Import events from ICS

Some of the calendar systems allow recurring event combinations that are outside the abilities of SWS. In this case, the import process will notify you.
If you are importing ICS files multiple times, the component will recognise events that have already been imported and won't create duplicates. In the case of existing events, the import process will notify you and provide a link to the existing event.
Various different calendar systems have slightly different variations of the ICS file format, in some cases you may see some irregularities with the import process. This is due to the broad variety of different systems. If you encounter serious errors, please let us know.
Outlook handles recurring events differently to other systems so certain patterns of recurring events might not import as expected. For instance, when the end date is given in an event Outlook doesn't show the until parameter in the ICS file, so this will affect how the event is imported.

If your events are contained in a calendar system that supports the iCalendar (*.ics) file format - you can import them into SWS.

Features

Import of ICS files from a web link
Import of ICS file by file upload from your computer
Automatically recognises events already imported and won't create duplicates
Once import process is complete, provides a list of events imported with links to edit them in case you need to make adjustments or add an image.
Ability to filter the list of events being imported in case you wish to focus on particular events only.
If a recurring event combination isn't possible, this will be indicated before the event import process is completed.

Open sites in AEM and navigate to the Import events page.
Tick this page and then select edit or press E on your keyboard as a shortcut
Switch the page over to Preview mode if it isn't already in preview mode.

Note: If you do not see the Import events page in your website, please contact support and they will add it.

Choose to import your ICS file either from your computer if you have downloaded the file or import the ICS file from a web link. If you are using a web link - this link must be available to access without needing a password or username.

Important note: Due to the wide number of different calendar systems and the slight differences in how they generate events, you make encounter differences in how the events are imported.

The events are now loaded into the component and you can look through them to see which ones you need to import. If you have many events it is possible to use the search box to filter them by a specific search term.
Use select all to quickly select all of the events.
You can select to show 10, 25, 50 or 100 events at a time. Pagination is provided if you need to navigate through many events across multiple pages.
You can also sort the events by ascending or descending based on the title.
Once you have selected an event, you can use the custom page name/title to change the page name/title of the event as it will be imported.
If the component believes that a particular event already exists in AEM, you will not be able to select it. The link to the existing event will be provided for your convenience.

Select next when you are ready.
If no events are selected, you will see an error message asking you to select at least one event.

If you have many events to be imported you can use the pagination to step through each page or change the number of entries shown at one time. Alternatively you can use the search to filter the list.
If the event or events are recurring, you'll see a short-hand explanation of the recurring pattern. See the glossary of these terms for further information.
Choose Submit when you are ready.

The submitted events are shown so you can review them. A link is provided if you need to make any changes to events such as including an image or modifying the description.

Once the events have been imported and you've made any changes required, you need to publish the events.
Go to Events page in Sites then select the year then the month
- Tick all the relevant events in the month of the events
- If you only have a few events to publish, you can quick publish them individually.
- If you have many new events to publish, consider using Manage Publication and including child pages. For Manage Publication please contact support team to publish all events.

The recurring event patterns are shown in this component using a system of short-hand notations.

The following explains the notations.

Recurring event: either yes or no.
Frequency: The frequency of the event recurring pattern, such as WEEKLY, MONTHLY
Interval: This refers to the interval between the recurring events. Monthly frequency and '2' for the interval would indicate every second month.
ByDay: The day on which the occurrence happens. See the table below for more details.
Count: The amount of occurrences of the event.
Recur end date: The last date of the recurring event.

So therefore as an example 2WE would mean second Wednesday and 1TH would mean first Thursday.