Campus Events Documentation

Campus Events is used by many customers in the education sector. Because it is in daily use, it has established itself as a very stable and reliable software. Even though multi-stage quality checks are carried out to prevent errors from occurring as far as possible, they do happen just like with any other software.

However, it is important that feedback and errors are taken seriously and are rectified quickly depending on their severity.

Reliable protection of personal data is an important criterion. Campus Events therefore applies strict standards, starting with data minimisation in the application. This means that, on a case-by-case basis, only the data of participants that is absolutely necessary is requested.

Consent to data processing can also be withdrawn by the participant. In order to comply with the data protection requirements of the EU GDPR and apply the right to erasure of their data, individual or all participants can be irrevocably erased at a central location. If data is distributed across several systems, this is difficult.

Self-developed solutions or the use of Excel files usually do not meet data protection requirements. In the age of digitalisation, a solid and reliable solution is required, particularly with regard to data protection.

It goes without saying that Brain Appeal provides a data processing agreement (DPA). In accordance with Art. 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), this allows Brain Appeal to process data on your behalf.

My profile

In the top right-hand corner, you’ll find the login option (with or without institutional access). You can use the ‘Forgotten password’ function to set a new password.

Once you’re logged in, you can go to ‘My Profile’ or access the system settings – the backend area of Campus Events. You can log out by clicking the ‘Logout’ button.

A user group with backend access rights is required to access the system settings.

Your profile provides an overview of your upcoming events, your active programmes, event tickets, order history, programme overview, wish list and your personal profile details. In the final section, you can change your details or password, set your language, delete your user profile or request an overview of your stored profile data (right to access information in accordance with Article 15 of the GDPR). The information is available for download as a PDF and as a machine-readable JSON file.

Enter the email address to which the information should be sent. The confirmation link will be sent to this email address. After clicking on ‘Request information’, a confirmation link will be sent to the email address you have entered. Once confirmed, the export will be generated and the download link sent by email. By default, the link is valid for 15 minutes. This duration can be configured. After clicking on the confirmation link in the email, the user will be redirected back to Campus Events. The confirmation code from the email must be copied and entered to actively confirm the request. Only then will the export be generated. If the user is logged in, the code will be pre-filled directly in the field. The information request was accepted once the code was entered. As soon as the export is complete, the download link is sent to the confirmed email address. The export job has been created and is awaiting processing by the background process. The status can be tracked at this stage. If the status is ‘Ready’, the ZIP archive has been created and the download link has been sent to the user by email. The download link is valid for 24 hours by default and is deleted thereafter. This duration can also be configured. After clicking on the GDPR information link in the email, the user is redirected back to Campus Events. The download starts automatically. If not, there is an additional ‘Download information’ button.

The following settings can be configured under Configuration → Settings:

• GDPR Information: Retention period for the access log (days)
• GDPR information: Validity of the download archive (hours)
• GDPR Information: Validity of the confirmation code (minutes)

The GDPR information can also be accessed via a publicly available form (without logging in). To do this, add the following value to the end of the Campus Events system URL (e.g. www.veranstaltungen.uni-musterstadt): gdpr-export/request, i.e.: www.veranstaltungen.uni-musterstadt/gdpr-export/request.

System administrators also have the option of generating a new export/report for the specified email address in the backend under Configuration → Users → GDPR Information. Once completed, the download link will be sent to this address. You can choose between German and English.

Furthermore, you can set in your personal profile whether invoices are to be sent out in XML format only (without a PDF attachment). The default setting is PDF + XML format.

Note: The profile language (DE/EN in your own user profile) does not affect the backend or invoice PDFs. It only has an effect if a user account is assigned to the order/ticket/transaction – in which case it is used as the language for notification emails sent to that account.

