🪜(Part-2/3) Google Calendar pro: sharing and subscribing to other's calendars


I hope last week's letter was helpful to you in understanding the simple yet complicated idea of multiple calendars in Google Calendar.
Today, I want to share something interesting that you might not be aware of.
First, look at my multiple calendars:

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As you can see, I have seven calendars under "My calendars". We saw how we created The Friday Newsletter calendar last week.
Now look at the "Other calendars" section.
I have two more calendars:

  • Holidays in India
  • DEEP9PUNE July 2019...

If they're showing on my Google Calendar, why are they listed under "Other calendars"?


Because I haven't created them.
They're not mine.
I'm only subscribed to them.

Calendar subscription

Most people are used to receiving Google Calendar Invites for meetings, todos etc. Similar to subscribing to someone else's calendar slot, we subscribe to the whole calendar.
The first calendar "Holidays in India" is an automatic calendar that Google has integrated, you might have it too.
The second calendar "DEEP9PUNE" was shared with me by an institute when I attended a course.

Let's see how to subscribe to other people's calendars first. Then we will see how to share our calendar with others.

How to subscribe to other people's calendars

Similar to last week's steps, go to the Settings on Google Calendar on the PC.
You will find this option on the left-hand side panel.

There are three different methods to subscribe to other calendars with different purposes. We will only cover the first and the second method.

Method-1: Subscribing to someone's calendar by email

This method is straightforward. When you need to subscribe to an individual's calendar, you can simply add their email id and ask them to approve you. It's like sharing a file on Google Drive.
This may come in handy when the other person doesn't want to share their calendar publicly but wants to keep you in the loop. For example, a boss may want to provide access to their calendar to their secretary.

Method-2: Subscribing to public calendars

This method is useful when you want to subscribe to public calendars made available by Google. For example, if your several clients reside overseas in different countries and you need to be mindful of their holidays and such things, you may want to subscribe to a country-specific public calendar.
For example, I'm subscribed to these public calendars.
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That's all about subscribing to calendars from others.
Now, let's see how to share our calendars with others.

Sharing our calendar with others

Let's see what options we get if we want to share The Friday Newsletter calendar we created last week.
On the Google Calendar settings, we can see three main ways we can share our calendar. We will look at all three methods.

Method-1: Making our calendar searchable over the internet

The way we share files on Google Drive, this one is a similar method. We just need to tick this box and set the access level for event details. And we can share the "shareable link" with the public.
Also, note that making this calendar public also shows in search results on the internet.
If you don't want to do that, then method-2 is more appropriate.

Method-2: Sharing calendar with select people

We can add people to different files on Google Drive. Similarly, in this method, you can add people's email id and share your calendar with them.
Be mindful of the access that you grant to different people and groups when you share the calendar with them.

Method-3: Embedding on a website

You may want to display your calendar publicly on your website instead. You can choose this option. You can add the "Embed code" to your website and a live, interactive Google Calendar will appear. The visitor can also add that calendar to their account by clicking the button displayed on the calendar.

Look at what happens when I copy-paste the embed code on https://html5-editor.net/ site. It is a free site I use to quickly render HTML snippets.
The code is on the left and the calendar is loaded on the right.

And that's it!
We don't need to use more than one method generally. But you never know which possibility may come to your help.

Next week, we will discuss about importing whole event details in mass from a CSV file. It is quite a handy technique for many people who manage teams.


So Reader, do you use any of these techniques in your daily work? Or do you think they will help you in your work?

Hit Reply and share with me the specific problems it solves for you.


Reads of the week:

​Read​
Finally, I came across something that puts the whole meeting or no-meeting debate in perspective. If you know me, you'd know that my default preference is to not meet at all. I'd try dodging meetings all the time. Now that Paul has pointed it out, I realize I'm on a maker's schedule.
If you are also frustrated by either too many meetings or not getting as many meetings as you need to do your work, read this classic piece.

Hi! I'm Bhagyesh.

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