Calendar Plus 4.5 New Features Spotlight, Part 7: Filter Columns Using a Web Part Connection

Calendar Plus Web Part has long been an indispensable tool (and a bestseller), with which you can display events and tasks on a calendar from various data sources, such as SharePoint lists, List Rollup, SQL databases, and BDC/BCS. Our latest release, Calendar Plus Web Part 4.5, includes a host of new features and capabilities to help you take calendaring on SharePoint to new heights.

To help introduce you to Calendar Plus Web Part 4.5, we have put together a new User’s Guide series that will highlight the product’s newest and most popular features.  Here in Part seven, we will show you how to filter columns using a Web Part connection.

Before you begin, make sure that you have added your list to the Web Part.  In order to optimize your filtering options, your list should have a number of different column types (i.e., number, currency, lookup, etc.).  For help with adding a list to Calendar Plus Web Part, please see the blog post Calendar Plus Web Part 4.5 User’s Guide, Part 2: How to Add and Display a List or Library.

In order to dynamically filter your calendar,
you will first need to connect the list you want to use for filtering to your
Calendar through the Calendar Plus Web Part connection.  To do this, go to the Calendar Plus Web Part drop-down list.

Below Edit Web Part, select Connections > Consume Filter From and select the list you intend to use to filter your calendar.

To complete the Connection:

  • Select a field from the Provider Field Name drop-down list.
  • Select a field from the Consumer Field Name drop-down list.
  • Click the Finish button.

Once you have connected your list to the Calendar Plus Web Part, you can dynamically filter based on the selected view. Click on the arrow to select a view. Once a view is selected in the list, the arrow will be bolded. To deselect an item, click on another view.

Here is an example of a chart that has been filtered from the All Day Events view:

While you are able to display multiple lists in the Web Part, Calendar Plus Web Part does not currently support connecting to multiple lists and displaying their data using a Web Part connection. If you attempt to connect to multiple lists, you will receive a dialog box letting you know that there is No Consumer Schema.

In the event that you have multiple lists added to your Web Part, in order to use a Web Part connection, you will need to select one list from which you will be displaying data on your calendar. Once you have selected a single list, you will once again be able to establish a Web Part connection so that you can display your list data in Calendar Plus Web Part.

Want more Calendar Plus Web Part 4.5?  Check out the rest of our New Features Spotlight series: