There are many ways for users to interact with friends and others on the platform.
I’m Interested is a way to gauge user interest and provide a ballpark idea of attendance numbers. By default, every event listing has an “I’m Interested” button.
1. When a user selects I’m Interested, the event is added to My Plans in the user’s dashboard (their personal Localist calendar). If it is a repeating event, the user will be prompted to select all dates or specific instances.
2. Once I’m Interested is selected, a “You’re interested” message will appear in place of the I’m Interested button. To remove the event, the user only needs to select change dates (recurring event) or not interested (non-recurring event).
3. Then the user will be added to the “People Going” box and will be listed on the People Interested roster found on the event’s edit page in admin.
4. The user will receive two emails:
By default, every event details page includes an Invite Friends button. When clicked, a box will appear to select to “mention this event to friends” on the Localist platform OR to enter specific email addresses.
If the email receiving the invitation is associated an account in Localist, the individual will be prompted to sign in and the invitation will be available via the notification next to me, which will take them to their My Plans page.
If the email receiving the invitation is not associated with an account in Localist, the link in the email will take the individual to the event’s details page.
By default, every event details page includes a Recent Activity section below the Filter details where users can post comments, reviews, and photos.
Localist offers a few moderation levels to help combat spam. Navigate to the Admin Dash > Settings > Platform Settings > on the Settings page, the following options will be listed in the User Moderation drop-down:
| Moderation Level | Details |
|---|---|
| Automatically approve all posts | All comments and reviews will automatically be approved/published to the calendar. |
| Send any posts that contain links to the moderation queue | This is the default setting. Anytime a user posts a comment/review with a link or HTML, it will go to the moderation queue for approval. |
| Send all first posts to the moderation queue | When a user posts a comment/review for the first time, it will go to the moderation queue for approval. Once the post has been approved, all future posts from this user will automatically be published. |
| Send all posts to the moderation queue | All comments and reviews will go to the moderation queue for approval. |
To manage comments and reviews, go to the Admin Dash > Users > User Activity.
They will be listed in chronological order, starting from the most recent. You can narrow the results by selecting Comments or Reviews and Current Status (Pending, Approved, Rejected) in the Refine Results box.
You also have to option to approve, edit (pencil icon), or delete (trash icon) any comment or review. To bulk delete, select the unwanted comment/review > click Batch Actions > select Delete Selected.
Out of the box, Localist provides its own local account creation and login feature plus the ability to sign in with Facebook, Twitter, Google and LinkedIn.
Social logins are available through Facebook, Twitter, Google and LinkedIn. Local accounts are created directly through Localist.
When signing up, Localist’s account creation has a very low barrier to entry and only requires name + email address. If your platform has social logins, users will also be prompted in the login lightbox to use these services. Once an account is created, you can Login on the calendar homepage.
Platform Admins can customize which login options are available by navigating to Settings > Apps & Integrations in your Admin Dashboard.
If using a different Custom Domain for onboarding vs. live platform, you can still get started setting up Single Sign On. Once you’ve added your live Custom Domain, your configuration will need to be updated on Localist’s end and you’ll need to refresh our metadata in your system.
SAML 2/Shibboleth is set up with a metadata swap, which requires our development team to work directly with campus IT to configure the technical information. Each user will login from a campus-hosted SAML 2/Shibboleth page and will be passed through to the Localist system upon successful authentication.
Automatic notifications are the communication sent by Localist directly to a user. Most (not all) can be individually enabled/disabled by the user. We don’t recommend opting users out of notifications by default; our data shows that 75% of users find digest emails to be useful. It makes more sense to send to 100% of users and have 25% opt-out, instead of opting-out 100% of users and having only 25% opt-in. Contrary to popular belief, most users don’t have “email overload,” especially if you’re giving them information they’d find useful.
All times are approximate.
