The WebDesk Calendar and Conferences

The WebDesk Calendar

What is it?

WebDesk Calendar is a tool for scheduling and recording conferences between you, students and other staff members. Even scheduled parent-teacher conferences will appear here.

Where is it?

The Calendar is located on the WebDesk>Calendar screen.   To access it, click on your WebDesk icon and then click on the 2nd level Calendar tab.

What can I do with it?

You can search through your appointments and add in new ones.  

Click the "Add" button to start creating a conference.

You can check/uncheck "Requested," "Scheduled," "Completed" etc in the top left to change your view.

Additionally, you can choose to view your appointments By Month, By Week, By Day, List - Current, or List - All Dates.

There also various "view" options such as Monthly Calendar, Conferences Today, Conferences This week etc.

On the left hand side of the screen, you can select your appointments and/or another staff ID's appointments if you happen to be tied to another staff member.

This is now in the "Personal Calendar" section - click the gear icon to expand the screen so that you see other staff members (if applicable.)

Month Calendar View:

When a Conference is added to the Calendar, it has a "status". There are five values for Status:

• Requested – The slots has been created because someone has requested a Conference
• Scheduled – The slot represents a scheduled Conference that has not yet been marked as either Completed or Cancelled
• Completed – A Conference that has been successfully held.
• Cancelled – A Conference that was cancelled
• Available – A status of "Available" represents "an available slot" that can be scheduled through Parent or Student Access. A status of "Available" is a special status that is recognized by Genesis as meaning "this is a slot that was created so it could be scheduled by others".
• Blocked

Conference Slots for Parents & Students

Conferences and "Conference Slots" can be created on the Calendar.

Each Conference – each appointment – has a "Status" and if the "Status" is "Available" the Conference is considered to be "an available slot" that can be scheduled from Parent & Student Access:

Conferences vs Calendar Events

The Personal WebDesk Calendar

The *Home>Calendar* screen contains your personal appointment Calendar:

The Status label identifies the state of the appointments in the Calendar.  You will find this on the left side when you click the gear icon to the right of "Personal Calendar."

Appointments can be made on all weekdays, whether or not school is in session.

Setting Up Conference Slots for Parent/Student Access

You can add an appointment/conference by clicking the "Add Appointment/Conference" subtab:

Parent Module View

This is a snapshot of what calendar event conferences would look like within the Parent Portal:

User's WebDesk Home – The User Portal or Dashboard

Genesis has added a Personal Dashboard and Calendaring tool. You can find this under your WebDesk>Home tab, and it is linked to the WebDesk icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

Starting Steps: WebDesk Setup

Initially, your WebDesk>Home dashboard screen will be empty:

Your will see a message that says "You do not have a staff member setup for access or set to represent you" and a link for you to click to set it up.

This indicates that you have not yet selected one of your "Staff Objects" as your identity. 

CAVEAT: Your login id must be linked to at least one "Staff" or Teacher object in order for you to use the Home screen and Calendaring tool. The "You do not have a staff member setup for access or set to represent you "message indicates that you have not yet selected any display elements for your personal dashboard. This means there are as yet no "panels" on your personal Dashboard or portal.

Using the WebDesk Icon

The WebDesk icon itself is now linked to the WebDesk>Home portal and will bring it up when clicked.

The Home Setup Screen

The Setup Screen: Choose your Identity(ies) and your display elements

Step 1: Choosing Your Identity(ies)

1. Go to the WebDesk>Setup>Staff to User screen.
2. On the left side of the screen, in the panel labeled "staff mapping for", locate the Teacher/Staff identity or identities which represent you. 
3. Check the checkbox or boxes corresponding to you. For example:
   
4. Scroll to the bottom and click the SAVE STAFF button.

Step 2: Selecting the Elements and Student Lists to Display on your Home Screen

1. Go to the Webdesk>Setup>Data Peeps screen.
2. On this screen, the top panel contains the list of display elements ("PEEPS") that currently are available. The bottom panel contains a list of all of your Student Lists. These can also be displayed on your Home screen.
3. Check the checkboxes corresponding to the data elements you wish to display on your home screen:
   
4. Check the checkboxes corresponding to those Student Lists you wish to display:
   
5. Scroll to the bottom and click the SAVE DATA PEEPS button on the right side of the screen (at the bottom of the Student List panel).

When you have completed Step 1 and Step 2 you have set up your personal Home screen. You can now return to the WebDesk>Home screen to view your dashboard.

Your Personal Appointment Calendar

The Webdesk>Calendar screen contains your personal appointment Calendar:

Making an Appointment

1. Go to the WebDesk>Calendar>Add Appointments/Conferences screen:
   
2. Enter the required information: 
   • Select a date
   • Select a Start Time
   • Select an Ending Time
   • Choose a reason
   • Choose a location:
   • Choose who the appointment is with: This is a list of staff members.
     CAVEAT: Select yourself in order to have the appointment appear on your personal Calendar.
   • You cannot add students here. You will be able to add students once you have created the appointment calendar entry. 
   • Optionally add a free-form Description.
   • Optionally alter the appointment's status
   • Optionally choose whether or not to display this conference in the parent module:
   • Locate the "SAVE CONFERENCE" button and click it. This creates the Conference. You can now add students to it
   • To add Students to your conference, locate the Add button at the far upper right of the central screen panel:
   • Click this button. A "Locate and Select Student" search panel is displayed:
     

Locate Student to Add to Conference Panel – Search for Student and Select 

• Enter a student's last name, or partial name with wildcard ('*') character.
• Click Search. This locates all matching students.
• Locate the student you wish to add and click the corresponding "Add Attendees" button. This selects the student and dismisses the popup.
• Repeat Step 3 to add additional students to your conference.
• Return to the WebDesk>Calendar screen to view your appointments:

Modifying an Appointment
To modify an appointment, click the entry on the Calendar. This will bring up the "Edit Appointments/Conferences" screen:

Update any field: 

• Date
• Start Time
• End Time
• Reason
• Location
• Who the appointment is with. CAVEAT: Select yourself in order to have the appointment appear on your personal Calendar.
• The free form Description. 

• Appointment Status:
• Whether or not to display this conference in the parent module
• Optionally add conference notes.
  • Click the SAVE CONFERENCES button when you are done editing the conference data.
  • To alter the list of student attendees to the conference, locate the student attendee list at the upper right.
  • To remove students from the conference, locate the student you wish to remove and click the corresponding delete icon.
  • To add Students to the conference, click the Add button. A "Locate and Select Student" search panel will be displayed: