Outlook Calendar Training Documentation
- Introduction
- Configuration Options
- Entering Calendar Items
- Sharing Calendars
- Printing Calendars
- Task Pad
- Viewing the Task Pad
- Creating a Task
- Organizing the Task Pad
- Assigning a Task
- Responding to a Task Assignment
Microsoft Outlook Calendar will be used in place of Meeting Maker. This is a very powerful tool that you should find very easy to use once you understand how it works. To open Calendar, click on the Calendar button on the Outlook menu bar.
When you open the Calendar, you will first see the Day. This consists of a daily planner, a monthly calendar, and a list of calendars available.
Other Views You can change views by doing the following:
• Click on View on the toolbar.
• Highlight Current View .
• Select one of the following views:
- Day/week/month
- Active Appointments
• Events
• Annual Events
• Recurring Appointments
• By Category
Calendar pull-down menu - You can use this feature to quickly add items to any of the above views. To access this, do the following:
• Click on Actions on the toolbar.
• The Calendar pull-down menu will appear.
• Select the item that you would like to add.
• Work Week/Working Hours . You can set your default work week and working hours within the Calendar. To do this, perform the following steps:
• Click on Tools on the Menu Bar.
• Click on Options
• Click on the Calendar option tab . You can now set which days of the week that you work, and the start and end time of your work day. When other users view your schedule, only these hours will be available to them.
Appointment Reminder -You can be reminded of your appointments with a pop up window and/or with an audio alarm. To set this option, do the following:
• Click on Tools on the Menu Bar.
• Click on Options .
• Click the Other tab.
• Click the Advanced Option
• Click Reminder Option button
• You can select a pop up window reminder by selecting the Display the reminder option.
• You can select an audio reminder by selecting the Play reminder sound: option .
• The default sound is a "ding" sound, but you can change this by selecting "browse", then select the file you would like to use instead (this file must be a .wav file).
Time Zone -You can set your time zone by doing the following:
• Click on Tools on the Menu Bar.
• Click on Options .
• Click on the Calendar Options tab.
• Click on the Time Zone button
• Select your time zone form the time zone drop down menu.
• Select Adjust for daylight saving time if it is not already selected.
Holidays-You can add holidays from various countries, including the United States to your calendar by doing the following:
• Click on Tools on the Menu Bar.
• Click on Options .
• Click on the Calendar Option tab.
• Click on the Add Holidays button.
• Select the country you reside in.
Free\Busy option- This allows users sending meeting requests to determine whether or not you are available for a meeting.
• Click on Tools
• Click on options
• Click on Calendar Options
• Click Free\Busy Options Icon
• Select how many months you wish to have free\busy options published and how often Outlook publishes these. Standard is to publish two months at a time and to update this information every 15 minutes.
Resource Scheduling-This option allows users to coordinate resource usage such as conference rooms.
• Click on Tools
• Click on options
• Click on Calendar Options
• Click on Resource Scheduling
• Select the options you prefer to use. No options are selected when opening this window.
Entering Calendar Items
Scheduling an appointment- To schedule and appointment do the following.
• Select the New message icon on the toolbar.
• Note : A shortcut for this option is CTRL+N
• Click on the Appointment .
• In the subject field, type the name of the appointment.
• In the location field, type in the location of the appointment.
• Select the start and end time
• Check on the Reminder Option if you would like to receive a visual or audio reminder.
• You can also select how far in advance you would like to be reminded and what sound is to be played at the time of the reminder.
• If this is a recurring appointment select the Recurrence Icon
• Select when and how often this appointment will be.
• You can invite attendees to the appointment by selecting the Invite Attendees Icon.
• By selecting this you can select people from the global address list to send this appointment to.
• Upon completion of these steps you may view a calendar style visual representation of your new appointment by selecting the Scheduling tab next to the Appointment tab.
• Select Save and Close when finished.
Creating an Event-To create an event do the following
• Click on Actions and select New All Day Event
• This function is very similar to an appointment in the fact that you can set reminders, set recurrences, Invite Attendees, and view a calendar representation of the event.
• When you are finished with entering all the data select the Save and Close icon.
Send a Meeting Request- To send a meeting request do the following.
• Click on New Icon on the toolbar and select Meeting Request .
• Note : a shortcut to this option is Ctrl+Shift+Q
• This function is very similar to an appointment in the fact that you can set reminders, set recurrences, and view a calendar representation of the meeting request.
