Very+useful+'Calendar'+module+installation+and+configuration+guide

= = __**Calendar Module**__

**//Overview//**
As I was thinking about what kind of content to incorporate into my personal website, I decided that it would be great to showcase my personal calendar. Now I know that this is looking a little ahead, but I think that this feature would be useful in my future since potential employers or co-workers would be able to see my schedule and thus easily find time slots for meetings. A simple Drupal module search in the 'Events' category allowed me to find 'Calendar', which also had a lot of documentation to offer. At first, I tried to examine this module independently, and I ran in to many problems and confusion with regards to its functionality. That does not mean that the module lacks functionality, it simply means that the module is more difficult to work with and requires some research in order to be implemented correctly. Below, I will provide a summary of my troubleshooting of this module which will include proper installation and configuration steps so that if any of you are trying to install it, this will save you a lot of time.

This module requires //__Views__// module and the __//Date API//__ module (which comes with the Date module) which most of you guys probably have at this point.

Just a side note, if any of you still wish to do independent research on how to work this module, make sure you search for 7.3 version documentation since the module has been extensively updated recently (rewrote a lot of previous coding and works almost completely different now)

// Installation //

 * Step 1**: Perform a Drupal Module search for 'Calendar' and download the 7.3 version by right clicking on the tar.gz file and choosing 'copy link location' option.




 * Step 2**: go into your Drupal interface and click on the 'Modules' tab
 * Step 3**: click on 'Install new module' at the left corner of the page
 * Step 4:** paste the link location you copied in Step 1 into the 'Install from a URL' box and click on 'Install'




 * Step 5:** on the next page, enter your FTP server username and password and click on 'Continue'. If you have entered everything correctly, you should be taken to 'Installation was completed successfully' page where you should click on 'Enable newly added modules'


 * Step 6**: this step is vital in order for your module to work successfully. Ensure you have all of these modules enabled:
 * Chaos Tools
 * Calendar
 * Date
 * Date API
 * Date Popup (optional)
 * Date Views (provides integration between views and date modules)
 * Views
 * Views UI

You have completed the installation component.

=// Configuration //=

(this is quite a time-consuming task so bare with me)

 * Step 1**: in your Drupal interface, click on 'Structure', select 'Content Types' and then click on 'Add content type'.
 * Step 2**: put in a name like 'Event' into the name box, and put in 'Event' in description. Scroll down and click on 'Save and add fields'


 * Step 3**: on the next page, add a new field. Put in event_date for label, event_date for name, select a 'date' field type and choose 'pop-up calendar' for widget. Hit save.




 * Step 4**: in the next field setting screen, you will be asked about date attributes to collect, and time zone, all you need to do on that that page is tick off 'collect an end date', then hit 'Save field settings'




 * Step 5**: go into 'Content' tab on your Drupal dashboard. Click on 'Event". Choose whichever title you please, such as "My first Event" and choose a start and end date. You can choose anything at this point, I am choosing a week-long event for my tutorial. Hit Save.


 * Step 6**: Now that you have set up your event dates, go to 'Structure'->'Views' and let's set up the views. As you will see, the module has installed a default Calendar view for you. By default, your calendar event will show up when the event was published date, so you will need to manually change it. Here is how.

>
 * Step 7**: On the page you are now, click on 'edit' option on the right-hand side of the calendar view. You can see the 6 tabs on top, which represent the granularity of your current calendar. You are now in the 'Month' tab, and you need to change 3 things here:
 * 1) Fields
 * click on content: updated date and hit 'remove' and 'save'
 * add content: event_date (this is what you have just created) and hit 'save'
 * 1) Sort Criteria
 * click on content: updated date and hit 'remove' and 'save'
 * add content: event-date and hit 'save'
 * 1) Contextual Filter (right-hand side, hidden under 'Advanced' option)
 * de-select 'content: updated date' and select 'content:event_date' and click 'apply this display'


 * Step 8**: this module does not update the other fields automatically, so please proceed and repeat step 7 for 'Week', 'Day', and 'Year' tabs. Note: module developers are currently working to have a wizard that will automate this task.

Step 10:add filter criteria 'content: event_date', select granularity of 'day', and set 'greater than or equal to' now Date. Save the view.a
 * Step 9**: click on the 'upcoming' tab and click on 'filter criteria' and set operator as 'greater than or equal to' 'now' Date

You have completed the configuration component. You can now look at your live calendar.

Thank you for your interest in the Calendar module and I hope this tutorial was helpful and useful for the type of site you are creating.