Calendar Conflict Checking FAQ's

Now that I've connected my calendar, do I need to change my Penji Calendar's availability?

No, you do not need to alter your Penji Calendar's availability if you choose to connect either Calendar. Penji will check your Outlook or Google Calendar, see when you're unavailable (i.e., wherever you have overlapping events), and remove those times even if you have them set them to "available" in your Penji Calendar. This is so that if you have a large number of one-time events in your Outlook or Google Calendar (e.g., study sessions, office hours, club socials, etc.), you do not need to manually change your Penji Calendar's availability every time such an event comes up. 

Here's a scenario of how a provider's Outlook Calendar event overrides their Penji Calendar availability when a student views the booking calendar for appointments. Note that this availability override also applies if you've connected a Google Calendar:

1. Victoria has a one-time group study session on Tuesday, 8/9 from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. However, she usually has available advising hours on Tuesdays from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. (circled in red in Figure 2).  Figure 1: Victoria's Outlook Calendar. Note the three-hour group study session on the close-up of Victoria's schedule for Tuesday.Figure 2: Victoria's available times on her Penji Calendar. Note the circled time slot that interferes with the group study session in Outlook.
2. Without the Outlook Calendar integration, Victoria would have to either notify the Community Admin that she won't be able to advise between 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. or manually remove those hours for 8/9 and reinsert them after her group study session. But with the integration, Victoria does not need to alter her Penji Calendar at all, as Penji will remove 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. as an available time for students to book (Note: This does not affect other providers' available hours. If another provider is available during that time, the hours will still show up on the students' booking calendar). Figure 3: No available hours showing up for 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on 8/9, as Victoria would normally be the only advisor available during that time. 
3.  Since Victoria's group study session is a one-time event, students can book a session with her between 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. the following Tuesday, 8/16. Figure 4: Victoria's available hours go back to normal on 8/16. Students can book a session with her between 12:30 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. as usual. 

Why isn't my Penji availability being removed when I have events scheduled on my Outlook/Google Calendar?

In this case, the most common reason a slot can still be booked during a blocked time is if the event on the Google/Outlook calendar is set to “Free” instead of “Busy.” Penji only blocks events marked as “Busy” (or “Out of Office”) as unavailable time.

Is it possible to connect both Outlook and Google Calendars?

Yes, it is possible to connect an Outlook and a Google Calendar simultaneously. If you've previously added an Outlook or Google account to Penji to connect a Calendar, follow the steps under "Reconnecting a Calendar." If this is the first time you're adding a Calendar, follow the "First Time" steps for Outlook and/or Google. 

Once you've connected both accounts, you should see both of them listed on the Calendar Connections screen (see below). Clicking into either box will lead you to the screen in Figures 1 and 2 in "Reconnecting a Calendar." 

Figure 1: A Google account and Outlook account have been added to this provider's Penji account. 

What if my Outlook/Google Calendar gets disconnected?

If your Outlook/Google Calendar has disconnected, this might be due to an expired token, because you were automatically signed out of Penji, or another similar situation. Penji will notify you when your Outlook or Google Calendar gets disconnected via an email with a link to your Calendar Connections tab in Settings. You can access that link and reconnect your desired calendar by following the steps above.   

My all-day events are not being removed from my Penji availability (Google Calendar)

Please note that when you add an all-day event to your Google Calendar, by default, you will be set as "free, see the screenshot below. You will want to make sure your availability is set to "Busy" instead of "Free". To do this, click into the "Free" setting and change it to "Busy". Now, the calendar integration will communicate to Penji that you are unavailable. In order for the calendar integration to remove availability, events need to be set as "Busy".