template Parameter, User Parameter (optional): Lets you filter the displayed schedule by template and user in links to the portal, respectively.

  • Enter a parameter prepended with an @, for example, @template in the Template Parameter field, or @user in the User Parameter field.

  • In links to the portal, append the parameter name and a GUID to the URL in the following format:

    • slate.edu/portal/scheduler?user=[USER-GUID]&template=[TEMPLATE-GUID]

  • See an example in the next section.

Select Save to confirm your Scheduler widget configurations.

Use the breadcrumb navigation to return to the main portal menu. Click the URL link to see the Scheduler widget in action.

Filtering schedules by user and template with URL parameters

In the previous section, we describe the Display tab settings Template Parameter and User Parameter.

When you specify a user parameter @user, you can use that parameter with user GUIDs in your portal’s URL to filter schedules.

The Scheduler widget in your portal may include the schedules associated with multiple templates and multiple users:

But by passing in the GUID of one particular user and the GUID of one particular template in the portal’s URL, the registrant sees a filtered schedule. They only see the availability of the specified user and template:

📖 Further reading: See Query String Parameters for more things you can do with this concept.

Next up: Creating a Scheduler session

With your appointment facilitators’ schedules added to Availability and a portal to display those availabilities to registrants, learn how to create one-off Scheduler sessions.

➡️ Creating a Scheduler Session