How to schedule recurring events that have intermittent dates
There are two options for adding recurring events that have intermittent dates: the copy method and the edit/delete method.
Example A: A group of students meets at the church every week for the last half of the year (September - December) and then again for the first half of the next year (February - May). In between, there are several weeks where they don't meet at all. This event is called Weekly Student Meetup.
- If you need to schedule an event that repeats then breaks and then repeats again, you may do so using one of the following two options: the copy method or the edit/delete method
Example B: You have a recurring event that meets on the same day every week with a few exceptions. For example, on Thanksgiving week, instead of meeting Thursdays as normal, the day is changed to Tuesday for only that week.
- If you need to schedule an event that repeats on the same day of the week with a few exceptions, you may update the few exceptions using the edit method.
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The copy method: create the first run of dates then copy and update for the next run of dates: Using the student example above, create a Weekly Student Meetup event to meet every Tuesday in room 101 starting September 7, 2021, and meeting every week through December 15, 2021. Then, make a copy of the event, but edit the copied instance to begin starting February 1, 2022.
- Pro: A little less work upfront since you don't have to delete individual instances (see method #2)
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Con: When you update a particular attribute in the original event (September 7 - December 15), it will not automatically update the attribute in the copied event (February 1 - May 31). Each set of recurring events must be updated. The biggest challenge here is remembering that two separate events were created in the calendar and must be updated separately.
For example: If after creating the event initially, and then making a copy of the event, you learn the group would like to add a contact person. You must remember to go into both instances of the event to update this information. - To learn this method see these articles:
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The edit/delete method: create a run of dates for the duration and then edit/delete individual instances. Use edit to change a single instance date or edit/delete when there is no meeting.
- Pro: Once the recurring event is added for the whole range of dates when you must change something about the event (like the room or the contact person), you will have the option to change it for the whole date range going forward and not have to worry about updating the second (copied) set of dates separately (see #1).
- Con: Have to go into several individual dates to delete them.
- To learn this method, see the following articles:
Updated