LibCal v2.1 Release is on its way!

LibCal version 2.1 is coming to a browser near you!  This update will be released on March 15 during the late afternoon US time, which is Monday morning, 16 March for our Aussie friends.

Why save the best for last? The best–and biggest–feature in LibCal 2.1 is the integration of LibCal Room Bookings, Events, and MyScheduler into your Google Calendars! We are super-excited to announce that you can now manage Room Bookings, Events, and My Scheduler appointments in LibCal and push them into Google Calendar practically instantly.*

What is this magic?!

You will be using the Google Calendar API to deliver LibCal information directly into your Google Calendars. Don’t know what an API is?  No problem! Just follow the on-screen directions for connecting your calendar, group of rooms, or My Scheduler, and any events, bookings, or appointments created after the configuration will appear in the Google Calendar that you select.  There is a one-time import to get pre-existing items into Google.

To send your LibCal Calendar events to Google Calendar, go to Calendars > (click your calendar name) > Settings > Google Calendar Sync:

Set it up for your bookable rooms by going to Room Bookings > Settings > Edit > Google Calendar Sync:

For My Scheduler, click My Scheduler > Google Calendar Sync:

Please note that Google Calendar Sync is not available for 3/3/3 free LibCal systems.  Please contact sales@springshare.com for upgrade information. 🙂

But wait, there’s more!

We heard from some of you that the Room Bookings confirmation process could be smoother.  Now, when there are restrictions in effect, that maximum is checked against before the confirmation process.  If the maximum has been reached already, an error message will be displayed, and other bookings must be cancelled before new bookings can be made.

Previously, this check was made only after a booking was confirmed by the user, so it was possible to request more than the maximum, but not to actually reach the maximum until after enough bookings were confirmed.

You asked, we coded….

These features and fixes were requested by you:

• MyScheduler widget not specifying a librarian – Sometimes a user wants to make an appointment with a librarian but doesn’t have a name in mind.
• Ability to select more than one presenter for an event – Programs and classes are often brought to you by more than one person; give credit where credit is due!
• Move “Confirmed Bookings” to beneath Room Bookings reservation grid on mobile devices – Book and go, on the go! If your rooms are busier than Grand Central, your users won’t have to scroll through all those bookings before making their own reservations.
• Add past appointments in MyScheduler – Sometimes folks just drop in, and you should get credit for that!
• More accessible Room Bookings reservation slot colors – The pink and green colors on the Room Bookings screens have been replaced with more greatly contrasting colors.
• iCal/ics feeds for individual rooms in a group – Import bookings for just a single room into your calendar program.
• Permalinks for calendar event categories and campuses – Need to publicise only the Story Time calendar?  Give a URL to the faculty just for the Science Library’s classes?  We got you covered!
• Ability to hide librarian profiles from public pages – Don’t want to be findable when browsing events by organizer?  No sweat! Go to Profile and uncheck the “Enable Public Profile Page” box.  Admin users you can change this for any account by going to Admin > Accounts > Edit and unchecking the same box.
• Print-friendly options for public calendars – Want to print what you see and post it outside a room or at your service desk?  No prob, Bob!  Just look for the printer icon at the top-right of every public calendar page.