Google Calendar – Oct. 11, 2012

Learning Objectives:

Map of Calendar

Open and View Calendar

Calendar links in Google Apps

You can access Calendar from any Google Apps page - Mail, Docs, Sites, or any of the other Apps service pages.

1. To open Google Calendar, look at the top left corner from any Google Apps page.
2. Click the Calendar link.
3. Google Calendar opens in a new window.

Create a calendar entry with start and end times

Overview

Google Calendar makes it easy to schedule meetings, appointments, classes, or events with specific start and end times. A 'calendar entry' is considered to be anything that you would add to your calendar - be it a 2 day conference, a 1 hour meeting, or a 3 hour dinner. You can schedule all of these things on Google Calendar, and even have entries overlap with each other.


In this lesson you will review the various ways you can create a new calendar entry, just follow these steps:

1. Click and drag on your calendar screen.
2. Use the Create Event link.
3. Create from your calendar list.
4. Create from an SMS message.
5. Use the Quick Add link.

Click and type to create a calendar entry

The easiest and most intuitive way to create a calendar entry is to click on your Google Calendar window, just follow these steps:

1. Click on the day that you'd like to create a new event using the mini calendar (you can skip this step if you are already seeing the day in the main screen).
2. Click on the time you want your entry to start – if the event spans over or under an hour, click and drag.
3. Type the title and event time for your new event in the box.
4. Finally, click Create Event to publish the event to your calendar immediately, or click Edit event details to add additional information.
5. You should now see the event appear on your calendar.

Note: You can edit your event titles directly from the event bubble (without having to click on 'More details')

• Click on the top of the event to bring up the event bubble.
• Then Click on the event title

• Edit the event title

Create from your calendar list

You can also create a calendar entry directly from your calendar list on the left side of your Calendar window, just follow these steps:

1. In the calendar list on the left, click on the down-arrow button next to the appropriate calendar.
2. Select Create event on this calendar.
3. This will bring you directly to the full event details where you can enter information about your event.
4. On this page, you can add guests, change a reminder setting, and invite other users to your event.
5. From this page you can also choose to change the time zone of the event.
   • Click on Time zone link to the right of the date and time fields.
   • Then select the appropriate Event Time Zone.
   • When finished selecting the Time zone click Done
6. Once you've entered the appropriate information and selected the desired settings, click Save.

Create a calendar entry using ‘Quick Add’

To help simplify the calendar entry, 'Quick Add' lets you type in a single sentence and then interprets what you entered and adds the appropriate calendar entry.


For example, if you type in something like [lunch with Mr. Rodriguez at faculty lunchroom 11:30 A.M. Tuesday], Quick Add can figure out what you mean and pop the new event right onto your calendar.



To access 'Quick Add' you can click on the Quick Add link on the left side of your calendar info or type the letter 'Q'.
The recipe for events is to enter 'what,' 'who,' 'where,' and 'when' (only 'what' and 'when' are required).

• What: This can be any text; the event title is created from this.
• When: This can be nearly any date and/or time expression. Using 'at' and 'on' can help.
• Who: This should begin with 'with' followed by a list of email addresses; these are added to the guest list.
• Where: This can be any text following 'at' or 'in.'

More tips for using Quick Add:
If you have a name of a location that includes a date or time word, such as 'Taco Tuesdays' or 'Café 3pm,' use quotation marks around the name to avoid Quick Add from creating the event on Tuesday or at 3pm.

• Enter [lunch with John at "Taco Tuesdays" Friday 12 pm].

If you enter a time with no date, Quick Add will create the event on the earliest date that puts the event in the future; the present day if the time is later, or the next day if the time has already passed:

• Enter [Coach Volleyball at 5pm].

If you do not enter a start time or end time, Quick Add will create an All Day event:

• Enter [School holiday 8/14].

If you don't enter an end time, Quick Add will create a one hour long event:

• Enter [Staff meeting next Monday at 13:00].

You can specify start and end times using either time ranges or time intervals:

• Enter [Running w/ Marie 4:15 tomorrow for 45 minutes].
• Enter [Running w/ Marie 4:15 - 5 pm tomorrow].

