Any staff member can easily sync their personal calendar with BusyPaws. You can connect your BusyPaws calendar with Google Calendar (Gmail), Microsoft Outlook, iCalendar, any iOS device, or any Android device.
Only the bookings to which a staff member has been assigned as a provider (whether primary or secondary) will show up in the calendar they have connected.
In this guide we will discuss the following topics:
Finding the Subscription Function
Start by opening your account menu at the bottom-left corner of the page. Do this by clicking or hovering your mouse over your user photo.
Then select "Your Profile".
Locate the "Calendar Sync" button located just below your name at the top-left corner of the page.
This will open your calendar sync settings. Once you have connected a calendar, the settings will be listed here. The left side of this page also lists the options for configuring new calendar connections.
Choosing Your Calendar
Four options are available when linking your calendar to your BusyPaws account.
Google Calendar (Gmail)
| This is the most robust and functionality-rich integration with BusyPaws. This option provides a two-way sync to automatically block off your availability according to your calendar. Additionally, it provides the option to sync all boarding bookings.
Click the "Google Calendar" button then select "Sign in with Google" to sign into your Google account. Select your account and go through the consent screen. Make sure you opt-into the requested permissions when connecting your calendar. Your bookings will now automatically sync with your Google account. |
This Device | Some phones and computers will have a setting in the web browser that knows which calendar you use (i.e. Safari on a Mac will open iCalendar). Select the "This Device" button and follow the on screen instructions.
If this option doesn't successfully open your calendar proceed to the Manual Subscription option listed below. |
Outlook.com (Hotmail / Any Microsoft Account) | This will open a direct link to your Outlook.com account. If the direct link to Outlook.com doesn't work you can connect manually with this this official guide. |
Manual Subscription If all other options fail - try this | Most calendar programs have the ability to subscribe to a calendar link subscription.
Use these guides:
Note: If you use Google Calendar (Gmail) and want to sync directly to your phone, the best option is to use the direct Google integration and sync your phone with your Google calendar. |
Google Calendar Sync Settings
When you connect with the Google Calendar integration you will be presented with additional sync settings. These settings are split into two sections:
From BusyPaws to Google Calendar
These settings control how events are sent from BusyPaws to your connected Google Calendar account. By default, when a new Google Calendar connection is added the system will be set to sync bookings assigned to your user account to a sub-calendar on your Google account called BusyPaws Calendar.
Use the toggles in this section to control which bookings are synced from BusyPaws.
Sync scheduled bookings for [User Name] | When enabled (purple) bookings to which you have been assigned as a provider (primary or secondary) will be synced to the connected Google Calendar. |
Sync boarding bookings | When enabled (purple) all boarding bookings will be synced to the connected Google Calendar. |
The "Sync bookings to" field at the bottom of this section controls which calendar bookings are synced to on your connected Google account.
Click the field to open a drop-down with all available calendars to sync to. After selecting a difference calendar from the drop-down, click the "Save & Sync" button to update your calendar sync settings.
Depending on the number of bookings on your calendar, it may take a few minutes for your Google Calendar to update fully to reflect changes made here.
From Google Calendar to BusyPaws
These settings control how events on your Google Calendar block time off on your BusyPaws calendar. By default, when a new Google Calendar connection is added it will sync blocked times based on events assigned to the primary calendar on the connected Google account. For all synced blocks your event names remain private to the rest of your team and will display as "[Your Name] is Unavailable in Google Calendar".
To adjust the calendars from which blocks are synced, click the "Edit" button under "Sync events from the following calendars".
Use the checkboxes to select or deselect the subcalendar options. Ensure any calendar from which you want events to be synced has its checkbox selected (purple with a checkmark). When you are happy with your chosen selections, click the "Save Calendar Settings" button at the bottom of the list.
If you do not want any events to sync from Google Calendar, deselect all of the calendar options on the list before saving.
Be sure to then complete the secondary confirmation step by then selecting the "Save & Sync with Google" button.
Only events where you have been marked as "Busy" will sync as blocked times in BusyPaws. If you have an event where you have been marked "Free" it will not result in a block on your BusyPaws calendar.
If ever you wish to remove your Google Calendar connection, simply select the "Disconnect" button located at the top-right corner of the Google Calendar settings card. This will remove BusyPaws events from your Google Calendar and remove any Google Calendar blocks that might have synced to your BusyPaws calendar.
Connecting Additional Calendars
If a user has multiple Google Calendars to which they want to connect their BusyPaws account, this can be configured from the Calendar Sync settings of their Your Profile page. After connecting the first calendar, simply select "Google Calendar" option again in the Calendar Sync section, then go through the same configuration process for the second connection.
This process can be repeated as many times as needed.
Troubleshooting Tips for Google Calendar
If you have connected your Google Calendar to your BusyPaws account but are still having trouble getting things to sync properly, see below for some troubleshooting tips for some common problems.
My Google Calendar didn't sync any of my bookings or stopped syncing
Disconnect your Google account and reconnect. Make sure you have the following permissions selected when on the Google connection consent screen:
When I have the "Block off my availability" option set for my Google Calendar, sometimes it doesn't block off my time
When the "Block off my availability when other events appear in my Google calendar" option is enabled it will only block off bookings where the visibility is set to "Busy". When it is set to "Free" then the calendar event will not be blocked off in your calendar. You can edit this setting by editing the calendar event directly in Google Calendar.
Setting in Google Calendar
Setting in Mac OS Calendar
How do I remove the direct link integration from my Google Calendar?
Navigate to the main calendar page:
Find your BusyPaws Calendar in the list and click the X button at the bottom right.
Happy syncing! If you have any trouble syncing your calendar don't hesitate to contact support. We are here to help!