• To invite others , do the following:
• Click the To button
• Select the attendees from the address book. You can insert the attendees into different categories.
• Required : Individuals that are required to attend
• Optional : Individuals that are optional
• Resources : If you want the meeting to be held in an individual's office, enter their name here.
• Selecting a meeting time. You can select an available meeting time for all of the attendees by doing the following:
• Click on the Scheduling Tab.
• You will now see the schedule for each of the attendees.
• You can check available times for each attendee in this window. Sections in bright blue are times the attendees are busy. Sections in blue with lines through are times that have been tentatively filled. Sections that are in purple are times attendees are out of the office.
• Click the time frame that is free. The green and pink bars will move to that time.
• If you would like the meeting to last longer than a half an hour select either the pink or green portion of the time frame and drag it to the desired time length.
• A shortcut to select the nearest time that attendees are available is to click the AutoPick button
• There are several option related to the AutoPick function. To select from these option do the following.
• Click Options button.
• Select AutoPick
• You will be able to choose from four different options. Each option functions differently according to the criteria in the label.
Note: The default is set on All People and One Resource as seen above.
• When you are finished selecting the options select the Appointment tab.
• If you would like a reminder of this meeting, click on the Reminder checkbox. You can also select how long before the meeting you will receive the reminder as well as the sound it plays during the reminder.
• Type a subject for the meeting in the Subject field.
• Type in any text in the body of the message.
• If you would like to attach a file to the meeting select the Attach File icon.
• To send the meeting request, click on the send button.
Responding to a meeting request-When a meeting request is sent the recipients have several options in response to your request.
• To accept the meeting select the Accept button
• To send a message to the sender setting your status as tentative select the Tentative button.
• To decline the request, select the Decline button.
• If the requested time is not suitable the recipient may propose a new meeting time by selecting the Propose New Time button.
• To view your calendar before responding to the meeting request select Calendar button.
• When you select one of the response buttons a window will appear and allow you to add a written response to the meeting request. It will also prompt you that the meeting will be posted to your calendar if the recipient has selected the Accept option.
Sharing Calendars- One of the great features of Outlook calendar is the ability to share calendars among users. You can edit other user's calendars and they can edit yours by making a few settings changes.
Delegates- In order to be able to view and edit another user's calendar they must add you to their list of delegates. To do this, follow these steps.
• Click the Tools menu and select Options .
• Click on the Delegates tab.
• Select the Add button.
• Select the name from the global address list that will be a delegate for this computer
• Click OK . The Delegate Permissions screen will appear. This screen allows the owner of the Calendar to limit the ability of the delegate to change the calendar and other options.
• You can select from four options in the Calendar Permissions drop down menu.
• Note: the default set permissions as editor which allows the new delegate to read, create, and modify all items in the calendar.
• There are also three option to do the following
• For delegates to receive copies of meeting related messages sent to the owner.
• To automatically send a message to the delegate summarizing these permissions
• Also, for the delegate to see private items in the owners calendar
• Click Ok button and the Options menu will appear with the new delegates name in the open field.
• Click Apply then Ok . The new delegate will have permission to view the owner's calendar after these steps.
Removing Delegates or viewing set permissions-Once a delegate has been added you the owner may remove that delegate or revise their permissions.
• Click Tools.
• Select Options
• Select the Delegates tab
• Highlight the name of the delegate's account you wish to modify or remove.
• Select the Remove to remove that person from the delegates list.
• Select Permissions to view or modify the current permissions for this person.
• When you finish with modifying the delegates list select Apply then OK .
Viewing another user's calendar- In order to access another user's calendar you will need to open it.
• Select the file menu
• Select Open .
• Select Other User's Folder
• A window titled Open other user's folder . This is where you can find the user that has added you as a delegate to their calendar.
• Select the Name button and choose the user that has added you as a delegate to their calendar.
• Highlight the name of the user that has added you to their delegates list. Then press the OK button.
• The widow will close and the name of the person you selected will be in the previously empty field
• Select the OK button and a split view will appear on your calendar. One side will be of your calendar and the other will be of the user's you previously selected.
• NOTE : you will only be able to view a users calendar if they have added you to their delegates list with the correct permissions
Printing the Calendar
• Printing the Calendar. Users can print the calendar with several options in outlook. To print do the following
• Printing Menu. To get to the main printing menu do the following. From this menu you can change printing options.
