Combining calendars in one view
Your personal FirstClass calendar is like a personal organizer. It records calendar events and tasks.
Unlike a personal organizer, you can permit other people to view and update your FirstClass calendar. This allows others to schedule meetings at mutually convenient times.
You can also have access to or create one of the following types of public calendars:
Allows specific groups of people to coordinate their time and tasks.
Represents a resource, such as a projector, and is used as a booking device for the resource.
Represents a location, such as a meeting room, and is used as a booking device for the location.
Both resource and location calendars are automatically updated when people book resources and locations as part of creating calendar events.
To open someone else's personal calendar, choose Open User Calendar from their menu in a message envelope, your people list, or your chats.
Your FirstClass desktop includes a CALENDAR pane showing your personal calendar as a mini calendar in month view, followed by the selected day's events and tasks. A shaded date in the mini calendar indicates that there are calendar items for that date.
When you select a date, you see what items are associated with it.
To display a different month, use the back or forward arrow button beside the month name.
To open your calendar in the central pane, select the CALENDAR title. To open one of the items listed below the mini calendar, select it. Your calendar also opens to the corresponding date.
You can see the following views in an open calendar:
Shows today's events in time slots. All-day events are at the top of the calendar.
Shows all events for your work week in time slots. All-day events are at the top of the day column.
Shows all events for the week in time slots. All-day events are at the top of the day column.
You define the five days of your work week in your preferences.
Shows all events for the month.
Lists all tasks started, in progress, or completed during the selected month.
The arrow buttons at the top of the open calendar let you scroll dates:
Move back or forward one year at a time.
In day view, move back or forward one day at a time. In week view, move back or forward one week at a time. In month and task views, move back or forward one month at a time.
To return to today's date, select Today.
Depending on your calendar permissions, invitations may appear in your calendar, or, if the sender isn't allowed to add anything directly to your calendar, in your mailbox.
When you open the invitation, you'll see the event form plus buttons that allow you to respond to the invitation:
| This button | Does this |
|---|---|
| Accept | Accepts the invitation. If the invitation is in your mailbox, it's moved to your calendar. |
| Tentative | Accepts the invitation, but indicates on the event form that you might be unavailable. |
| Decline | Declines the invitation and creates a reply message so that you can provide an explanation. |
Note
If the person who invited you isn't on your server, a reply is always created for that person.
To add an event to a calendar, use the New Event button in the open calendar or at the top of the CALENDAR pane, then complete the event form.
Shortcut
Double-click the start time in day, work week, or week view, or the day in month view.
When you have completed the form, select the Save button. If you close the form using the x button, you are asked how you want to handle this event.
If you decide you don't want the event after all, choose Delete from the form's menu.
Events that you create in a group calendar are added directly to that calendar or to your personal calendar (with copies placed in the group calendar). The group calendar's permissions determine which happens. These events appear to come from the group calendar, not from yourself.
The event form is divided into sections. To open or close each section, use its disclosure button.
This section shows general information about the event.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Description | The event description as you want to see it on the calendar and in any reminders. |
| Location | The location for the event. This field is for display purposes only. To book a location that is in the Directory, use the Participants section. This updates that location's calendar, so others know the location has been booked. |
| Starts at | The start date and time for the event. To change the date/time, select this field. The date/time popup lets you change the month, year, date, and time (drag the sliders or select the slider bars to change the hour and minute). |
| Ends at | The end date and time for the event. To change the date/time, select this field and update the date/time popup as described above. |
| Duration | The length of time the event is scheduled to last, based on your start and end times. You can change the duration at this field. This updates the end time. |
| All day event | Makes this event last one day and displays the event at the top in day, work week, and week views. |
| Show as | Your level of availability for other commitments during this event. To create an event for information purposes only, that doesn't generate conflicts, choose Free. |
| Visibility | Events with Normal or Company visibility can be opened by others viewing the calendar. Events with any other visibility can only be opened by the event creator and its participants. This behavior may change based on calendar permissions. |
| Time zone | The time zone for the event start and end times. This overrides the default time zone set in your preferences, allowing you to schedule events in different time zones. |
| Category | The type of event. To assign a category to this event, choose it at this field. Participants can change the category on their copies of the event. |
| My reminders | To generate a reminder, select Time before event, then choose when you want to see the reminder. Participants get reminders based on their own preferences. |
| Color | The background color for this event on the calendar. You may want to color code certain events (for example, all meetings). Participants can change the color on their copies of the event. To assign a background color, select this field, then the color on the color popup. You can also create a custom color by typing its hexadecimal value at Hex. |
| Icon | The icon that represents this event. To change the icon, select this field, then the icon you want from the icon popup. |
This section lets you invite others to your event, and book a location and resources. Bars indicate their availablity. You can change the event date and time here to try to accommodate conflicts.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Event date | The event date as set in the Event section. You can use the arrow buttons in this field to change the date one day at a time, or select the date to open a popup calendar. |
| Event time | The time period covered by this event as set in the Event section. You can select a different time on this bar to change the start time. |
| Next Free Time | Makes FirstClass search for the next free time slot for all participants and location/resources. |
| People | Invite people to your event by adding them at Add participants. To add someone, address them as you would if sending them a message. The bar to the right of each person indicates their availability for this event, as described at the bottom of this section. When they respond to your invitation, an icon beside them indicates whether they have accepted (green checkmark), accepted tentatively (yellow checkmark) or declined (x). If you use an Internet address when inviting someone, that person will receive a message with an iCalendar attachment. The recipient can import this attachment into their own calendaring application. |
| Resources | Book a location/resources for your event by adding them here. They must be in the Directory. To add a location or resource, use its name as it appears in the Directory. The bar to the right of each location/resource indicates its availability for this event, as described at the bottom of this section. |
This section provides a place for you to type and format any additional information you want to provide about this event.
