How to Manage Events

Events represent any in-person or virtual appointment, such as a court hearing or an office visit. The **Events** page is where your agency creates those records, attaches clients to them, and keeps them accurate so the assigned flow can generate reminders.

### Overview

The **Events** page combines an **Events Calendar**, a searchable **Events List**, a **Create Event** form, and a **Bulk Edit** panel on a single screen. Opening an event gives you the full record, including the fields that drive messaging, the attached clients, and a **Tools** menu for archiving, duplicating, and troubleshooting.

- **What it does:** Creates, finds, edits, bulk edits, archives, trashes, and restores event records.
- **Why it matters:** An event needs a date, a flow, and a primary client before eCourtDate can generate reminder messages for it.
- **Who uses it:** Staff who schedule appointments and the administrators who configure event defaults.
- **Expected outcome:** Accurate event records that your flows can act on.

The **Events** group also has **Calendars**, **Waitlists**, **Checkins**, **Unreachables**, and **Schedules** tabs across the top of the page.

### Prerequisites

Before you manage events, make sure you have:

- An active eCourtDate agency on [staging](https://staging.ecourtdate.com) or [production](https://app.ecourtdate.com)
- Super admin access, or a role that includes the events permissions (roles are managed under **Admin** > **Users** > **Roles**)
- Client records already created, if you plan to attach clients to an event
- A flow set up for events, if you want eCourtDate to generate reminders
- Locations set up under **Admin** > **Locations**, if you want to set a location on an event

### How-To Steps

#### Create an event

1. Click **Events** in the top navigation.

![Navigate to Event Tab](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/1%20Navigate-to-Events-tab.png)

2. Enter the **Date** in the **Create Event** form.
3. Enter the **Time**.
4. Complete the other fields you need, such as **Event reference**, **Case number**, **Status**, **Type**, **Description**, **Flow**, **Portal**, and **Location**.

![Fill Event Form](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/2%20Fill-Event-Form.png)

5. Click **Create**.

![Click Create Button](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/3%20Click-Create-Button.png)

6. Click **Edit new Event** to open the record you just created.

![Click edit button to view event](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/4-edit-button-to-view-new.png)

**Date** and **Time** are required. Click **Fields** above the form to show or hide the optional fields. If you select a location that is marked as a **Virtual Location**, eCourtDate marks the event as virtual for you.

#### Find an event

1. Click **Events** in the top navigation.
2. Set **From Date** and **To Date**, or click a quick filter such as **Today**, **Tomorrow**, **This Week**, **Next Week**, or **This Month**.
3. Enter a reference in **SEARCH**, or narrow the results with **Event reference**, **Case number**, **Type**, **Status**, **Flow**, **Location**, **Judge name**, or **User**.
4. Select **Virtual** to return only virtual events.

![Search event by keyword](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/12-Search-Event-by-Keyword.png)

5. Click **Search**.

![Click Search Button to search event](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/Click-Search-Button.png)

6. Click the edit icon on a result to open the event record.

The **Events Calendar** above the list shows the same results in **Year**, **Month**, **Week**, or **Day** view, and **Today** returns you to the current period. Clicking an event in the calendar opens a details window with an **Edit Event** button. Clicking a day filters the list to that date, and **Show all events** clears that filter.

#### Edit an event

1. Open the event from the events list.
2. Update the fields in the **Edit Event** card, such as **Date**, **Time**, **End date**, **End time**, **Flow**, **Location**, **Status**, **Appeared**, and **Internal notes**.

![Event Form information](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/5-Event-Forms-Preview.png)

3. Click **Save**.

![You can do the changes and save](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/6-update-event-details-and-save.png)

Setting **Appeared** to FTA marks the record as a Failure to Appear. Selecting **IS VIRTUAL** adds a **Virtual notes** field. Click **Close** to leave the record and return to the events list.

#### Attach clients to an event

1. Open the event.
2. Enter a name or reference in the client search box in the right column of the record.

![Assign Client](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/7-Search-Button-to-attach-client.png)

3. Click the search button.

![Select client you want to attach](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/8-Select-client-from-Search-Result.png)

4. Click **Attach** next to the client you want.

![Click Attach button to assign client](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/9-Click-Attach-Button-to-assign-Client.png)

5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for every client you need on the event.
6. Click **Make Primary** on a client card to set that client as the primary.

