9 Best Practices for Shareable Calendar Links

Follow these 10 tips for secure and helpful calendar links.

Here are Teamup’s best practices and tips for using and managing shareable calendar links. Unique calendar links let you share your calendar while maintaining security and control.

With Teamup Calendar, you can grant calendar access to users and groups, or via shareable, unique calendar links. The calendar administrator can create, modify, and delete these calendar links as needed.

Shareable calendar links are helpful when you want to share a calendar without requiring user registration or login, but want to maintain calendar security and control:

  • No registration required: With a calendar link, users can open a calendar without needing to register or login.
  • Customized access: Each calendar link is unique, and can be set to allow access to selected sub-calendars and with customized access permissions for each sub-calendar included.
  • Limited and secure access: The calendar administrator can delete or modify a shareable link at anytime; it’s easy to provide that access with a calendar link, then delete the link when the event or time period is over.

It is very easy to create new shareable links, modify or delete calendar links, or edit link permissions. You can do all of this without creating a new calendar. Go to Settings > Sharing, then use the blue button at the top right to create a new link. Here’s more detailed information.

Best practices for calendar links

To keep your calendar secure when using shareable links, here are several recommendations.

We recommend creating a unique shareable calendar link for each purpose, whether that is for an individual, a group, or embedding your calendar in your website.

Doing so gives you control over calendar access: you can choose which sub-calendars to share and set the appropriate level of access permission for each use of a link.  This also helps you keep your calendar secure. For example, if you need to revoke access to your calendar for a particular group, you can simply delete the shareable link the group was using.

Learn more about sharing selected calendars.

It’s a good idea to use an individual or group name, or the purpose of the link, so you can remember the purpose for each shareable link.

For example, instead of using something like Temporary Client Link, we suggest 1) you create a unique shareable link for each client (as suggested above), and 2) name the link for the specific client (e.g., Tom Jones Calendar Link). If using a link to embed a calendar, indicate in the name of the link where it will be used: Facebook Page Calendar Embed or Website Calendar Embed. Specific link names make it easy to identify which calendar links are current and which are outdated.

Learn more about customized calendar links.

3. Use password protection for a team calendar link.

For a calendar link used by a group, it’s a good idea to enable password protection for the calendar link.

This way, if you need to revoke calendar access to a particular group member, you can simply change the password. Inform the remaining group members of the new password and they’re able to continue using the same calendar link securely.

Learn more about password protection.

4. Set access permissions at the lowest level of access by default.

Each sub-calendar you include in a calendar link can be assigned a level of access permission, from read-only all the way to full modify permission.

If you’re unsure which access permission to assign, it’s a good idea to start with the most limited one (read-only, or read-only, no details) to prevent accidental changes to calendar data. You can always change the access permission, if you find that a higher level of access is needed for the user or user group.

Learn more about access permissions.

If you want to invite someone to a particular event, or share an event with a group, you don’t need to use a calendar link.

Instead, use the built-in sharing options to share an event (or multiple events) with individuals or groups. In the event editor, click on the Sharing menu to see all the sharing options. They include email, various social media options, and Share as page. The Share as page option is a powerful and easy way to share an event: click on it, and a stand-alone webpage will be automatically created for the event. You can then share the link to that webpage, without granting full calendar access.

Learn more about sharing events and sharing an event as a webpage.

Sometimes, you need to share more than a single event with a group or even with the general public.

What if you need to share a series of events, an ongoing schedule, or an entire, regularly updated calendar? You don’t want to allow people to make unauthorized changes to your calendar, but you do want to keep them informed. A read-only link provides security: people can view the calendar and events, but cannot modify or delete events on the calendar, or add anything new.

Once you’ve created a read-only link, you can share it on social media, in an email newsletter, or even embed it in your website.

Learn more about securely sharing a calendar with the public.

If you create a new sub-calendar, you can update a shareable link to include the new sub-cal.

There’s no need to create a new calendar link to include a new sub-calendar. Instead, use this method to add a new sub-calendar to the existing calendar link: open the editor window for the new sub-calendar (go to Settings > Calendars, then click on the edit button beside the sub-calendar). Scroll down to the Links with Access section. Check the box next to it so that links without access will also be shown. Choose the permission for the link you want to update, and you’re all set.

Learn more about updating a calendar link.

Keep track of who has access to your Teamup Calendar and remove out-dated or unneeded shareable links.

To see all the calendar links for your calendar, use your administrator link and go to Settings > Sharing. You will see a list of all calendar links. You can use the toggle switch on the left side of each calendar link to enable or disable the calendar link: this is a good option if you’re not sure whether a particular calendar link is still needed. You can disable it by toggling it off (the toggle switch will be red) until you determine if the calendar link is needed and secure or not. To modify or delete a calendar link, click on the edit icon to the right side of each calendar link.

Learn more about managing calendar links.

9. Use account-based access for better control and security.

Account-based access provides a greater degree of security, with registration and verified email addresses for each user. You can also easily put users into groups and set access permissions for an entire group. It’s easier, faster, and more secure than managing a long list of shareable links.

Learn more about account-based access for users and groups

Not sure if Teamup Calendar is right for you? Try out one of our live demo calendars (with all the Premium features enabled) and see how it could be customized for your needs.

 

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