Calendar – Outlook 2010

This document outlines the main features of the calendar in Office 365 for use with Outlook 2010.

Contents

Introduction

Best Practice

Viewing calendars

Navigating the calendar

List view

Viewing multiple calendars

Overlay Mode

Adding and deleting calendars

Group calendars

Calendars for external events

Deleting a calendar

Retrieving a deleted calendar

Events

Appointments and All Day events

Amending an event

Cancelling an appointment or All Day Event

Meetings

Creating a meeting

Rooms and resources

Using the Scheduling Assistant

Tracking responses

Amending a meeting

Cancelling a meeting

Responding to a meeting invitation

Searching your calendar

Your working week

Categorize

Creating rules for messages

Calendar permissions and delegating access

The default

Give calendar permissions

Receive permissions

Viewing permission levels granted

Remove permissions

Delegate your calendar

Creating a new calendar

Publishing calendars

Change publishing settings

Tasks

Calendar – Outlook 2010

Introduction

The Office 365 calendar is the University supported calendar for all staff.This guide covers the basics of using the calendar in the Outlook desktop clientusing a PC. The layout in the Outlook Web App (OWA) or on other devices may be different.

Note: All meeting requests and updates are sent to your email inbox.

Best Practice

  • Always respond (accept, tentative or decline) to calendar messages in your email inbox or calendar. This will ensure that the organiser is aware of your intentions and that your calendar is kept up to date. Never use the ‘Do not send response’ option.
  • Remember to send updates to all recipients where relevant, eg change of time.
  • Meeting attachments – we now advise against sending attachments with meeting invites as mobile device users may not be able to view them in their calendar. Once accepted, the meeting invite is deleted and cannot be retrieved on the mobile.
  • Keep recurring meetings simple:
  • If you decide to add attachments, don't add themto individual instances of a recurring meeting, as this can be problematic.Either email them separately or put them in a shared folder, adding information on where to access the documents in the meeting notes.
  • Always set an end date or limit the number of occurrences. Meetings change and all changes, attachments, responses etc are stored, causing issues over time. Create a task to remind yourself of the end date, as you may want to extend the end date or create a new recurring meeting.
  • If you want to cancel all future instances of a recurring meetingchange the end date instead of deleting or cancelling, then you and attendees have a record of meetings in the past.
  • Reduce the number of places where you read messages eg create a rule to filter calendar messages into a folder.Always remember to check this folder frequently, to ensure your calendar stays up to date.
  • If a calendar has been delegated, only one person should manage it.
  • Instead of blocking time out in your calendar, it may be more appropriate to create a task. Tasks are displayed under your calendar and have the added benefit of being able to display progress, have notes added and be delegated.
  • Use the categorize feature to group similar tasks (emails, calendar events and tasks) for eg a project.

Viewingcalendars

  1. In Outlook, click on the Calendaricon in the Navigation pane.

All your calendars and those you have permission to see are listed in the navigation pane. This includes your Office 365 calendar, a calendar for each shared mailbox (if you have any) and any calendars shared with you.

To change the view option:

  1. On the Home tab -Arrange group, select an alternative view eg Week.

Tip:To change the settings todisplay only the hours you work see theYour working weeksection in this document.

Navigating the calendar

You can change the dates of your calendar in a number of ways:

  • The calendar at the top of the navigation pane.
  • Click on a date in the current month.
  • Move month by month using the arrows, then click on a date.
  • Click on the month (eg January 2015) and select a different month from the list.
  • The dates above the calendar main window.
  • Move day by day, week by week or month by month (depending on how you are currently viewing your calendar) by clicking on the arrows.
  • Home tab – Go To group:
  • Click on Next 7 Days to jump a week ahead.
  • Click on the Go To dialog launcher, select or type a specific date, click on OK.
  • Click on Today to return to the current date.

Tip:To view multiple days, in the Home tab – Arrange group, select Day. Then hold down the Ctrl key and click on the required days in the Navigation pane calendar.

List view

To see all the days’ events as a list:

  1. On the View tab, in the Current View group, click on Change View.
  2. From the drop down list select List.

To return to the default calendar view:

  1. In the View tab -Current View group, click on Change View and select Calendar.

Note:There are many other options for changing the calendar, eg colour and displaying different panes. Please take time to look at the View tab to see the options available.

Viewing multiple calendars

  1. In the Navigation pane, click to check the box next to the names of the required calendars. Thecalendars will be displayedside by side vertically.

To display calendars horizontally:

  1. In the Home tab - Arrange group, selectSchedule view.

To stop viewing a calendar remove the tick in the box next its name in the navigation pane.

