Methods and systems for a web-based calendar application

Abstract

A calendar platform is provided for creating an event calendar for publication on a website and sharing events between different calendars. A method is provided for generating and maintaining an online calendar, comprising retrieving a first event feed from a first calendar source, retrieving a second event feed from a second calendar source, iterating through events of the first and second event feeds, determining for each event whether there is a corresponding event entry in the online calendar; and adding the event to the online calendar if there is no corresponding event entry located in the online calendar. A category associated with the calendar source is assigned to each event. A user can filter the events by category and display or publish events of certain categories, or export selected events to the user's calendar.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method for generating and maintaining an online calendar, the method comprising:
 retrieving a first event feed from a first calendar source;   retrieving a second event feed from a second calendar source;   iterating through events of the first and second event feeds, and determining for each event whether there is a corresponding event entry in the online calendar; and   adding the event to the online calendar if there is no corresponding event entry located in the online calendar, wherein adding the event to the online calendar comprises assigning to the event a category associated with the calendar source for the event.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein assigning the category comprises assigning a first category to the event if the event is from the first event feed, and assigning a second category to the event if the event is from the second event feed. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , comprising accepting a selection of one or more categories from a user and displaying in the online calendar only the events that have been assigned one or more of the selected categories. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22  comprising, where the corresponding event entry is located in the online calendar, updating the event entry with information from the event feed. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the online calendar is provided by a web server, the method comprising storing the event data for the online calendar in a calendar data storage accessible to the web server. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , comprising maintaining the event data by retrieving an updated first event feed from the first calendar source and retrieving an updated second event feed from the second calendar source, and iterating through each one of the updated first and second event feeds to update the event data with event information contained in the event feed. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , comprising periodically querying at least one of the first and second calendar sources for updates to event information. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26 , comprising receiving a push notification of an update from at least one of the first and second calendar sources. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21  wherein adding the event to the online calendar comprises assigning to the event a tag based on a predefined setting for the event feed from which the event is sourced. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 25  comprising validating event data prior to storing it in the calendar data storage. 
     
     
         31 . The method of claim  20  wherein validating event data for an event comprises verifying a geographical location of the event, as specified in the event information, against map data. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 21  wherein determining for each event whether there is a corresponding event entry in the online calendar comprises comparing at least one of start time, end time, and title for the event to those of event entries in the online calendar. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 21  wherein at least one of the first and second event feeds comprises an Internet and Calendar Scheduling (ICS) feed. 
     
     
         34 . A system for generating and maintaining an online calendar, the system comprising:
 a data storage for storing event data for the online calendar; and   a server in communication with the data storage and configured to:
 retrieve a first event feed from a first calendar source; 
 retrieve a second event feed from a second calendar source; 
 iterate through events of the first and second event feeds, and determine for each event whether there is a corresponding event entry in the online calendar; and 
 add the event to the data storage if there is no corresponding event entry located in the online calendar, wherein adding the event comprises assigning to the event a category associated with the calendar source for the event. 
   
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34  wherein the server is configured to accept a selection of one or more categories from a client device and return in the online calendar only the events that have been assigned one or more of the selected categories. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35  wherein the server is configured to, where the corresponding event entry is located in the online calendar, update the event entry with information from the event feed. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 36  wherein the server is configured to maintain the event data by retrieving an updated first event feed from the first calendar source and retrieving an updated second event feed from the second calendar source, and iterating through each one of the updated first and second event feeds to update the event data in the data storage with event information contained in the event feed. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37  wherein the server is configured to periodically query at least one of the first and second calendar sources for updates to event information. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38  wherein the server is configured to receive a push notification of an update from at least one of the first and second calendar sources. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 33  wherein the server is configured to add the event to the data storage by assigning to the event a tag based on a predefined setting for the event feed from which the event is sourced.