System setting to prevent user registration outside of Shibboleth (institutional access)
Log-in and registration are controlled separately. There are two settings for this in the ‘Frontend Users’ section of the configuration: ‘Local Registration’ and ‘Local Login’. If this setting is disabled, logging in or local registration is not possible, or is only possible via external login providers. Please contact support if you wish to configure this setting.

Changing the language

In the top-left menu, you can change the language of the user interface and the backend content. German (DE) and English (EN) are available.

List of all events

Clicking the calendar icon takes you to the list of all events with the status “Published”.

Event search

On the Campus Events homepage, you can search for specific events using the“Search”text field.
The advanced search offers additional options to search for events with even greater precision.

Clicking on“Find events”searches for the string contained in the title or subtitle.
If the field is left blank, all events are displayed regardless of their title.

The advanced search on the Campus Events homepage helps to further narrow down the results of the event search and find specific events. You can use several search filters at the same time to narrow down the results further. As the search filters are linked, only those search results that meet all the criteria used in the search filters will be displayed.

Start date and end date
These search fields can be used to find events that fall within the period between the start date and end date. If a date field is left blank, events will be displayed without any time restrictions for that field. If both fields are left blank, events will be displayed without any time restrictions.

Categories
A drop-down list of all available categories is provided for searching. Multiple selections are possible. The system will then search for events that match any of the selected categories. If no category is selected, events from all categories will be displayed.

Target groups
A drop-down list of all available categories is provided, from which you can search. Multiple selections are possible. Events matching any of the selected target groups will then be displayed. If no target group is selected, events for all target groups will be displayed.

Organisers
A drop-down list of all available organisers is provided for searching. Multiple selections are possible. The system will then search for events that match one of the selected organisers. If no specific organisers are selected, events from all organisers will be displayed.

System settings

Clicking on ‘System Settings’ takes you to the backend section of Campus Events.

Before describing the individual sections and functions of the system, we will first explain the overarching functionalities and key terms.

These fundamentals apply across all sections and will therefore not be repeated in each of the following chapters. The explanations provided here should be referred to for all sections of the documentation.

Glossary

List view = Term used to describe the results list of the various Campus Events records

Detail view = The detail view clearly displays all information relating to a selected record on a single page. Depending on your authorisation, you can view, edit or perform further actions on the data.

Batch action = Term used to describe a function that allows several selected items to be processed simultaneously using the same action. This means that recurring tasks do not have to be carried out individually for each item. Batch actions can, for example, be applied to several events at the same time. To the left of the event list, there is a drop-down menu from which you can select batch actions. Click on one of the actions and then confirm by clicking the ‘OK’ button next to it to apply the action to the previously selected events in the list.

Multi-tenancy = In the context of Campus Events, multi-tenancy means that several organisationally separate organisations or institutions can use the same software without their data, settings and processes being intermingled. This is particularly relevant for universities, as different faculties, departments or even several universities often share a single platform. Tenants are separate, independently operating divisions or departments that can be customised and used simultaneously and individually, each without access to the data and configuration of the other divisions or departments. However, it is also possible to use data across tenants, thereby enabling cross-divisional use of the data. The creation of tenants and the assignment of users to tenants are configured in the system settings. Only the specified tenant can view the corresponding data record. If no tenant is specified, all backend administrators can view the data record.

Difference from roles and permissions

Multi-client capability is often confused with the permissions system.

• Roles and permissions determine what a user is allowed to do within a tenant (e.g. edit or simply view events).
• Multi-tenancy determines which data a user can access at all.

For example, a user may be an administrator of the ‘Faculty of Medicine’ client, but have no access whatsoever to events in the ‘University Library’.

Basic functionalities

Multilingualism

Campus Events is available in two languages: German and English. The product distinguishes between the display language and the data language. The two languages may differ from one another. For example, the user interface may be displayed in German whilst the English version of an event is being edited.

Display language: The display language determines the language in which the Campus Events user interface is displayed. This includes, amongst other things, labels, buttons, notes and menu items. German (DE) or English (EN) can be selected via the flag icon in the top-right menu.