• Click File.
• Select Print.
• A window will appear which has several different printing options.
• Printing Options. There are several options that you can use when printing the Outlook calendar.
• Print Styles. There are five different print styles to choose from.
• Daily Style. This will print your daily calendar.
• Weekly Style. This will print your weekly calendar.
• Monthly Style. This will print your monthly calendar.
• Tri-fold Style. This allows you to print more than one style at once.
• Calendar Details Style. This allows you to print the details of your calendar.
• Print Page Setup. After selecting the Print style you wish to use, you can further customize your printing setup. To do so select the following.
• Click Page Setup in the print style menu.
• A Page setup window will appear for the print style you choose.
• After selecting the options you wish to be included in the print job click the Print Preview button.
• Here you can see what the page will look like before printing.
• When you are finished proofing the page click the Close button.
• You will need to re-open the print menu.
• When it has been re-opened press the OK button.
Task Pad
• Task Pad. You can add items to your Task Pad, and can receive reminders at selected times so you forget these tasks.
• Viewing the Task Pad. To view the Task Pad and its contents select the Tasks button in the left pane.
• When tasks is highlighted you will be able to view the tasks screen
Creating a Task-To add a task to your task pad do the following.
• Click the New button on the toolbar
• Select Task.
• An Untitled Task window will appear where you can start to enter your information.
• Type in the description of the task in the Subject field.
• There are several different settings for this task that you can adjust. These include:
• Due Date: you can assign a due date to this task by selecting the due date drop down menu and choosing a day on the calendar.
• Start Date: you can select a start date by selecting the Start Date drop down menu and selecting a day on the calendar.
• Priority. Set the priority level for this task using the Priority drop down menu.
• Note: The default setting for a task is Normal .
• Task Reminder. You can set a reminder for this task by checking the reminder box.
Note: The default reminder option for the task has the reminder box unchecked.
• Status. You can view and\change the status of a task by selecting the status drop down menu.
• % Complete. You can adjust the percentage of completion for this task by using the % complete drop down menu. There are 25% increments.
• When you are finished editing the task options click the Save and Close button
• The task will now appear on your task pad.
• Viewing Tasks. You can view your tasks after they have been created.
• To open created tasks highlight the task and do the following:
• Click File.
• Select Open
• Select Selected Items
• After these steps you will be able to view and modify your task.
• Complete requests. Once you complete a task you will have it noted on your task pad.
• To complete a task on the task pad click the box next to the name of the task. When this is done correctly a line will be drawn through the name of the task
Note: A check will be inserted in the deletion box when you click it.
• Organizing Tasks. Tasks can be organized on the Task Pad.
• In the current view pane you can select several different views of the tasks on the task pad. These will help organize the tasks that you are looking for.
• Details. You can add details to completed/pending tasks for your records. To do this, do the following.
• Open the task you wish to add details to. (see above for instructions on opening a current or closed task)
• Select the Details tab when the task is open.
• In the details tab you can leave more detailed information about this specific task.
• When you are finished editing the details of the task click Save and Close.
Assigning Tasks-You can assign tasks to anyone in the global address list. To assign a task do the following.
• Open the task.
• Click the Assign Task button.
• A new field will appear above the Subject field. This is where the names of the people that have been assigned this task will appear.
• Click the To button at the beginning of this new field.
• A Select Task Recipient window will appear.
• Find the name of the person you wish to assign the task to and highlight their name.
• When the name is highlighted select the To-> button. The name of the person you selected will be entered into the field next to the To-> button.
• When you are finished selecting the recipients of the task click the OK button.
• The window disappear and the name of the person you selected will be in the To field.
• When you have finished the details of the task click the Send button to send the task to the recipients.
• When the task has been completed you will receive a reminder of it and the task will be crossed off on your task pad.
Responding to a Task Assignment- Once you receive a task assignment, you can respond by performing the following steps.
• If you would like to accept the task, click the Accept button.
• If you would like to decline the task, click the Decline button.
• Whether you accept or decline the task, a window will pop up giving you the option of either editing your response to the task or just sending the response
• If you selected “Edit the response before sending” the task message will appear with a line break showing where your message ends and where the original begins.
• When you are finished editing the task message click Send . The task will now appear on your task pad if you accepted the task.
