If you connect your Google Calendar to Method, a new Google Calendar is created for you. Appointments and meetings will sync back and forth between your Method calendar and your Google Calendar.

Setup

Once logged into your Method account, navigate to your integrations page. Select Google Calendar and click "Connect to Google Calendar". Now, when you go to your Google account, you'll see that a new calendar has been created with the default name of "User Name : Company Account".

Preferences

Click on your user name in the top-right corner, and go to My Profile > Google Calendar.

1. Connect / Disconnect Google Calendar - allows you to connect and disconnect from Google Calendar. This won't delete any calendars created in Google, but it will prevent new ones from getting created.
2. Default cancelled status - appointments deleted in Google will be given this status in Method.
3. Default pending status - new appointments added in Google that are after the current time will be given this status in Method.
4. Default completed status - new appointments added in Google that are before the current time will be given this status in Method.
5. Default appointment type - new appointments added in Google will be assigned this type in Method.

What gets synced?

*Activities that are:

1. 1 week ago and later.
2. Before 6 months in the future.
3. Not assigned to a 'Cancelled' Activity Status category.
4. Assigned to an Activity Type with the 'IsOnCalendar' option 'Yes'.

When does the sync occur?

Syncs happen in the following ways:

1. When you go My Profile > Google Calendar > Sync now.
2. If you create a new appointment from the Gmail Gadget.
3. Every 20 minutes a sync is triggered automatically. 

Why is a new Google Calendar created, instead of Method just syncing with my default Google Calendar?

This is a standard practice, and offers the following benefits:

1. You can easily share the calendar with other users without sharing all your non-Method appointments.
2. It gives you a clear way of deciding which appointments should be added from Google to Method and which ones shouldn't.
3. It is easier to permanently delete should you not want to sync your appointments anymore.
4. It is easier to reset for the purpose of troubleshooting.
5. If you have multiple Method accounts, there is a clear distinction between which appointments are for which account, since they each get their own Google Calendar.

Is it better to add or modify appointments in Google or in Method?

It is better to create, move and modify appointments in Method for the following reasons:

1. Appointments in Method have more fields, including the customer, contact and activity status.
2. When an appointment is added in Google, Method has to guess at the desired status. It treats appointments created for the past as being 'Completed' in Method, and appointments created for the future as being 'Pending' in Method.
3. When an appointment is moved to a different Google Calendar, it is treated as 'Cancelled' for the original user in Method, since Google gives Method no distinction between an appointment that was deleted vs. moved, so we must treat it as cancelled. If the appointment was moved to another user who also has their Google Calendar syncing with Method, then Method may be able to detect it and un-cancel the appointment and move it to the right user. If it cannot, then a new appointment will instead be created for that user.

How are the appointment fields mapped?

From Method to Google where Contact is specified in Method:

• Method Appointment Type, Contact, Contact Phone >> Google Event Title
• Method Ship to / Bill to >> Google Event Location
  • NOTE: Method will use the Shipping Address if the first line of the Shipping Address is not empty, otherwise it will use the Billing Address. It will then look for the first line of the address that has a numeric value in it, making the assumption that this is the street address, and subsequent lines are city, state, zip and country.
• Method Comments >> Google Event Description
• Method Due Date Start, Due Date End >> Google Start Date, End Date

From Method to Google where Contact is not specified:

• Method Due Date Start, Due Date End >> Google Start Date, End Date

From Google to Method where Contact is specified in Method:

• Google Event Description >> Method Comments
• Google Start Date, End Date >> Method Due Date Start, Due Date End

From Google to Method on an event where Contact is not specified

• Google Event Title, Location, Description >> Method Comments
• Google Start Date, End Date > Method Due Date Start, Due Date End

Note 1: While Method comments support HTML, Google's comments don't. When an event is modified in Google, it will sync non-HTML comments back, so you may lose some formatting.

Note 2: If you don't want Method to overwrite your title, location or comments in Google, use * as the first character in the field in Google.

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