Refresh Software Documentation » Helios Calendar » Frequently Asked Questions
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General
Can I sell Helios Calendar to my client?
While resale of Helios Calendar is not permitted you are able to charge your clients for services related to the setup, customization and integration of Helios Calendar to their website.
Will I have access to future upgrades/updates?
Yes. Helios Calendar licensees have the option to maintain a subscription for access to upgrades & support. A complimentary subscription, for a period of 1 year from date of purchase, is provided with all new license purchases. After the first year this subscription may be renewed for an additional year of upgrades. Click here for subscription details.
Is there a XX day trial/demo download available?
No. Because Helios Calendar is delivered in unencrypted source code form a trail/demo download cannot be made available. Refresh makes a fully functioning demo of Helios Calendar available here.
Is the Helios Calendar source encoded/encrypted?
Mostly, No. Helios Calendar source code is delivered in plain text for easy access and customization. There are a few lines of code that are restricted and cannot be edited (as described in the Helios Calendar License) but they do not impact the functioning of Helios, or limit your ability to customize it, in anyway.
What is your refund policy?
Because Helios Calendar is delivered immediately upon payment and is done so in plain text, source code form refunds are not available under any circumstances. Please try the Helios Calendar demo and contact us with any questions you may have prior to placing your order.
Can my license registration (domain) be changed once I register a domain?
As a general policy license registrations cannot be transferred, changed or reissued. Special consideration is made for development environments that require a public facing domain for staged development when a localhost installation will not suffice. In the event you need a public domain for development temporarily but will be moving the site to a different locations once the site is published we will accommodate the transfer (please contact prior to registration to inform us of your need).
However, once your license has reached a reasonable age (time passed after purchase & registration), as determined by Refresh, or you have installed Helios Calendar on a public website your license registration cannot be changed.
How can I change my Refresh member site account email address
Your privacy and account security are very important. It is for this reason Refresh takes extra caution in protecting your account.
For security email addresses cannot be changed within your member account. To request a change please contact Refresh through either the RefreshMy.com or HeliosCalendar.com contact form. A change of address request will be sent by Refresh to your existing email address and you can reply to that change request with your new email address.
This is done to verify that the person requesting the change is, at least very likely, the actual account owner.
Requests sent via any contact forms or the members site requesting changes will not be made, only direct replies to change of request sent by Refresh will receive attention.
Events
What happens to a Category's events when I delete it?
Because events can be assigned to more than one category typically deleting a category has no affect on it's events. However, in the case that the deleted category is the only category an event is assigned to deleting it will cause the event to become an 'Orphan Event'. The event(s) will not be deleted by deleting a Category.
What is an Orphan Event?
My event description has HTML, but when I view the event in the public calendar I see HTML source not the formated content.
Sometimes when you add descriptions with a lot of HTML code TinyMCE can generate the code a bit weird as a result when the event is viewed it displays as source. There are two solutions to this problem:
- Resave the event immediately, this will run the Code Cleanup and the event will be fixed.
- Click TinyMCE's “Cleanup Messy Code” button ( File:Cleanup.gif ) before saving the event.
When I add a location the city doesn't show up in the event search list.
The event search criteria is based on currently available events and location city data. For the city to appear in the list of searchable cities it must be entered in the event "Location Info" in the "City" textbox, or be a Preset Location's City and have active events assigned to that Location.
Does Helios allow users to upload the image if they do not have a URL where it already resides?
Helios utilizes TinyMCE as its WYSIWYG editor of choice and TinyMCE only supports inclusion of images already available online, by editing the HTML source of the event description to include an <img> tag. Helios does not include an additional file upload utility so the only option for including images not already available online is to upload them to your site via FTP prior to including them in the event description.
How do I create an Event Series?
Can I bypass the event submission approval process?
Yes, by modifying Helios to auto approve events.
Newsletter
What if a user wants to be notified for all events but category(ies) are added after they register?
There are two easy solutions for this.
- When you add an event add it to all related categories, this will ensure that users who sign up for some categories and not others are more likely to receive the event in their newsletter and will increase the events exposure.