Multi-day events can be specified using date ranges:

• Enter [National Conference 9/23 - 9/26 in Atlanta].

If you'd like someone added to the guest list, enter his or her email address.

• Enter [Parent-Teacher Conference tomorrow noon mr.smith@myschool.org].

Three-letter time zone abbreviations can be recognized following the time:

• Enter [Call New York at 3 pm EDT].

You can use the 'Quick add' link or feature to also create recurring events.

• See Use 'Quick add' to create recurring events

Delete or remove a calendar entry

To delete or remove an event from your calendar, simply click the event to display the event bubble (alternatively, click on the event title to view the event details page). You'll then see a link to either remove or delete the event from your calendar.


Depending on your ownership of the calendar entry, you'll see one of these link options:

• Remove from this calendar: This option is only available for events that you are invited to and do not have permission to edit. Clicking this link will remove the event only from your calendar. The event will still exist on the calendars of other guests as well as the event organizer.
• Delete: This option is only available for events that you have permission to edit. Clicking this link will remove the event from your calendar as well as the calendar of any invited guests. That is, the event will be completely deleted.

Categorize events using colors

If your calendar ends up full of many different types of events there’s now an easy way to categorize them
using colors.


Just click on an event, then click the colored square in the top left of the pop-up bubble and pick a new color. If you don’t see this option quite yet, hang tight — it'll be there for everyone within the next day or so.

Only you and anyone else you’ve given edit access to your calendar will be able to see the colors you choose.

Change the default length of events

If you frequently create 15 minute meetings rather than the default meeting length of one hour, you can make 15 minutes the default length for all your events. This way, you don’t need to click into the event page to change the duration every time.



You can change the default length of your events from the Calendar settings page. Next to the “Default meeting length” option, choose the length you’d like from the drop-down menu on the right. From there, you can also enable “Speedy meetings,” which automatically shortens events that are 30 minutes or longer to allow you to prep for your next meeting or get to your next appointment if you have a packed schedule.

Create a calendar entry spanning one or multiple days

You can create an All Day event in a few different ways:

From your calendar window, follow these steps:

1. In the default 'Week' view, click on the day in the space above the list of times (this area is enclosed by a blue box). This is the open space reserved for 'All Day' events.
2. If you want the entry to span multiple days, click the day and drag until the end day.
3. Name your calendar entry.
4. To add more event details such as a description, location, guests, and reminders, click 'Edit event details.' If you are fine with just entering a name, click Create Event.
5. All Day events will automatically be marked as 'free' in the Show me as section. This will not block out the day on your calendar to prevent future scheduling. If you would like to block off the time during the day for your event, select Busy from the drop down next to Show me as.
6. If you are in the Event Details page, add the relevant information and click Save.

From the 'Create event' link, follow these steps:
You can also create a new calendar entry using the Create Event link on the left side of your Calendar window:

1. Click on Create Event in the left column of your calendar.
2. This will bring you directly to the full event details where you can enter as much information as you'd like about your event.
3. Check the All Day box.
4. If you would like the entry to span multiple days, click the second date box and choose your end day.
5. On this page, you can also add guests, change a reminder setting, and publish your event to other users.
6. Once you've entered the appropriate information and selected the desired settings, click Save.

View ‘All Day’ events in your calendar

When you're viewing your calendar, All Day events are listed at the top of each day, above the list of times. This area is surrounded by a blue box to mark that they are all day events, not part of a specific time of that day.

You can choose to expand or collapse the section by clicking the + on the left side of the event grid.

When the All Day event section is collapsed, you can view the All Day events for a specific day by clicking the shaded bar with the down-arrow (just beneath the date) for the day in question.

A pop-out will appear, showing you all of the All Day events scheduled for that day.

Edit the day duration of a calendar entry

Once you have created a multi-day calendar entry, you can easily modify the start or end-dates just as you would for an entry with a specific start and end time.

To modify the start and end day of a calendar entry, follow these steps:

1. Click on the All Day event in the 'All Day' event section at the top of the day.
2. Click Edit event details.
3. To change the start date, click the first date box and select your desired start date.
4. To change the end date, click the second date box and select your desired end date.
5. You may make any other changes to the calendar entry here, including the event name, description, location, guests, and reminders.
6. Once you're made all the changes to the calendar entry, click Save.