Microsoft advises that you deal with your calendar messages in one place. To do this and help avoid calendar messages cluttering your Inbox, you can create a rule to move calendar messages to a specific folder when they arrive. You will then be able to check the folder to respond to calendar messages on a daily basis.

Note:To enable someone else to view your calendar see the section on: Calendar permissions and delegating access.

Overlay Mode

To view multiple calendars on top of each other (in a single merged view):

  1. In the Navigation pane, select the required calendars.
  2. In the View tab – Arrangement group, click on Overlay.

The calendars will be merged and each one will be displayed in a different colour. Click on the Overlay button undothis.

Adding and deleting calendars

You can view the calendar (free / busy time only) of anybody within the University as well as any Office 365 calendars published to the internet.To add a calendar:

  1. On the Home tab - Manage Calendars group, click on OpenCalendar and select one of the following:
  2. From Address Book – to add a student, staff member, room or resource.
  3. Search for the appropriate person or resource, select them from the list, click on Calendar -> and then OK. The calendar will be displayed in the Navigation pane under Shared Calendars.
  4. From Room List– to add a room.
  5. Type in the first letter of the room you are searching for and select it from the list (if it doesn’t display you will need to request the room by another method, eg via Room Bookings), Click on Rooms -> and then OK. The calendar will be displayed in the Navigation pane under Rooms.
  6. From Internet – to add a calendar published to the internet.
  7. Enter the URL for the calendar and click on OK. A dialog box will appear. Click on Advanced for further configuration options and once your options are set, click on Yes. The calendar will be displayed in the Navigation pane under Other Calendars.

Group calendars

You can create a group which displays the calendar for each member. To create a group:

  1. On the Home tab - Manage Calendars group, click on Calendar Groups and select Create New Calendar Group.
  1. Type in a name for the group and click on OK.
  2. Search for someone you want to add to the group, select their name from the list and click on Group Members ->. Repeat this for all members of the group.
  3. When you have added all the members of the group click on OK.

This new group will appear in the navigation pane, with the names of everyone in the group listed below it. This group will only be available for you to use.

To make an addition to a group calendar:

  1. In the Navigation pane, right click on the group calendar name, click on Add Calendar and select From Address Book.
  2. Search for a name, select it from the list and click on Calendar ->and then click on OK.

To remove a name from a group calendar:

  1. In the Navigation pane under the appropriate group, right click on the name and selectDelete Calendar.

Tip:To create a meeting for a group, see the Creating a meetingsection in this document.

To delete a group calendar:

  1. In the Navigation pane, right click on the group calendar name and select Delete Group.

Calendars for external events

If you book, for example, train travel, you can have confirmations sent to your email address. If the confirmation contains an.ics attachment, you can add the event to your calendar.

  1. Open the email containing the.ics attachment.
  2. Click and drag the attachment from the email to the Calendar icon in the Navigation pane.
  3. Click on Save Close. A new calendar item will be created containing the event and details.

Deleting a calendar

  1. In the Navigation pane, right click on the appropriate calendar and select Delete.

Retrieving a deleted calendar

  1. In the Navigation pane, click on the Folder List icon.
  1. Click on the arrow next to Deleted Items in your account to expand the folder.
  2. Under Deleted Items, right click on the calendar you want to retrieve and select MoveCalendar.
  3. In the Move Folder window, locate and select the Calendar folder in your account, and click on OK.
  4. In the Navigation pane, click on Calendar to return to your calendar list. The retrieved calendar should now be visible.

Events

The different events that you will use are:

  • Appointment – this does not include other people, eg a medical appointment.
  • Meeting – this includes other people (internal or external to the University) and / or other resources eg a room or kettle.
  • All day event – this appears as a banner across the top of that day and does not include other people, eg an open day.

When creating any event, it is good practice to use the Show Time As settings as it makes it easier for other users to view your free / busy information. For example:

  • Free – use when an event is flexible and could be moved.
  • Tentative – use for any unconfirmed appointments and meetings.
  • Busy – use to mark confirmed appointments and meetings.
  • Out of Office – use for annual leave or when attending training, conferences etc.

Note:The options for free / busy time are slightly different in the Outlook Web App (OWA).

When creating an appointment or meeting, many of the options available in the Ribbon are the same as those for creating an email, eg formatting, spell check, adding attachments etc.

Note:If you add an attachment, be aware that mobile device users may not be able to view the attachment in their calendar, or retrieve the original email invite.

Appointments and All Day events

To create an Appointment or All Day Event:

  1. On the Home tab -New group, click on either:
  2. New Appointment and check the All Day Event box.
  3. New Items and select All Day Event.

