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Issues with updating Wordpress calendar from Google via iCalendar

We've only recently migrated over from Joomla to Wordpress (Ariel theme), and I wanted to say that Joel and URJ tech support have been extremely helpful in our transition. But at this point we are facing significant challenges dealing with calendar content imports from Google / iCalendar to the Wordpress calendar.  First -- the Wordpress calendar import apparently does not process corrections and deletions made to Google calendar at all -- only new events -- making it necessary to manually update and delete events in Wordpress whenever there's a change.  Second -- additions to our Google iCalendar do not immediately show up in the Wordpress calendar. The fastest setting for imports from the source calendar is 30 minutes, though URJ tech staff are recommending the frequency be set to Daily so we don't go overlimit on the import update license. This makes it difficult to check whether events have been posted correctly and has led to some duplicate event creation by our admin staff. (And really, I would have thought the days of waiting for "overnight updates" to significant public data presentations were long over.)  Not sure if any other site has dealt with these issues, but thought I'd at least document what we've discovered. Surprised not to see discussion or documentation about this here ...  [Stephen Davis, Webmaster, Temple B'nai Chaim, Wilton, CT]

Stephen Davis

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I was also contacted by our office before the High Holy Days who panicked that the Upcoming Events module featured on our homepage (Batya theme) was displaying totally incorrect data. I was unable to pinpoint where the errors were originated and eventually decided to entirely hide the module and place a pdf of the HHD schedule instead.

I second Stephen Davis and find it a significant challenge to have to deal with - especially when the users from all parts are so heavily relying on the website's calendars to follow up with the various activities of the temple.  [Laurence Furic, Webmaster, Congregation Shir Shalom, Ridgefield, CT]

Laurence Furic 0 votes
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I completely agree with Stephen - the inability of the Wordpress calendar to import changes to the Google/iCalendar is a big step backwards - computers are supposed to make our lives easier. But more than that, the required editing of individual events is slow, you can't search for them by date, and the Wordpress site randomly deletes my edits and reverts back to the previous version (both title of event and times) - but not on all of them. I thought I was losing my mind until I found it listed revisions (for titles, not for time changes), showing when I had made a change, and then when it had, on its own, made a change. There is no pattern. It is on daily import, which I also agree is too slow, but I thought it might make more random changes if I increased the frequency.

William Hersh 0 votes
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We've been encountering this same problem only it took me a while to recognize what was happening.  Some of our events are replicated so I thought there was an import a duplicate issue.  But since only a few events suffered this duplication and those events are not duplicated on the base Google calendar, I now realize that the Events widget doesn't recognize deletions in the base calendar.  It looks like I'm going to have to do a lot of manual corrections. :-(

Irwin Friedman 0 votes
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This is a follow-up, wondering if anyone else has had the mysterious revision bug - so in addition to Wordpress calendar not importing changes made in Google calendar, when I manually make changes in Wordpress Calendar Events (title of an event, or a time) and Update, the changes are mysteriously changed hours later. That is, I see the changes live on the web site, and then the next day, the changes are undone. When I go onto the RJWebBuilder part of the site, there is a revision list on the bottom of the Event page, and it lists me as having made a revision, and no attribution for the ghost who undoes my revision hours later. Help! I have described it in detail to Joel.  [Bill Hersh, Webmaster, Temple Isaiah of Great Neck, NY]

William Hersh 0 votes
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I am having trouble that you can only see 30 days of events. The person who submits our monthly press release to the Federation can't see the January dates right now.  

Now I am worried about how many events are wrong if they get updated on Google but I didn't know that WordPress wasn't importing changed events!

 

Where does this all stand? Help!!!

 

Thanks!

Margaret Sequeira 0 votes
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