The IA calendar has the option to download the calendar file but it’s a snapshot of current events NOT a subscription feed which Scoutbook provides. The subscription is essential to have events updated on my local calendar automatically as they change in Scoutbook. Without subscription, imported .ics data becomes stale and the feature is useless.
3 Likes
This has previously been reported to the developers. There is a button that’s supposed to provide the URL to subscribe, but it’s not working correctly.
When this calendar change occurs will the Scoutbook calendar still exist but events will need to be created in IA? IE will existing subscriptions continue to work, or will they need to be re-established with a new subscription?
Our troop would be crippled without this functionality, please make sure it works during/after this change.
1 Like
All events in the Scoutbook calendar will automatically show up in the IA calendar.
I’m confused about what will happen after the IA calendar replaces the Scoutbook Calendar.
Is the Scoutbook calendar going away completely, or we will just not be able to enter new events in Scoutbook and they will get pushed into Scoutbook from IA calendar?
If so, will IA calendar have a subscribe option implemented before Scoutbook goes away?
1 Like
They both write to the same database. When the IA calendar stabilizes, the SB calendar will be removed. Links in SB will point to the IA calendar instead. IA will have a working option to subscribe.
The question remains - what will happen to existing subscriptions to the SB calendar. We can’t have this change break everyones subscribed calendar in our Troop. We need a better explanation of how this migration will work in terms of calendar subscription.
4 Likes
I’ve been trying to get an answer since the question was first raised. I should have mentioned that but was brief in my responses while working the paying job (not scouting).
1 Like
Yeah our Paying jobs do cause issues for SUAC
3 Likes
@jacobfetzer & @DonovanMcNeil - just for the fun of it I copied the url from the IA calendar and was able to subscribe to it on my google calendar and the all of the dates populated.
@BenBotti - did you try to subscribe via the url offered in IA or just a blind assumption that there was none or it did not work ?
Yes, the URL offered or the download link both provide ICS data which you CAN import to your calendar. However, it appears to be a static file that contains all the current events. It does NOT appear to be a subscription which will change over time as events are added/updated so it’s like importing a one-time snapshot of the current calendar, not an internet feed.
1 Like
I got a service error when I tried to subscribe macOS Calendar to the new subscription URL. Error 406, if that helps.
@BenBotti The existing URL in Scoutbook will download a file if you click it. In my calendar program, when I choose to subscribe to a calendar, it allows pasting in the same URL. Then, there is a setting to refresh every so often. The refresh does basically download and parse the file you are seeing but in the background. The behavior you described sounds right. You just need to connect to the URL as a subscription. I had luck making the current Scoutbook URLs clickable or tapable by substituting the https://… with webcal://… That helped the computer (handheld or otherwise) interpret the URL as a subscription.
1 Like
Update - it does appear that the ics url is a flat add rather thzn a dynamic subscription. I trust this can be corrected prior to deprecation of the existing calendar.
1 Like
Yes, the developers are working on it, and it is required before retiring the Scoutbook calendar.
1 Like
I set up a subscription in both google and microsoft exchange (outlook) using the new IA link and the behavior for me is just like with the scoutbook ical link. When I add an event on the calendar, it updates automatically in the subscription within about 24 hours.
Which “new IA link” are you using. I see two options at the bottom of my caledar, one is ‘Copy url’ like this. If I try to add this to my google calendar or Mac calendar it says it’s invalid:
https://api.scouting.org/advancements/events/calendar/999999/999999
The second option is a file download which is a static .ics file with the current events only, not a subscription URL.
It’s the “copy url” link. In my case https://api.scouting.org/advancements/events/calendar/999999.
Worked no problem in both google and outlook.
@ZacharyMazur @BenBotti I would suggest not posting your actual URL to all of your event details on a public forum.