Create an ongoing or repeating calendar entry

Overview

In some cases, you may have an appointment or meeting that occurs every week on the same day, at the same time. Or you created calendar entries for your classes which meet at the same time everyday. With Google Calendar you can create a single event and then specify how often it repeats so you will not have to enter in the same information over and over.


You can choose which unit of time you would like the calendar entry to repeat - specify how many days, weeks, or even months.

For example, you can have a calendar entry for vocabulary tests occurring on Tuesdays and Thursdays, another for progress reports occurring ever 6 weeks, or a department staff meeting occurring on the first Tuesday of every month.

Create a repeating calendar entry

To create a repeating calendar entry, follow these steps:

1. Create an event and go to the event details page. Review the first lesson in this chapter to learn how to create an event.
2. Check the check box - Repeat.
3. Select from the drop-down the type of interval you will use for repetition:
   • Daily - occurs each day, or every X days (every 2, 3, 4, days etc.).
   • Weekly - occurs on one or several days each week, or every X weeks (every week, every 2 weeks, every 3 weeks, etc.).
   • Monthly - occurs on the same day every X months (each month, every 2 months, every 3 months, etc.).
   • Yearly - occurs on the same day every X years (each year, every 2 years, etc.).
4. There are some preset repetitive options available:
   • Every week day - occurs at the same time, for the same duration Mon-Fri such as for a class or daily meeting
   • Every Mon, Weds, Fri - occurs at the same time, for the same duration on Mon, Weds, Fri.
   • Every Tue, Thurs - occurs at the same time, for the same duration on Tue, Thurs.
   • If you require a custom weekly repeat (i.e. Mon, Tue, Thurs), you can select Weekly and the select the check boxes of the days the calendar entry occurs.
5. You can have the event repeat indefinitely, choose to end the events after a set number of occurrences or select an End date and type or choose a date when you would like this calendar entry series to end.
6. Fill in the rest of the event details.
7. Click Save.

If you don't see your preferred interval, please select the closest appropriate interval. Additional customization options will then appear.

Please note: At this time, the maximum number of instances allowed for a recurring event is 365. After 365 occurrences, you will need to create a new recurring event (that can have the same information) on your calendar.

Use ‘Quick add’ to create recurring events

You can use the 'Quick add' link or feature to also create recurring events. Review how to create an event with 'Quick Add' »

When creating recurring events, the time expression has three parts: the start, the repetition, and the end.

Example: [Literature 101 Monday at 10 am repeats weekly for 12 weeks].

The start is 'Monday at 10 am,' the repetition rule is 'repeats weekly,' and the end is given by '8 weeks.'

Quick Add understands many kinds of repetition rules covering daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly repetitions. Examples are given below. We also encourage you to try various texts to explore this feature further.

To create a weekly recurring event:

• Enter [Staff meeting at school every Monday at 2pm]
• Enter [Tennis practice Tuesday 7pm to 9pm weekly]

To create a monthly recurring event:

• Enter [Brunch at Stacks on the first Sunday of every month]
• Enter [Lunch duty on 9/1 every month]

To create a yearly recurring event:

• Enter [Mom's birthday June 19 yearly]
• Enter [Wedding anniversary July 3 yearly]

To create an event that repeats a certain number of times:

• Enter [Baseball Game every Thursday for 10 weeks]
• Enter [Professional Development every Wednesday 7-8pm for 5 months]

When entering recurring events, don't enter a location in the middle of a time expression. For example, don't enter [debate practice every Tuesday at room 38 at 4pm]. This event should be entered [debate practice at room 38 every Tuesday 4pm].

Also, if you do not specify an end date, duration, or number of times the recurring event occurs, it will repeat for 365 times, which is the maximum number of instances currently allowed for a recurring event.

Change and customize recurring calendar entry details

After creating a recurring event, you can modify the additional details including a detailed event description, location, reminders, and invited guests, just as you would any other calendar entry.


