How do I share Start Booking with my calendar?

We know how important it is to keep your calendar organized and up-to-date. That's why we've added the option to set up a calendar share with your preferred calendar app! 

Connecting your calendar with Start Booking is a one-way share what displays two weeks in the past and 60 days into the future. The one-way aspect means that your Start Booking appointments will appear in the calendar, though any changes or edits will not transfer back. Blocked time will not be pushed or displayed. To avoid any problems, we feel that most business' prefer to simply work exclusively out of Start Booking, instead of trying to share multiple calendars.

To get started with sharing your calendar, check out these steps:

1. In your Start Booking account, click on the "My Account"  in the top right corner of your screen.
2. Select "Integrations" from the drop down menu
3. Under the “Integrations” header, scroll down until you see the ICal options
4. Select and copy the full calendar share URL that appears in the text field. 

The next steps depend on what calendar app you use! 

Connecting Start Booking schedule to your calendar app

• Apple Calendar
• Google Calendar
• Hotmail/MSN/Windows Live
• iPhone and iPad (iOS 9-12)
• Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, web
• Yahoo

Apple Calendar

Once you have your calendar share URL, head over to your Apple Calendar on your Mac and walk through these steps:

1. Click on “File" in the menu bar of your iCal
2. Choose the option "New Calendar Subscription"
3. Paste your calendar share URL from Start Booking into the field provided (starts with "webcal")
4. You can then name the share, change the color, and change the alerts and auto-refresh options.

Then you should be all good to go for the share!

Google Calendar

Before we get started on setting up your calendar share with Google, we did want to make you aware of a few things as we have noticed a few issues with Google. 

First off, keep in mind that this is a one-way share. That means that your Start Booking appointments will appear in yourGoogle Calendar, but any appointments or changes made in Google will not be updated to Start Booking. Additionally, any personal time blocks that you've added in Start Booking will not show up in Google Calendar.

Also, we've also noticed that Google sometimes retrieves updates to your Start Booking calendar infrequently. Sometimes it's taken up to 24 hours for appointments to appear. Unfortunately, we're not able to adjust this frequency as this is something that Google controls, but it is a known issue for any online calendars shared with Google Calendar.

Lastly, you should be aware that if an appointment is shared to Google and then updated in Start Booking, Google will not show that update, nor will Google remove an appointment if it has been canceled on the Start Booking end. We're a little bummed that Google isn't reflecting a more real time connection between the calendars, but we just wanted to make you aware of this. 

How to add Start Booking to your Google calendar

Those things being said, you can share your Start Booking calendar to Google through these steps:

1. Sign into your Gmail account.
2. Click the grid box at the top right of the page and select the Gmail Calendar option
3. From the left-hand side of your Google calendar, click on the plus sign next to "add a friend's calendar." When you click on that, you should see this option: Choose ‘Add by URL’
4. In the prompt that displays, paste your generated Calendar Share URL from Start Booking that starts with "webcal"
5. Click ‘Add Calendar’

Hotmail/MSN/Windows Live

Once you have your Calendar Share link, give these steps a try within your Hotmail inbox:

1. Navigate to the calendar and select "Import" at the top of the page
2. Select the subscribe option on the left of the screen
3. In the prompt that displays, paste your generated iCal URL from Start Booking that you copied from the integration section of your account
4. Enter a 'Calendar Name' in the appropriate field and choose a color and click "Subscribe"

iPhone and iPad (iOS 9)

Once you have your Calendar Share link, give these steps a try:

1. Navigate to your phone’s home screen, select Settings, then head to the Calendar option
2. Select ‘Accounts’ - Add Account and choose “Other"
3. Select Add Subscribed Calendar
4. In the prompt that displays, paste your generated iCal URL from Start Booking that you copied from the integration section of your account

iPhone and iPad (iOS 10)

Once you have your Calendar Share link, give these steps a try:

1. Navigate to your phone’s home screen, select Settings, then head to the Calendar option
2. Select ‘Accounts’ - Add Account and choose “Other"
3. Select Add Subscribed Calendar
4. In the prompt that displays, paste your generated iCal URL from Start Booking that you copied from the integration section of your account

iPhone and iPad (iOS 11)

Once you have your Calendar Share link, give these steps a try:

1. Navigate to your phone’s home screen, select Settings, then head to the Accounts & Passwords option
2. Select ‘Accounts’ - Add Account and choose “Other"
3. Under 'Calendars,' select Add Subscribed Calendar
4. In the prompt that displays, paste your generated iCal URL from Start Booking that you copied from the integration section of your account

iPhone and iPad (iOS 12)

Once you have your Calendar Share link, give these steps a try:

1. Navigate to your phone’s home screen, select Settings, then head to the Passwords & Accounts option
2. Under "Accounts," select "Add Account"
3. On the next page, choose “Other"
4. Under "Calendars," select Add Subscribed Calendar
5. In the prompt that displays, paste your generated iCal URL from Start Booking that you copied from the integration section of your account

Outlook 2007

Next, with that Calendar Share link in hand, walk through these steps in your Outlook account:

1. Click Tools in the menu bar at the top of the screen
2. Select account settings and internet calendar
3. In the prompt that displays, paste your generated iCal URL from Start Booking that you copied from the integration section of your account
4. Click Add, name the folder, add a description if you wish, and click 'OK'
5. Close Account Settings
6. Open your Outlook Calendar
7. Select the sub-heading called "Other Calendars" which is located on the left-hand side of the screen

You will see your Start Booking Calendar in the list, and can click on the checkbox to view the calendar. You can overlay your Start Booking Calendar into your Outlook calendar by clicking the arrow on the Start Booking Calendar tab.

Outlook 2010, 2013, web:

Now that you have the Calendar Share link, walk through these steps in your Outlook account:

1. Find Manage Calendars at the top of the page and select Open Calendar.
2. Choose "From Internet"
3. In the prompt that displays, paste your generated iCal URL from Start Booking that you copied from the integration section of your account
4. Click OK

The calendar will appear in the "Other Calendar" section under "My Calendars." You will need to select the checkbox for the calendar to display.

Yahoo:

As you get ready to setup this calendar share, I wanted to be transparent about a few issues we have noticed with the calendar share. First, It has been brought to our attention that sometimes there is a 24 hour delay for appointments to appear over to Yahoo. Unfortunately, this is a known Yahoo delay with any calendar share and it's out of our hands. :(

Next, within your Yahoo account, walk through these steps:

1. Click on the Calendar icon at the top left of the page
2. Find and select the gear icon to the right of “Actions"
3. Choose the option "Follow Other Calendars" from the drop down menu
4. Name your calendar and paste the Calendar Share URL that you copied from Start Booking into the iCal address field.
5. Set up the other options and select "Continue"

To receive updates for your Yahoo calendar just select the down arrow to the right of the calendar and select the refresh option.