hcalendar-faq

hCalendar FAQ

This page is for documenting Q&A about hCalendar.

• Q: How do I use a class inside when I don't want the element I use it on to be a property of the calendar?
  • A: Use a class name that isn't a defined iCalendar property name.

• Q: What happens if the class is used both inside and outside ?
  • A: That works fine.

• Q: What do I do if I want to add styling to a group of calendar events, especially if the calendar contains dynamic content?
  • A: You can write style rules that incorporate both the context of said group (say it is in an ordered list with class name "group" for example) and the events, e.g.:ol.group .vevent { /* insert common styling here */ }

• Q: What do you do if you don't want the calendar or card to be displayed?
  • A: If you don't want the calendar or card to be displayed, why are you publishing it on the Web?

• Q: What if you don't want specific properties to show up?
  • A: You can trivially use CSS to hide (or otherwise alter the display) of certain properties. E.g. if you want to hide the "location" from all your VEVENTs you would write a rule like this: .vevent .location { display:none }

• Q: If we use title for the ISODate, how do we specify a different tooltip?
  • A: For reasons of metadata transparency and visibility, it is recommended that you DO NOT specify a different tooltip. However, if in your particular content or application you must, you can do so with a nested span e.g. Feb. 21st

• Q: Would the use of <acronym> for DTSTART be just as good as ?
  • A: It could be, but there is no need. The element is also preferred as it is better defined. The <acronym> element, and in particular, the term "acronym" means different things to different people, and thus we are not using it in hCalendar.

• Q: What happens if a browser doesn't support ?
  • A: Then the human readable contents inside the element are displayed, which is the desirable behavior.

• Q: Doesn't hCalendar duplicate IETF's xCal?
  • A: There is no such thing as "IETF" xCal.

• Q: Can you provide more precise location data for an hCalendar event such at latitude and longitude?
  • A: There is a field in the vCard spec (from which hCard is derived) called 'geo,' which takes a pair of numbers, lat and long, as values.

For more discussions of location data, geographic data, and research into current and potential future formats, see the location formats page.