Calendar Sources

Calendar sources are the foundation of BlendedCal. They're the individual calendars you import from other services like Google Calendar, TeamSnap, or school portals.

Start with the feeds families actually use

Family source quick map

Use this quick map for where to look and suggested tags before you read the full provider instructions.

School portal

District calendars, classroom newsletters, lunch menus, music programs

Look in
Look for Subscribe, Add to calendar, iCal, or Export on the school calendar page.
Tags to start
school, district, child-nameschooldistrictchild-name

Sports app

TeamSnap, GameChanger, Playmetrics, SportsEngine, Stack Team App

Look in
Open the team schedule and check calendar sync, export, or subscribe options.
Tags to start
sports, team, seasonsportsteamseason

Shared family calendar

Google, Apple, Outlook, co-parent calendars, household calendars

Look in
Use the calendar's sharing settings and copy its private or published iCal link.
Tags to start
family, home, helperfamilyhomehelper

Pickup and care helper feed

Grandparent game days, sitter pickup windows, carpool-only views

Look in
Start with the source that owns the handoff events, then share a focused helper calendar later.
Tags to start
pickup, care, carpool, sitterpickupcarecarpoolsitter

What is a Calendar Source?

A calendar source is an ICS feed (a standard calendar format) that BlendedCal imports and syncs automatically. Sources can come from:

  • Google Calendar
  • Apple Calendar / iCloud
  • Microsoft Outlook / Office 365
  • TeamSnap (youth sports)
  • GameChanger (youth sports)
  • School portals and websites
  • Any service that provides an ICS or iCal URL

Once you add a source, BlendedCal automatically fetches events and keeps them in sync. You can then use these sources to create blended calendars with custom filters.

Adding a Calendar Source

To add a new source:

  1. Go to the Sources page in your dashboard
  2. Click Add Source
  3. Paste the ICS URL from your calendar service
  4. Give it a name (optional — BlendedCal will use the calendar's name if you don't provide one)
  5. Add tags to categorize this source (optional)
  6. Add filter text to exclude certain events (optional)
  7. Click Create Source

BlendedCal will immediately fetch events from the source and continue syncing it automatically every few hours.

Finding ICS URLs

Different services provide ICS URLs in different places. Here's how to find them for popular platforms:

Google Calendar

  1. Open Google Calendar on the web
  2. Click the three dots next to the calendar you want to export
  3. Select Settings and sharing
  4. Scroll to Integrate calendar
  5. Copy the Secret address in iCal format URL

Apple Calendar / iCloud

  1. Go to iCloud.com/calendar
  2. Click the share icon next to the calendar
  3. Check Public Calendar
  4. Copy the webcal:// URL and change it to https://

Outlook / Office 365

  1. Open Outlook Calendar on the web
  2. Right-click the calendar you want to share
  3. Select Sharing and permissions
  4. Under Publish this calendar, click Publish
  5. Copy the ICS link

TeamSnap

  1. Log into TeamSnap
  2. Go to your team's schedule
  3. Click Export or look for calendar sync options
  4. Copy the iCal / ICS URL (it often starts with https://go.teamsnap.com/...)

GameChanger

  1. Open the GameChanger app or website
  2. Go to your team's schedule
  3. Look for Subscribe or Export Calendar
  4. Copy the ICS URL

Source Settings

Each source has several settings you can configure:

Name

A friendly name for the source (e.g., "Carter's Soccer", "School Calendar"). If you don't provide one, BlendedCal uses the calendar's original name.

Tags

Tags let you categorize sources for easy filtering. For example:

  • Tag all of Carter's calendars with carter
  • Tag all sports calendars with sports
  • Tag school calendars with school

You can then create blended calendars that include all sources with a specific tag. Learn more in the Filtering & Tags guide.

Display colors

Display colors make merged schedules easier to scan. Choose a color for school, sports, pickup, or care feeds so each source keeps the same cue in dashboard, shared, and helper calendar views.

For example, use emerald for school logistics, blue for a soccer team, and amber for pickup or care coverage. Grandparents or sitters can scan the shared calendar and quickly spot the events that belong to the feed they are helping with.

Filter Text

Filter text lets you exclude events that match certain keywords. For example, if a calendar has lots of "Practice" events but you only want games, you can set filter text to exclude "Practice".

BlendedCal searches event titles, descriptions, and locations for the filter text (case-insensitive).

Active / Inactive

Toggle a source on or off. Inactive sources won't sync new events and won't appear in blended calendars. This is useful for seasonal calendars (like a sports season that's over).

Auto-Sync Behavior

BlendedCal automatically polls your sources to keep events up to date:

  • Active sources are synced every few hours
  • Changes in the source calendar (new events, updates, cancellations) appear in BlendedCal within minutes to hours
  • You can manually trigger a sync from the source detail page if you need immediate updates

Tip: BlendedCal respects rate limits and cache headers from source calendars. If you're not seeing updates, the source service may be caching the calendar feed.

Virtual Sources (Manual Events)

In addition to ICS feeds, BlendedCal supports virtual sources for manually adding events. When you create an event directly in BlendedCal (via the dashboard or API), it's stored in a special "My Events" virtual source that's automatically created for you.

Virtual sources work just like regular sources — you can tag them, filter them, and include them in blended calendars.

Troubleshooting

Source won't sync

If a source isn't syncing:

  • Make sure the ICS URL is still valid (some services expire calendar links)
  • Check if the source calendar is set to public/shared (private calendars may require re-authentication)
  • Try manually syncing from the source detail page
  • Check the source for error messages in the dashboard

Events aren't showing up

If events are missing:

  • Check if filter text is excluding them
  • Make sure the source is set to Active
  • Verify the events exist in the original calendar
  • Try manually syncing the source

Duplicate events

If you're seeing duplicates, you may have added the same calendar URL twice. Check your sources list and remove any duplicates.

Next Steps

Now that you've added sources, learn how to combine them into custom calendars:

Learn about Blended Calendars →