Tips: Subscribing with Google Calendar (and common problems)
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Just thought I'd post some tips for those wanting to subscribe to their Remember The Milk iCalendar feeds with Google Calendar. (Ultimately we'll add this information to the help section.)
Make sure your list is public
Google Calendar can't handle the 'all tasks' iCalendar feed yet, as it doesn't support authentication -- you'll need to subscribe to individual public lists.
Check your iCalendar feed URL
You can easily check if Google Calendar will be able to access the iCalendar feed for your list by following these steps:
1) Copy the feed URL, which looks something like this:
webcal://www.rememberthemilk.com/icalendar/yourusername/123456/events/
2) Change the 'webcal' to 'http://'
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/icalendar/yourusername/123456/events/
3) Logout of your Remember The Milk account.
4) Try to access the URL from step 2 in your browser. If your browser tries to open or start downloading the file, the feed is accessible to Google Calendar. If you receive the Remember The Milk error page, check the URL and make sure that the list is public.
Still having problems subscribing?
We've had reports that Google sometimes takes a little while to add the iCalendar feed -- so it might also be worth trying to logout and then log back into Google Calendar and see if it updates.
If you're still experiencing problems, please email us at [old address removed] with the address you're trying to subscribe to and any error you're receiving in Google Calendar. We can look into possible problems on our end.
Task changes not showing in Google Calendar
Google fetches the iCalendar feed periodically -- you might have to wait until Google Calendar updates your iCalendar subscriptions again to see changes that you've made in Remember The Milk.
Hope this helps!
Make sure your list is public
Google Calendar can't handle the 'all tasks' iCalendar feed yet, as it doesn't support authentication -- you'll need to subscribe to individual public lists.
Check your iCalendar feed URL
You can easily check if Google Calendar will be able to access the iCalendar feed for your list by following these steps:
1) Copy the feed URL, which looks something like this:
webcal://www.rememberthemilk.com/icalendar/yourusername/123456/events/
2) Change the 'webcal' to 'http://'
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/icalendar/yourusername/123456/events/
3) Logout of your Remember The Milk account.
4) Try to access the URL from step 2 in your browser. If your browser tries to open or start downloading the file, the feed is accessible to Google Calendar. If you receive the Remember The Milk error page, check the URL and make sure that the list is public.
Still having problems subscribing?
We've had reports that Google sometimes takes a little while to add the iCalendar feed -- so it might also be worth trying to logout and then log back into Google Calendar and see if it updates.
If you're still experiencing problems, please email us at [old address removed] with the address you're trying to subscribe to and any error you're receiving in Google Calendar. We can look into possible problems on our end.
Task changes not showing in Google Calendar
Google fetches the iCalendar feed periodically -- you might have to wait until Google Calendar updates your iCalendar subscriptions again to see changes that you've made in Remember The Milk.
Hope this helps!
I appreciate this summary very much. Google still seems to be unable to see my calendar.
I will try again later, but harumph this is frustrating.
It's interesting to see how much public support you are able to offer Emily, by yourself, and how impossible it is to get a human to help you from the big, rich Googleplex.
I will try again later, but harumph this is frustrating.
It's interesting to see how much public support you are able to offer Emily, by yourself, and how impossible it is to get a human to help you from the big, rich Googleplex.
fjarlq says:
Hi Emily,
This worked for me, thanks. The main problem I had was forgetting to make my list public. I thought they were already public, because in Settings/Lists they didn't have a lock on them. I suppose that lock means something different -- I wish I knew what!
What do the locks on lists in Settings/Lists mean? Seems like they should be clickable, or a description should be displayed when hovering over them, or something.
Thanks!
Matt
This worked for me, thanks. The main problem I had was forgetting to make my list public. I thought they were already public, because in Settings/Lists they didn't have a lock on them. I suppose that lock means something different -- I wish I knew what!
What do the locks on lists in Settings/Lists mean? Seems like they should be clickable, or a description should be displayed when hovering over them, or something.
Thanks!
Matt
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Ran, I'm sure Google is swamped right now (I know we were when we first launched!). They seem to be fixing bugs around the clock, so hopefully any iCalendar issues on their end will be resolved soon.
Matt, the lock just means that you can't delete those lists (Inbox and Sent currently). Looks like we forgot to mention this in the help section -- sorry! We'll fix that up.
Matt, the lock just means that you can't delete those lists (Inbox and Sent currently). Looks like we forgot to mention this in the help section -- sorry! We'll fix that up.
(closed account) says:
Little confused and am not familiar with terms such as feeds. Help me out here.
- How do i know my feed url?
I made my 'personal' public.
- From google calendar, do I have to import the file that I downloaded or the feed url?
Thanks in advance.
- How do i know my feed url?
I made my 'personal' public.
- From google calendar, do I have to import the file that I downloaded or the feed url?
