How do I display my Checkfront booking calendar availability in an external calendar?

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

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

Sync your Checkfront bookings with a calendar outside of Checkfront. This is done using the Checkfront iCal feed, which uses the standard iCalendar media type and file format (.ical) to transfer the information.

iCalendar is supported by most calendar software products, including those on your mobile devices, such as Google Calendar and Apple Calendar. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Go to the Booking Calendar (Calendar > Booking).
   
   
2. Click the Add to External Calendar icon at the top right of the page. This opens the iCal Feed setting modal.
   
   
3. Choose which option you want to enable.
   
   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 is a great way to hide bookings awaiting confirmation from the external calendar. To learn more about statuses, please click here.
   
   
4. Specify the number of months into the future that the calendar displays.
   
   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 back as 1 month. The number of months past is not configurable at this time.
   
   

5. Choose one or more categories to include in the feed. 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.

   
   

6. Click the Add Filter button to open a dropdown menu where you can filter by item/product rather than by category.
   
   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.

   
   

7. Click on or copy the link to subscribe to the customized feed in your third-party calendar software. The settings you choose for your iCal feed are reflected in this Webcal Link.
8. Test the calendar sync with a sample booking if necessary.

9. Click the Close button when you finish customizing and copying your iCal feed link.
    

   Learn more about external calendars For more information on subscribing to and viewing an external calendar using the Webcal Link and setting up iCal for notifications, check out the following articles:  Exporting (linking) your Booking Calendar to an external calendar (iCal) Setting up iCal for Booking Notifications

    

   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, then 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.

    

   Learn more about accessing feeds 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: Updating personal information Managing your Admin, Staff, or Partner account profile

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

  If you change a Staff member's password, all iCal links they have generated are reset, and they lose access to those links. 
  
  To give a Staff member access again, updated iCal links can be generated from calendars.