Calendar Subscription Plugin

Subscribe to any public iCalendar (.ics) URL and display upcoming events on your Vestaboard — with automatic board alerts before events start.

→ Setup Guide

Overview

The Calendar Subscription plugin fetches any public .ics calendar URL (Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, school/org calendars, and more) and surfaces upcoming events as template variables. It also supports event-based triggers: when an event is within a configurable number of minutes from starting, the board automatically displays the event, then returns to normal operation.

Recurring events (weekly meetings, classes, etc.) are fully expanded, so every occurrence shows up correctly. Both https:// and webcal:// URL formats are supported.

The board-takeover behavior is optional: leave Take Over the Board for Events on for automatic alerts, or turn it off to expose the calendar's variables to your own pages without ever interrupting the board — handy for long events or conditional/Collection layouts.

Template Variables

Next Event

Variable	Description	Example
{{event_name}}	Name/title of the next upcoming event	Parent Teacher Conf
{{event_start}}	Formatted start time	3:30 PM
{{event_start_date}}	Formatted start date	Apr 3
{{event_end}}	Formatted end time	4:30 PM
{{event_location}}	Location of the event (if set)	Room 204
{{event_description}}	Description text (truncated)	Bring report card
{{minutes_until}}	Minutes until next event starts	45
{{is_now}}	Whether an event is currently in progress	false

Upcoming Events

Variable	Description	Example
{{event_count}}	Number of upcoming events loaded	3
{{event2_name}}	Name of the event after the next one	Design Review
{{event2_start}}	Start time of the event after the next one	4:00 PM
{{event2_start_date}}	Start date of the event after the next one	Apr 7
{{event2_end}}	End time of the event after the next one	5:00 PM
{{event2_location}}	Location of the event after the next one	Room 105
{{events.0.name}}	Name of the first event (same as event_name)	Weekly Standup
{{events.0.start}}	Start time of the first event	9:00 AM
{{events.0.start_date}}	Start date of the first event	Apr 7
{{events.0.end}}	End time of the first event	9:30 AM
{{events.0.location}}	Location of the first event	Conference Room

Events are sorted by start time and capped at max_events. For a longer list, index into the array directly: {{events.1.name}}, {{events.2.name}}, etc. — see "Multi-event templates" below.

Example Templates

Countdown alert (recommended for the Trigger Page):

UPCOMING EVENT
{{event_name}}

{{event_start_date}}  {{event_start}}
{{event_location}}
IN {{minutes_until}} MIN

Set this as your Trigger Page and set Lead Time to e.g. 5 min — the page is re-rendered every loop tick while the event is within the window, so {{minutes_until}} naturally counts down 5 → 4 → 3 → 2 → 1 as the event approaches.

Now / Next (two events at a glance):

NEXT UP
{{event_name}}
{{event_start_date}} {{event_start}}
THEN
{{event2_name}}
{{event2_start_date}} {{event2_start}}

Simple reminder:

REMINDER
{{event_name}}
STARTS AT {{event_start}}
ON {{event_start_date}}

Multi-event templates

For three or more upcoming events, index into the events array directly (0-based, sorted by start time, capped at max_events):

UP NEXT
{{events.0.name}}  {{events.0.start}}
{{events.1.name}}  {{events.1.start}}
{{events.2.name}}  {{events.2.start}}

An indexed slot that falls past the end of the list renders as ??? — keep max_events set high enough to fill your template.

Configuration

Setting	Description	Default
calendar_url	Public .ics or webcal:// URL (required)	—
enable_triggers	Take over the board to show events. Turn off to expose variables only — no board interruption (great for long events or conditional/Collection layouts). The settings below only apply when this is on.	true
minutes_before	Lead time before an event — picks one of 1/2/3/5/10/15/30/60 min	5
display_duration_minutes	How long the alert stays on the board after the event ends — picks one of 0 (until next page) / 5 / 10 / 15 / 30 / 60 / 120 min	15
timezone	IANA timezone for all-day events and time display	America/Los_Angeles
max_events	Maximum number of upcoming events to load	5
refresh_seconds	How often to re-fetch the calendar URL (min: 60)	300
trigger_page_id	Page to display when an event trigger fires. Picked from a dropdown of your pages — must be a template page using {{calendar_sub.*}} variables. Leave unset to use the built-in 6-line layout.	—

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
CALENDAR_SUB_URL	Calendar URL (alternative to setting in UI)
TIMEZONE	Default IANA timezone

Features

• Universal format support: Works with any public iCalendar (.ics) feed — Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, school/org calendars, and more
• webcal:// support: Accepts both https:// and webcal:// subscription URLs
• Recurring events: Fully expands RRULE-based recurring events (weekly meetings, classes, etc.)
• All-day events: Displays all-day events with "All Day" instead of a time
• Event triggers: Automatically interrupts the board display when an event is approaching
• Optional takeover: Turn triggers off to use the event variables in your own pages without ever interrupting the board
• Configurable alert window: Set minutes_before to get alerts 5, 15, 30+ minutes in advance
• Flexible display duration: Set how long the alert stays on the board, or leave it up until the next scheduled page
• Multi-event template support: Access up to 20 upcoming events as template variables for custom layouts

Author

FiestaBoard Team