New Features for Calendar Express 5.1


Calendar Express 5.1 includes the following new features to help you to be more productive when you are using your calendar:

• Private and Date and Time Only Events and Tasks

• Default Initial Calendar View

• Default Calendar Group

• User Search for Calendar Users, Groups, and Resources

• Email Notifications for New Events

• Mouse-Over View of Invitees and Their Status

• Printable Option for a Calendar View

• Email Notifications for an Event

• Email Reminders With the Organizer's Time Zone

• Export of Calendar Data in iCalendar or XML Format

• Revised Calendar Express Online Help

 

Private and Date and Time Only Events and Tasks

When you create a new event or task, you can specify whether the event or task is Public, Private, or Time and Date Only (confidential):

• Public—Anyone with read permission to your calendar can view the event or task.

• Private—Only owners of the calendar can view the event or task.

• Time and Date Only—Owners of the calendar can view the event or task. Other users with read permission to the calendar will see only "Untitled Event" on the calendar, and the title is not an active link.

This feature allows you to use your public calendar for events and tasks that you don't want other calendar users to see, but your events and tasks are still considered for your availability.

Default Initial Calendar View

You can set your default initial calendar view to overview, day, week, month, year, or comparison. You set this default view in Settings in the Options tab. For a new default view to take effect, you must log out and then log in again.

Default Calendar Group

If you prefer to have Calendar Express display a calendar group rather than your default calendar, you can this option in Settings in the Options tab. Then, after you log out and log in again, Calendar Express displays the calendar group using the initial view specified under Default Initial View.

User Search for Calendar Users, Groups, and Resources

When you are creating or modifying an event, you can use the User Search feature to find calendar users, groups, and resources that you want to invite to or inform about the event.

From the Edit Event window, you click the Search icon (magnifying glass) next to the Invite or Inform button. Calendar Express displays the User Search window, where you can enter the user ID, user group ID, default calendar ID, or display name of the person, group, or resource you want to invite or inform.

If you are unsure of the spelling of a name, enter at least three characters of the name for the search. For example, to find a user named Schullemann, enter sch. Calendar Express displays a list of all users with sch in their names, and you can then select Schullemann from the list.

Email Notifications for New Events

Whenever an event is scheduled on your calendar, you can have an email notification of the event sent to you. You set this option in Settings in the Options tab under Event Notifications.

Email notifications are especially useful if you don't look at your calendar frequently during the day, or if your calendar is very busy with numerous events and tasks. If a last-minute event is scheduled on your calendar, you will know about it from the email message.

Note: This option can be turned off by your Calendar Server administrator. If you don't see the Event Notifications on the Options window, the option is disabled for your installation.

Mouse-Over View of Invitees and Their Status

In the View tab, to see the invitees to an event and their status for the event, place the mouse over the icon for the event. The status appears after each invitee's name: a plus sign (+) indicates an acceptance, a minus sign (-) indicates a decline, and a question mark (?) indicates no reply.

Printable Option for a Calendar View

In the View tab, click the Printable icon to have Calendar Express display a new window with a simplified, printable version of your current calendar view.

Email Notifications for an Event

When you are creating a new event, you might want to invite or inform people who are not calendar users. In most cases, simply type the person's email address in the User input field on the Edit Event window, and Calendar Express automatically adds a mailto: to the email address in the invitee or inform list. The Calendar Server then sends an email notification message for the event to each person on the list.

Email Reminders With the Organizer's Time Zone

When another calendar user invites you to an event, Calendar Express uses the organizer's time zone for your email notification of the event. For example, if you are invited to a teleconference by an organizer in a different time zone, you can determine the actual time of the meeting based on the organizer's time zone in the email message. (Calendar Express, however, places the new event on your calendar using your default time zone and not the time zone of the event organizer.)

Export of Calendar Data in iCalendar or XML Format

You can export your calendar data in either iCalendar (.ics) or XML (.xml) format. In Export in the Options tab, select the calendar to export, an optional date range (or all events), and the format (iCal or xml). When you save the export file, you can also specify a unique file name, if you wish.

Revised Calendar Express Online Help

The Online Help has been revised and expanded for this release. To access the help, click Help whenever you are using Calendar Express.