The setup wizard opens the first time an administrator clicks HappenBoard in the WordPress menu. In three short steps, it sets your calendar defaults and the emails attendees receive, and it can import events from another plugin.
Nothing here is final. You can change every choice later under HappenBoard → Settings.
How the wizard is laid out
The dark panel on the left lists the three steps. The step you are on is highlighted, and a tick marks the steps you have passed. On a phone, the panel becomes a bar at the top that says which step you are on.
The step itself fills the rest of the screen. On steps 1 and 2, a preview next to the form shows the result of your choices as you make them. The buttons are at the bottom.
The first screen sums up what the wizard covers. Click Start setup.
Step 1: calendar defaults
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Default calendar view | The view the admin Calendar opens on: Month, Week, Day or Agenda. | Month |
| Default event duration (minutes) | How long a new event lasts: its end time is set from its start. From 5 to 1,440 minutes (24 hours), in steps of 5. | 60 |
The preview shows a sample event starting at 10:00 with the duration you chose. You can still change the end time of any event. The admin Calendar remembers the last view you chose in each browser, and the Calendar block on your site has its own view setting.
Click Continue to save the step.
Step 2: notifications
This step sets the emails people get when they sign up for an event.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Send confirmation when someone RSVPs | Emails the attendee as soon as they sign up. | On |
| Send reminder before the event | Emails the attendee before the event starts. | On |
| Reminder lead time (hours) | How long before the start the reminder goes out, from 1 to 168 hours. Shown only while the reminder is on. | 24 |
| From name (optional) | The sender name attendees see. | Your site title |
| From email (optional) | The address the emails come from. An address on your own domain reaches the inbox more often. | Your WordPress admin email |
The inbox preview shows the emails an attendee would get, with the sender you entered. If you empty From email, HappenBoard sets no sender and your site’s usual email settings apply. Automatic emails lists every email HappenBoard sends.
Click Continue to save the step.
Step 3: import your events (optional)
If you used another events plugin, HappenBoard can copy your events with their categories and, depending on the plugin, their venues, organizers and attendees. It finds The Events Calendar, Events Manager, Sugar Calendar, EventKoi and Amelia, even when they are deactivated.
- Click the plugin to import from. For an export from Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar, click Import from a file and choose your .ics file.
- Click Preview (dry run) to see what would be created. Nothing is saved yet.
- Click Migrate for real, or Import for a file.
Running an import again is safe: items already imported are not created twice. Migrating from another plugin covers each source in detail.
If you are starting from scratch, click Skip.
Finish the wizard
The last screen sums up your setup. Two optional cards follow:
- Stay in the loop signs you up to the HappenBoard newsletter: tips and news about new features. Your address is filled in; click Subscribe, then confirm in the email you receive. Your address is sent to happenboard.com only when you click Subscribe.
- Go further with HappenBoard Pro, shown only without Pro, lists what Pro adds. See the Pro plans opens the prices in a new tab.
Then click one of the two buttons:
- Create your first event closes the wizard and opens the form of a new event.
- Open the dashboard closes the wizard and opens the dashboard.
You can also use these buttons on the way:
- Back returns to the previous step.
- Skip moves on without saving the step.
- Exit setup, at the bottom of the left panel, ends the wizard after you confirm. The steps you saved with Continue are kept, and the wizard does not come back by itself.
Run the wizard again
Go to HappenBoard → Settings → Tools and click Re-run setup wizard. The wizard shows your current values, and your events and other data are left as they are.
If something goes wrong
- An editor does not see the wizard: only users who can change the settings get it, which means administrators by default. An editor can work with events in the meantime, and the wizard waits for an administrator.
- The import step lists no plugin: none of the supported plugins has events in this site’s database. Export your events from your old tool as an .ics file and use Import from a file.
Next steps
- Create your first event: it uses the defaults you just set.
- The dashboard and its widgets: what you see after the wizard.
- General settings: change these defaults later.