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Session types

A session type (fedms_session_type config entity) is a bundle of the fedms_session content entity. Session types are to sessions what event types are to events — see Event types first, the mechanics are identical.

Where to manage session types

1
/admin/structure/fedms_session_types

Why session types are different from event types

While event types tend to be coarse-grained ("Workshop", "Conference"), session types are usually finer-grained because sessions are where the real format variation happens:

Possible session types When you'd use it
Lecture One-way content delivery.
Workshop Hands-on, interactive.
Coaching call One-to-one or one-to-few.
Roundtable Multi-party discussion.
Q&A Question-driven session.
Refresher call Short reinforcement call.
Pre-work session Pre-event preparation.

Each type carries different fields (a coaching call has field_call_link, a workshop has field_room_setup) and different task patterns (a roundtable might require pre-circulated questions; a refresher call might require homework verification).

Field design tips

Session-level fields that are commonly worth modelling:

  • field_virtual_platform (taxonomy of Zoom / Teams / Meet / etc.) — drives the "Launch" button on the session page (see fedms/components/federation#32).
  • field_meeting_url
  • field_meeting_id
  • field_meeting_password
  • field_max_participants
  • field_session_lead (entity reference to user — auxiliary to the role-based Speaker, used for display only).

The exact set varies wildly by customer; the conditional-fields issue (fedms/support#50) is particularly motivated by session-type variation across virtual platforms.

Session-level task patterns

Session-level task patterns are where the granular workflow lives — "submit your slides 3 days before the session", "send pre-read 7 days before", "submit feedback 1 day after". The fedms_task_pattern_check_session_type condition narrows a pattern to specific session types.

Next steps