Record language: The record language specifies the language in which a record is created or edited. It therefore determines which language version the entered content is assigned to. This includes, for example, titles, descriptions or other translatable text for an event.

Creating a translation for a content element

1. The starting point is an overview of the records in the backend, e.g. participant details.
2. The relevant language is selected by clicking on it; the selected language is then highlighted in colour, whilst the other language is displayed in grey
3. For the desired data record, click ‘Edit’ in the ‘Actions’ column to edit it in the previously selected language.
4. Enter the relevant content.
5. The changes must be saved before switching to another language, otherwise the changes will be lost.
6. Whilst editing, the selected translation for the relevant data record can be changed as described in point 2.

Configuring language settings

• The profile language (DE/EN in your own user profile) does not affect the backend or invoice PDFs. It only takes effect if the order/ticket process is assigned to a user account. In this case, it is used as the language for notification emails for that account.
• When setting up Campus Events, the email templates are created in German and English by default. The content and templates are stored in both a German and an English language version. The system determines which language version to use when sending emails based on the associated user or order record. The display language currently set in the backend for the administrator processing the request has no influence on this. If English is specified in a user’s profile, they will therefore only automatically receive an email in English if their user account is linked to the relevant order or the associated ticket.
• The language specified under Order System > Orders > Language (Order) is used to generate the invoice PDF. The invoice PDF is saved permanently as a file when it is first generated and is not regenerated subsequently. If the order language is changed at a later date, this change will therefore not affect an invoice PDF that has already been generated.
• In the participant data section (via the relevant event > Participants > click on the relevant participant), the language for notifications and certificates can be set. The language is specified in the participant’s details: the system then retrieves the corresponding English texts for the emails and the certificate. To ensure this works, both the emails and the certificates must be correctly configured via the language settings.

Help Texts

By clicking the question mark icon in the top-right menu, you can show or hide the help texts for all elements on the content page with a single click.

Client selection

Clients can be selected via the column icon in the top-right menu. Here, you can specify in which client the respective Campus Events content is to be stored. The number of clients assigned to a user can be controlled via the user’s permissions.

Jump to other Academic Hero apps

Using the cube icon in the top-right menu, you can navigate to the homepages of the Academic Hero products.

User management

Using the person icon in the top-right menu, you can log out or navigate to the permissions of the logged-in user.

Dashboard

By clicking the house icon in the top-left menu, you can navigate to the Campus Events backend dashboard. Here, depending on the user’s permissions, various information tiles and tables are displayed, each providing a link to the relevant section. There are several tiles providing an overview of various Campus Events functions. The following tiles are displayed: an overview of booked versus cancelled tickets, event attendance, event approvals and an overview of events for which the user is the current administrator (“My Events”). There is also an overview of users (e.g. new or inactive users). Published events, sent circulars and revenue from the booking system are displayed. In addition, there is an overview of the user’s current tasks. There are two user groups for rights management: “Dashboard Statistics Hero” (shows all tiles) and “Dashboard Statistics” (shows the tiles: My Events, My Tasks, Booked/Cancelled Tickets, Event Approvals and Event Attendance).

General filter function

The filter function allows you to filter the individual sections. There are a variety of criteria by which you can filter, for example to display events meeting a specific set of criteria in the list view. It is possible to save this selection of criteria as a custom filter. If one or more filters are selected from the list, the fields for entering or selecting the filter values will be displayed for the selected filters. To do this, select the relevant criteria, fill in the filters with the appropriate data (for example, select the target groups by which you wish to filter from the drop-down menu) and click on ‘Apply’. Then go to ‘Saved Filters ’ and click on ‘Save Current Filter’. The saved filter is now available to you, and you can switch between the saved filters. To discard your current filter settings and apply the filter’s default settings, click ‘Reset ’. To remove a filter, click on the minus symbol to the right of the input fields or deselect the filters in the filter list.

