Time Traveling: Changing the Date
Calendar usually opens with the current week displayed and today's date selected. However, if you want to work with a different day, Date Navigator makes it easy: Just click a date and Calendar immediately adjusts the Events area to display that date in whatever view you're currently using.
Date Navigator starts off displaying the current month, but if you need to navigate to a date in a different month, use either of the following techniques to pick a different month:
Click the Previous Month arrow (pointed out in Figure 3-2) to move backward one month at a time.
Click the Next Month arrow (again, check out Figure 3-2) to move forward one month at a time.
FIGURE 3-2: In Date Navigator, use the Previous Month and Next Month arrows to display the month you want.
You can also navigate the current view by using the following techniques:
To move forward to the next period of the current view: Click Next Period (see Figure 3-3), where Period is the current view setting: Day, Week, Month, Year, or 4 Days. (For this last view, the arrow title is Next Period.)
To move backward to the previous period of the current view: Click Previous Period (see Figure 3-3), where Period is the current view setting: Day, Week, Month, Year, or 4 Days. (For this last view, the arrow title is Previous Period.)
To navigate the current view so that it includes today's date: Click Today.
FIGURE 3-3: Use the view navigation controls to navigate the current view.
Setting Your Social Schedule: Entering Events
Got a party to plan, a meeting to make, or a lunch to linger over? The gadabouts, hobnobbers, and other social butterflies in the crowd will like how easy Calendar makes it to schedule these and other get-togethers.
Before getting down to brass Calendar tacks, you should know that Calendar lets you create two kinds of events:
Event: An event is the most general Calendar item. It refers to any activity for which you set aside a block of time. Typical events include a lunch date, a trip to the dentist or doctor, or a back waxing appointment. You can also create recurring appointments that are scheduled at regular intervals (such as weekly or monthly).
All-day event: An all-day event is any activity that consumes one or more entire days. Examples include conferences, trade shows, vacations, and mental-health days. In Calendar, all-day events don't occupy blocks of time. Instead, they appear as banners above the affected days. You can also schedule recurring all-day events.
The next few sections show you how to create events and all-day events.
Adding an event
Here are the steps you need to trudge through to set up an event:
1 Navigate to the date on which the event occurs.
2 Switch to either Day view or Week view.
3 Select the time you want to set aside for the event:If the event is an hour long, use the Events area to click the time when the event begins. For example, if the event starts at noon, click the 12 P.m. line; if the event starts at 3:30 P.m., click halfway between the 3 P.m. and 4 P.m. lines. When you click a time in the Events area, Calendar creates an hourlong event. If that hourlong default works for you, then nothing to see here! Otherwise, you can set up a different default duration. Click Settings, See all settings, and then click Event Settings. Use the Default Duration list to select the number of minutes you prefer Calendar to use as the default whenever you create a new event.For all other event durations, use the Events area to move the mouse pointer to the start time of the event, and then click-and-drag the mouse pointer down until you reach the end time for the event. As you drag, Calendar helpfully displays the starting and ending times, as shown in Figure 3-4. Don't worry too much if you don't get the time exactly right; you'll get a chance to fix both the start time and the end time in a sec.After all that work, Calendar displays the dialog box shown in Figure 3-5, which is already filled in with the event's start and end information. This information consists of four fields, which are, from left to right, the start date, the start time, the end time, and the end date.
4 Use the Add Title text box to type a title that describes your event.For many events, you don't need to add anything else, so if that's the case for you, go ahead and jump down to Step 8 to finish up.Otherwise, continue with Step 5 to fill in more event details.If you're looking for info on how to invite guests to your event, mosey on over to Chapter 12.FIGURE 3-4: Click-and-drag down in the Events area to specify the event's start and end times.FIGURE 3-5: The dialog box for a basic event, with the starting and ending dates and times filled in.
5 If the event's start or end date or time is incorrect, click the info you want to change and then click the correct date or time.When you click a date, you see a calendar you can use to click the correct date. When you click a time, you see a list from which you can select the correct time. The list of times is in 15-minute increments. If you need a more exact start time or end time, you can edit the displayed time directly in the Start Time and End Time fields.
6 Use the Location text box to specify the location for the event.For the location, you can enter a room number or name if your event takes place at work. For external events, you can enter an address or a business name (such as a restaurant). As you type the name, Calendar displays a list of locations that match (see Figure 3-6), so when your location shows up, you can stop typing and click the location to add it.
7 Use the Add Description text box at the bottom of the dialog box to enter a summary of what the event is about.Feel free to use the Add Description text box to also enter anything else you think might be pertinent to the event: details to note, things to remember, tales to tell, and so on.
8 Click Save.Calendar adds the event to the Events area.
FIGURE 3-6: As you type a name in the Location text box, Calendar displays a list of matching locations.
Editing an event
If anything changes about your event — the start or end time, the location, whatever — you can follow these steps to make some adjustments:
1 Navigate to the date of the event.
2 In the Events area, click the event.Calendar displays the event summary dialog box, which will have a family resemblance to the one shown in Figure 3-7.
3 Click Edit Event (the Pencil icon pointed out in Figure 3-7).
4 Make