Importing iCalendar Events Into a Joomla Calendar
iCalendar files from Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, etc. are carriers of events which can be imported into a compatible calendar. For example, there are a number of events organized on your personal calendar on your phone, and you want this to be imported into your official calendar. It is easy, if your official calendar supports the import of iCalendar files.
On a Joomla website, your calendar extension needs to be enhanced to support the import of these files.
These are some key things that you should bear in mind while implementing an import into a customized calendar of an iCalendar file:
1. The file to be imported bears an.ics extension. I (for example: event.ics)
Similarly, when you export events from calendar you will get file with an.ics extension.
2. To import file you can use "input type= file id=jform-file name=jform-name" of Html.
3. To pass the full path name of file via the browse button on the html page, use "enctype="multipart/form-data" in form tag of html.
4. When we browse the directory from client whilst uploading the file, the file is stored in the temporary folder. The file has to be accessed from the temporary folder and uploaded to the server.
5. The access to the temporary folder is short lived. As soon as your transaction of file is completed, you will not be able to access temp folder.
6. After uploading you need to parse.ics file first, then only you will get the array of event details which can be imported into your custom calendar.
7. There might be sometimes some minor differences in the format of the.ics file. For example, the date format of events from Google Calendar and Apple Calendar are slightly different. The time zone is an added string in case of Apple Calendar. Thus, these differences need to be catered to during the import of the files.
This feature is important because:
1. It gives easy access to your events from anywhere anytime. This is because you can import the iCalendar into your phone from your laptop or PC and vice versa.
2. Reduces your work to create every event in different calendars
3. It permits you to be reminded of your personal tasks during office hours and official tasks during personal hours if there is any overlap
JTAG Calendar is a feature-rich Joomla calendar that supports the import and export of iCalendar events. It allows easy transfers from one instance of the calendar to another. Apart from these feature, it boasts of having email invites via SMS and email and has a great look on your website and smart phone.
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