![make client primary](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/10-Make-Client-Primary.png)

On an event that has no clients yet, that column is headed **Attach Clients**. Once clients are on the event they appear under **Attached Clients** with a running count. The primary client appears under **Primary Client** with a **Primary** badge, a **View Client** button, and a **Remove Primary Client** button. Click **Detach** on a client card to take that client off the event.

#### Bulk edit events from the list

1. Select the checkbox on each event you want to change, or click **Select All**.
2. Set any of **Date**, **Time**, **Status**, **Flow**, and **Location** in the **Bulk Edit** panel that replaces the **Create Event** form.
3. Click **Update**.

While events are selected you can also click **Archive**, **Trash**, or **Restore** above the list, then click **Confirm** on the prompt that appears. Click **Deselect All** to clear the selection.

#### Use the Tools menu on an event record

Open an event and click **Tools** to reach these actions:

- **Archive** removes the event from the default list and stamps an archived banner on the record.
- **Trash** does the same and stamps a trashed banner.
- **Restore** appears once an event is archived or trashed.
- **Sync Messages** queues a message resync for the event.
- **Duplicate** creates a new event from the same details and opens it.
- **Troubleshoot** opens the checks described in the troubleshooting section below.

**Sync Messages** and **Duplicate** are hidden while an event is archived or trashed.

#### Archive, trash, or restore an event

1. Open the event.
2. Click **Tools**.
3. Click **Archive** or **Trash**.

![You can trash any event](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/14-Trash-Any-Event.png)

4. Confirm the banner at the top of the record reads "Event was archived on" or "Event was trashed on" with the date and time.

![Event Archived](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/17-Event-Archived.png)

To bring an event back:

1. Click **Events** in the top navigation.
2. Select **Archived** or **Trashed** in the **Search Events** form.

![Search event by clicking trashed or archived checkbox](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/18-Archived-and-Trashed-Search.png)

3. Click **Search**.
4. Open the event.
5. Click **Tools** > **Restore**.

![Click restore button to restore event](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/63905ada-72ea-4c63-87fd-fde33ca5aec6/21-Click-Restore.png)

**Archived** and **Trashed** cannot be selected at the same time, so search for one state at a time.

#### Export events and add them to a calendar

1. Click **PDF** or **CSV** above the **Events List** to download the current results.
2. Open an event and click **PDF** to download that single record.
3. Click **Add to Calendar** on the event record.
4. Click **iCalendar** to download an .ics file, or click **Google**, **Office 365**, **Outlook**, or **Yahoo** to add the event to that calendar service.

Shareable calendars for your agency are built on the **Calendars** tab of the **Events** page.

#### Enable event check-ins

1. Go to **Admin** > **Settings**.
2. Open the **Check-ins and Waitlists** section.
3. Select **Enable Event Check-ins** to allow check-ins directly from an event portal.
4. Enter **Earliest Check-in** in hours before the event. It defaults to 24.
5. Enter **Latest Check-in** in hours after the event. It defaults to 24.
6. Click **Save**.

Check-in records are listed on the **Checkins** tab of the **Events** page, and the **Waitlists** tab has its own **Check In** action that generates a check-in link for an event.

#### Set event defaults for your agency

1. Go to **Admin** > **Settings**.
2. Open the **Events** section.
3. Set **Default Event Type**, **Primary Judge Name**, **Available Judge Names**, **Default Groups**, **Virtual Platform**, or **Virtual Base Link**.
4. Click **Save**.

**Default Event Type** is applied to new events when no type is provided, and **Primary Judge Name** is applied when no judge is provided.

#### Report on event data

1. Go to **Analytics** > **Datapoints**.
2. Enter a **Name** in the **Create Datapoint** form.
3. Select **events** as the **Data Source**.
4. Click **Create**.
5. Go to **Analytics** > **Reports**.
6. Open a report and add your event datapoints with **Add Datapoint**.

