ics file link not working

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to link an ics file as a simple <a href> and it doesn't seem to be working properly. When the link is clicked on, in Outlook 2010, the ics file opens up as text in IE and doesn't populate in the calendar. I did try using the “mktNoTrack” to disable tracking and that didn’t help. Any thoughts on what could be causing this?

[Anonymous]

Hi Stephanie G,
Just curious...Maybe the problem is with your local machine and how it handles '.ics' files. Try sending a test email to your smart phone (and/or a colleague's computer) and clicking the link there. It should then open your calendar app if it is a properly-formatted '.ics' file.

If it continues to open as text, you may want to examine how you are outputting your ics file. I personally create the event in my outlook calendar, then 'save as' to another location and name the '.ics' file using the unique identifier my webinar app assigns to the event: xxxxxxx.ics. That way, once I've created a TOKEN with that event identifier in it (in the program,) I can reference all of these event-specific assets in emails, landing pages, etc. and manage them more efficiently.

Hope that helps,
Mark F.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Mark,
I now think it may be a Outlook 2010 issue not a Marketo issue. I did some testing in Outlook 2003 and the ics file is linking fine.

[Jenn_DiMaria2]

Hi Stephanie,

Are you able to use the Calendar token instead of a linked file download?

You mentioned it working in Outlook 2003, though, so maybe generating the file as a token may provide some additional insight.