| Notification | Details |
|---|---|
| Leave a review for an event 9am |
If a user marks themselves as “I’m Interested” in an event, the day after it occurs, Localist will send them an email prompting them to review with a link to the event details page. If the user is marked as “I’m Interested” to more than one event, they will be shown a full list rather than receiving one email per event. |
| Digest of tomorrow’s plans 4pm |
When a user marks themselves as “I’m Interested,” an email will send the day before the event occurs to remind them that they have plans the next day. If the user is interested in more than one event, it will show them a full list, not sending one event per email. |
| Pending Content (sent to specified Admins only) 4pm |
Sends a daily email to anyone in the “Pending Digest” list in Global Options with an update on how many users have signed up and a list of any events currently in the Pending Queue. |
| Notification | Details |
|---|---|
| Message Received | If you receive a message from another user, you’ll receive an email with the message contents and a link to reply. |
| Invite Received | If you receive an invitation to an event from another user, you’ll receive an email with the invite contents and a link to reply. |
| Friend Request Received | If you receive a friend request from another user, you’ll receive an email with the request contents and a link to reply. |
| Friend Request Accepted | If a friend request you sent is accepted by the other party, you’ll receive an email notifying you of the acceptance. |
| Invitation Accepted | If an event invitation you sent is accepted by the other party, you’ll receive an email notifying you of the acceptance. |
| Invitation Rejected | If an event invitation you sent is rejected by the other party, you’ll receive an email notifying you of the rejection. |
| Event Comment | If an event you’ve marked yourself as interested in, you’ll receive an email with the comment contents. |
| Event Changed | If the date or location of an event you’re marked as “Interested” to change, you’ll receive an email with a link to the event. |
| Event Verified | If an event you’ve submitted is verified, you’ll receive an email with a link to the public link to the event. |
| Event Rejected | If an event you’ve submitted is rejected, you’ll receive an email. |
| Group Membership Request | If a Group you’ve clicked the Follow button on has rejected your request, you’ll receive an email. |
| Group Membership Approved | If a Group you’ve clicked the Follow button on has accepted your request, you’ll receive an email. |
Notifications can be disabled on an all or nothing basis. Navigate to Settings > Global Options. You will see a flag title Silent Mode. When checked, all notifications and emails from the Localist platform will be disabled.
– BEST PRACTICE –
This is not recommended as it significantly reduces user engagement. Read more.
Related Articles: User Accounts
After a user has logged in through any available sign-on options, they will have access to various profile, preference, and setting options for their account.
You can only create Localist (‘local’) user accounts in the backend. You’ll have to create a temporary password for the user — then once they log-in they can change it to something else. If you are using Single-Sign-On or social accounts, users can just log-in to automatically create an account. Passwords for SSO and social accounts, must be changed at the account source.
From your public-facing platform, hover over the user dropdown. Under Preferences, select Settings. By default, you’ll see your Account Settings (*required):
All users are opted in by default to receive all notifications. They can change what they want to receive at any point in time. To access Notifications settings, navigate to User Menu > Settings > Notifications. If a user has not verified their email account, they will not receive any notification emails. Users can change Notifications settings on the following:
To access Privacy settings, navigate to the Account Settings page and select Privacy. By default, all user profile information can be viewed by Everyone. Other privacy options are Just My Friends (applies to friends in Localist), and Nobody. Users can change Privacy settings on the following:
Hovering over the profile photo will display a drop down with links to various pieces of a user’s profile and account.
| Link | Details |
|---|---|
| Calendar Admin (If Applicable) | This allows Admins access to the Admin Dashboard from the front end. |
| Link | Details |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Shows a complete overview of platform activity and number of follows. |
| Public Profile | Shows the user what the public sees. It updates as they change their privacy settings. |
| My Calendar | Shows a list of all events on which a user clicked the I’m Interested button. HEADS UP: Users who mark themselves as “I’m Interested” in an event will receive a reminder notification the day before the event and a prompt to review the event the day after the event. Keep in mind that a user is automatically marked as “I’m Interested” for event hosted by Place, Group, and/or Department Pages that they follow. |
| Messages | If a user has corresponded with another Localist user, this is where the messages will be displayed. |
| Reviews | All events on which the user clicked the I’m Interested button will be listed here to be reviewed at any time once the event is in the past. |
| Following | Shows a list all “friends” added on the Localist platform and places that the user follows. |
| Photos | Shows all photos added by a user. |
| Settings | Edit Account, Notifications, or Privacy settings. |
| Log-Out | Allows the user to log-out. |
For security purposes, user data is not available via Localist’s API because it is publicly accessible. For this reason, user data has been provided as a CSV download that is only accessible to Platform Admins. To download your User List:
Available User Data
You can do so by navigating to Events > Live or by searching an event’s name.
From there select People Interested
This reports lists the user’s name, email address (if they responded via Localist), the date they are attending and the source of their Interest.
Localist has several logs available to track activity across the platform.
This shows when creations, edits, and feature assignments were made and which Admin made them.
1. From the Admin Dashboard, navigate to Users > Admin Activity
This shows what edits were made and when by a specific user.
1. From the Admin Dashboard, navigate to Users > All Users
2. Select a user’s account
3. Select View User Activity Log
This shows what comments, reviews, and photos have been added to an event and who added them.
1. From the Admin Dashboard, navigate to Users > User Activity
This shows when edits were made to an event and who made them.
1. Navigate to an event’s edit form in the Admin Dash
2. Select the Metrics > Admin Activity (at the top of the page)
This shows when edits were made to a place landing page and who made them.
