How to Add Google Calendar in WordPress (Step by Step Guide)

Do you want to seamlessly embed your Google Calendar into your WordPress site?

Adding Google Calendar makes it easy to promote events, share schedules, and drive engagement across your WordPress site.

In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll share everything site owners need to know to properly connect Google Calendar and WordPress.

Why Add Google Calendar to WordPress?

Here are the top reasons site owners integrate Google Calendar with WordPress:

• Promote events/build hype (highlight events, schedules, deadlines, etc.)
• Increase event engagement (boost signups/RSVPs with event details)
• Save time (calendar updates automatically when changes made in Google Calendar)
• Improve site functionality (visitor access to schedules/logistics details)

For context, 58% of marketers rely on content like calendars to generate traffic and engagement.

Adding a calendar makes sites more useful by showcasing key events and schedules up front. Visitors instantly see upcoming events, dates/times, event details, and any related scheduling without needing to hunt through your site‘s content.

Let‘s walk through connecting Google Calendar and WordPress properly.

Step 1 – Install the Google Calendar Plugin

There are a few Google Calendar plugins available, but the Pretty Google Calendar plugin works great. It displays your calendar in a customizable, mobile-friendly layout.

To install:

1. Login to WordPress admin dashboard
2. Hover over "Plugins" then click "Add New"
3. Search for "Pretty Google Calendar" plugin, install, then activate

Once activated, the plugin will display under your admin menu.

We can connect the plugin shortly, but first, we need an API key for access.

Step 2 – Generate a Free Google API Key

The Google Calendar plugin needs an API key to securely access your Google account calendar data.

Here‘s how to get your free API key:

1. Go to Google Cloud Platform console
2. Click top right profile icon then create new project (name it anything)
3. Left sidebar menu under "APIs & Services" click "Enable APIs and Services"
4. Search "Calendar API", select result, click Enable button
5. Left menu click "Credentials", click "Create Credentials" button
6. Select "API key" option from the dropdown menu
7. Under "Application Restrictions" add your WordPress site URL (!important to restrict access!)
8. Copy shown API key (note: API keys hidden by default later)

With API key access created, we can connect Google Calendar data into WordPress.

Step 3 – Connect Google Calendar Plugin

Now paste your Google API key into the Pretty Google Calendar plugin:

1. In WP dashboard, open Pretty Google Calendar plugin settings
2. Scroll down and paste your API key into the Google API Key field
3. Click Save Changes button

This securely connects your Google account with your WordPress site, allowing calendar data to be pulled dynamically.

Step 4 – Make Your Google Calendar Public

For Google Calendar events to be viewable by site visitors, the calendar needs to be publicly accessible:

1. Open calendar.google.com and login
2. Next to the calendar you want to embed, click dropdown arrow
3. Select Calendar settings
4. Scroll down, check box: Make Available to Public
5. Confirm making events public

Enabling this makes calendar events visible to site visitors later.

Step 5 – Get Your Calendar ID

To actually embed your calendar, the plugin needs your unique Google Calendar ID:

1. From your Google Calendar Settings
2. Scroll down to Integrate Calendar section
3. Copy the long calendar ID string (key connect point!)

You‘ll add this ID to the plugin shortly to connect that exact calendar.

Step 6 – Add Google Calendar to WordPress

Finally, we‘ll embed the calendar into WordPress pages / posts by adding a shortcode.

There are two options depending on if you want the calendar in content or site-wide:

A) Embed Google Calendar Into Pages/Posts

Use this shortcode by adding it into any post, page, or custom content area:

[pretty_google_calendar gcal="CALENDAR-ID"]

Just swap in your actual calendar ID you copied above.

B) Add Google Calendar Widget Site-Wide

To embed your calendar into site sidebars/widget areas (viewed across all pages):

1. Go to Appearance » Widgets
2. Drag Shortcode widget into chosen sidebar
3. Add calendar shortcode from earlier
4. Click Save

Either option embeds your live Google Calendar into WordPress dynamically.

Refresh your site to see your calendar seamlessly syncing events directly from Google into your WordPress site automatically. Updates made to your Google Calendar reflect instantly.

Hopefully this guide has helped explain how to properly connect Google Calendar with WordPress! Let us know in comments if you have any other questions.