How to Add Google Calendar Events from Your Contact Form

How to Automatically Add Google Calendar Events from Your WordPress Forms (2023)

Want to save time and avoid manually creating Google Calendar events for appointments or bookings made through your WordPress forms? Automatically adding form submissions as detailed Google Calendar events keeps you organized and prevents important meetings from falling through the cracks.

In this guide, we‘ll show you exactly how to send WordPress form entries to Google Calendar step-by-step. We‘ll be using the WPForms plugin, one of the most popular and user-friendly contact form builders for WordPress.

While WPForms makes it easy to add robust forms to your WordPress site, you‘ll need to use Zapier to connect your forms to Google Calendar. Don‘t worry though – we‘ll walk you through the entire process from start to finish!

Here‘s a quick overview of what we‘ll cover in this tutorial:

• Why Add Google Calendar Events from WordPress Forms?
• What You Need to Integrate WordPress Forms and Google Calendar
• Step 1: Create Your WordPress Form
• Step 2: Create a Zap to Send Form Entries to Google Calendar
• Step 3: Configure Your Google Calendar Event Details
• Step 4: Test Your Integration
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Alternative WordPress Google Calendar Plugins

Let‘s get started!

Why Add Google Calendar Events from WordPress Forms?

There are many reasons you might want to automatically create Google Calendar events from your WordPress form submissions:

• Book client consultation calls and keep your schedule organized
• Allow customers to request an appointment time
• Register event attendees and add them as guests on the calendar event
• Schedule interviews or demos with leads who fill out your contact form
• Streamline booking for rentals, services, and more

Instead of manually copying over the details from each form submission to your Google Calendar, you can save a ton of time by fully automating the process. This helps prevent human error like overbooking your calendar or forgetting to follow up with a prospect.

What You Need to Integrate WordPress Forms and Google Calendar

To send your WordPress form entries to Google Calendar, you‘ll need:

1. A WordPress website
2. The WPForms plugin installed and activated
3. A form created with WPForms that includes date and time fields
4. A free Zapier account to connect WPForms to Google Calendar

We‘ll be providing detailed instructions for each of these steps, so don‘t worry if you‘re not sure how to set everything up just yet.

Even if you‘re new to WordPress, WPForms makes it incredibly easy to create professional forms without any coding required. And Zapier, while it might sound complex, is actually very straightforward when it comes to connecting different web apps.

Step 1: Create Your WordPress Form

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the WPForms plugin on your WordPress site. WPForms has a free lite version, but for Google Calendar integration you‘ll need at least the "Pro" plan to access the Zapier addon.

Once WPForms is installed, you can create a new form by going to WPForms » Add New in your WordPress dashboard. Choose from one of the 500+ pre-built templates or start from scratch.

For this example, we‘ll create a simple booking form that allows users to request a call and select their preferred date and time.

Here are the form fields we‘re using:

• Name
• Email
• Phone
• Date/Time (for call start time)
• Date/Time (for call end time)
• Comment or Message

Feel free to add or remove fields as needed for your specific use case. The important thing is to include date and time fields to capture the event details. You may also want to add a dropdown field to let users choose from a list of pre-set time slots.

Configure the date/time fields to use the format and display settings that make sense for your booking form. For example, you might want to restrict selectable dates to weekdays only or set the time increment to 30 minutes.

Once you‘ve added all your fields, you can customize the form‘s appearance, configure email notification settings, and more. Be sure to test out submitting the form yourself to ensure the date and time are captured correctly.

When your form is ready, embed it on a page or post on your website using the WPForms block or shortcode. Publish the page so visitors can start submitting the form.

Step 2: Create a Zap to Send Form Entries to Google Calendar

Now it‘s time to set up our Zapier automation! If you don‘t already have a Zapier account, head to zapier.com and sign up for a free plan.

Log in to your Zapier dashboard and click the "Create Zap" button in the top right to start a new Zap.

The first thing we need is a trigger event – the thing that will kick off our automation. Search for and select "WPForms" as the trigger app, then choose "New Form Entry" as the event.

Click "Continue" then sign in to your WPForms account in the popup window. You‘ll be prompted to enter your WPForms API key, which you can find in the WPForms » Settings » Integrations page in your WordPress admin area.

Next, select the specific form you want to use from the dropdown. It should be the booking form you created in step 1. Then click "Test trigger" to let Zapier find a recent entry from your form.

Now we‘ve got our form entry trigger set up, so the next step is to define the action we want to happen in Google Calendar.

Choose "Google Calendar" as the action app and "Create Detailed Event" as the event. You‘ll need to log in to the Google account you want to use and give Zapier permission to access your calendars.

