Calendar

Table Of Contents

The Calendar template displays events pulled live from a Google Calendar. Events also appear on the homepage when the Events section is enabled.

Step 1: Make the Google Calendar public #

The site can only read events from a public calendar. The public access level also has to show event details, otherwise events appear on the website as empty time slots with no titles.

  1. Sign in to Google Calendar with the account that owns the calendar.
  2. In the left sidebar, hover over the calendar name, click the three dots, then choose Settings and sharing.
  3. Scroll to Access permissions for events.
  4. Tick Make available to public.
  5. In the dropdown next to it, select See all event details. Do not leave it on “See only free/busy”, or the website will pull blank events with no titles.

Step 2: Copy the Calendar ID #

While still in Settings and sharing, scroll down to Integrate calendar and copy the Calendar ID.

  • For a primary calendar, the ID looks like a normal email address (for example, [email protected]).
  • For a secondary calendar, the ID ends in @group.calendar.google.com.

Step 3: Add the calendar to the website #

  1. In wp-admin, edit the homepage.
  2. Open the Events tab in the page sidebar.
  3. Tick Show Calendar Events.
  4. Paste the Calendar ID into the Google Calendar Email field.
  5. (Optional) Tick Show View All button and choose a View All Page to send visitors to the main Calendar page.
  6. Update the homepage.

The Google Calendar Email is set on the homepage even if you only want events to appear on the Calendar page. The Calendar page reads the same setting from the homepage, so you only have to enter it once.

Step 4: Calendar page options #

When editing a page that uses the Calendar template, two extra options are available in the page sidebar:

  • Show Subscribe Button: lets visitors subscribe to the Google Calendar in their own calendar app.
  • Show Sidebar Upcoming Events: adds a list of upcoming events alongside the calendar.

Troubleshooting #

  • Events show with no titles, or just appear as time slots: the calendar’s public access is set to “See only free/busy”. Change it to “See all event details” (Step 1).
  • No events appear at all: check that Show Calendar Events is ticked on the homepage, that the Google Calendar Email is correct with no extra spaces, and that the calendar contains future events.
  • Wrong events appear: confirm you copied the ID of the correct calendar, since the owner’s primary account address and a secondary calendar’s ID can be different.

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