Outlook Calendar Two-Way Sync

Table of Contents

Overview

Prerequisites

How does it work?

• Event creation and updates

• RSVP tracking

• Site member and follower management
• Update events
• Deleting or unpublishing events
• Disabling event sync
• User disconnection

Overview

Simpplr supports event creation and two-way syncing with Outlook Calendar. This capability is available to all customers and ensures events created on Simpplr stay up to date across connected calendars.

The purpose of Outlook event syncing is to:

• Keep events consistent between Simpplr and Outlook Calendar.
• Allow users to RSVP to Simpplr events directly in Outlook, with updates mirrored in Simpplr.

Prerequisites

• The Outlook Calendar integration with Simpplr must be enabled at the app level before syncing is available.

How does it work?

When you connect Outlook Calendar with Simpplr, the following actions are supported:

Event creation and updates

• Push new events: Events created in Simpplr are automatically pushed to the Outlook Calendar of connected members and followers.

• Sync updates: Changes made in Simpplr are reflected in Outlook Calendar, including:

  • Event name

  • Description

  • Date and time

  • Location

When creating an event, you can enable Event syncing to display all available providers (Google/Outlook) for selection. If the author is already connected, it will also show the connected members and followers count to aid in making an informed decision.

• The event author can connect their Outlook account on this section as well if not already done.

• When event is published it will be pushed asynchronously to the author Outlook calendar along with the connected members & followers of the site. This process may take a couple of minutes but once completed it will show the outlook account it has been synced to and the count of members & followers.

• If your account is already connected, you’ll see the count of connected members and followers for that event.
• If your Outlook account is not connected, you can connect it during event creation.
• Once the event is published:
  • It will be pushed asynchronously to the author’s Outlook calendar.
  • It will also be pushed to all connected members and followers of the site.
  • Syncing may take a few minutes. Once complete, you’ll see confirmation of the Outlook account synced and the number of attendees.

You can now add attendees directly on the Events page during creation or updates. Events were already automatically pushed to the Outlook Calendar of connected members and followers, making event management and syncing easier than ever.

RSVP tracking

• Track RSVP responses: RSVP updates are synced between Outlook and Simpplr so that attendee status is always aligned.

• RSVP responses are synced between Simpplr and Outlook.
• RSVP can be disabled in Simpplr when creating an event. However:
  • The RSVP option will still appear in Outlook.
  • Any RSVP action taken in Outlook will not sync back to Simpplr unless RSVP is enabled in Simpplr.
• If Outlook syncing and RSVP are enabled, RSVP management becomes mandatory for that event.

Site member and follower management

• Member/Follower added:
  • If a member or follower is added and connects their Outlook calendar (immediately or later), they will automatically be added as an attendee for all future synced events.
• Member/Follower removed:
  • If a member or follower is removed from the site, they are also removed as attendees for all synced events.
  • The event will be deleted from their Outlook calendar.

Update events

• Existing events can be updated to change the title, date-time, location and description. Changing either of these details will trigger a background sync which will update the details on Outlook calendar as well.

• If in case event syncing needs to be disabled, one can do that using Edit > Disable Event syncing > Remove sync. This will remove the event from author as well as all connected site members & followers and loose the ability to perform RSVP updates form Outlook calendar.

  

Deleting or unpublishing events

• Events are removed from Outlook if:

  • The event is deleted in Simpplr.

  • Event syncing is disabled.

  • The member or follower is no longer part of the associated site.

• Events can be deleted or unpublished from the Event details screen in Simpplr.

• Deleting/unpublishing removes the event from:

  • The author’s Outlook calendar
  • All connected members’ and followers’ Outlook calendars

  Note: The event will only be deleted from Outlook calendars if the scheduled time is in the future.

Tip: Syncing actions may take a few minutes to reflect across Outlook calendars. Always confirm event sync status after publishing or editing events.

Disabling event sync

• To disable syncing for an event:
  • Go to Edit > Disable event syncing > Remove sync.
• This action removes the event from:
  • The author’s Outlook calendar
  • All connected site members’ and followers’ Outlook calendars
• RSVP syncing will also be disabled once event syncing is turned off.

User disconnections (Event author)

• If a user removes their outlook connection from Simpplr and they are author of any event with event syncing enabled, all such events will be removed from their Outlook calendar as well as all attendee of the event.