Updating Google Calendars

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09 March 2009 Copyright © David J Kingaby 2009, all rights reserved of 18

Updating google calendars.docx

UPDATING A

GOOGLE

CALENDAR

STEP‐BY‐STEP INSTRUCTIONS

PREPARED BY:

David J Kingaby T/A KingServ

Address:

23 St Kilda’s Road

Brentwood, Essex

CM15 9EX

Tel: 01277 219915

Mob: 07712 877310

Email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.KingServ.org

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.kingserv.org/








CONTENTS

Contents ................................................................................................................................. 2

Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3

Google Calendars ................................................................................................................... 3

Assumptions .......................................................................................................................... 3

Calendar Tasks & Actions ........................................................................................................ 4

Receiving the Google email ................................................................................................... 4

For those with an Account 4

For those without an account 4

Logging On ............................................................................................................................. 6

Setting preferences ................................................................................................................ 7

Adding a ‘Whole Day’ entry ................................................................................................... 8

Add a timed entry ................................................................................................................ 11

Add a repeated entry ........................................................................................................... 13

Duplicating Entries & Other Actions .................................................................................... 15

Changing Owner 15

Duplicate Event 16

Copy to ***** 16

Further Actions 17





INTRODUCTION

GOOGLE

CALENDARS

Google calendars are one of many freely available services that provide individuals and organisations an opportunity to maintain

diaries online. It is possible to synchronise these diaries with Outlook directly using the ‘Google Calendar Synch’ programme

and, since most mobile phones are able to synchronise with Outlook – it also possible to see your Google calendar entries on

your mobile phone.

I often recommend Google calendars for one reason only – over the past few years they have managed to continue innovating

(or acquiring innovation) and generating revenue streams that allow them to provide their wide range of services freely under a

single logon. Although it remains entirely possible that this may change in the future it seems improbable at this time.

Providing, of course, diaries have been synchronised to an offline location then in the event of Google no longer offering the

service freely,

it

is

likely

that

other

options

(such

as

WhichTime.com’s

rather

nice

offering)

will

then

be

available

as

suitable

options.

ASSUMPTIONS

The rest of this document assumes that:

The Google calendar interface remains substantially unchanged from its current version (March 2009) ;

A Google calendar has already been established (probably by KingServ) ; and that

You have received an invitation email from the Google calendar system.





CALENDAR TASKS & ACTIONS

The following sections will show you how to:

Respond to the Google email

Log on;

Set preferences;

Add a whole day entry;

Add a timed entry;

Add a repeated entry;

Duplicate an entry and other similar actions.

RECEIVING THE GOOGLE EMAIL

There are

two

versions

of

email

that

will

be

sent

depending

on

whether

or

not

your

email

address

is

recognised

by

Google

as

already having a Google Account. The subject heading of this email will be similar to one of the following:

“David Kingaby has shared a calendar with you” – this means you already have a suitable account, or

“David Kingaby recommends that you use Google Calendar “– which means you will need to set an account up.

FOR THOSE WITH AN ACCOUNT

If you already have a suitable Google Account then the email will simply advise you that you have been given access to the

calendar and will provide a link to that calendar. Clicking on this link will take you to the next stage below which is Logging On.

FOR THOSE WITHOUT AN ACCOUNT

The words will be different but essentially the email will include a little ‘puff’ about how wonderful Google calendars are and will

then invite you to click on rather a long link in order to register, this link will open up a browser window that will lead you

through the following steps:

Figure 1 – Click on ‘Create an account’





Figure 2 ‐ Fill in the form using your current email address

Figure 3 ‐ Respond to confirmation email

Upon completion of these relatively straightforward steps you will have set up your Google Account which can be used for all

Google services including iGoogle, Blogger & Applications.





