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Calendar Feed

Your rota can appear automatically in your personal calendar app (Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, and others). Once set up, it stays up to date without you needing to check the website.

What is the Calendar Feed?

The calendar feed is a link between RotaCC and your calendar app. When you subscribe, your shifts and approved leave appear as events in your normal calendar -- the same one you use for everything else.

When the rota changes (a shift is moved, leave is approved, and so on), your calendar updates automatically the next time it refreshes.

Getting Your Feed URL

Before you can subscribe, you need your personal feed URL. This is a private link that is unique to you.

  1. Go to Profile (click your username in the top navigation).
  2. Under Calendar Feed Settings, check the box labelled Enable Calendar Feed.
  3. Click Save Settings.
  4. A box labelled Your Calendar Feed URL will appear. Click the Copy button next to it.

Keep this URL private. Anyone who has it can see your rota details. If you think someone else has your URL, you can generate a new one by ticking Regenerate Secret Key on the same page and saving. The old URL will stop working immediately.

Setting Up in Google Calendar

  1. Open Google Calendar on your computer.
  2. On the left sidebar, next to Other calendars, click the + button.
  3. Choose From URL.
  4. Paste the feed URL you copied from your profile, then click Add calendar.
  5. It may take a few moments to appear. Look for it under Other calendars on the left.

Google Calendar checks for updates roughly once every 24 hours. You cannot force a manual refresh, but your calendar will pick up changes automatically.

Setting Up in Apple Calendar

On a Mac

  1. Open the Calendar app.
  2. In the menu bar, go to File > New Calendar Subscription...
  3. Paste the feed URL you copied from your profile, then click Subscribe.
  4. You can change the name and choose how often it refreshes. We recommend leaving it on Every hour.
  5. Click OK.

On an iPhone or iPad

  1. Copy the feed URL from your profile first (you can do this in Safari).
  2. Open Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Add Account > Other.
  3. Tap Add Subscribed Calendar.
  4. Paste the feed URL and tap Next, then tap Save.

Apple Calendar refreshes subscribed calendars at the interval you chose during setup. To force a refresh on a Mac, right-click the calendar name and choose Refresh.

Setting Up in Outlook

On the desktop app (Windows or Mac)

  1. Open Outlook and go to the Calendar view.
  2. On the ribbon, click Add Calendar > Subscribe from web.
  3. Paste the feed URL you copied from your profile and press Enter.
  4. The calendar will appear in your side panel under Other calendars.

On Outlook.com (web)

  1. Sign in at outlook.live.com.
  2. Go to the Calendar view.
  3. In the left panel, click Add calendar > Subscribe from web.
  4. Paste the feed URL and give the calendar a name, then click Import.

Outlook refreshes internet calendars periodically. It may take up to a few hours for changes to appear.

What Appears in the Feed

The following events are included:

What How it appears
Standard work shifts "Work"
Duty days "Duty"
Approved annual leave "Leave"
Approved study leave "Study"
Coroner duties "Coroners"
Planned sick leave "Sick"
Leave requests awaiting approval "R/Q" (pending)

All events appear as all-day entries on the relevant date. The feed covers shifts from the past year through to two years ahead.

What does not appear:

  • Shifts that have been cancelled or removed
  • Leave requests that were declined
  • Other clinicians' shifts (you only see your own)

Refreshing

Your calendar app downloads an updated copy of the feed at regular intervals. Each app is different:

  • Google Calendar: approximately every 24 hours (not configurable)
  • Apple Calendar: every hour by default (configurable during setup)
  • Outlook: every few hours (varies by version)

There is no manual refresh button on the RotaCC side. The feed always reflects the current state of your rota, so your calendar will catch up on its next refresh cycle.

If you change the feed URL (by regenerating your secret key), you will need to remove the old subscription in your calendar app and add the new URL using the steps above.