An .ics file (also called an iCalendar file) is what Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar and most booking services hand you when you export a calendar. HappenBoard turns each entry in that file into an event.
Running the import
- Go to HappenBoard → Settings → Migration.
- Choose Import from a file.
- Click Choose .ics file and pick your export.
- Click Preview (dry run) to see what the file contains without writing anything.
- Click Import when the numbers look right.
The result table has four columns: New, Updated, Skipped and Failed. Anything the importer had to complain about is collected under a View notices toggle underneath.
What is read from each entry
A calendar file is a list of entries. HappenBoard reads the event entries and ignores everything else, so tasks, notes and free/busy blocks in the same file are quietly passed over.
- The summary becomes the event title. An entry with no summary is titled as an imported event so you can find it later.
- The description becomes the event content.
- The start and end become the event dates. An entry flagged as a date without a time becomes an all-day event.
- A repeat rule is copied across as the event’s repeat rule.
- The location line is free text in a calendar file, so it lands in the event’s own venue name field rather than creating a venue record.
- The organizer becomes the event’s organizer name and, when the file carries a valid address, its organizer email.
- Categories become HappenBoard categories, created automatically if they do not exist yet.
Imported events are published immediately. If you would rather review them first, import into a staging site, or set them back to draft from the Events screen afterwards.
Time zones
A time ending in Z is read as UTC. A time carrying a named time zone is converted from that zone. A time with no zone information at all is treated as UTC, which is the safest guess a file can support. Everything is stored in UTC and displayed in your site time zone.
Re-importing the same file
Each entry in a calendar file carries a unique identifier. HappenBoard remembers it, so importing the file again updates the events it created the first time instead of duplicating them. That makes an .ics file a reasonable way to keep a small calendar roughly in step, one manual import at a time.
Entries with no unique identifier, or with no start date, cannot be matched or scheduled. They are counted as failures and named in the notices list.
What does not come across
- Individual dates added to or removed from a series in the source calendar. Only the repeat rule itself is read, so check any series after import.
- Repeat rules that do not repeat daily, weekly, monthly or yearly. Those are the four frequencies HappenBoard supports.
- Attendees, attachments, alarms and reminders.
- Venue and organizer records. You get the text, not linked entries.
If a series looks wrong afterwards, rebuild it with the repeat rule editor, which gives you a preview of the dates before you save.
The other direction
HappenBoard also publishes your own calendar as a subscribable feed. See the iCal feed guide if you want other applications to read your events rather than the reverse.
What’s next
- Migrate from another events plugin if your source is a WordPress plugin.
- Publish your own iCal feed.
- Import an .ics file from the command line for large files.