LOGGING ON

If you have other Google services it is possible you may already be logged on. If you have not, then follow the steps here:

Type the following URL into your browser address bar ‐ http://www.google.com/calendar ‐ you will then be presented

with a screen similar to:

Figure 4 ‐ Calendar Logon

Type in your login ID (normally an email address and, in the case of a googlemail or gmail account, without that part

after

the

@

sign)

and

password;

Tick the box to remember your username and password only if you are using your personal computer with a secure

logon otherwise un‐authorised users might have access to the calendar;

Click the ‘sign‐in’ button. You should then see a screen that looks something like:

Figure 5 ‐ Initial Calendar Screen

You are now ready to configure your preferences or make, delete and/or amend calendar entries.

http://www.google.com/calendar

http://www.google.com/calendar





SETTING PREFERENCES

The preferences are accessed by clicking the ‘Settings’ link near the top right corner of the calendar view:

… after which you should see a screen that starts like this:

Figure 6 ‐ Calendar Settings Screen

Most of the settings on this first ‘General’ window are self ‐explanatory, as are the ‘Calendars’ and ‘Mobile Setup’ but

the most important consideration is that these changes will affect all those who have add/change access to the

calendar so please only make changes if you are authorised to do so by the calendar owner.

The final ‘Offline’ window is only available if you have downloaded a Google ‘Gears’ applet that allows you to store a

local copy of Google Calendars on your own PC (outside the scope of this document). For any calendars that you would

still like to see when offline then simply tick the checkbox and ensure that you Synchronise from the main calendar

page periodically:





ADDING A ‘WHOLE DAY’ ENTRY

This is the default calendar entry and although they can be created with minimum effort should only be used if it is truly for a

whole day.

If

used

simply

because

you

are

unsure

of

the

start

or

end

times

the

entry

will

dominate

the

day’s

events

and

yet

be

less useful than timed entries, in such circumstances it is better to provide a timed entry and make clear that the times are

estimates.

To enter the event follow the steps below:

Navigate through the calendar to the day of the event and ‘left click’ (for windows users) anywhere within that day.

Figure 7 ‐ Navigate to the day of the event and click.

Type the name of the event and venue in the entry box in three elements as follows [Name of event][at or in][name of

venue]:

Figure 8 ‐ Enter details of event





At this stage you can simply click ‘Create Event’ and the entry will go online, alternatively you can click edit event details

and a fuller dialogue is brought up:

Figure 9 ‐ Detail calendar entry

In this detail entry you can change the details you have already provided (note that Google has already added the

location into the correct place as well as leaving it as part of the event title), turn it into a timed or repeating entry (see

below) and add a fuller description:

What

–

ought

to

be

left

with

the

venue

description

since

this

is

how

it

will

appear

in

the

online

calendar;

Where – this would benefit from being a postal address or OS grid reference since the ‘map’ facility can then be

used:

Figure 10 ‐ Adding a postal address allows visitors to see a map of the venue





… please note that the map view is ‘approximate’ – in this example the pointer is some 50yards from the correct

venue and on the wrong side of the road.

Calendar – if you have multiple calendars it is possible for you to move events between them by toggling

between them

here;

Description – can be used to provide extensive details such as any dress requirements, prices or sources of

further information.

Once all refinements have been made simply click ‘Save’ and you will se the live entry – also with an option to undo the

changes if you have made a mistake:

Figure 11 ‐ Saved entry.





ADD A TIMED ENTRY

The process for a timed entry is almost entirely the same as for a whole day entry as above and the same procedure should be

followed with

the

following

significant

differences:

In the initial calendar entry box add the start time at the beginning now using five elements as follows [Time][am or pm]

[Name of event][at or in][name of venue]:

Figure 12 ‐ Entering a timed event

… time

should

be

expressed

as

a whole

hour

(e.g.

6pm)

or

in

hours

and

minutes

in

the

format

hh:mm

(e.g.

6:30pm)

When editing the detail the event duration needs to be considered since the default is typically set to 1 hour. If the

standard duration options are not sufficient you can simply overtype with your own preferred times:

Figure 13

‐Select

alternative

duration





Once fine‐tuned, clicking ‘Save’ will post the event onto the calendar and present an option to Undo if you have made a

mistake:

Figure

14‐

Saved

event





ADD A REPEATED ENTRY

As you would expect, the process is once again very similar to the above and so in the first instance the same basic steps need to

be taken

as

though

it

is

a ‘whole

day’

or

‘timed’

entry.

