Overview  

Upon successful log in to the Meeting Manager and selection of a Group & Meeting combination, you will have opportunities to Edit the current agenda selected, Copy the current agenda to a new name or create a new agenda from scratch. The Agenda Manager module is what provides these functions.  

Many customers establish a TEMPLATE Agenda that is copied and used to create each subsequent Agenda for meetings that are often the same item sequence and format. Using a Template will allow you to start with this format and edit / save / rename the Agenda for each successive meeting.   

Details / Sequence of Events 

Agenda Manager is your home base for creating and editing an agenda. Follow the steps below to easily create and edit an agenda: 

Launch the Meeting Manager, Log In, Select a Group & Meeting as shown in the following initial Home screen.  Here you may wish to have a TEMPLATE that is used for all successive meetings you create for this group.  For example, below I have selected the Group Johnson County Board and Meeting Template-Cty Brd REGULAR to start from. 

Once your Group and Meeting have been selected, you will immediately be presented with the following screen: 

Step 1 – Configuration Set-Up – Load / Save As / Create New 

After going though implementation training with OpenMeeting, you will have a base configuration established. In most cases, you will likely leave this configuration as is for the meetings in the Group you’ve selected here. If you’ve not yet set up a Configuration file for this group, you can read more about Configuration Set-Up in the OMT documentation section labeled Configuration Settings, which will explain the choices to Load, Create New and Save Configuration files.  

Step 2 – Load Agenda – Load / Save As / Create New 

Again from training with OpenMeeting, you will likely have a baseline Agenda created. The Agenda for the Group and Meeting you selected on the Home Screen will already be showing in the center of the screen, as in the sample shown above. This may be your Agenda Template (or agenda from the last meeting).  

In Load Agenda, you can: 

• Load – If you wish to load a different Agenda that you’ve previously created & saved (different from the one now showing on the screen) . You will be provided a list of Agenda files to pick from. 
• Save As – If you wish to save the currently shown Agenda as a different Agenda that may be specific for the next meeting you are preparing for. We recommend that you do Save As and change the Agenda file name to the meeting you are specifically creating this Agenda for. You will then be able to edit it specifically for the new meeting.  
• Create New – If you wish to create an Agenda from scratch. You will be presented with options to Name and Edit a blank (new) Agenda with no items in it.   

Edit Agenda in the Agenda Manager 

Assuming you have done one of the actions noted above, you can now: 

Click Edit Agenda (shown at the top of the example screen above).  

You are now in the Agenda Manager  – NOTE the Agenda Name, Description AND the actual File Name (top right).

You now see the Agenda you have selected to work with OR you may see a blank Agenda IF you selected Create a New Agenda. In either case, the following will explain how to create and edit Agenda Items using the Agenda Manager. 

On the Screen above, FIRST review the following fields: 

Meeting Agenda File Name

NOTE that all changes you make are auto-saved to the name shown on the top right of the above screen (shown in BOLD type).  This file name is important to review, before you start making changes, so you are editing (and saving) the Agenda specific to the meeting you are preparing it for.   

IF you are simply Editing an Agenda for an upcoming meeting that you have been working on already, you can likely proceed to edit it. 

IF you are using this Agenda as a Template (for example),and are intending to modify it for an upcoming meeting, you may need to first SAVE IT as a new Name.  To Do this: 

Select Meeting Setup (2nd item on the left of the Main Menu) on the left of the above screen. This will take you to the Meeting Set-Up screen where you will have the options to Load, Save As or Create a New Agenda.  

On the Screen Above:

• NOTE that an Agenda Name will usually appear (on the line above the Load button), which is usually the last Agenda you were working with. IF this is the Agenda you wish to work with & Edit, then no additional action is needed as this Agenda is already loaded and ready to edit.
• Select Load IF the Agenda named above the line is NOT the one you wish to work with. You will be provided a dialogue box to select from other Agendas you have already created. For example, you may have started preparing the Agenda for the next meeting named “2022-01-15 REG Board.oma”, thus you could choose this one.
• Select Save As IF the Agenda that is loaded is a good “starting point” for a new or different Agenda you would like to create. In the Example above, the “Template” for REGULAR Board Meetings is loaded. You could then choose Save As and save the Template to a New Agenda name such as “2022-01-15 REG Board.oma”, which may be the Agenda you wish to Edit for your next dated Board Meeting.
• Select Create New ONLY if you wish to create and name a brand new BLANK Agenda. That is, the Agenda will have absolutely no Items in it and you will create all items from scratch, then will save the Agenda to any appropriate new name you wish.

Agenda Name

Enter the Agenda name (40 characters max) that will display on the Public Display and Member App (i.e., County Board Agenda).

