iCal Integration for the Store, Products, and Resources

iCalendar (iCal) is a standard way to exchange calendar information between software systems. BookThatApp supports the iCalendar standard so you can export and import your bookings to any calendar product that supports that standard such as Google Calendar and Airbnb. You can export all bookings for a shop, or you can export/import bookings for specific products or resources.

Google will check the iCalendar feed that BookThatApp provides for exporting periodically (anywhere between 6 - 24 hours) and synchronize it with any new, updated, or deleted bookings in BTA. In contrast, the app checks incoming calendar feed links used for importing once per hour. 

Please note that BTA can also connect directly to a Google Calendar via the API. The advantage of this approach is that the synchronization between calendars happens in real-time. Please see our article on Staff Accounts to learn more.

 

 

Exporting All Bookings

Steps:

1. On the Overview page, you will find a button that will provide you with your store's iCal feed link.
   
2. Select the iCal icon and a pop-up will display that provides the feed link.
3. Select the copy symbol (outlined in red below) and the feed link will be copied to your device's clipboard.
4. Open Google Calendar.
5. Click on Other Calendars.
6. Select Add by URL.
7. Paste the URL as noted in step 1.
8. If you want the calendar publicly accessible, check the box.
9. Select Add Calendar.

 

Exporting Product Specific Bookings

Here are 2 examples of where you may want to export specific product bookings instead of the entire store's bookings:

• to provide a service provider a feed of the bookings for a product where they provide the service
• to sync your bookings for a specific product in an external system such as AirbnBb

Note: external calendars can only be added to the store once so you cannot add an external calendar to multiple products. 

Here are the steps to implement this using Google calendar as the external source to sync to:

1. Access a product page in the app. 
2. Select the More Actions drop-down to reveal the iCal option.
3. Select the iCal icon and a pop-up will display that provides the feed link.
4. Select the copy symbol (outlined in red below) and the product feed link will be copied to your device's clipboard.
5. Open Google Calendar.
6. Click on Other Calendars.
7. Select Add by URL 
8. Paste the URL as noted in step 1.
9. If you want the calendar publicly accessible, check the box.
10. Select Add Calendar.

Note:

• Google updates its copy of the calendar every few hours (every 6 - 12 hours in our experience).
• The feed provides bookings from the last 7 days through to 3 months from now.

Removing a Legacy Feed from Google

Earlier versions of the feed were not secure and are no longer supported. If you are using the legacy ical feed url (that includes your store name at the front) you can remove it by going to your Google calendar and hovering over the calendar.

Click on the X to unsubscribe.

 

Importing Bookings

Product Implementation

If you offer a product that can be booked in the app as well as on an external site this will allow the product’s availability to be updated in the app. This saves you time because you will not need to create a manual booking or blackout to compensate for the external booking.

1. First, you will need to retrieve the iCal feed link provided by your external app.
2. In BTA, navigate to the corresponding product.
3. On the product configuration page locate the External Calendars section and select the Edit link.
   
   
4. Select the Add External Calendar button and a field will appear where you can add a name for the calendar feed link as well as the actual link.
   
   
5. Select Apply.
6. You also will need to select Save to update the product configuration. 

Now bookings for the product made on your external site will have their availability updated in the app. The app reviews the feed once per hour in order to update availability. 

 

Resource Implementation

For instance, say you have a service provider that you have set up as a resource in the app. It is now possible for their busy time from their external calendar to be reflected in the app without creating a corresponding staff account.

It will work by affecting the availability of the products the resource is associated with. This is great for stores that have a service provider that handles multiple services. 

1. First, you will need to retrieve the iCal feed link provided by your external app.
2. In the app, select Configuration-> Resources.
3. Select the Staff resource where you want to add the external calendar feed.
   If you need details on how to create your resource please see the following.
   https://support.zetya.com/hc/en-us/articles/211514086-Resources
   
4. Locate the External Calendars section and select the Edit link.
   
   
5. Select the Add External Calendar button and a field will appear where you can add a name for the calendar feed link as well as the actual link.
   
   
6. Select Apply.
7. You also will need to select Save to update the resource configuration. 

Now bookings for the resource made on your external site will impact the resource's availability in the app. The app reviews the feed once per hour in order to update availability.