Appointment Booking Calendar allows your manage and display multiple calendars with open spots for visitors to book.
The Booking iCal Sync Add-on allows you to create an iCalendar feed for your calendars. In short, this allows you to share your calendar with other people and applications.
What is iCal/iCalendar Sync?
Technically, iCalendar is a file which allows users to share calendar information in a standard format. This file can be opened by different programs, such as calendar software and e-mail readers.
One example: a dentist can integrate his calendar "Appointments" with his Google Calendar account and share it with his assistant.
This add-on exports calendars, but does not import them. Let's consider: Internal Calendar (the one from the Appointment Booking Calendar plugin) and External Calendar (for instance, in Google Calendar).
Available: Export the Internal Calendar to another software. Every booking will automatically become an event in the External Calendar.
Not available: Changes in the external softwares will not be reflected in the calendars in the plugin. In other words, if you edit the External Calendar, the Internal Calendar will not be updated.
Use Case Front-End
Syncing booked appointments with Google Calendar
Use Case Assumptions
Want to Learn From The Start?
If you still haven't configured the your first calendar, check the use case:
In this example use case guide, we'll cover how to grant calendars to each WordPress user. We consider that you have already bought the Appointment Booking Calendar and installed it, but not installed the Booking iCal Sync Add-on.
By default, calendars' feed is turned off. You should enable it for every calendar.
This is easily seen in the calendars management screen, which can be reached in the path Admin Dashboard → CM Appointments Booking Pro → Calendars:
Managing calendars
A new column, "iCalendar Feed", appears, as highlighted:
Checking if syncing with external calendars is enabled
Enabling and Disabling the Feed
When creating or editing a calendar, the option "iCalendar Feed" will be available at the ending of the page, as shown:
Enabling the iCalendar feature
Exporting the iCal Feed to Another Software
TIP: Is My Software Compatible?
Some of the most popular calendar software with iCal support:
Once the iCalendar Feed is enabled for a calendar, you can export it to different software. This means you can view events, but not edit them. If you still have not enabled it, check the guide Enabling the iCalendar Feed for a Calendar.
To export the iCal feed, first you must fetch the feed link and then input it into the desired application.
Example: Calendar in Google Calendar
Syncing booked appointments with Google Calendar
Fetching the link
There are two ways to get the feed link for a calendar.
1) The "iCalendar Feed" Column
When managing the calendars, the iCalendar Feed column will show the links for the enabled feeds. To retrieve it, simply click the respective link, as highlighted:
Checking if syncing with external calendars is enabled
2) The Feed URLs List
You can find the list of feed URLs with every enabled feed in the path Admin Dashboard → CM Appointments Booking Pro → Options → iCalendar Feed tab. An example is shown below:
iCalendar Feed tab
Importing the Link Into Another Software
This process depends on the software used and, for in-depth information, you should refer to its own documentation. The basic outline is to import the calendar as a feed URL.
Example: Google Calendar
Open Google Calendar.
Next to "Other calendars" on the left, click the Down arrow and select "Add by URL".
Adding appointments by URL
Enter the calendar's address (iCalendar feed URL) in the field provided.
Adding the URL
Click Add Calendar. The calendar will appear on the left side under "Other calendars".
List of connected calendars
Now your calendar can be accessed from Google Calendar!
Managing iCalendar Feeds
To manage see the list of feeds and easily get their URLs, head to Admin Dashboard → CM Appointments Booking Pro → Options → iCalendar Feed.
iCalendar Feed tab
In this screen you can fetch the URL of each calendar and also invalidate them (see below).
Invalidating a feed is different from disabling it.
When a feed is disabled, the calendar can't be accessed anymore by other applications. Any information that they imported from it will remain in there, but the calendar will not be updated. By enabling the feed again, the application will return to retrieve the data normally. If the feed were a shop, for instance, it would have been closed.
An invalidated feed, on the other hand, is still open but receives a new link. The applications will also lose access to the calendar and its updates. In order to grant access to it, it's necessary to input the new links into the applications. If the feed were a shop, it would have changed address.
How to Invalidate a Feed
Follow the path Admin Dashboard → CM Appointments Booking Pro → Options → iCalendar Feed tab. Click the "invalidate" link.
Invalidating the feed
You will receive the following prompt:
Approving the attempt
End Result
Following instructions found in the plugin and guides, you should be able to export calendars to external software.
