Publishing API

Helios Calendar offers one click API publishing to several third party websites when:

• Adding Events
• Editing Events
• Recycling Events
• Approving Pending Events

Access to third party APIs requires properly configured API Settings. When their settings have been configured admin users have the option to submit events they are working with to Facebook, Twitter, Eventbrite and/or to download a bitly shortened URL by checking the associated checkbox before saving the event.

Facebook

When registered & configured Helios Calendar can access the Facebook API to post both status updates and events to user accounts or pages within Facebook.

Status Update

When selected this option will post a status update to the selected publishing destination with a link to the event in the local public calendar. The status update is prebuilt using the following event details, however, it can be fully customized prior to submission to Facebook.

[Status]: [Title] @ [Location] - [Time] on [Date]

A link to the event, or event series, will be added automatically by Helios when submitting the status update.

Event

When selected this option will post the event to the Facebook Calendar of the selected publishing destination. Submitted event content includes:

• Title
• Description
• Start & End Time
• Location (String: Address, City, Region, Postal Code & Country)

Twitter

When registered & configured Helios Calendar can access the Twitter API to tweets containing event information to a user timeline.

Anatomy of a Tweet

By default the event Tweet textbox contains a Tweet with the following format. This information is taken from the event and can be edited before being submitted to Twitter.

[Status]: [Title] @ [Location] - [Time] on [Date] [Link] [Hashtag]

Item (Character Limit)

• Status (13) - Taken from language pack settings.
• Add Event = New Event:
• Edit Event = Just Updated:
• Pending Event = Just Added:
• Title & Location (66 or 53) - If Title & Location length exceed total length limit, Location is shortened to 25 and Title to 41/28.
• Title - Title of the Event.
• Location - Name of the Location (Saved or Custom Location).
• Time (11 or 8) - Start Time of the Event (12 hour: with AM/PM, or 24 hour: without).
• Date (14 or 27) - Date of the Event (First & Last Date for Event Series - Event Add Only).
• Link (20) - bitly shortened link to event page on public calendar.
• #hashtag (16) - Configured within API Setting.

Lengths include required spacing & special characters.

Status labels can be edited within the Helios Calendar language packs, however, it is recommended that these labels be no greater then 13 characters in total length.

If you plan to post an event Tweet it is recommended that you take care to work within the Title & Location size limits. If the event title or location name are greater then these limits they will be truncated to ensure Tweets are not “lost” for exceeding the size limits supported by the Twitter API.

Note: Because of Tweet size limits bitly API support must be enabled within your API Settings for administrators to Tweet events. Public calendar users can Tweet events regardless of the current API settings.

Public Calendar Twitter Access

The Tweet Button available in the public calendar event details page differs from the API integration in the admin console. The public Tweet button does permit users to Tweet the event and reference the Tweet as being “via” the Twitter user utilized by the admin console for API access, however, the public button does not permit Twitter API access as the user utilized by the admin console. Public calendar users will NOT have access to the Twitter account configured in the API Settings.

More information about the Tweet Button used in the public calendar visit twitter.com.

Eventbrite

Using the Eventbrite API Helios Calendar can submit the following information about events to Eventbrite.com for use in the Eventbrite service (including ticket sales & registration).

• Title
• Description
• Start & End Time
• Venue ID

In addition users will have the option to configure the following settings for events submitted to Eventbrite.

• Organizer - A list of Organizers for the API account retrieved from the Eventbrite API. Select the organizer you wish to submit the event for.
• Status - The event's status within Eventbrite. Live/Draft
• Privacy - The event's privacy setting within Eventbrite. Public/Private
• Timezone - Timezone in which the event occurs.
• Payment - Payment settings for the event. Requires PayPal & Google Merchant settings.
• Accept PayPal - Accept PayPal payments for event ticket sales.
• Accept Google Checkout - Accept Google Checkout payments for event ticket sales.
• Currency - Currency to accept for ticket sale payments.

Ticket Settings

When submitting an event to Eventbrite admin users have the option to create tickets for the event, which can be sold through the Eventbrite service. The following ticket settings are available.

• Ticket Name - Unique name to identify the ticket.
• Price - The price of the ticket.
• Numeric - Price in the currency selected.
• Free - Free admission (registration only).
• Donation - Allows user to enter any price they wish for the ticket.
• # Available - Number of tickets available (attendance limit).
• Add Fee - For non-free tickets Eventbrite charges a varying fee (fee details). This fee can, optionally, be added to the price of the ticket so event attendees pay the fee as part of their total ticket price. If left unchecked the fee will not be included as part of the ticket price entered.
• End Sales - Date to stop selling ticket. If no date is entered the event date will be used and tickets will remain for sale until the event occurs.

Eventbrite API Notes

Organizers should be managed within your Eventbrite account. Helios Calendar's Organizer list is cached - to limit API calls - if you add/edit/delete organizers within your Eventbrite account and wish to immediately update this list within Helios Calendar you can manually clear your cache files (from the admin console homepage) to update this list.

Note: The following notes reflect API status & features at the time of conclusion of development of the latest Helios Calendar release. As API features evolve Helios Calendar's support of the API, and this documentation, will be updated.

Tickets & Venues must be deleted from within your Eventbrite account.

Ticket Fee is added to the price of the ticket. When editing events the ticket price displayed will reflect this. If you wish to modify a ticket price fee inclusion can be adjusted and the ticket price will be recalculated when the event, and it's tickets, are updated.

“At the Door” Ticket type should be managed within your Eventbrite account.

Location (Venue) Organizer can be managed within your Eventbrite account.

bitly

Using the bitly API Helios Calendar can download a shortened URL for the event, providing access to a variety of tools provided by the bitly service, including:

• Shortened bitly URL
• URL Sharing Statistics
• QR Code Image

Note: If an administrator publishes a tweet about an event (using the Twitter integration outlined above) a bitly shortened URL will be downloaded automatically. bitly tools are provided within Helios Calendar separate from Twitter for publishers who wish to use only the bitly service.

Example

The following links provide examples of the services available for bitly shortened event URLs.

• Full URL: demo.helioscalendar.com
• bitly URL: bit.ly/xuxPDn
• bitly Stats Page: bit.ly/xuxPDn+
• bitly QR Code (Page): bit.ly/xuxPDn.qr
• bitly QR Code (Image): bit.ly/xuxPDn.qrcode

When a bitly shortened URL is present for an event, through either this method or by submitting a Tweet for the event, Helios Calendar will provide a link to the bitly QR Code image for the shortened URL (which will direct users to the event in your public calendar, or mobile calendar depending on your Preferences. Click here for more information about QR Codes.