I would have to disagree that "most" communities don't use a calendar - consider that folks, like me, can't use the calendar because it does not have enough functionality.
I work with a few hundred chapters who use systems like Meetup or Calendar.net in addition to their forum systems because they can handle events by state, sub-state (chapter, region, etc.), handle mapping, geolocation, RSVP, etc. They have members cross country (and around the globe) who have, on average, 4 member events per month - and post many more in support of other chapters and organizations.
Meetup.com - community with calendar - is nirvana for me but too locale specific. Joomla with jCal is as close as I can get to the "perfect" CMS integrated calendar - but it lacks RSVP [and commercial development, roadmap, consistent support, etc.] which is a non-starter for me.
Look at nearly every CMS forum and you will see RSVP as a feature request.
For me Calendar features are the difference between IPB and vB - so far you are winning as you have a start date/time and event type, on the fence because I can't see where calendar entries can be linked to forum posts - so at the very least it's opportunity for solid differentiation between vendors working with "communities" of users.
Sometimes communities meet... a calendar is a key component of that, IMHO.
Calendar as seperate application akin to gallery/blog
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Brandon, et al
I would have to disagree that "most" communities don't use a calendar - consider that folks, like me, can't use the calendar because it does not have enough functionality.
I work with a few hundred chapters who use systems like Meetup or Calendar.net in addition to their forum systems because they can handle events by state, sub-state (chapter, region, etc.), handle mapping, geolocation, RSVP, etc. They have members cross country (and around the globe) who have, on average, 4 member events per month - and post many more in support of other chapters and organizations.
Meetup.com - community with calendar - is nirvana for me but too locale specific. Joomla with jCal is as close as I can get to the "perfect" CMS integrated calendar - but it lacks RSVP [and commercial development, roadmap, consistent support, etc.] which is a non-starter for me.
Look at nearly every CMS forum and you will see RSVP as a feature request.
For me Calendar features are the difference between IPB and vB - so far you are winning as you have a start date/time and event type, on the fence because I can't see where calendar entries can be linked to forum posts - so at the very least it's opportunity for solid differentiation between vendors working with "communities" of users.
Sometimes communities meet... a calendar is a key component of that, IMHO.
Regards,
gp