A report holds up to 20 datapoints and can be sent on an **Export Frequency** to the addresses listed under **Export Recipients**.

### What to Expect

A new event appears in the **Events List** and the **Events Calendar** as soon as you click **Create**, and the **Edit new Event** button takes you straight to the record. Bulk edits apply to every selected event at once. Archiving or trashing an event removes it from the default results until you search with the **Archived** or **Trashed** filter, and the record carries a banner with the date it happened. **Auto Delete Trashed Data** under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Data and Retention** defaults to 30 days, and **Auto Trash Archived Data** defaults to never.

### Best Practices

- Assign a **Flow** and a primary client when you create an event, because the troubleshoot checks treat both as critical for message generation.
- Use **Bulk Edit** to move a group of events to a new **Date**, **Time**, **Status**, **Flow**, or **Location** instead of opening each record.
- Archive rather than trash when you want to keep the record, since trashed data is deleted on the **Auto Delete Trashed Data** schedule.
- Set **Default Event Type** and **Primary Judge Name** under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Events** so new events are consistent.
- Run **Tools** > **Troubleshoot** on an event before reporting a missing message.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can I attach more than one client to a single event?**

A: Yes. Search for each client in the right column of the event record and click **Attach**. One of them can be marked with **Make Primary**, and the rest stay listed under **Attached Clients**.

**Q: How do I find an event I archived or trashed?**

A: Select the **Archived** or **Trashed** checkbox in the **Search Events** form and click **Search**. Only one of the two can be selected at a time.

**Q: How long can I recover a trashed event?**

A: **Auto Delete Trashed Data** under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Data and Retention** controls this and defaults to 30 days. **Auto Trash Archived Data** defaults to never, so archived events stay until you change that setting.

**Q: Can I copy an event instead of retyping it?**

A: Yes. Open the event and click **Tools** > **Duplicate**. eCourtDate creates a new event from the same details and opens it, without carrying over the client, the **Appeared** value, or the created and updated stamps.

**Q: Can I add an event to my own calendar?**

A: Click **Add to Calendar** on the event record, then click **iCalendar** for an .ics file or click **Google**, **Office 365**, **Outlook**, or **Yahoo**.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** No messages are generated for an event.

**Symptoms:** The event has a flow assigned, but **Messages Created** stays at 0 on the troubleshoot screen.

**Solution:**

1. Open the event and click **Tools** > **Troubleshoot**.
2. Review the **Summary** counts and the **Critical Issues** card.
3. Fix any critical issue it reports, such as no primary client assigned, no flow assigned, the flow having no messages, no valid opted-in contacts, an event status that disables messages, or a location with messages disabled.
4. Click **Re-run Checks** to confirm the issue is cleared.
5. Return to the record and click **Tools** > **Sync Messages**.

**Issue:** An event is missing from the events list.

**Symptoms:** The list shows "No Events Found" even though you know the event exists.

**Solution:**

1. Click **Clear** to drop the date range, or widen **From Date** and **To Date**.
2. Click the reset button on the **Search Events** card to clear every filter.
3. Select **Archived** or **Trashed** and click **Search** in case the event was removed from the default results.

**Issue:** The **Bulk Edit** panel is not showing.

**Symptoms:** The left column still shows the **Create Event** form.

**Solution:**

1. Select the checkbox on at least one event in the **Events List**.
2. Confirm the count reads as selected above the **Bulk Edit** fields.
3. Set the fields you want to change and click **Update**.

> **Important:** If you continue to experience issues after following these troubleshooting steps, sign in to eCourtDate and create a ticket by clicking the ticket button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

### Related Articles

- [How to Restore Events](/how-to-restore-events)
- [How to Create a Virtual Event](/how-to-create-a-virtual-event)
- [How to Create Events via Bulk Actions](/how-to-create-events-via-bulk-actions)
- [How to Create a Flow](/how-to-create-a-flow)
- [How to create calendars](/how-to-create-calendars)
- [How to Manage Portal Check-ins](/how-to-manage-portal-check-ins)
- [How to Create Reports](/how-to-create-reports)