Is it possible to sync to a .ics feed?

Hi,

No, not ‘out of the box’, but this is how I would do it: Create a cron-job (or WP variant) to remotely fetch the ics feed, parse it (the plug-in includes an ics parser) and then update/create events using eo_update_event() and eo_insert_event() (see docs).

I don’t see the ICS parser documented. What file is it in and what’s the function name?

Thanks!

You’d have to be careful that duplicate events wouldn’t be created too. I’d love it if this was part of EO, or as an extension for EO Pro. Would be very useful.

I’ve not had much of a chance to poke around in the code, but I think all the ICS stuff in EO happens in this file: class-event-organiser-im-export.php in includes

Thanks.

but I think all the ICS stuff in EO happens in this file: class-event-organiser-im-export.php in includes

That’s right – but having posted my first comment, I realised that code hasn’t been touched in a while: it’s very messy and the parsing logic isn’t separated from what the plug-in does with the parse data.

For 2.1 I’ll refactor that and provide an API for third-party tools to parse ICS files.

Just a heads up on this, 2.1 comes with a parser you can use. Still more to be done, see https://github.com/stephenharris/Event-Organiser/issues/91.

And for the parser: https://github.com/stephenharris/Event-Organiser/commit/5ba80109c00582c5dc0dbec9e6e597d54b4eafb6 (it can import from an url too).

I’ve just finished developing this as an add-on, and I’m looking for beta testers. Anyone interested?

Once ready it’ll be available to purchase – and will be included for free to Business or Developer license purchasers of Event Organiser Pro (this will include existing customers).

Beta testers will get a free license. Sign up here, you want to help!

https://wp-event-organiser.com/blog/announcements/ical-sync/

One major problem with the ICS importer is that I can’t override the categories for imported items.

I have some feeds I’ve imported that don’t have a category at all, so they get imported into the default category. I then have to manually change the category for all imported items.

I have some that are poorly named and I want them in a specific category.

It would be nice if you could specify not only the name of the feed and the feed URL, but the category/categories you want them imported into.

Also, can I use the new addon to sync categories across multiple sites running Event Organiser?

I have a main site where I have all of the events added by employees. But I only want to import some categories into “sister sites”.

Is this possible?

Hi Dave,

An option to over-ride the event’s category on import shall be included in the next version of iCal sync.

Yes, each category of each site will have their own iCal feed: [category url]/feed/eo-events. For example: https://wp-event-organiser.com/demo/events/category/football/feed/eo-events

The same is also true for venues.

In that way events added on the central site can be imported to the sister sites (assuming the sister sites have iCal sync installed).

Honestly, I don’t have any need for features in the Pro version, but if over-ride of categories is included in the next version, I’ll buy the Pro version just to support development.

I purchased the ical sync and am having trouble with a feed:
https://shepherds.ccbchurch.com/group_calendar.ics?id=1&tk=B5977E14C44911DE82FB00188B7C1AA7
I was able to successfully import this feed into ical, but not in the Events Organizer in the Import/Export tab. Any help?

Hi Sleinen

Clicking the above link gives me and SQL error – seems its not producing a correct feed.

(I’ve just created a forum for the iCal extension customers: https://wp-event-organiser.com/forums/forum/ical-extension/ )