Create an iCalendar Feed

How do I create an iCalendar feed?

Purpose: iCalendar feeds allow you to pull the information from the Who's Out widget and Celebrations widget into another calendar without having to log in to BambooHR to know when an employee will be out of the office or celebrating a work anniversary or birthday. This guide will teach you how to create an iCalendar feed and show you how to add an iCal feed to some of the available calendar programs. 

Please note: If you do not see these options, it is because your account administrator has not enabled this feature in your account. 

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It is important to note that BambooHR will send all corresponding events through the iCalendar feed to the external calendar system. However, the external calendar system will typically only sync over new events. This means if a change is made to an existing event, the change will not be updated in the external calendar system. 

Access an iCal feed

iCalendar feeds are accessible in two places in BambooHR: 

1. Who's Out widget: Click Full Calendar at the bottom of the widget. Once you view the Who's Out calendar, click the action menu in the top right corner and select iCal Feeds. 

2. Celebrations widget: Expand the widget with the arrows in the top right corner, then click Full Calendar or iCal at the bottom of the widget.

Create an iCal feed

Click Create Calendar Feed, then click Copy link to add it to your outside calendar. A user can add iCalendar feeds to any calendar that allows for external URL feeds. Examples of adding an iCal feed to some of the more well-known calendar systems are listed below.

You can reset or delete an iCal feed once you create one. If you reset or delete an iCal feed, it will not remove any previously transferred data from your calendar program, but it will prevent any new information from syncing. iCal feeds are automatically disabled for terminated or inactive employees.

It is important to note that changes made to your filter selections within BambooHR may take up to 24 hours to reflect in your calendar due to syncing done by the individual calendar programs. 

Each employee creates their own iCal feeds. The forwarded information to the calendar is only what the individual can access to view via their Celebrations widget and Who's Out widget. Please note that these feeds are NOT password protected. If needed, each employee can reset or delete the URL feed at any time.

You can color-code time off types in BambooHR, but when the Who's Out events feed to the individual calendar systems, they will show in one color as selected within each calendar. 

PLEASE NOTE: We would love to have an iCal feed URL that will work for all calendar clients, but we currently cannot accommodate all iCal feed URL requirements for every calendar client. Therefore, if you are using Office 365, you will need to make a minor change to your iCal feed URL before copying it into Office 365.

For example, if you are using the URL in the above screenshot,  "https://helpcontent.bamboohr.com/feeds/feed.php?id=54....." then you will need to change it to "webcal://helpcontent.bamboohr.com/feeds/feed.php?id=54..." Therefore, you will be replacing the first part of the URL "https://" with "webcal://" to paste it into Office 365.

How do I add an iCal feed to Google Calendar?

To add an iCalendar feed to Google Calendar, follow these steps:

  1. Click the + icon next to "Other calendars."
  2. Select From URL.
  3. On the next page, paste the iCal feed URL from BambooHR. Do not check the box to make the calendar publicly accessible. Click Add Calendar.

Once you add an iCal feed, the corresponding information will show in the calendar.

To remove an iCal feed, hover over the calendar in the list and click the "X" that pops up. Then, confirm you would like to remove it.

Google determines updates to an iCal feed within Google Calendar. Currently, these updates occur once every few hours. The initial import will update your Google Calendar with all current data when you enter the feed into Google.

How do I add an iCal feed to Microsoft Outlook?

To add an iCalendar feed to Microsoft Outlook, log in to the web version of Outlook and follow these steps:

  1. Click Discover calendars. Depending on the version of Microsoft Outlook you are using, this button may say Import calendar.
  2. In the pop-up box, click From web.
  3. Under "Link to the calendar," paste the iCal feed URL from BambooHR.
  4. Add a calendar name to help differentiate this calendar feed from others.
  5. Click Import to confirm.

To remove the calendar, find the calendar on the left side under Calendars, then right-click on the calendar name and select Delete Calendar.

Please note the instructions above may vary depending on what version of Microsoft Outlook you are using. Be sure to look for an option to add new calendars from the internet.

When you add several iCalendar feeds to Outlook, they might not automatically show at the same time. To fix this, be sure to check the circle(s) next to the calendars on the left side that you would like to show.

How do I add an iCal feed to Mac Calendar?

To add an iCalendar feed to Mac Calendar, follow these steps:

  1. Under File, select New Calendar Subscription.
  2. Paste the iCal feed URL from BambooHR and select Subscribe.
  3. Verify the calendar settings and adjust as needed.

Once you add an iCal feed, the corresponding information will show in the calendar.

To remove an iCal feed, click Calendars in the top left corner of your Mac Calendar, then right-click on the feed name and select Delete.

Notice in Step 3, you have the option to select how often the calendar will "auto-refresh." This option will determine how quickly new information uploads to your calendar from BambooHR.