Exporting (linking) your Booking Calendar to an external calendar (iCal)

Export and link your Booking Calendar to an external calendar using iCal so your bookings appear in tools like Google or Apple Calendar.

Learn how to generate an iCal feed to receive Checkfront bookings in an external calendar, such as Google Calendar, including instructions for adding it to an external calendar, customizing your feed, subscribing to it, and viewing the calendar.

New to the Booking Calendar? You can read the first article in this series for an overview of the Booking Calendar.

Accessing the features mentioned in this article

Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

• Calendar > Booking > Add to External Calendar
   

What more do I need to use this feature?

• Admin or restricted permissions to View calendars and access RSS and iCal feeds.
• Bookings and a third-party external calendar application, such as Google Calendar.
   

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic items, classic products, or both?

• This feature is available in both our classic version using classic items (Inventory > Items) and our classic version using classic products (Inventory > Products).  → Learn more about products

Learn more about adding iCal events For a detailed look at adding iCal events to your booking notifications, check out the following article: iCal for Booking Notifications: Setup

Syncing iCal and Vrbo Syncing with Vrbo via an iCal link is not currently supported.

Export to External Calendar lets you sync your Checkfront bookings with a calendar outside Checkfront. The system syncs your calendar using the Checkfront iCal feed, which uses the standard iCalendar media type and file format (.ical) to transfer the information.

Most calendar software products support iCalendar, including those on your mobile devices, such as Google Calendar and Apple Calendar.

You can start by clicking on the Add to External Calendar option at the top of your Booking Calendar. This option opens the iCal Feed setting modal.

One way booking sync with the Booking Calendar It's important to note that the Booking Calendar sync is one-way - view only in the external calendar. As you make changes to the bookings in Checkfront, these are reflected in the third-party external calendar. The frequency of syncs depends on the third-party application. However, changes to the third-party external calendar do NOT update Checkfront.

iCal feeds are linked per account iCal feeds are linked to the account that generated them. If the account that generated the feed is disabled or if the login credentials for that account change, any iCal feed links previously generated no longer work. You can generate new iCal feeds to link to your external calendars to resolve this.

External calendar availability How accurately your external calendar reflects availability depends on how often your external calendar checks the iCal feed for updates. New bookings, booking edits, and booking cancellations are updated at the next scheduled sync to the external calendar. For example, Google Calendar can take several hours to update with the iCal sync. Check your external calendar settings for options.

You can start by looking over your options for which bookings, categories, and items/products you want to add to your external calendar. When the system syncs the Booking Calendar to your external calendar, it displays bookings within the limits defined by these settings.

When customizing the settings, notice how the Webcal Link and the bottom of the modal change. This link defines your feed subscription and determines what information Checkfront communicates to your external calendar.

The Only show my bookings setting filters out bookings made by other Staff members, leaving only the bookings made under your account.

The Only show locked bookings setting filters out any bookings that do not have a locked booking status. This option is a great way to hide bookings from the external calendar, awaiting confirmation. To learn more about statuses, please click here.

Checkfront syncs up to 24 months of future bookings with your external calendar. Six months is the default setting.

Past bookings are displayed as far b1 month. The number of months past is not configurable at this time.

By default, the iCal feed displays All Categories.

You can uncheck the All Categories option to view a list of all the categories associated with your Checkfront account. You can then choose the categories you wish to include in your feed by checking them off individually.

Linking to different categories You can generate as many links to different categories as you need. This gives you more flexibility when adding subscriptions to your external calendar. Once you close the modal, your setting selections are not saved in the Checkfront system. The Webcal Link you generate and copy contains the information needed to subscribe. Feel free to try out different settings and links until you find the combination of feeds to suit your needs.

Rather than filtering by category, it’s also possible to single out an individual item/product to your feed. To do this, click the Add Filter button. Clicking this button reveals a dropdown menu from which you can choose your item/product. The Webcal Link is only updated to include bookings for that item/product.

Linking to different items/products You can generate as many links to select items/products as you need. This gives you more flexibility when adding subscriptions to your external calendar. Once you close the modal, your setting selections are not saved in the Checkfront system. The Webcal Link you generate and copy contains the information needed to subscribe. Feel free to try out different settings and links until you find the combination of feeds to suit your needs.

The system reflects the settings you choose for your iCal feed in the Webcal Link. Click or copy the link to subscribe to this feed in your third-party calendar software.

Learn more about account profiles The Booking Calendar feed can also be accessed through your Checkfront Account Profile (Account > Profile > Available Feeds > Booking Calendar (iCal)). Learn more about your Account Profile here: Managing your Admin, Staff, or Partner account profile

Once you're happy with your feed's configuration, it's time to subscribe to it in your external calendar.

The process varies depending on your third-party calendar. Copy the Webcal Link provided and paste it into the appropriate place in your external calendar.

• If you're adding the feed to a calendar app on your local computer, click the Webcal Link to open your external calendar directly.

Depending on the category and item or product options you selected when generating the Webcal Link, your synced information displays in one of the following two ways.

Bookings display as a single Checkfront calendar feed in your external calendar when you select All Categories and do not add an item/product filter when generating the Webcal Link.

You can subscribe to multiple feeds in your external calendar if you select categories or filter for a specific item/product when generating the Webcal Link. You can then colour-code each feed to make it easier to read.

• How do I remove a Staff member's access to an iCal feed?

  If you change a Staff member's password, the system resets all iCal links they have generated, and they lose access to those links. 
  
  To give a Staff member access again, you can regenerate the calendar links.

< Gaining booking insights from the Booking Calendar