Saved Filters allow you to access potentially more complex filter options with a single click. In the configuration, you can manage saved filters and choose whether this filter should act as the default search filter in this application and, consequently, be applied whenever the list is called up. You can also specify whether the saved filter should be displayed on the Campus Events Backend Dashboard. In the configuration section, a system administrator can access the list of saved filters, and the saved filters for the respective user are displayed.

Default filter

By default, the events list view only displays active events, i.e. those with the status ‘Completed = No’. The events are therefore filtered using the ‘Completed’ filter, which is selected by default.

Buttons

• Plus icon New = Create a new record
• Plus icon: New record – creates a new record (e.g. in the participant details section)
• Minus icon = Delete a record
• Bin icon = Delete a record

Actions

Various actions are available in all Campus Events sections, which can be used to carry out tasks and navigate within the application. Here is an overview of possible actions in Campus Events:

• New (= Create a new record)
• View (= View a record)
• Edit (Edit a record)
• Copy (= Create a duplicate). For events, only the configuration is copied, not the participants.
• Back to list (= Return to the overview list of records)
• Preview (= Display the record in the frontend in a new browser tab)
• Participants (= Use the filtered list of participants to compose group emails, generate participant lists and name badges as PDFs, and anonymise personal data in accordance with the GDPR)
• Calendar reminder (= Download a calendar file containing the event dates in iCalendar format). This can be imported into all standard calendar applications.
• Delete (= Delete a record/irrevocably). If there are participant registrations, it is not possible to delete an event. If there are programme (or programme group) records linked to an event, deletion is also not possible.

Export / Entries per page

Selected content can be exported via the ‘Export’ drop-down menu (below the list view). The following file formats are available for export:

• CSV
• XLSX

The ‘Entries per page’ drop-down menu can be used to specify the number of entries per page. This number will be exported accordingly.

Visibility / Also visible to

Visibility

• No access restriction – Any backend user can view, edit and use the record.
• Client – Only backend users assigned to the selected client and with the appropriate permissions can read, edit and use the record.

Note: If a user is assigned to only one client, this client is automatically selected for newly created records.

Also visible to

• All clients: Any backend user can read and use the record
• Selected clients (multi-select possible): Only backend users assigned to the selected client and holding the appropriate permissions may read and use the data record.
  • In the area of event master data, this applies, amongst other things, to participant details, ticket categories, grading categories, participant list templates and event certificates.

Placeholders in Campus Events

Various placeholders are available in English and German for reminder and system emails and certificates. These are automatically replaced with the relevant information when the emails are sent. The placeholders are translated and displayed in a user-friendly format. If placeholders appear in red, this means that they are not intended for that section or that they do not function in that form.

Please note when using placeholders: event details do not work in order-related emails. An order may contain several items (i.e. events and additional items). The ‘Event Name’ placeholder, for example, cannot be used effectively here.

The available placeholders vary depending on the type of system email. They are grouped into subject areas depending on the section, for example:

• Event-related placeholders
• Individual participant details
• User-related placeholders

Note: Placeholders are not available in general message templates due to the lack of context.

Using placeholders

Examples

• Participant’s name
• Event name
• Event date
• Event venue
• Cancellation link
• Further event- or participant-related information

Tip: Where possible, use placeholders instead of fixed values. This allows the same email templates to be used for different events and recipients, and the content is automatically personalised.

References

References establish links between different records or areas of the software. This allows you, for example, to see in which objects a record is used or which other entries are linked to it. You can use the references to access the linked data records and understand their relationships. Depending on the function in question, changes to a referenced data record may also affect the linked areas.

References are used in the following locations:

• Master Data > Participant Details
• Master data > Ticket categories
• Invoices > Documents > Payments (in the list view)
• Programmes
• Presenters
• Participant details
• Ticket categories
• Configuration > Email > Mailer configuration