QReserve Academy

If you need to block a resource based on events on an external calendar that is internet accessible, QReserve provides a flexible and widely compatible way to automatically import external events on a regular basis.

External Calendar Overview

QReserve supports the import of an external calendar that is shared via an ics URL (iCal format). Events can be imported into a resource's calendar by adding that URL to the resource's External Integrations page.

Most online calendar platforms will support this format including Google Calendar and Outlook. QReserve will attempt to pull new events once every 15 minutes and, if found, will have those events display on a resource's calendar and block that time from being scheduled. Externally pulled calendar events will block a resource absolutely regardless of the number of units that resource has.

Depending on whether or not your calendar feed contains a summary of events, you can choose whether or not to display that summary to users viewing these events.

Finding Your ICS URL

Google Calendar

To import a calendar from Google Calendar, click the three dots next to a calendar name and select the Settings and Sharing option.

Then, scroll down to the bottom where both a Public and a Secret URL are provided. Note that the public URL will only work if your Google Calendar is marked as public higher up. In either case, the secret URL should be available and will work. Copy the desired URL and paste that into the iCal Feed URL property of a resource.

Note: After adding a URL, it may take up to 15-20 minutes for events from that feed to appear.

Outlook (Microsoft 365)

To import a calendar from Outlook (Microsoft 365), go to your calendar view and select the Gear icon in the top right corner. Then, under Shared calendars, select the calendar you wish to share, the detail to include, and then select Publish. This will give you an HTML and an ICS url. Copy the ICS URL and paste that into the iCal Feed URL Property of a resource.

Other Software

Any software with a public ICS URL should work so long as it is accessible to the QReserve servers. Some software allows you to download your calendar in ICS format but this file will not work as it needs to be a constantly updated URL that QReserve can query on a continuous basis to have the latest calendar event information.