Public calander subscriptions/syncing for people without nextcloud accounts

ohshiiph · July 16, 2020, 4:00am

None of the share options in the GUI do what I need, and I cant find anything in the documentation on how to do this.

I need to create a single URL that allows people who do not have nextcloud accounts to subscribe to a public calander within whatever calander app they allready use (not just download all the events in the calander currently, when they click the link it should add a subscription to their calander so they see any changes and updates made)

They dont have (and will not get) nextcloud accounts, so they cant authenticate via caldavs or whatever. And these users are not tech savy enough to do things like open settings, copy paste links, or do anything more complicated then click a link, and have the gui guide them through the rest of a very simple process.

It does not have to be one single link for every type of OS/calander app, as long as I can make a list that says:

click here to subscribe to calander with IOS
click here to subscribe to calander on android
Click here to subscribe to calander via google calander
click here to subscribe to calander with outlook
click here to subscribe to calander with thunderbird

ohshiiph · July 16, 2020, 5:26am

FYI, just sharing an ICAL link does not work (at least not with ios). It just adds all the events in the nextcloud calander into my calander in ios, it does not enable syncing or subscriptions.

It works if I go into settings > Accounts & Passwords > add account, but thats more friction then these users are willing to accept.

bastien · July 16, 2020, 6:27am

Hello
I think that there is no solution for you.

The more simple way to do this is to create a public account with a null quota. Then you share all your calendar to this public account. You can share for read only.

Another solution more simple for users but not for you, is to integrate your calendar to a website.

tcit · July 16, 2020, 7:47am

Unfortunately the issue is with the platforms themselves, since there’s no way to easily subscribe to public calendars in a single click on every one of the platforms listed.

However there’s no reason even non tech savy users can reproduce a basic set of instructions such as going into your iOS or Google Calendar settings and add the public link… They might think it’s frustrating and not want to, but that’s another issue.

Anyway, nothing Nextcloud can do over here.

ohshiiph · November 9, 2020, 9:34pm

I feel like the dev community overestametes the general level of tech saviness in the population. My users cant do anything more complicated then click links which take them into apps they allready know how to use, like their exsisting calendar app or do things from their web browser.

I can barley get some of the people I work with to use conference calls, Never mind jitsi or even zoom.

rsywlf · November 30, 2020, 11:35pm

Hey! I think I have a solution for you, though to be honest it only works for some of the people I’m sharing with and it doesn’t always update on their end if I make changes to the calendar.

~nevertheless~

To get the subscribe link:

In Nextcloud, click on the calendar you’d like to share
Next to Share Link, click on the 3 dots
From there, click Copy subscription link

Folks can subscribe by Google or iCal by using “subscribe to calendar using URL” options and using that link.

Here’s a screenshot to illustrate where the above can be found:

Hope this helps!!