Thanks in advance.
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
jinwook.paeng, you can subscribe to your iCalendar feed URL so that when you change your tasks in Remember The Milk, they will show up on your Google Calendar.
An iCalendar feed is available for each of your lists. To find this:
1. Switch to the list which has the iCalendar feed you wish to access.
2. Make sure you have no tasks selected so that the list details box appears on the right.
3. Copy-and-paste the iCalendar URL from the list details box.
4. Add 'events' to the end of the URL. So,
webcal://www.rememberthemilk.com/icalendar/yourusername/123456/
becomes
webcal://www.rememberthemilk.com/icalendar/yourusername/123456/events/
You can then subscribe to this URL in Google Calendar.
From Google's help:
To add a calendar using its address, just follow these steps:
1. Under "Calendars" in the left column, click on the "+" button next to "Other Calendars."
2. Go to the "Public Calendar Address" tab.
3. Enter the appropriate calendar address (in iCal format) in the field provided, then click on "Add."
Hope this helps!
An iCalendar feed is available for each of your lists. To find this:
1. Switch to the list which has the iCalendar feed you wish to access.
2. Make sure you have no tasks selected so that the list details box appears on the right.
3. Copy-and-paste the iCalendar URL from the list details box.
4. Add 'events' to the end of the URL. So,
webcal://www.rememberthemilk.com/icalendar/yourusername/123456/
becomes
webcal://www.rememberthemilk.com/icalendar/yourusername/123456/events/
You can then subscribe to this URL in Google Calendar.
From Google's help:
To add a calendar using its address, just follow these steps:
1. Under "Calendars" in the left column, click on the "+" button next to "Other Calendars."
2. Go to the "Public Calendar Address" tab.
3. Enter the appropriate calendar address (in iCal format) in the field provided, then click on "Add."
Hope this helps!
(closed account) says:
Thank you Emily.
I successfully followed instructions and I see my RTM calendar in my 'other' calendars in Google calendar.
However, I see no 'events' listed. I put the due dates with time but still can see them. 30 minutes have passed so far.
I successfully followed instructions and I see my RTM calendar in my 'other' calendars in Google calendar.
However, I see no 'events' listed. I put the due dates with time but still can see them. 30 minutes have passed so far.
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Google Calendar seems to take a while to update subscriptions sometimes, but they said they're working to fix this (according to this thread on their Google Group).
argotnaut says:
Thanks for adding this! I had been faking tasks in GCalendar as all-day events just for the sake of having one page with my calendar and tasks (trying to keep things simple, you know), but I missed RTM's capabilities.
Looking forward to Google fixing the iCal refresh problem so I can really use this. And the repeating tasks trouble, wherever that turns out to be...
Looking forward to Google fixing the iCal refresh problem so I can really use this. And the repeating tasks trouble, wherever that turns out to be...
norman.creaney says:
Initially I couldn't get gCal to accept my task list, but now it works - unfortunately though it does not display any of my tasks (even after 48hrs+). I guess I just have to wait for Google to fix the problem.
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Norman, we'd be happy to check your iCalendar feed and make sure there are no problems on our end -- if you'd like us to do this, please email us at [old address removed] with the feed URL that you've subscribed to in Google Calendar, and we'll check it out.
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
argotnaut, just letting you know that repeating tasks should now be displaying correctly on the calendar -- please let us know if you continue to experience problems.
(closed account) says:
Yah, it's taking a really long time to update. It's been nearly a week and mine hasn't updated. I've looked at my iCal feed and it looks fine. It seems to include all my tasks but Google calendar never updates.
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
I'm not sure if there's any more information on their Google Group, but thought I'd mention that we're seeing a lot more activity from Google Calendar, and things seem to be updating more regularly than before. Perhaps try removing the subscription from Google Calendar and re-adding it, and see if that helps.
catchpalani says:
Yes. my tasks come up in google calendar within minutes. Also repeating tasks problem is gone.
Thanks ppl.
Thanks ppl.
argotnaut says:
Yep, repeating tasks seem to be fixed.
Still doesn't seem to be refreshing for me, though. The strange thing is that I deleted the subscriptions and re-entered them, and Google "remembered" the colors and names I had assigned to the initial subscriptions -- so maybe there's something still cached in there.
Still doesn't seem to be refreshing for me, though. The strange thing is that I deleted the subscriptions and re-entered them, and Google "remembered" the colors and names I had assigned to the initial subscriptions -- so maybe there's something still cached in there.
argotnaut says:
Oh -- I think it did just refresh! Took a few hours, though.
doitsteve says:
Is publishing your list to a contact the same thing as making your list public? I want to use Google Calendar, but not thrilled about making my list public for all to see.
Actually, what is publishing to a contact all about?
Actually, what is publishing to a contact all about?
