With the one-way and two-way calendar integration, you can link your own (external) calendar with Simplicate (and vice versa). Calendar items in Simplicate can be linked to a project-service-hour type combination.
The calendar integration supports the following external calendars:
Google Calendar
Apple Calendar
Microsoft Office365
Microsoft Outlook.com
Microsoft Exchange (including on-premise)
Activating the integration
Activating this integration can easily be done in these 4 steps:
Navigate to 'My Profile' (top right in Simplicate)
Click on the 'Calendar Integration' tab
Click the "Link your calendar" button.
You will be redirected to an intermediate screen from Cronofy (the provider for the integration) where authorization is carried out and the link is established.You have three synchronization options:
One-way: External calendar items are displayed in Simplicate. Hours you log in Simplicate will not be added to your external calendar.
Two-way (leave): External calendar items are displayed in Simplicate, and leave registered in Simplicate is shown in your external calendar.
Two-way: External calendar items are displayed in Simplicate, and registered hours are also added to your external calendar.
After linking, you will be redirected to 'My Profile' and the 'Calendar Integration' tab, where the connected calendar is now shown as active.
Once the integration is set up, your external calendar items will be displayed in your Simplicate Calendar.
You can toggle the display of the external calendar on or off using the switch in the top right corner:
Explanation of external calendar items in Simplicate
In Simplicate, there is a clear distinction between external calendar items and time registrations. External calendar items are white, optionally with a green stripe in front if they are linked to a project.
Green blocks are time registrations in Simplicate.
White blocks with a green stripe are your own external calendar items on which you can log time.
Completely white blocks are external calendar items organized by someone else or with a recurring pattern.
Moving calendar items
As long as the external calendar item is not linked to a project, you can only edit this block in the external calendar.
Absence
Absence in Simplicate will never be sent to the external calendar and is therefore not visible there.
How do you link an external calendar item?
When you click on an external calendar item, you are presented with two options:
Yes, synchronize:
With this option, you replace the external time block with a Simplicate time block. Changes made in Simplicate will also be visible in the external calendar. You then link the block to a project-service-hour type combination in Simplicate. Once the external calendar item is linked, the grey block changes into a Simplicate time block (green).
No:
With this option, you create a new Simplicate block without modifying the calendar item in the external calendar. This option is best suited for external calendar appointments with (external) invitees. When you choose this option, you create a block with a project-service-hour type combination in Simplicate. The original block in the external calendar remains, and a new block is added with the same values.
External calendar items organized by someone else or with a recurring pattern cannot be synchronized; for these items, the 'Yes, synchronize' option is not available.
More about how it works specifically
Linked calendar items can be edited in both the Simplicate Calendar and the external calendar. When you make the item recurring in the external calendar, this recurrence will not be reflected in the Simplicate calendar.
Calendar items are synchronized up to a maximum of 42 days in the past.
Calendar items are synchronized up to a maximum of 200 days into the future.
When you establish the connection, new appointments will be synchronized to the external calendar, but existing items will not. If you want these to sync, you will need to open and save each item again in Simplicate.
Deleting linked items can only be done in Simplicate.
If you delete a linked calendar item in the external calendar, the item will automatically be restored in the external calendar. Simplicate is therefore leading.
External calendar items cannot be linked to leave or absence in Simplicate.
Note on calendar items marked as ‘All day’. If you link a calendar item to a time registration and then change it to ‘All day’ in the external calendar, it will be recorded as 24 hours in Simplicate.
Impact on Time Control and Invoicing
External calendar items do not count as logged or scheduled hours. Therefore, these items will not appear in, for example, time control or invoicing. These always rely on the actual time registration.
Require preferred time step
Note: when this setting is activated, it is no longer possible to use two-way synchronization.
