Unable to retrieve content from the provided URL – iCal importer

[Carl]

Hi, I am getting “Unable to retrieve content from the provided URL” when trying to put in a iCal URL.

I am desperately trying to get my website done before I go on tour so it can be used during the trip. Hope you can help me ASAP.

I have made sure I have copied the URL correctly from the iCal calendar.
I have tried changing the theme to Twenty Fifteen and turned off all the plugins (bar the calendar plugins). But, it still does not work.

How do I resolve this?

[Josh]

Hey Carl,

Thanks for reaching out to us!

I apologize for the inconvenience of this issue. Lets get to the bottom of this one quickly. As an initial step, can you send me the iCal link that you’re wanting to import so I can test it to see what particular errors or issues could be happening here?

Thanks!

[Carl]

This reply is private.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 2 months ago by Carl.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 2 months ago by Josh.

[Josh]

Hey Carl,

Thanks for providing the link to the file! Also, we have a strict policy about not accessing client sites. I appreciate your willingness to add that information here but I’ve removed it for your security.

I tested the link as well as modified it slightly based on previous issues I’ve seen, however I still wasn’t able to get the file to import. Is this a public calendar by chance?

Thanks!

[Carl]

Hi Josh, been on the road, touring is crazy! Need to get this sorted now ASAP.

In order to get the link to the calendar I need to make it public: webcal://p07-calendars.icloud.com/published/2/AMkyAlscbH6dmzHGeDBLJwKMXiG-FnOGALBoDmaKXPKChWFkiJcUK4LKSPl11dPnDk-1ejIPDwVBeuVYEs3OCJVF_PC-3eZBkz0tuElFV2k

Is there another way to get this link without making it public?

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Carl.

[Carl]

This reply is private.

[Josh]

Hey Carl,

Thanks for following up here with this additional information.

It looks like there is some sort of error with the actual calendar links here. I’ve tried accessing and importing directly in the browser as well as with subscribing with the calendar on my computer and both responded with a similar error of no calendar being present at the set locations.

Out of curiosity, what are the steps that you’re taking to generate this feed link?

Thanks!

[Carl]

Cheers Josh, seams that during the process of writing out the steps it began working! YAY! Here is where I got to. The >>> is what worked for me:

Apple Calendar:

Right click on the iCloud calendar > Sharing Settings > Check Public Calendar (it’s the only way I know how to get the link) > Copy the link:

(shared calendar) webcal://p07-calendars.icloud.com/published/2/171ZbcqOR7lG-APpG-GWYtg_JPsC92qrYv4peDmZg2cuq21sEiwsu7zWJrLRwBRHgfc3_orUQmfsNazYa-LoOKLx41_bEg9MMLnYPE6iOOg

OR

(unshared calendar) webcal://p07-calendars.icloud.com/published/2/UqsCfoLaC1mrOEGayZ5jlQeb-WL_vJo_bsqkwZvywfmFp0NHQwGcOEy6WhKwO6iM5RQq-4_TRN_jnLlBqKuiYrPek_PchRnMvdJ2mRpIViY

OR by logging into the calendar from the browser on iclould (you have to make it public to see the link here too):

>>> webcal://p07-calendars.icloud.com/published/2/GUzciwRsybfIYGOhzg-1QT2f-oG5QPtQkfCE8wwPogEYZQq0tF6hnCKGMlAUKsEUnS0giArHI-bN1zlt1bLVWliPtwbkzKsdOqc8rdwQddI

Google Calendar:

Select the dropdown on the chosen calendar > Calendar Settings > Under calendar address click on iCal and copy the address: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/contactcarlneumann%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics

For either Apple Calendar or Google Calendar links in WP backend:

Events > Import > iCal > Type: Reoccurring every 10mins (or whatever) > iCal url: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/contactcarlneumann%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics (or the other links) > don’t touch the other settings > click “search”

[Josh]

Hey Carl,

Awesome! I’m glad that you were able to get the calendar working for you here!

So is everything getting put into your calendar as expected via the importer now?

Thanks!

[Carl]

Hi Josh, yes it does but it doesn’t automatically update. I have to keep manually doing it every time I add a date into the apple calendar. 🙁

[Carl]

grr.. I deleted all of the events to import them all into one category rather than a few i had. But now it won’t import any… disappointed this is so hard to use. 🙁

[Carl]

OK, now this is just frustrating. I thought I would get the pro version so I can have re-occurring events. I’ve installed it but it doesn’t show. At the top of WP it says “To begin using Events Calendar PRO, please install the latest version of The Events Calendar.” But when I click it says it is the latest.

[Carl]

Seriously, this is nuts. I’ve tried again today. This time try only google calendar ics and ical urls but no go! I REALLY need to get this sorted as it is the last part of my website launch. I need to get it working so i can start communicating to potential clients.

I am getting this problem repeatedly: The server responded with a malformed response. Please see the JS console for more information.

What does it mean? How do I resolve it?

[Josh]

Hey Carl,

I apologize for the delay here. I was out on some unexpected medical leave.

I want to also apologize for the continued issues here with the plugin. Looking through the responses, I believe I see a couple of known issues that I can help you with.

• To start, once the events were imported and then deleted it caused the issue of the importer not recognizing events from the feed associated with the original import there. This is due to the events not being completed deleted by the system and saving that information as a “deleted-event”. Here is a great response from our team member Brook on how to address this particular issue.
• For the admin notices, would you mind trying deactivating the plugins and reactivating to see if that causes the admin notice for the update to go away?
• Finally, for the import issues would you mind doing a quick test with http://wpshindig.com/events/?ical=1 to see if your site is able to read the file there? If not, try following the Testing for Conflicts procedures to see if there is a conflict here which is causing the import to fail.

Let me know if this helps.

Thanks!

 

[Support Droid]

This topic has not been active for quite some time and will now be closed.

If you still need assistance please simply open a new topic (linking to this one if necessary)
and one of the team will be only too happy to help.

[Author]

Posts