Tech Forum

I am the technology specialist in our ward and I have been trying to sync my lds calendar with my google calendar. I am able to sync the calendar that is for "all members" that is put in by the stake, but not the individual organization ward calendars. Our bishop has asked how to do this so he can see each organization's activities. So each organization cannot see what is scheduled for them because those activities were put in by me for our ward and I do not have access to the "all members information." Is there a way to get all of the calendar events for our ward to sync so that each organization can see what activities they have if they are synced to their google calendars? I would appreciate your help on this.

I appreciate your help!!

Jil Cornaby
Ward Technology Specialist
188808 ~ Hampton Ford

The sync brings over all events on all calendars you are subscribed to. So as long as you are subscribed to all calendars of interest, you should be seeing those events. (However, there is only one sync and it all comes over as one calendar to Google.)

Just keep in mind that Google calendars sync when they feel like it. It seems to be about every 24 hours. And I've noticed that once that syncs, that it doesn't trigger an immediate sync to my Android device, so it can be even longer before it shows up there.

But the main thing to to check subscriptions. And along a similar line - make sure you're not placing events on private calendars that the other's don't have rights to view. If they can't view it, they can't subscribe to it.

I have checked my calendar again. It has been a day and still the other calendars that I am subscribed to aren't showing. So, what I am getting from this is that basically it isn't good to try and sync with my google calendar because it won't really sync in real time and that at best it might show at sometime but no one really knows when or if that will happen.

I appreciate your help and will advise our bishopric as to what they can expect and give them the choice if they want to really use the ward calendar or not.

Thanks again.

Jil Cornaby

While the lack of real-time sync may sound like a big deal, for the majority of the members it's probably not that big a issue. One would hope that events are scheduled well in advance, so a 24 hour+ lag isn't that big a thing. It only becomes an issue if someone adds events just prior to a meeting and then expects everyone else to see it.

Note that the ward calendar is the official church method to coordinate the use of the meetinghouse. So depending on your local situation, not using it may not be an option.

Also, Google calendar isn't the only way to see it. There is LDS Tools (which has to have a manual sync), plus there are apps that can be used to import the calendar automatically to personal devices. And of course it can be viewed as a web page. While a tablet is nice, I have updated it via a smartphone. For correlation meetings, that's probably the best way since that is real-time or very close to it.

I agree that meetings should be scheduled at least 24 hours prior to an event. And hopefully this is what will happen.

Okay, so I guess my next question is, how do they sync it to their personal device? They have LDS Tools, but they only want to look at one calendar and not have to toggle back and forth. Is there a way? If so can you tell me how and I will pass it along?

Thanks again so much for your help!

Jil Cornaby

Most Android devices sync to a Google calendar. That's how I do mine. I know you're having problems with yours, but it seems to work OK for most people.

But you can download a app to read the iCal file directly into the device. Seach the Play Store for "iCal". From what I understand iOS devices have that ability built-in.

A few weeks ago I had a Bishop call stating he could see a very private meeting that we had on a 'stake pec' calendar that was mark private. It was going threw to his Google calendar. He should not be able to view it. The only callings that are attached to the view or edit are Stake Presidency, Stake Clerk and High Council. There are no other member names or user rolls that are on that calendar for access. A few months before that our last Executive Secretary could see all calendars still even though he had moved to Alaska from Texas. This Bishop that could see that private meeting was the last Stake Clerk. I believe the syncing to Google is not working correctly since two of the last Stake Presidency members that was released can still see the Google calendar. I have added screen shots.

I'm posting this hear since you are responding about other Google calendar issues hoping someone else knows about it.
Troy

justusmitchells wrote:our last Executive Secretary could see all calendars still even though he had moved to Alaska from Texas. This Bishop that could see that private meeting was the last Stake Clerk.

There's the problem. By any chance, were these men both the creators of the calendars in question? I believe there's an issue where the creator of the calendar still sees the calendar even after moving out of the unit/assignment.

I'd suggest both of these people visit their subscription pages and make sure the settings are correct. That will give the system a chance to fix itself. (And of course wait for the google sync which may take 24 hours or so.)

Note: I've removed the attachment as it contained sensitive information. Please remember this is a public forum visible to all.