1. Navigate to a Place Page’s edit form in the Admin Dash
2. Select View Recent Changes at the top of the page
Permissions control what features a user has access to and are applied manually on a per-user basis.
Anyone you trust to add, edit, and monitor events should be an Admin on your platform. We recommend that you start out with a small group of Admins and add more as your calendar grows.
If an Admin is Allowed to something, then they only have access to that specific Classification. When you Allow someone to a Filter, Group, and/or Department, they only have permission to moderate (approve/reject/add) events within their ‘allowed’ Classifications.
On the other hand, if an Admin is Excluded from something, then they have access to everything except that specific Classification. When you Exclude someone from a Filter, Group, and/or Department, this prevents them from interacting with anything associated with that Classification.
Nope! You’ll have to manually add Permissions per user account.
This is most likely due to Permissions. For example, if the admin is Allowed to a specific Filter, Group, and/or Department, then they’ll only have permission to moderate events assigned to that Classification(s). If the event(s) in question do not have at least one of their Allowed Filters assigned to it, then they will not see it in their queue.
Localist Permissions are not a hierarchy. For example, a Platform Admin must also be checked as an Event Admin in order to access events in the Admin Dashboard. Suggested permission levels are marked with a single asterisk* and non-admin permission levels are marked with a double asterisk**.
| Levels | Who should have this permission? | Example | What other permissions should they have? | What does this permission enable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Users | Everyone on your platform including all Admins | Students | Regular users do not need any other permissions | – Login to your platform
– Submit events to the calendar for review |
| Trusted** | Anyone you trust to submit high-quality events | Group/Org/Venue leaders or managers | User | – Their events skip the pending queue and are published without review |
| Event Admin | Anyone you trust to approve events and add events without review | Staff | User | – Publish events without review – Edit events on the calendar – Approve/reject events submitted by regular users – Access the calendar’s Admin View |
| Featured/Sponsored | Anyone you trust to pick out and highlight key events | Staff | User + Event Admin | – Select events to display in a sliding carousel – Select events to boost and highlight |
| Bulletin Admin | Anyone you trust to manage Bulletins | Staff | User + Event Admin | – Create, manage, and send Bulletins |
| Group Officer** | Anyone managing a Group or Department Landing Page | Group/Organizational Leaders | User | – Approve/reject a Group’s/Department’s followers – Edit a Group’s/Department’s description – Send messages to a Group’s/Department’s followers |
| Group Admin | Anyone you trust to create Group or Departments | Staff | User | – Publish Groups and Departments – Edit all Group/Department details – Access the calendar’s Admin View |
| Channel Admin | Anyone you trust to edit Channels | Staff | User Event Admin* |
– Edit all Channel details – Edit Channel layout – Access the calendar’s Admin View |
| Platform Admin | Anyone you trust to manage the calendar | Calendar Managers, Developers or Designers | User Channel Admin* Group Admin* Event Admin* Feature/Sponsor* |
– Edit all calendar settings – Edit calendar layout and branding – View all users – Assign permissions – Add/edit Filters – Add/edit Places – View Activity logs – Conduct bulk uploads – Add feeds – Access the calendar’s Admin View |
Verified: After an account is created, Localist will send an email to the user’s email address asking them to verify their address by clicking the included link. If a user does not verify their account this flag will remain unchecked and they will not receive any emails from Localist. They will still be able to use the calendar as a logged in user.
Pending: If a user uses the Invite Friends feature to send event details to an address that is not already saved on the platform/connected to a current user, the email will be listed as a pending user.
User must always be checked. This is what allows them to login to and interact with your platform (i.e. submit an event, I’m Interested, leave a comment, etc.)
You can restrict content moderation by limiting an Event Admin’s permissions to only designated Filters, Groups, and/or Departments. These designations apply to admin functionalities, such as approving events and publishing events without approval, which means an Event Admin can use the public submission form to submit an event to all available Filters.
Below the Permissions section of the user form, you’ll see Allowed Filters and Excluded Filters. These drop-downs correspond to the Filters, Groups, and/or Departments you have previously set. Parent/Child Filter items are listed in the drop downs. Select which Filters, Groups, and/or Departments you want the user to have access to:
Once a user is Allowed to Filters, Groups, and/or Departments, they will only have access to those Classifications. In comparison, once a user is Excluded from Filters, Groups, and/or Departments, they will not have access those Classifications.
– BEST PRACTICE –
We suggest having at least one Event Admin with access to all Classifications (leaving the Allowed/Excluded sections blank). If a user submits an event and forgets to add the Classification item the Event Admin is Allowed to, the Event Admin will not see the event in the Pending Queue for moderation.
Related Articles: Event Submissions | Guidelines & User Help | Single Sign On | Pending Queue | Intro to Classification