- Include in your event newsletter template an announcement about new categories being added and including the [editregistration] variable so users can return to your site and add any new categories they may be interested in to their registration.
Administration
I can't remember my admin console password, what do I do?
How do I change my admin console password?
- Click the "Lost Your Password?" link at the login screen.
- Enter your username (email address)
- Follow the instructions in the email (you'll be given a link where you can enter a new password).
Where are admin passwords stored?
Passwords are stored as encrypted text in a MySQL database.
Access to the various sections of the Helios Administration Console is based on your account permission settings. Only an administrator given access to the admin edit function can change your account settings (typically this is limited to users with "super admin" access).
If you believe that you have been denied access to a section of the Administration Console in error, contact your Helios Administrator.
How do I know an action worked?
When you click a button to perform an action, save an event, create a new category, send an event newsletter, etc., Helios will provide feedback as to the result of that action. There are three feedback boxes you should look for after performing an action in Helios.
When an action is successful, you will see the "Success" feedback box. It will let you know everything happened correctly.
This is the "Success" feedback box!When an action is partially successful, or requires additional interaction to be successful, you will see the "Warning" feedback box. It will contain additional instructions or explain why your action was only partially successful.
This is the "Warning" feedback box!When your action has caused an error, or has failed for an unknown reason, you will see the "Error" feedback box. It will contain additional instructions about how to repair the error, or whom to contact regarding the error.
This is the "Error" feedback box!Technical/Setup
Can I combine/integrate Helios Calendar with a GPL software package I installed on my site?
No. Or at least we don't think you can...but we're not lawyers. We advise you read their license carefully and contact them (or an attorney) with any questions. Details are available here.
How do I setup Helios?
What type of server do I need to run Helios?
Can I host Helios Calendar and edit the source code?
Yes. You can download Helios and host it wherever you like. You are also free to modify the public calendar template to match your site layout however you wish. Modifying the branding and copyright footer of the Helios Calendar Admin Console, however, requires a Developer License.
How do I install Helios on my local computer for development/testing?
Follow the Setup instructions except:
- When entering your site URL in the globals.php file use localhost (Ex: http://localhost/helios/)
- In Step 3 when prompted for a registration code enter "localhost"
NOTE: Localhost install databases and core files cannot be moved to a production server/environment. A Helios Calendar install in any environment other then localhost that is using "localhost" for it's registration key will not function. If you'd like to use a localhost install for staged template development/testing you should install Helios Calendar in your production environment using your license code, then install it on your localhost using the instructions above. Template files (HTML/CSS/images/etc) can be moved between localhost & production installs but an entire Helios Calendar install (files & database) cannot.
I'm in a country outside the United States will Helios work for me?
Absolutely. You can translate Helios (or you might not need to if we have your language pack) and easily change a wide variety of settings to work locally. For more information please reference Translation, Localization Settings and Weather/Map Links.
Location Map Not Displayed
Map Center Geocode Data Missing or Invalid.
For the Location map to work it will need a center point. In Settings/Configure Helios under the "Location Maps" section you will need to enter Latitude and Longitude data for "Location Browse Map Center:". There are three easy ways to generate the Lat/Lon data.
- Enter it by hand from known Geocode coordinates
- Create a new location in Helios with a street address you wish to use and copy & paste the Lat/Lon once the location is saved
- Click "Manual Geocode Lookup" and use one of the found sites to encode the address you want to use for your center point.
Customization/Templates
How do I customize my public calendar template?
How do I change the date selection to make it a popup window?
To changed the Date Selection tool from an inline div to a popup window change the code:
var calx = new CalendarPopup("dsCal");
to:
var calx = new CalendarPopup();
in the following files:
Public Calendar
- /events/components/EventSubmit.php
- /events/components/Search.php
Administration Console
- /admin/components/EventAdd.php
- /admin/components/EventEdit.php
- /admin/components/EventPending.php
- /admin/components/EventSearch.php
- /admin/components/Newsletter.php
- /admin/components/ToolExport.php
