Overview
Now that you have created users, added new resources, and time Periods in RAPLA, its now time for you to create sessions or events. Creating events in RAPLA can be relatively straightforward if you are already familiar with the interface and you have experimented with the look and feel of the environment. This knowledge article will guide you with the basics of creating sessions or events in RAPLA, the possible functionalities you can use which could be relevant to your business or institution (Exceptions, Appointments, Groups and Class – which will be discussed further in the Advanced section of this documentation), and how to deal with conflicts.
BE ADVISED
Paradigm vs RAPLA Data Entry
Scheduled Units: It does not matter if you make the RAPLA Paradigm Session Event first or the Scheduled Units in Paradigm. The only thing that matters is that the Scheduled Units have been created BEFORE you attempt to sync the data from RAPLA to Paradigm (see 8. Synchronise Sessions to Paradigm on how to synchronise data to Paradigm).
Time Periods: The naming conventions of academic periods in RAPLA may be different to Paradigm as that information is not part of the data sync. However, having them the same would be significantly better for your end users to avoid confusion.
Event Types
NOTE: The event types mentioned below are the default event types we’ve configured for your RAPLA application. These are highly customisable. Please feel free to raise a ticket or contact our Support Team if you have any questions or clarifications on the event types mentioned below.
Event Type | Description |
|---|---|
Student Booking | To be used for student booking. This event type will ask you for the Student name, Student Number, etc. information when you create the booking. |
Generic Meeting | To be used when scheduling all types of meeting. This event type will ask you to enter the Meeting Name or Reservation Name. |
Generic Event | Sessions or Events that doesn’t fall to any of the three types (Student Booking, Meeting, Paradigm Session) This Event Name and Key Staff Member are the possible fields, and will also allow you to select an Event Type |
Paradigm Session | This is the event type used to synchronise sessions to Paradigm. The fields and data of this event type is crucial for the sync to be successful (see table below). |
Paradigm Session Required Fields
Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
Unit Name | The name of the unit offers by the Institution. The same one matches the record in Paradigm. |
Unit Code | The unit code offers by the Institution. The same one matches the record in Paradigm. |
Session Type | Subject to each institution to define their session type (e.g. class, tutorial, lecture) |
Campus | Subject to each institution to define their campus (e.g. Melbourne, Sydney) |
Minimum Participants | The minimum number of participants for running the session (e.g. 5) |
Maximum Participants | The maximum number of participants for running the session |
Faculty/Department | Subject to each institution to define their faculty/department (e.g. Faculty of Art) |
Refer to the Advanced section: Session Group and Session Class for more details on the two fields below. | |
Session Group ID (Group number) | A group of sessions from which a selection is made during the enrolment (aka. it is an enrolment choice). |
Session Seq ID (Class number) | A set of students who attend the same session together under one scheduled unit (Lecture). |
Workflow
NOTE
Both admin and non-admin user privileges are able to create events in RAPLA. Only admin users can edit events created by other users.
BE ADVISED
The user needs to make sure they are not highlighting anything on the left-hand side of the menu bar. This can cause RAPLA to think that you are creating any events against that resource. Hence, you might see a warning message.
How to create a single event on RAPLA
1 You will use the left mouse (drag and drop) to mark the time period for the specific appointment you want to. The marked rows are highlighted in pale blue (as below).
2 Right click on the highlighted rows (selected time), a new context menu appears, then select the suitable event type, (Paradigm Session is selected in the sample screenshot below).
In the below instance, it is an example of creating a new Event (Paradigm Session). Note there are three sections:
Event Type fields section: Fill out these fields that are critical for integration between RAPLA and Paradigm: Unit Codes (E.g. FIT9130), Unit Name, Campus (if applicable), Delivery mode, Department, see table above: Paradigm Session Required Fields for more details.
Appointments section shows the detail of the appointment: You will need to fill out the start and end date, select whether it is a single event or recurring one. You can even exclude public holidays or semester breaks if applicable (Refer to the workflows below under the Scenario 2 section).
Allocations section shows the resources you want to allocate to, add the resources from the left hand side to the right section by either double clicking or click on the resource and click the Add button. Resources with red x mark on them will create conflict if you will select them. (Refer to the workflows below under the Scenario 1 section).
3 Click on Save button.
While you follow the above steps of creating events/appointment, when you reach to the bottom section - Resource Allocations section. RAPLA tells you the available resource by having a green icon at front. The red cross icon means the resource has been taken for another event. So you should try to avoid allocating it again.
Example 1
Example 2
You can still override the conflict and successfully create the event, however, you will be prompted by an error message (as shown in the sample warning message below),
and the Conflicts Configuration Folder on the left side menus will remind you of the number of conflicts you’ve created.
NOTE: The Exceptions button will only appear if you make a repeating events by clicking on Weekly, Daily, Monthly, or Yearly from the options.
1 Following the same steps as the Workflow above: How to create a single event on RAPLA, you can find the Exceptions (0) button under the Appointments section on the middle right hand side.
2 Click the Exceptions and a new window will pop up.
3 Add or remove the dates (e.g. public holidays, trimester breaks, Saturdays and Sundays, etc.)by selecting a date you want to be an exception, and then click the Add button. Repeat the process if you want to add more dates.
4 Once you’re done adding all the dates, click the Close button. The Exceptions button now appears in red with a number (equivalent to the number of exception days you've added) in the bracket.
INFO: You have now created a repeating event with one or more exception(s).
1 You should follow the instructions of Scenario 2: Creating Repeating Events with Exceptions, to create a recurring events first (i.e. Appointment 1).
2 By following the instructions on Scenario 2, you’ve added one recurring event with the exception dates, and will be considered as an Appointment 1 (as highlighted in the screenshot below).
3 To add another appointment as a one-off event, click the New button under the Appointments section to create a 'No repeating' event (i.e. Appointment 2).
After clicking the New button, a copy of the same event will be added below, coded with another colour to avoid confusion. This will serve as your Appointment 2.
4 At the Resource Allocations section, you need to assign resources (e.g. staff, rooms) to each appointment individually. By default, all resources have been set to Every Appointment.
You can change it by clicking the 'Every appointment' button. It opens up more options to each appointment (as shown in the screenshot below). Select the appropriate Appointment number you want each of the Resources to be allocated to (the resources have been colour coded Appointment 1 as yellow and Appointment 2 as purple).
5 After allocating the resources, each resource selected will now display the appointment name and time it has been allocated to.
Introduction to RAPLA | 1. Install RAPLA | 2. Get Familiar with the RAPLA User Interface | 3. Create Users | 4. Add Resources: Facility, Equipment, Staff | 5. Create Time Periods | 6. Create Sessions or Events | 7. Publish RAPLA | 8. Synchronise Sessions to Paradigm