The problem this solves
Plenty of people keep a calendar of their own alongside Stippa: a dentist appointment, a supplier meeting, an afternoon off. Stippa knows nothing about any of it, so that time stays bookable online. The result is a customer booking exactly then, and an appointment you have to move.
With calendar sync, Stippa reads a staff member's calendar. If something is in it, that time disappears from the slots on offer in the booking widget.
What is shared, and what is not
This is the important part to understand before you connect anything:
- Stippa reads only whether a period is busy, never what you are doing. Titles, locations, notes and guests do not come across.
- Your Stippa appointments can go the other way, into your own calendar, so everything is in one place.
- The connection is per staff member, not per business. Everybody connects their own.
Connecting a calendar
- Check the module is on first. Go to Management, then Modules, and look at Calendar sync. If it carries a plan label, the feature is on a higher plan.
- Open the staff member and go to the tab for calendar connections.
- Click connect and sign in to your calendar account.
- Give permission to access your calendar.
Stippa then fetches the appointments already in it. With a full calendar the first run can take a few minutes.
How many calendars per person?
That depends on your plan. On the lighter plans you connect one calendar per staff member; on the heavier ones, several. Useful when somebody keeps a work calendar and a private one separately and both should block availability.
The number that applies to you is on your subscription, under Management, then Subscription.
When is it updated?
The sync runs periodically rather than to the second. Put something in your calendar now and it can take a few minutes before that time leaves the booking widget.
For a block you want to be certain of, a day off you already know about for instance, a schedule exception is the better tool. Those take effect immediately. See Adding one-off closures and exceptions.
Common situations
Suddenly there are far fewer slots
Most likely there are recurring events in the connected calendar filling whole days or weeks, an all-day "working from home" entry for example. All-day events block the whole day. Give them a time range, or take them out of the connected calendar.
The connection has expired
If you change your password, or withdraw permission at your calendar provider, the sync stops. You will see that on the staff member. Reconnect to put it right.
I cannot see my Stippa appointments in my own calendar
That is the other direction. Check that the option to write appointments into your calendar is on, not just the reading direction.
Connecting without an account
If you only want to look at your Stippa calendar in a program you already use, without connecting an account, a calendar subscription link may be enough. It is read-only, so it blocks no availability: it is a view, not a sync.