Originally I created the calendar using the basic Fullcalendar script but found the basic version lacking a lot of the features (out of the box so to speak) a Client required such as the ability to drag across a date range, allow for dragging of existing events across new ranges, editable events etc (full CRUD). Although Fullcalendar is perfectly capable of these tasks, and all are well documented, stitching all the parts together took me quite a while and is still an on going endeavor. Stackoverflow played a huge role in working it all out. I give credit where credit is due in that regard. Essentially its a load of hacks put together to get the job done in the most efficient way possible. I have looked about at other examples (wishing to save time) and have yet to find a better version (I know that is quite a statement) of what I hacked and bodged in to place. For example getting the language side to work properly probably took me a week (I wrote/adapted this calendar originally for other projects so was in my personal repository and available for this Support project). Then some quite clever java trickery for spacing and responsiveness took at least another week of refinement, together with integrating quite a complex routine for cookies and sessions (JavaScript and Jqeury are really not my strong point so a lot of hit and miss there). Everything is drawn from MySQL table via a simple query as again I’m not that good with JSON either. So getting the events to pull from the db took me a while to figure out… Again if I am honest, and to answer your question as well, I’d say develop any such application separately from the project itself as a standalone so it can be used in other projects. I once tied this in to a reservation system and it got so complex in the end it took me a week to separate it all again in to something I could use elsewhere. Start with the basic Fullcalendar as I know it has come a long way since I begun playing with it. Sign up to Stackoverflow and don’t be shy about asking questions. Have multiple backups of the code as the smallest error will fubar the whole thing and you will pull your hair out trying to figure out how you broke it. And, like me, hope and wish for a DMX/Wappler calendar extension… On the other side exporting to ICAL was a breeze in comparison to getting everything else working. Then depending on your channels (AirBNB, Booking.c0m etc) it’s not too difficult to get things synchronised… Essentially sync them to a Google Calendar and then pull from there to your back end with a cron job. That takes care of that bit. Can be bloody expensive paying for channel management tools…
Until DMX/Wappler bring out a similar offering be prepared for some head scratching and long nights. Saying that the reward when something actually works is immense and well worth it!
I doubt that really helps you though. I’m hesitant to post the code as I once provided it to someone who quickly tried to commercialise it without my consent (I EDITED THIS BIT)…