Upon saving the event, there will be a few options of how to apply the new detail information:

• Only this event: The new information will only affect the current event information, but not the rest in the recurring event series. If you are making a one-time change for a meeting (changing the time or meeting place, for example) this is the option to use.
• Following events: The new information will affect all events that have occurred and will occur in this series. The event details will be changed for previous events as well, so please be aware previous one-time changes or information stored in previously occurring calendar entries will be lost and replaced with your new event detail information.
• All events: The new information will affect the current entry and all future entries in the recurring event series. Past events will not have the new detail information. This is useful if you are making a change moving forward to the location but want to leave the past event information for previous events. This will not affect events that have already occurred, only the entries in the event series moving forward.

Event descriptions allow you to include URLs and more text to the event, perhaps adding an agenda, lesson plan, meeting notes, FYIs, etc.
To add or modify an event description:

1. Click on the calendar entry you would like to edit
2. Click Edit event details.
3. Click on the "Description" box and start typing
4. Click Save when finished.

You can also include a location, which will add a link to a Google Map.
To add or modify an address or location:

1. Click on the calendar entry you would like to edit
2. Click Edit event details.
3. Click on the "Where" box and type a location (you can do a full street address, or just a city)
4. Click Save when finished.

You should now see when you click on that calendar entry a link to a that location on a Google Map.


You will learn more about event reminders later in this chapter. Recurring events will repeat for 365 times, which is the maximum number of instances currently allowed for a recurring event.

Delete or remove recurring events

To delete or remove an event from your calendar, simply click the event to display the event bubble (alternatively, click on the event title to view the event details page). You'll then see a link to either remove or delete the event from your calendar.


Depending on your ownership of the calendar entry, you'll see one of these link options:

• Remove from this calendar: This option is only available for events that you are invited to and do not have permission to edit. Clicking this link will remove the event only from your calendar. The event will still exist on the calendars of other guests as well as the event organizer.
• Delete: This option is only available for events that you have permission to edit. Clicking this link will remove the event from your calendar as well as the calendar of any invited guests. That is, the event will be completely deleted.

Keep in mind that there are several options to consider when deleting a recurring event:

• To delete only one event in the repeating event series, select Only this instance. This will only delete the event you selected on your calendar, but leave all other event occurrences on your calendar.
• To delete all the events in the repeating event series, select All events in series. This will delete any occurrence of the event on your calendar, including those that already occurred.
• To delete all upcoming events in the repeating event series, select All following. This will leave the events that have occurred up until this point on your calendar, to remove any that occur afterwards. This can be helpful if you want to be able to search or view the events that have happened previously, but want to cancel an event moving forward.

Copy an entry to a different calendar

If you have access to different calendars, there may be a time when you would like to add an event on someone else's calendar onto your own. When you "copy" an event the event still exists on the original calendar, a duplicate entry is just created on your calendar.

For example, if the school calendar has a calendar entry for testing or finals week, you may want to copy that calendar entry onto your own personal calendar so that you have record of it. Or if there is a meeting scheduled on the department calendar that you would like to include on your own, you might want to copy all the event details.


To copy an event to one of your calendars:

1. Click on the event you would like to copy (if it's from a friend or colleague's calendar, you will need to have it 'turned on' so you can see it in your calendar view).
2. Click copy to my calendar.
3. This will open up the 'Event details' page with all the same information from the calendar entry.
4. You can select which calendar this entry will be associated with by selecting the calendar name from the drop-down next to 'Calendar.'
5. You can also make any changes to the event as you would any other event you created.
6. Click Save.

You can also copy an event from a calendar entry while you are viewing the event details. This can be useful if you weren't sure you wanted to copy the event right away, but wanted to view the guest list, location, or event description.
To copy a calendar entry from the 'Event details' page:

1. Click the More Actions drop down menu.
2. Select the calendar you would like the event to be copied to from the 'Copy to my calendar' list.
3. This opens up a new 'Event details' page for your event. Edit the information as you would any other calendar entry.
4. Click Save.

Please note: the copy of the event will be a copy at the moment that you create the copy -- any future changes to the original event will not be reflected in the copy.

Add email, SMS, or pop-up reminders