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
doitsteve, publishing a list for a contact allows you to restrict access to your list to specific Remember The Milk users. The contacts who you have published the list for will need to be logged into their Remember The Milk account to access the list.
In contrast, publishing a list for the public will potentially allow anyone to access the list. As Google Calendar unfortunately doesn't support authenticated iCalendar feeds as yet, you'll need to publish for the public so that Google can access the list.
In contrast, publishing a list for the public will potentially allow anyone to access the list. As Google Calendar unfortunately doesn't support authenticated iCalendar feeds as yet, you'll need to publish for the public so that Google can access the list.
doitsteve says:
Hello Emily,
Thank you for your reply and for a SUPER FANTASTIC site!! Remember The Milk is AWESOME!!
Thank you for your reply and for a SUPER FANTASTIC site!! Remember The Milk is AWESOME!!
Hello!
Could you please also add support for making Smart Lists public? I use them a lot to group my tasks by tag, but unfortunately I cannot make them public and use with Google Calendar.
(Since it's my first post here, I feel obliged to say that RTM rocks! I am a RTM addict since its release.)
Could you please also add support for making Smart Lists public? I use them a lot to group my tasks by tag, but unfortunately I cannot make them public and use with Google Calendar.
(Since it's my first post here, I feel obliged to say that RTM rocks! I am a RTM addict since its release.)
ndench says:
Heartily seconded, szafranek! I actually came to the forum to ask for exactly this thing.
For example, I could make use of a smart list which searched for the tag @next, and if I could publish this to gCal that would be marvellous.
I notice that you can get the "iCalendar events" link for smart lists, so I'm guessing that it's possible in principle.
I haven't really made serious use of RTM yet, but I've been really impressed with how flexible it is. This one extra step could make it really usable for me.
Many thanks
--
Neal Dench
For example, I could make use of a smart list which searched for the tag @next, and if I could publish this to gCal that would be marvellous.
I notice that you can get the "iCalendar events" link for smart lists, so I'm guessing that it's possible in principle.
I haven't really made serious use of RTM yet, but I've been really impressed with how flexible it is. This one extra step could make it really usable for me.
Many thanks
--
Neal Dench
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
szafranek and ndench, we'll be looking into the possibility of publishing Smart Lists.
Ideally, Google would support authentication so that it wasn't necessary to make lists public in order to subscribe to them in Google Calendar. Hopefully they might support this in the future :)
Ideally, Google would support authentication so that it wasn't necessary to make lists public in order to subscribe to them in Google Calendar. Hopefully they might support this in the future :)
ndench says:
Well yes, that's very true I suppose. Having to make your lists public in order to publish them to gCal isn't ideal.
ndench says:
I meant to say in that last message: thanks for your prompt reply!
nomad says:
Hi
I've just started to try this out.
How quickly should the google calendar update?
I've posted a few enteries into my published list - should these be displayed within a few minutes?
thanks
I've just started to try this out.
How quickly should the google calendar update?
I've posted a few enteries into my published list - should these be displayed within a few minutes?
thanks
nomad says:
Hi Again
ok, it took more at least a couple of hours to update.
Hope it gets quicker ;-)
ok, it took more at least a couple of hours to update.
Hope it gets quicker ;-)
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
nomad, it will update however often Google Calendar checks the iCalendar feed -- I'm not sure how often they're checking currently, but it may take a few hours to update.
zezebono says:
Hi,
I'm a Korean user and my tasks are written in Korean.
The thing is,
my tasks and notes are fine when I see them on RTM but they break (just series of '?') on my Google Calendar.
I use firefox 1.5 w/ UTF-8 enconding for RTM and Google.
Beside this problem, I like RTM. :)
I'm a Korean user and my tasks are written in Korean.
The thing is,
my tasks and notes are fine when I see them on RTM but they break (just series of '?') on my Google Calendar.
I use firefox 1.5 w/ UTF-8 enconding for RTM and Google.
Beside this problem, I like RTM. :)
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
zezebono, unfortunately this appears to be a problem on the Google Calendar side -- it doesn't seem to properly handle Korean characters in the iCalendar feed (we've had the same report for Chinese and Japanese characters too). You might try reporting this on their help forum if you haven't done so already.
hhollick says:
When I try to add an RTM list to my Google Calendar I get an error message stating:
"Could not fetch the URL because robots.txt prevents us from crawling the URL"
I have made my list public and pasted the URL in Google as a shared public calendar.
Am I missing something?
Many thanks,
Heather
"Could not fetch the URL because robots.txt prevents us from crawling the URL"
I have made my list public and pasted the URL in Google as a shared public calendar.
Am I missing something?
Many thanks,
Heather
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Heather, can you please email us [old address removed] with the URL of your list? We can check it out and make sure there are no problems on our end. Thanks!