Page History

Scope of the rules for event type of content

The European Commission is responsible for a wide range of events, many of which are open to the public. Organising consistently online content about events improves the user experience and contributes to higher satisfaction levels.

An event is a planned and organised momentum experience with an identified beginning and an end. Events have:

• An an agenda (date, time, programme)
• A a location (venue or online videoconferencing platform)
• Attendance attendance (under with or without registration on not))

The European Commission is responsible for a wide range of events, many of which are open to the public. Offering a consistent online experience regarding events improves the user experience and contributes to higher satisfaction levels.

There are three states for an event:

• future
• live (via web streaming)
• Pastpast

Event organisers can decide to only communicate about one of the three states, two or report on all of themthree states. In any case, it is recommended to publish information during the different states of the same event using the same all cases, information about the event published during its different states should use the same online communication channel.

Purpose

To follow rules below and – when possible – use the Event content type to publish The purpose of these rules is to ensure information about current, planned or past events is critical to ensure:

• coherence
• relevance
• cost-effectiveness

across the experience–from announcing, through updating activities structured and coherent throughout the event experience – from the announcement, through updates during the event to the post-event experienceinformation.

Rules

1) Register on SCIC Event Database

DGs and executive agencies organising events If you are organising an event with more than 50 participants and a clear external communication dimension, you must register these events it on the Events Database. This database is managed by the events management services of the Department for Interpretation (DG SCIC).

Registering events on the SCIC Events Database also allows you to use SCIC framework contract if you need associated services, including event-related communication.

Find more information about See the Corporate Solutions page on the Web Guide regarding the SCIC Events Database on the Web Guide’s Corporate Solutions page. If you have questions regarding the database and SCIC Framework contract, please contact : SCIC-CONF-FWC@ec.europa.eu.

Events registered in the Events Database are displayed in the European Commission website's EVENTS list view and can be simultaneously displayed as a related event on a generic Commission website pagewebpage, department page, topic page, policy page or research area page.

2) Follow writing and tagging guidelines

DGs Commission services must:

• follow the web writing guidelines.

DGs should help make sure content regarding an event they are organising is effective by:

• tag content using the appropriate Digital Europa Thesaurus terms so to ensure that:
• users and search engines can easily find the event
• users can easily filter events, eg by year, country…
• the event appears, where relevant, across the Commission experience
• the event can be identified as relevant and disseminated more widely–beyond widely – beyond the Commission experience.

3) Choose the right channel for your business needs

If you think your audience is not reached by just uses another existing Commission website and cannot be reached just by using SCIC and its dissemination platforms, as they use another existing Commission website, then add content related to your event on this that website or – only for large and complex event in the case of large, complex events – create a dedicated website.1) Add Event on :

• EITHER: add your event to an existing website

The way to upload the your event on to an existing website depends on the platform where the website is developed and the resources available.website itself:

• Find out which website could host your content: if you are not a website owner, contact the communication unit of your DG to evaluate where could your event content could be uploaded.
• Find out what CMS does this the host website uses: if it is built on Drupal, you can use the Event content type (a template in the Drupal platform). Alternatively, in consultation with the web team of your DG, create a page or section of the existing website that follows the structure of the template (to the extent it is needed).

Use the Event content type

A content type is a coherent collection of information elements that form an item a user will read and use. It is a template based on user research, to answer users’ questions on a given subject and lay such content (i.e. Event) in the most coherent and consistent way. Content types, available in Drupal (7, 8 or 9), allow content producers to easily add content to their website in a structured way. See also the content types section for more information.  

Use the Event content type for publishing an event on the European Commission website, or to let an event appear in the Commission website events' list view, linking to an event site or page outside the Commission website.

By using the Event content type, you can display an event's agenda and location, as well as upload multimedia relating to the event.

• • if Drupal is used to develop the website, you should use the Event content type. The Event content type has been tested with users and content producers. It provides DGs with the means to publish coherent content related to the wide range of events the Commission organises

...

• • .

...

Publish an event on a website when no content type available

The way to upload the event on your website depends on the features of the website and the resources available.

...

• • For more information on the Event Content Type, please go to the step by step guides to content types

...

• • .
  • if the website is built outside of Drupal, the format of the event content will be free compared to using the Event content type. However, please

...

• • ensure your content is consistent with other events published by DGs as far as possible. Contact the Communication Unit of your DG for advice.

...

• OR: Create a new website

When Depending on business needs justify, you may be required have to create a separate website for your event. Event websites are only allowed for large and complex events that cannot be accommodated by existing solutions on existing websites.

An The sole purpose of an event website 's sole purpose is to advertise a specific or repeatedly occurring an activity that is open to the public, organised and/or hosted by the European Commission. The website can be temporary and provide information about an event before, during and after it takes place.

Events site category

'European Commission websites ' refers to the entire landscape of websites owned by the European Commission's services. Collectively, they represent the Commission's web presence.Depending on their type of content, European Commission websites follow are subject to specific rules depending on the category of site category they belong to. More information about the website categories on . See European Commission websites overview sectionoverview for an overview of site categories.

An Event website will sites from DGs fall under the category: EC-branded Harmonised Websites Group 2 (Events) in most instances. Check in the dedicated sections of this the Web Guide to find more information about Harmonised websites, and related design requirements. The specific detailed rules for EC-branded websites, are also described in detail in the Harmonised group 2 template section of the European Component Library (ECL). 

Alternatively, there are many targeted ways to share Event information:

• use a wiki
• social media
• existing online communities of practice

Procedure

for related guidelines and design requirements.

To create an Event website, you should submit your project to the Europa Web Communication team (COMM B3) approval following follow the web request procedures. Please note that your project must be endorsed by the Head of the Communication Unit and the scope of IT Governance by the IT portfolio manager of the requesting DG before you send your web request form to Comm Europa Management.

Depending on your business needs, your event website will be developed on:

...

Contact the communication unit in your DG to discuss possibilities.

Contact and Support

Need further assistance on this topic? Please contact the team in charge of the Europa Domain Management (EU Login required).