An Outlook calendar can be connected to Calendar Manager as a Live iCal calendar by publishing it in Outlook to generate an .ics link, then creating a Live iCal calendar in Calendar Manager and pasting the link in. Events then sync automatically based on the calendar's file size.
💡Quick answers
- What must be done in Outlook before connecting it to Calendar Manager? Publish the calendar in Outlook Settings > Calendar > Shared calendars > Publish a calendar; choose "Can view all details" and click Publish.
- Which link should be copied after publishing the Outlook calendar? The .ics link (not the HTML link); it is the only format that creates a dynamic sync with Calendar Manager.
- Setting up the Live iCal calendar in Calendar Manager? Click New Calendar on the Dashboard, set Calendar Type to Live iCal, and paste the .ics URL into the Live URL field before clicking Create.
- How long does the Outlook-to-Calendar Manager sync take? Hourly for calendars under 500KB; nightly for calendars between 500KB and 1.5MB.
- Can events be edited in Calendar Manager once an Outlook calendar is connected? No; any changes must be made in Outlook and will sync over automatically.
Ready to get started with New Calendars?
This article is for Calendar Manager module users.
We're excited to share our updated plan and timeline for transitioning to the New Calendars module. Thank you for your patience and support as we work to make this migration smooth. Although our original timeline has shifted, we're confident this revised plan will ensure a successful rollout.
- Clients interested in migrating to the new module can submit a request to their Client Success Manager or email clientsuccess@finalsite.com.
- October 2026: All clients on Calendar Manager will have access to the automated migration utility.
Learn more about New Calendars:
This article shows you how to integrate an Outlook calendar so that it will dynamically push events into multiple areas of your platform.
In this article
- Integrate vs upload
- Step 1: Login to your Outlook account on the web
- Step 2: Configure Outlook settings
- Step 3: Publish your calendar
- Step 4: Find and copy the .ics link
- Step 5: Paste the .ics link to connect the calendar in Calendar Manager
- Step 6: Allow time for the sync to complete
Connecting an Outlook calendar into Calendar Manager is a fast and efficient way to update events dynamically for your community. This way you can:
- flow events into your CMS to be displayed on any Composer page.
- insert events dynamically into the Messages module.
- push events to Mobile Apps.
Integrate vs upload
An integration initiates a one-way dynamic sync to flow events in from another calendar source to continually appear and update in Calendar Manager and anywhere you have linked that calendar using a Calendar Element. However if you are interested in single bulk upload of events, check out our article, "Add calendar events in bulk."
Step 1: Login to your Outlook account on the web
Go to Outlook.com and sign in with your account.
Step 2: Configure Outlook settings
- Click on the Settings gear in the top right corner.
- Select View all Outlook settings at the bottom.
Step 3: Publish your calendar
- Navigate to Calendar > Shared calendars.
- In the Publish a calendar section, choose the calendar you want to share.
- Select Can view all details in the second dropdown.
- Click Publish.
Step 4: Find and copy the .ics link
- After publishing, you will see two links: an HTML link and a .ics link.
- Copy the .ics link.
Step 5: Paste the .ics link to connect the calendar in Calendar Manager
1. Next, open up Calendar Manager in Finalsite. Click the New Calendar button on the Dashboard.
2. Set Calendar Type to Live iCal, and paste the copied URL into the Live URL field before clicking the Create button at the bottom of the window.
Now, events from Outlook will automatically populate the calendar. As new events are added into Outlook, they'll be pulled into the Finalsite calendar, as well.
Step 6: Allow time for the sync to complete
iCal refresh rates are based on the file size of the iCal feed coming over (in other words, how many events have been created on that calendar). This is explained in the article Using iCal feeds to synchronize multiple calendar systems.
The sync rates are:
-
For a calendar 0 - 500 kilobytes: hourly
-
For a calendar 500 kilobytes - 1.5 megabytes: nightly
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