Calendars through iCal

If a room is also on Airbnb, Vrbo or another channel that Noren does not know through the channel manager, Noren and that channel keep each other's calendar up to date through a calendar address. This works now. Such a calendar only passes on busy or free, not prices: if you change a price here, change it yourself on the other channel too.

Open iCal in Settings

Two directions

You set up iCal per room type, and for each direction separately.

Fetching their calendar

1. Find the calendar address at the other channel. On Airbnb it is under Calendar, Availability, Sync calendars.
2. Under "Calendars we fetch", fill in a "Name", choose the room type under "Which room" and paste the "Calendar address". It has to be an https or webcal address.
3. Click "Add calendar". Noren fetches it for the first time straight away.

After that, Noren checks every quarter of an hour for changes. A block from the other channel takes the room out of sale here; if it disappears there, it comes back here. "Fetch now" saves you waiting for the next quarter. Each calendar shows "Fine", "Unreachable" or "Not a calendar". If fetching fails, the blocks that were already there stay put.

Passing our calendar on

Under "Passing our calendar on", choose the room type and click "Show address". That is the address you give the other channel. Every room type has its own address; give each Airbnb listing the address of the room type it belongs to. The calendar holds your bookings, your closed periods and the blocks from other calendars, up to just over a year ahead. It holds dates only, nothing about your guests.

If the address has ended up in the wrong hands, click "Replace address". The old one stops working; pass the new one on.

Double booked

A calendar is fetched at intervals. In between, a guest can book the same night here. Noren does not resolve that itself: the nights appear under "Double booked", with the stay. Which guest has to move is your conversation. Click "Sorted" once you have dealt with it.

Good to know

• "Remove" takes a calendar away; the nights it closed are back on sale.
• For Booking.com, Airbnb and Expedia a real connection is coming, with prices. See Connecting channels.