[FEATURE]:- Add Events Calendar Page to Showcase Community Calls, Workshops, and Conferences

[Nsanjayboruds]

Add Events Calendar Page to Showcase Community Calls, Workshops, and Conferences

Problem

The OpenRefine website currently has an empty events.json file but no way to display or manage community events. Users have no centralized place to discover:

• Bi-weekly community calls
• Training workshops
• Conference presentations
• Contributor sprints
• Other OpenRefine-related events

This makes it difficult for community members to stay informed and participate in events.

Proposed Solution

Implement a dedicated /events page that:

• Displays upcoming and past events from events.json
• Filters events by type (Community Calls, Workshops, Conferences, Sprints)
• Shows event details (date, time, timezone, location, duration)
• Provides registration/join links
• Supports both grid and list view modes
• Highlights recurring events (like bi-weekly community calls)

Benefits

• Better Community Engagement: Centralized event discovery increases participation
• Improved Communication: Reduces missed opportunities for users to connect
• Easy Maintenance: Simple JSON-based event management
• Scalability: Supports all event types from small meetups to large conferences
• User Experience: Responsive design with filtering and sorting capabilities

Implementation Details

The solution includes:

1. Events Page Component (/src/pages/events.tsx)

   • React/TypeScript component with filtering and sorting
   • Event cards with color-coded badges by type
   • Responsive grid/list layouts

2. Event Data (events.json)

   • Structured schema with all event metadata
   • Support for recurring events
   • Timezone-aware times
   • Tags for categorization

3. Styling (/src/pages/events.module.css)

   • Modern card-based design
   • Mobile-responsive layout
   • Hover effects and animations

4. Navigation Integration

   • Add "Events" link to main navbar

Sample Event Structure

{
  "id": 1,
  "title": "OpenRefine Community Call",
  "type": "community-call",
  "description": "Bi-weekly video call for Q&A and discussions",
  "date": "2026-01-17",
  "time": "07:00",
  "timezone": "UTC",
  "duration": 60,
  "location": "Online",
  "url": "https://forum.openrefine.org/t/openrefine-community-meetup/1276",
  "recurring": true,
  "recurrence": "bi-weekly",
  "tags": ["community", "online", "meetup"]
}

Additional Context
This addresses the existing but unused events.json file
Similar event pages exist on other open-source project websites
Can be easily extended with calendar exports (iCal/Google Calendar) in the future
Helps achieve the project's mission of building a diverse, supportive community

[SoryRawyer]

Hi @Nsanjayboruds, thanks for raising this issue! I agree that it'd be nice to have a way to share events, but I'm not sure that adding an events page is going to be the right solution. I think some context for why we have that events.json file would be helpful.

My understanding is that events.json is meant to be bundled into the file that OpenRefine checks to see if there are new releases. I haven't looked thoroughly through that code, but my assumption is that events can be included to potentially alert users of upcoming events when they open the application. From what I can tell, this was only ever used for one event.

That said, I do think it's important to have a communal calendar. My preference would be to start maintaining the existing (but unmaintained?) Google Calendar. This would solve a lot of the logistical issues that implementing our own calendar would bring while also giving us the option to build custom visualizations using this data in the future.

[Nsanjayboruds]

Hi @SoryRawyer, thanks for the explanation — that context around events.json is really helpful.

I understand now that events.json was primarily intended for the OpenRefine app (release checks / occasional event alerts), not as a website data source, so using it to power a full events page may not be the right direction.

I also agree that maintaining a shared Google Calendar as the single source of truth makes a lot of sense. It simplifies recurring events, timezones, and editing, and allows community members to subscribe easily.

As a next step, I’d be happy to help with:

Reviving or auditing the existing Google Calendar

Making it more visible from the website (clear link or embed)

Exploring a lightweight, read-only website integration in the future that consumes calendar data rather than duplicating it

Thanks again for the clarification — appreciate the guidance!

[SoryRawyer]

Hi @Nsanjayboruds, thanks for your interest in contributing! Your enthusiasm is greatly appreciated. I think a good next step would be to ask about the existing Google calendar on the OpenRefine forum. If you're looking for a programming task, I'd recommend taking a look at the other issues in this repository as well as the issues in the main application repository: https://github.com/openrefine/openrefine/issues

[Nsanjayboruds]

Thanks for the guidance, @SoryRawyer!

I’ll follow up on the OpenRefine forum to understand the current Google Calendar setup better.

Meanwhile, I’ll also explore the open issues in both this repository and the main application repo to look for a suitable programming task to contribute to.

Appreciate the direction—looking forward to contributing!

[magdmartin]

Thank you for the proposition, @Nsanjayboruds. I have some concerns regarding the relevance of the Event page on the website, specifically about who will maintain it and how it will be managed (see also #355). I would prefer to see community interest first and understand what format they would prefer.

For context, we currently have an event section of the forum, but very few people use it to advertise their training sessions or workshops.

[tfmorris]

On Mon, Jan 12, 2026 at 12:31 PM Rory Sawyer ***@***.***> wrote: *SoryRawyer* left a comment (OpenRefine/openrefine.org#506) <#506 (comment)> My preference would be to start maintaining the existing (but unmaintained?) Google Calendar <https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=kldtfmh7nnopd5jdod292mi8f4%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FNew_York> .

I suspect that calendar was created from someone's personal Google account. Unless it was Martin (or he has access), we would probably need to create a new calendar. Tom

…

Message ID: ***@***.***>

[Nsanjayboruds]

Thanks for the clarification, @tfmorris — that makes sense.

Starting with maintaining the existing Google Calendar sounds like a good first step. I can look into:

• identifying the current ownership/access of the calendar,
• proposing a migration to an official/shared OpenRefine calendar if needed,
• and documenting a lightweight process for adding and maintaining events.

Once that’s clearer and we see some community usage, we can then reassess whether a dedicated Event page on the website would add value.

Happy to proceed in this direction and report back with findings.

[SoryRawyer]

I think that sounds like a good plan @Nsanjayboruds. Would you feel comfortable starting a forum thread about this? I think the community section in particular would be a good place for this discussion.

Also I really appreciate your commitment to this issue! I think this is a great community feature and I'm excited to see the events that people share.

[Nsanjayboruds]

Thanks, @SoryRawyer — glad to hear that sounds good!

Yes, I’d be happy to start a forum thread to gather community input. I’ll post in the Community section to understand interest, preferred formats, and expectations around maintaining events.

I’ll link the thread here once it’s up and share a summary of the feedback. Thanks again for the encouragement!

[magdmartin]

@Nsanjayboruds, I didn't approve your forum post because it didn't reference the Google Calendar; instead, it referenced your previous proposition in #513

The calendar was created by @wetneb, and I have access to edit it.