You can download a community event and save it to your preferred calendar application (e.g., Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar). Events download as an .ICS file which, when imported, adds the event and its details (e.g., date, time, location) to your calendar application ("calendar"). Your organization's community events can be visible on your personal calendar, so you can see them when you're scheduling other activities and you can set reminders for them.

An issue has been discovered with the handling of .ICS files in Microsoft's Outlook (new) email application. If you're using this application and are experiencing issues with these files, see Calendar Event (.ICS) Files in Microsoft Outlook (new).

Browsers & calendars

Given the number of browsers and calendars that are available — and the distinct behaviors of each — there is an incredible number of possible "download-and-import" permutations; making documenting every one of them near impossible. It's important to note that calendars can be either:

• Web-based (e.g., Google Calendar and Yahoo! Calendar) - accessed via a browser or
• Stand-alone (e.g., Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird) - with no association to, or dependency on a browser.

So, each user's preferred browser and preferred calendar make their event-download-and-import combination somewhat unique.

TIP: If you aren't familiar with your browser's download behavior and options, or how to import events into your (web-based or stand-alone) calendar, Higher Logic recommends that you consult your application's documentation.

Import an event

This section presents two examples of how to download an event and then import it into a calendar.

• Example 1 demonstrates the event file being downloaded, opened, and automatically added to the user's default, stand-alone calendar.
• Example 2 demonstrates the event file being downloaded and then saved so that it can be imported into the user's preferred web-based calendar. (It could also be imported into a stand-alone calendar.)

Example 1

In this example, the user is using Google Chrome with the Settings > Advanced > Downloads > Ask where to save each file before downloading setting toggled ON, and their default calendar is Microsoft Outlook.

1. Access an event's Details page by clicking its title on a calendar page or landing page widget.
2. Click the Download to Your Calendar button to download the event.ics file.
3. Navigate to where you want to store the event file and click Save; the file is saved to that location.

NOTE: The file is also accessible in Chrome's "footer."

4. Click the file in the footer; it automatically opens as an Outlook calendar event; click Save & Close to add the event to your calendar.

TIP: Before you save and close the event, you can customize it. For example, you can invite attendees, change the default reminder, and add a tag.

Example 2

In this example, the user is using Mozilla Firefox with the Settings > Files and Applications > Downloads > Always ask you where to save files option selected, and their preferred calendar is Google Calendar.

1. Access an event's Details page by clicking its title on a calendar page or landing page widget.
2. Click the Download to Your Calendar button to download the event.ics file.
3. In the dialog, click Save File and click OK. The file is saved to the Downloads folder (the default download location).

4. Open your Google account in a new tab and access your calendar.
5. In the upper-right, click the gear icon and then choose Settings.

6. On the left side of the Settings page, click Import & export.
7. In the Import section, click Select file from your computer.
8. Navigate to where you stored the event.ics file (in this example, the Downloads folder) and double-click it. The file name replaces the field label.

• If you choose the wrong file, click the file name to change your selection.
• If you want to change to a different Google Calendar, choose it from the Add to calendar dropdown.

9. Click Import and at the confirmation prompt, click OK.
10. Return to the calendar; go to the date of the event and confirm that it has been added.

Cancel an Event

• If you have to cancel an Event, see Cancel Events.

If you cancel an Event, consider the following impact to calendar invitations.

IMPORTANT: It's important to note that Higher Logic events are not "integrated" with any web-based (e.g., Google Calendar and Yahoo! Calendar) or standalone (e.g., Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird) calendar applications.

As a result, if you cancel an event, Higher Logic does not: send a cancellation or update an event file that had been downloaded from an Event Invitation email. If you cancel an event, registrants will have to update the event invitation on their own calendars.