Step 3: Configure Your Google Calendar Event Details

Here‘s where we define exactly what info from the form entry gets sent over to Google Calendar. First, choose which calendar you want the event added to.

Then it‘s time to map the calendar event fields to the corresponding form fields.

The event name is what will show on your calendar. You might use something like "Call with [Name]" and select the Name form field.

The event description can include all the key details you want to see at a glance, like the person‘s email, phone number, and message. Just click on the field to add form fields:

Here‘s an example:
Call with: [Name] Email: [Email] Phone: [Phone] Message: [Comment or Message]

Of course, the most crucial part is setting the event start and end times based on the date/time form fields. This ensures the event shows up accurately on your calendar.

You can also invite the person booking the call by adding their email as a guest. That way they‘ll receive an invite and can easily add it to their own calendar.

Feel free to adjust any of the other settings, like the event location, reminders, notifications, and so on. You have a lot of flexibility to customize the event details to your needs.

When you‘re happy with your event setup, click "Continue" to move to the final step.

Step 4: Test Your Integration

Before turning on your new Google Calendar Zap, it‘s always a good idea to test it out first.

Zapier will show a summary of the event details based on your test form entry. If everything looks correct, click "Test & Continue" to actually send the event to your Google Calendar.

Open up Google Calendar and verify that the test event was created successfully. Make sure the date, time, and other details are all showing up as intended.

If you run into issues, double check that all your field mappings are correct and that there are no typos in your Google Calendar connection. You may also need to adjust your timezone settings in your Zapier profile.

Once your test is successful, click "Turn on Zap" to activate your new form-to-calendar automation! From now on, every time someone submits that WordPress form, Zapier will instantly create a new detailed event in the Google Calendar you chose.

Your booking or appointment process is now fully automated from end to end. You can sit back and watch your calendar fill up with new events without lifting a finger.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I don‘t want every form submission to create an event?
You can set up filtering rules in your Zap so that only form entries that meet certain criteria will be sent to Google Calendar. For example, you might only create events if the selected time slot is in the future, or if the user has checked a consent checkbox.

Can I let users book multiple time slots on the same form?
Yes, if you upgrade to the WPForms Elite plan you can access the Repeater field which allows users to select multiple date/time slots. Those would get added to Google Calendar as separate events. Alternatively, you could create a multi-page form and add the booking fields to a new page for each additional time slot.

How do I avoid double bookings?
If you‘re allowing users to book a time with you or reserve a limited resource, you‘ll want to make sure you don‘t accidentally get double booked. The best way is to use an availability or booking calendar plugin that syncs with Google Calendar and only allows users to select available time slots. We‘ll share some options in the next section.

My events are showing up at the wrong time in Google Calendar.
99% of the time this is due to timezone mismatches. Either your WordPress site, your Zapier account, or your Google Calendar is set to the wrong timezone. Verify that all platforms are using the same location and timezone settings, then re-test your Zap.

Alternative WordPress Google Calendar Plugins

The WPForms-Zapier combo is an excellent and flexible way to automate Google Calendar events from your WordPress forms. But there are also some native WordPress plugins that can handle the integration directly for specific use cases:

1. Booking Calendar – This powerful plugin adds a customizable availability calendar to your site. Users can see your available time slots and make an appointment, which will be automatically synced to your Google Calendar. You can even take online payments via PayPal or Stripe.

2. Simply Schedule Appointments – Another great option for appointment bookings. It offers seamless two-way Google Calendar sync so your availability is always up to date. You can create multiple booking types (like classes vs 1-on-1 meetings), customize reminder emails, and more.

3. Events Schedule – If you‘re looking to display your Google Calendar events on your WordPress site, this free plugin makes it easy. Just provide your Google Calendar API key and choose which calendars to show. You can list upcoming events or display them in a monthly calendar view.

4. Modern Events Calendar – This all-in-one events plugin lets you create events in WordPress and sync them to Google Calendar. While it doesn‘t create events from front-end form submissions, it‘s a great option if you want to manage an event calendar on your site and keep it synced with your Google Calendar.

5. WP Simple Booking Calendar – A straightforward booking system that integrates with the Google Calendar API. Set your availability, let visitors make reservations through a simple form, and the plugin handles adding the events to your Google Calendar.

These are just a few of the many Google Calendar plugins available for WordPress. The best one for you will depend on your specific needs and budget.

We hope this in-depth tutorial has shown you how easy it is to automatically add Google Calendar events from your WordPress forms using WPForms and Zapier. This automation can save you hours of time while minimizing human error and double bookings.

To learn more, check out our list of the best online booking plugins for WordPress, or our in-depth WPForms review. You may also want to see our guide on how to create a booking website with WordPress.

Did this article help you set up Google Calendar integration for your WordPress forms? Let us know in the comments!