Description 

Enter a more specific description (40 character max) for this meeting / agenda (i.e., County Board Meeting – 11/15/2021). 

NEXT you will pick ITEMS in the Agenda to work with, highlighting / selecting them, by using the colored functions on the Main Meeting Manager screen further above.  

You can now do the following: 

Add New Agenda Item

This will open a screen allowing you to Add a brand new Agenda item (all fields will be blank).  Once completed, the Item will be placed at the very end of the Agenda, but you can easily drag/drop it to the desired position.  

Insert Agenda Item

This will do the same as Add New Item, however IF you first select an item (highlight it) in the Agenda, then this will INSERT a new blank Item just PRIOR to the Item you highlighted. 

Edit Agenda Item

Allows you to Edit an existing item by changing existing fields. 

Copy Agenda Item

Creates an exact copy of the item you had highlighted and selected COPY on. The copied item is labeled (copy) and placed just AFTER the item you selected copy on.  

Delete Agenda Item 

Provides you a confirmation screen first, then upon selecting OK, will completely delete the item selected.   

NOTE:  Agenda Item Numbering is automatically adjusted by the system.  

All fields/functions are explained below when setting up an Agenda Item. When you select an item to Edit OR Add, a screen like the one below will appear. IF you are Editing an existing Item, it will likely have values in it already (as below). IF you are creating a New Item, all fields will be blank, waiting input. 

Item Name – (100-character max) to be shown on the Public Display 

Brief Item Summary – (500-character max) appears below the Item Name on the Public Display (providing limited detail for the Item) 

Item Summary – Unlimited characters can be entered. Used for providing all the detail you wish for an Item, such as Resolution or Ordinance content, committee reports, speaker introductions, etc. You will have the option to maximize this information during a meeting when warranted to be visible on the Public Display and Member App.  

Voting Criteria – select from the drop-down list to establish the passing vote criteria for this item (Majority – Majority of Full Membership – 2/3 Present – 2/3 of Full Membership – ¾ Present – ¾ of Full Membership – Custom – Voice Vote – No Vote Required) 

Custom – choosing Custom under Voting Criteria will result in a small pop-up box appearing, asking you to insert the number of Yes Votes Needed (for the item to pass).  

Consent Agenda (Optional) – Select or Check this box ONLY IF this item is to fall within or under a Consent Agenda (multiple items to be voted on as a group). 

Creating a Consent Agenda: 

• 1^st – Create a Regular Item and Name it “Consent Agenda”. This will be the Heading for your Consent Items. Set the Voting Criteria as appropriate.  DO NOT check the Consent Agenda box for this item, as it is just the “Heading” for the Consent Agenda (not one of the actual consent items). However, do fill out all other fields (i.e., voting criteria, etc.) for this item that will apply to all the consent items you will include within the Consent Agenda.    

• 2^nd – Create New Items (as many as you wish) with their Names & Summaries.  Set the Voting Criteria and DO check the Consent Agenda box for each item that is to fall within the Consent Agenda. All Items will automatically get created as Sub-Items under the Consent Agenda heading (a, b, c. , etc..).  When voting in a meeting, you will vote on just the Consent Agenda Item, and all Items included within Consent will be voted on as a group.  Also, during a meeting, you will have the option to “easily” remove any Agenda Item from Consent, so it can be voted on separately. 

• NOTE:  At this time, only ONE Consent Agenda may be set up within an agenda.  In the near future, we will allow for multiple. 

Display Public Timer (Optional) – check this box IF there will be speakers on this item and you want the Public Countdown Timer shown on the Public Display.  It will display the speaker time limit, established as the default in the Configuration set-up, however you can change it for this item here.  

Enable Countdown Voting (Optional) – check this box if you limit voting time for Members, as established in the Configuration set-up.  

Show Summary (Optional) – check this box if you wish to automatically show this items full Item Summary on the Public Display.  It will display as established in the Configuration set-up.  

Be sure to select OK after completing each item and the item will be added to the Agenda.  You may now continue to add, insert, or copy additional Items to the Agenda following the same process outlined above. 

Close Navigation 

Select Close Navigation (at the top left of the screen) whenever you are done modifying this Agenda.  Remember that all changes are automatically saved as you edit. 

Notes / Special Situations  

Here are some tips to use other features in the Agenda Manager: 

1.  Drag & Drop Items – The icon below and to the left of each agenda item (up-down arrows) allows you to drag and drop agenda items if you wish to switch their order. Simply CLICK and HOLD this icon by the agenda item you wish to move (the entire agenda item will highlight), then drag it UP or DOWN the Agenda and it will drop in place after you let it go (drop / un-click).

2. Consent Agendas – Pressing the carrot to the left of a Consent Agenda will display OR collapse the sub-items within a Consent Agenda as follows (red arrows below).