A

repeating

entry

can

only

be

made

in

the

detail

dialogue

box

and

once

entering this clicking the ‘repeats‘ box shows the following dialogue option where the default is not to repeat:

Figure 15 ‐ Repeating entry options

… the repeat options allow for regular intervals only and not irregular ones (although the range of regular options is extensive),

so the

following

options

are

available:

Figure 16 ‐ Repeating daily options

Daily – this allows options for:

Every day, every 2nd

day, every 3rd

day (up

to every 30th

day);

Entering the date for the last event in the

series:

Every weekday (Mon‐Fri) – the only option for

this repeat is an end‐date;

Every

Mon,

Wed

and

Fri

–

the

only

option

for

this

repeat is an end‐date;

Every Tues and Thurs – the only option for this

repeat is an end‐date;





Weekly – then allows options for

Every week, every 2nd

week, every 3rd

week (up to every 30th

week);

Choosing

which

day

of

the

week

the

event

will take place;


series:

Monthly

Every month, every 2nd

month, every 3rd

month (again up to every 30th

month);

Choosing whether it will be the same day

of the month (e.g. 28th

of every month) or

on the same weekday at its relative time

in the month (e.g. the 4th

Tuesday of every

month);


series:

Yearly (you’ve probably noticed a pattern

establishing itself now)

Every year, every 2nd

year, every 3rd

year

(again up to every 30th

year) on the same

date (note if you want the first Friday of

January every year then you can use the

monthly option set at every 12 months);


series:

Figure 17 ‐ Repeating weekly options

Figure 18 ‐ Repeating monthly options

Figure 19 ‐ Repeating annual options





DUPLICATING ENTRIES & OTHER ACTIONS

The first of these are accessed by clicking the ‘More Actions’ box near the top of the detail entry screen:

Figure 20 ‐ Other actions available

The first two actions will always be the same, subsequent ones (Copy to ****) will depend on whether you have access to any

other Google calendars. Further actions are accessed from the detail entry screen.

CHANGING OWNER

This should rarely, if ever, be used but, in the event it is, then the following dialogue will be displayed:

Figure 21 ‐ Changing owner dialogue

The ‘New Owner’ ought to be an existing Google account owner (else a new user process will need to be followed) and once

entered (noting that the message text can be modified) an email will then be sent to the new owner requesting that they accept

ownership by

clicking

a link.





DUPLICATE EVENT

This is useful if you have a number of similar entries on different dates that do not follow a set pattern. Clicking on More Actions

and

then

Duplicate

Event

will

create

a

new,

unsaved,

event

which

is

opened

up

in

the

detail

view:

Figure 22 ‐ Duplicated event

At this point all and any of the details can be changed, as described in the previous sections, and the new entry saved.

COPY TO *****

This is

used

if

you

have

access

to

more

than

one

Google

calendar

and

wish

an

entry

to

be

placed

in

more

than

one

of

them.

Clicking on More Actions and then scrolling to the desired calendar will open up a new draft entry for that calendar which can be

edited or saved in the normal way:

Figure 23 ‐ Copying entry to another calendar





FURTHER ACTIONS

There are many more actions and features available that are rarely if ever needed for the simple calendar functions we are using

today.

These

are

mainly

accessed

from

the

detail

entry

screen

as

shown

here:

Figure 24 ‐ Options on detail entry screen

GUESTS

By clicking ‘Add Guests’ a dialogue opens for you to add email addresses of those you want to specifically invite to an event. You

can also grant them to right to modify the event, to invite others or to see the list of those you have already invited. Upon

saving the event those invited will receive an email informing them of the event and inviting them to click on a link to see the

entry.

Guests

Reminder

Privacy

Figure 25 ‐ Google event invitation




REMINDER

Adding a reminder allows you to select wither to have an email sent to your default email address or for a pop‐up window to

appear

on

your

screen.

You

can

choose

how

far

in

advance

you

would

like

the

reminder

from

between

a

few

minutes

to

several

weeks:

Figure 26 ‐ Event reminder option

PRIVACY

Privacy option allows you to determine whether the event should be viewable to all or only to those invited to see it. The

default option is specified in the original calendar settings and would normally be for the event to be public.

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