About PlanIt Purple
History
2000
With a growing need to combine Northwestern University's many disparate event listings, in 2000 NUIT and University Relations collaboratively designed and developed PlanIt Purple from the ground up. PlanIt Purple was a new and innovative way to consolidate 52 separate listings into a single resource for the Northwestern community. Today, more than 850 searchable groups serve as a testament to PlanIt Purple's effectiveness.
2008
While PlanIt Purple was a valued resource, the Northwestern community found areas where it could be improved. We listened to these comments and created the new PlanIt Purple. We gave the original PlanIt Purple a face-lift while maintaining the benefits the original tool offered. Behind the scenes, we streamlined PlanIt Purple's features to ensure its stability and longevity. The result is a faster and more user-friendly PlanIt Purple, making it easier to find the events you care about most.
Current
Thanks to a continually positive response to PlanIt Purple, the number of groups listing events continues to grow. We are committed improving and maintaining PlanIt Purple. Throughout the year, we conduct usability testing that guides our priorities. If you would like to volounteer to help us assess PlanIt Purple, please contact us.
Technology
While the original PlanIt Purple was developed in PERL, the new design employs PHP/MySQL utilizing the speed and scalability of the open source PHP framework CodeIgniter developed by Ellis Labs. For a rich user experience both on the front-end and back-end Javascript/AJAX interactions are supported by frameworks/libraries Prototype, Script.aculo.us, and some custom Javascript code that leverages the power of each of these Javascript frameworks/libraries.
PlanIt Purple Terms of Use
PlanIt Purple is a centralized online calendaring/event service for events on the Northwestern University campus, provided by the Department of University Relations' Office of Web Communications.
PlanIt Purple's feature set includes the ability to search events up to three years in the past and three years in the future. While PlanIt Purple retains these events in the system, it is not the authoritative database of record, and University departments and organizations should not rely on it for official archiving or record-keeping. Units in need of a record-keeping function should maintain copies of their own records in-office.