Tip:Alternatively, double click in the date area above the main calendar area.

  1. Complete the subject, location, start and end details and add notes if required.
  1. In the Options group:

a)Click on the ShowAs drop down arrow and select an option, eg Out of Office.

b)Change the Remindersetting if required.

c)If the event will be repeated, click on Recurrence and set the required recurrence pattern.

  1. In the Tags group, select the options required:
  2. Categorize–group similar items together so they’re easier to identify (by colour) and search for. For further details see the Categorizesection.
  3. Private- prevents details of the appointment being seen by anyone who has access to your calendar.
  4. Importance level – so you and others can be aware of how important you rate this event.
  5. To add an attachment (eg a document), in the Insert tab – Include group, select an attachment option (eg Attach File).

Note:If you add an attachment, be aware that mobile device users may not be able to view the attachment in their calendar, or retrieve the original email invite.

Tip:Notice that further options are available in the other tabs displayed.

  1. When complete, click on Save & Closeon the Appointment (or Event) tab.

Amending an event

  1. Double click on the event or appointment to open it. Make any changes required and click on Save & Close.

Cancelling an appointment or All Day Event

  1. Right click on the appointment and on the pop-up menu click on Delete.

Tip:If you accidently delete an event, click on Undo in the Quick Access Toolbar, or press Ctrl+Z to bring it back.

Meetings

Meetings can be created with anyone within the University (staff and students) or external contacts. If the invitees are using a compatible email system, the meeting will appear in their calendar if they accept it and will update with any changes you make. The meeting organiser will receive replies by default. You can add a signature to a meeting invite message.

Creating a meeting

  1. On the Home tab -New group, click on New Meeting. This will open a new Meeting window.
  2. Add a Subject for the meeting.
  3. Type in a Location, or if you are booking a room or resource, see the Rooms and resourcessection in this document.
Adding invitees
  1. Add invitees in the To… field in the same way as you would using email.

Note:If an invitee is not required so can choose whether or not to attend the meeting, Click on To…, search for the invitee and then click on Optional.

  1. Once all invitees are added, click on OK.
Adding invitees external to the University

You can type in an email address for anybody external to the University. Alternatively, if the person is in your contacts list:

  1. Click on To… and under Address Book, ensurethat Contacts - is displayed.
  1. Type the name of the contact in the Search field. Select the invitee from the list then click on one of the following:
  2. Required – invitee is required at the meeting.
  3. Optional – invitee can choose whether or not to attend the meeting.
Setting meeting options
  1. In the Meeting tab - Options group:

a)Click on the ShowAs drop down arrow and select an option if necessary, eg Out of Office (the default will be Busy).

b)Change the Remindersetting if required.

c)If the event will be repeated, click on Recurrence and set the required recurrence pattern.

  1. In the Meeting tab - Tags group, select the options required:
  2. Categorize – group similar items together so they’re easier to identify (by colour) and search for. For further details see the Categorizesection in this document.
  3. Private- prevents details of the appointment being seen by anyone who has access to your calendar.
  4. Importance level – so others can be aware of how important you rate this event.
  1. To add an attachment (eg a document), in the Insert tab – Include group, select an attachment option (eg Attach File).

Note:If you add an attachment, be aware that mobile device users may not be able to view the attachment in their calendar, or retrieve the original email invite.

Tip:Notice that further options are available in the other tabs displayed.

  1. In the Meeting tab – Show group, click on Scheduling Assistant to see if there are any conflicts for the proposed meeting.

Tip:Hover over an icon to see a screen tipdescribing what the icon means.

  1. In the Meeting tab – Show group, click on Appointment to return to the meeting proposal.
  2. Add any notes for the meeting in the text area. These will be visible to all invitees.
  3. When complete, click on Send (on the Meeting tab).
Creating a meeting from an email
  1. With the email message open, on the Home tab (or Meeting tab if you have the reading Pane turned off) in the Respondgroup, click on Meeting. This will open a new Meeting window.
  2. The Toand Subject field will already be populated and the text of the email will be copied into the meeting notes area.
  3. Add a location and a start and end time as required.
  4. Set the options as outlined in the Creating a meetingsection above and then click on Send.
Creating a meeting for a group
  1. In the Outlook navigation pane, click on Contacts.
  2. With the group selected, on the Home tab- Communicate group, click on Meeting.
  3. Set the options as outlined in the Creating a meetingsection above and then click on Send.

Note:You can use a Sympa mailing list address to invite all members of the list to a meeting, simply type the full email address in the To field. Individual invitees will not be displayed until they have responded to the invite. You will be able to track responses in the normal way.