Calendar Sources: Classic Calendar Lists vs Ordinary Lists
Both Zenpo Full Calendar and Zenpo Mini Calendar (Intranet Suite) read SharePoint lists in the same site as the page. Neither reads a list on another site, and neither reads Exchange, Outlook, Microsoft 365 group calendars, Google Calendar, or subscribed .ics feeds.
What both calendars can read
- SharePoint lists in the same site as the page
- Up to 5 sources, each with its own color
- Classic SharePoint Calendar lists or ordinary lists that have date columns
- Events the viewer has permission to see
Neither calendar enforces a total item cap. Both read the list in pages.
What an ordinary list needs
At least one Date and Time column, at least one single-line text column for the title, and at least one view. That is all.
What only a classic Calendar list provides
| Capability | Classic Calendar list | Ordinary list with date columns |
|---|---|---|
| All-day events | Yes. The list's own all-day flag is honored. | No. An ordinary list has no all-day concept. A midnight-to-midnight row is treated as a timed event. |
| Recurring events | Yes. Classic recurrence is expanded. | No. There is nothing to expand. |
| Automatic end date | Yes. The list's own start/end pairing is used even without mapping an end column. | Only when you map an end column (Full Calendar), or when the columns are literally named Start and End. |
This is decided per event row from the shape of the data. There is no list-type option to choose.
Full Calendar field mapping
Per source: List Name, View Name, Event Title Field, Event Date Field, Event End Date Field, Description Field, Events Color.
- Event Title Field offers single-line text columns. It defaults to a column named Title when one exists.
- Event Date Field offers Date and Time columns. When a source is first added, the web part looks for a column named (in order) Start Time, Start, Start Date, Event Date, Date, When, Begin, From. Failing that, it takes the first date column that is not Created or Modified. Created is preferred over Modified as a last resort.
- Event End Date Field is detected from a column named (in order) End Date, End, End Time, Finish, Finish Date, Until, To, never the same column as the start. Pick (none) if your events have no duration.
- With no end value, the event is a point in time on one day. An end earlier than the start is treated as no duration.
- Even with (none), a classic Calendar list still pairs its own start and end columns automatically.
- View Name: only events in that view will show. The view's filter is applied by SharePoint before Zenpo sees the rows.
- Description Field appears in the event flyout only. Rich text is sanitized.
See Set Up Calendar Sources and Field Mapping.
Mini Calendar difference
Mini Calendar has no end-date setting. It uses the classic start/end pairing when the source provides it (a classic Calendar list, or a list whose columns are literally named Start and End). On any other list, every event is a single point in time. See Zenpo Full Calendar vs Mini Calendar.