Kick-Start the Campus App with Integrations

Everyone wants to do more, with less. Who doesn't want to make a great campus app? Yet, who's not pressed for time? 

What if I told you there was a way to keep the campus app up-to-date automatically, drawing information together from multiple departments?

Campus Cloud Integrations lets you do just that. After you spend a few minutes setting up, Campus Cloud does the rest and keeps the campus app updated, now and forever. 

Here's how to use Integrations to make a great campus app -- effortlessly:

1. Keep the Events List Up-to-Date
2. Centralize Information on the Campus Wall
3. Put Important Dates at Students' Fingertips
4. Make Campus Announcements Automatic
5. See the results!

TIME REQUIRED: Under 10 minutes for each of steps 1 through 4 

1. Keep the Events List Up-to-Date

Events are central to campus life. Socials, study sessions, guest lecturers, concerts, games -- you name it, your students want to participate in it.

But maybe you, as a Campus Cloud administrator, don't feel like re-entering data for events you've already published to your campus website. This is where Events Integrations comes in handy. 

If your campus website has a list of events such as an RSS, Atom or iCal feed, you can automatically add those events to the campus app with Campus Cloud Integrations. If new events are added to the feed, they appear in the campus app automatically. 

You'll need the address (URL) of the event feed. Then, follow the steps here:

• Integrate iCal, RSS and Atom Feeds into the Events List

You'll select a club or service to be the host of all the events in the feed. You'll also choose one image which will be used for all events. 

If your school has multiple calendars -- one for each faculty, for example -- you can have an integrated feed for each. Select a different host for each, and a different image, to help your students find your events in the campus app. 

If you want to create a new host for the events in the integrated feed, you can read more about how to do that here for Clubs and Services.

2. Centralize Information on the Campus Wall, with Integrated Wall Feeds

The campus wall works best when it is the primary source of information for everything to do with campus life. Help keep it that way -- use Integrated Wall Feeds to make sure the wall stays up to date with the latest information from across your campus. 

You can connect any RSS or Atom feed to the campus wall. If your school publishes a news feed, this is an excellent source for the campus wall. Perhaps different faculties or departments also publish news feeds. You can have multiple feeds, and each will appear on the wall as if the posts came from a different "person."

You'll need the address (URL) of the event feed. Then, follow the steps here:

• Integrate RSS and Atom Feeds into the Campus Wall

3. Put Important Dates at Students' Fingertips, with Integrated Calendars

You can link any publicly available calendar with the campus app. Maybe your school maintains a calendar of important deadlines. Maybe you want to feature important historical dates. Maybe you just want holidays to appear in the app calendar without having to worry about it. Integrate the calendar once and don't worry about it again.

You'll need the address (URL) of the calendar feed, in iCal format. Then, follow the steps here:

• Integrate iCal Feeds into Calendars

4. Make Campus Announcements Automatic, with an Integrated Announcements Feed

This feature is in development so be sure to check back soon. 

5. See the results!

To see the events you just integrated, open the campus app on your phone and sign in. If your campus guide includes the event list, you can click the Events tile and see events from the feed you just integrated.

Or, use the Clubs and Groups tile to browse to the host, where you can view the events. 

To see your integrated wall posts, tap  (middle tab, bottom) in the campus app to see the campus wall.

For information about creating an Events tile or a Clubs and Groups tile in the campus guide, see Create a Campus Guide Tile for details. 

BEST PRACTICE: Make the most of your campus app by integrating as many events and wall feeds as you can. If you can encourage various departments to share their event and news feeds, you can centralize this information in the campus app.

If you have comments or feedback about this "how-to" document, please leave them in the comments below. Thanks for reading!