Providers: Connecting Your Calendar (Outlook, Google Calendar)

Introduction: Calendar Conflict Checking

With the Calendar Conflict Checking, you'll be able to connect your Outlook or Google Calendar to Penji. This will allow Penji to check your available times from your Outlook or Google Calendar against the available times in your Penji Calendar. Any events from your Outlook or Google Calendar that conflict with your Penji Calendar availability will be removed from the time slots that students can select when booking a session. This integration is particularly useful if you have frequently changing events in your Outlook or Google Calendar or do not have time to check for conflicts between both Calendars.

You are able to connect both an Outlook and Google Calendar account. However, you can only connect one of each account at this time. 

NOTE 1: The Outlook and Google Calendar Conflict Checking feature is currently only available for Appointments, NOT Drop-ins or Sections.

NOTE 2: Right now, the calendar integration is per community. You will need to add this integration for each community you are in. 

First Time: How to Connect Your Outlook Calendar

1. Log into web.penjiapp.com and select "Settings" in the left sidebar menu. Figure 1: Provider has selected "Settings".
2. Select "Calendar Connections" at the top of the Settings menu. Since this is the first time you're connecting your Outlook Calendar, the screen should say "No connected calendars". Figure 2: Calendar Connections screen with no connected Outlook Calendar yet. 
3. Select "Connect Microsoft Outlook calendar". This will lead you to another screen saying "No Microsoft account connected" with a button called "Connect your account". Figure 3: Connect Microsoft Outlook calendar screen with no Microsoft account connected yet. 
4. Select "Connect your account." This will then open a new tab with a webpage from Penji with "Connect your Penji account with Microsoft" as well as the email that you registered for Penji with. Figure 4: Redirected Penji webpage prompting to sign in with Microsoft. 
5. Select "Sign in with Microsoft". This will redirect you to a webpage with Microsoft asking you to either sign in to your Microsoft account or select an Outlook account they've found belonging to you. You can sign in using either method.Figure 5: Microsoft sign-in screen.
6. Once you've signed in, Microsoft will ask if you want Penji to access your info from your Outlook. Select "Yes" to continue. Figure 6: Details of what Penji will be able to access from your Outlook. 
7. You'll then land on a webpage from Penji stating that your Microsoft account is now connected to Penji and to go back to the app. Close the page and go back to Penji -- the Outlook calendar integration is now complete!  Figure 7: Penji webpage stating that Microsoft account is now connected to Penji.

First Time: How to Connect Your Google Calendar

1. Log into web.penjiapp.com and select "Settings" in the left sidebar menu. Figure 1: Provider has selected "Settings".
2. Select "Calendar Connections" at the top of the Settings menu. Since this is the first time you're connecting your Google Calendar, the screen should say "No connected calendars". Select "Connect Google calendar". 
   Figure 2: Calendar Connections screen is shown. "Connect Google Calendar" is highlighted in yellow with "No connected calendars" field below. 
3. This will lead you to another screen saying "No Google account connected" with a button called "Connect your account". Select "Connect your account". 
   Figure 3: Connect Google Calendar screen with no Google account connected yet. 
4. Select "Connect your account." This will then open a new tab with a webpage from Penji with "Connect your Penji account with Google" as well as the email you registered for Penji with.
   Figure 4: Redirected Penji webpage prompting to sign in with Google.
5. Select "Sign in with Google". You will then land on a Google sign-in screen prompting you to choose which Google email you wish to connect to Penji.
   Figure 5: Google sign-in screen is shown with one email address.
6. Select the email you'd like to connect to Penji. Once you've selected it, you should see a screen saying "Your Google account is now connected!"
   
   Figure 6: Penji webpage stating that Google account is now connected to Penji.
   
   
7. Close the above page and return to the Penji app -- the Google calendar integration is now complete! 

Reconnecting a Calendar (Outlook and Google)

Here is how to reconnect a Calendar to Penji:

1. Follow Steps 1-3 in "First Time: How to Connect Your Outlook Calendar"
2. Instead of seeing the "No Microsoft account connected" screen, you should see the screen in Figure 8. 
3. You'll land on the "Calendar Connections" screen, which will contain whichever Microsoft Outlook or Google account(s) you previously connected to Penji. Select the account you want to reconnect to complete the process.
   Figure 1: Reconnecting your Microsoft account to Penji. 
   
   Figure 2: Reconnecting your Google account to Penji. 

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. 

FAQ

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?

It could be that you have connected the wrong Microsoft/Google account, which is why Penji does not seem to be removing your availability. Penji will only remove availability from the connected calendar account. If you are having issues with availability, we recommend taking the following steps: 

1. Open an incognito window, log in to web.penjiapp.com and disconnect, your current calendar integrations.
2. Reconnect your calendar by following the steps above. Since you are in an incognito window, you will be asked to log in to your email account. This will help ensure that the correct calendar and all of its events are connected.

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".