To attach a file that is on your device to this event, use the Attach button, then browse for and select the file, or take a picture.
To attach an object that is on your server (such as a FirstClass document or an uploaded file), drag the file or other object to the form. You can also use this method as a shortcut to attach files that are on your device.
You can also attach a recording by choosing Insert Voice, just as you can to a message.
To make your event show up repeatedly on the calendar, choose the frequency at Repeat interval. Depending on your choice, you will see additional fields for fine-tuning the repeat interval.
For all repeat options, you can stop the repeats by selecting the Repeat until field, then the last date to repeat this event from the popup calendar.
For repeats by month, if you create the original event on the last Monday in the month (for example, August 30), then tick the Same week day of the month checkbox, the repeats will be created on the last Monday of each month. If you don't tick this, the repeats will be created on the same date of each month (September 30, October 30, and so on).
For repeats by year, if you create the original event on the first Wednesday of the year, then tick the Same week day of the year checkbox, the repeats will be created on the first Wednesday of each year. If you don't tick this, the repeats will be created on the same date each year.
To change event information, open the event and update it. If you were invited to this event, there are only limited changes you can make: you can change the color, category, and when (or if) a reminder will be generated. These changes only affect your own copy.
If you change the start date/time for an event you created, it will move to the new location on your calendar. The event is also moved and reflagged on participants' calendars.
Caution
Try to minimize updating events with participants. They can customize their copies of events, and your updates will override that customization. You can safely update the color, category, or reminder information, and this won't interfere with participants' copies.
If you delete a participant, the event is removed from that participant's calendar.
Exception
Updates won't be reflected in the calendars of users who are participants of an event created in a group calendar.
If you make a change to an event that is one of a series of repeating events, you will be asked which of the repeating events you want to change when you close the event.
If you delete an existing event that you created, that event is removed from all participants' calendars. If you didn't create the event, this deletion affects only your own copy.
Exception
Deletions won't be reflected in the calendars of users who are participants of an event created in a group calendar.
You can delete one occurrence of a repeating event.
The Tasks tab lists all tasks for the selected month. Icons in the Status column indicate their current states of completion.
Overdue tasks are shown in red. Urgent tasks are shown in bold at the top of the list. Completed tasks have a line struck through their descriptions and are at the bottom of the list.
To add a task to a calendar when on the Tasks tab, use the New Task button, then complete the task form. On any other tab, choose New Task from the New button's dropdown menu.
When you have completed the form, select the Save button. If you decide you don't want the task after all, choose Delete from the form's menu.
The task form is divided into sections. To open or close each section, use its disclosure button.
This section shows general information about the task.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Description | The task description as you want to see it on the calendar and in any reminders. |
| Starts at | The start date and time for the task. To change the date/time, select this field. The date/time popup lets you change the month, year, date, and time (drag the sliders or select the slider bars to change the hour and minute). |
| Due at | The due date and time for the task, if applicable. To change the date/time, select this field and update the date/time popup as described above. If there is no specific due date, accept None. |
| Priority | You can give the task normal or urgent priority. |
| Category | The type of task. To assign a category to this task, choose it at this field. |
| Reminders | Lets you generate reminders for this task. These reminders are generated before both the start and due dates. To generate reminders, select Time before start and end, then choose when you want to see the reminders. |
| State | The status of the task. Until the status of the task has changed, accept Not Completed. |
This section provides a place for you to type and format any additional information you want to provide about this task.
To attach a file that is on your device to this task, use the Attach button, then browse for and select the file, or take a picture.
To attach an object that is on your server (such as a FirstClass document or an uploaded file), drag the file or other object to the form. You can also use this method as a shortcut to attach files that are on your device.
This section shows the following information about the task:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Assign to | The person you want to be responsible for this task. Enter their name just as you would when addressing a message. |
| Time zone | The time zone for the task start and due dates. This overrides the default time zone set in your preferences, allowing you to set tasks in different time zones. |
| Visibility | Tasks with Normal or Company visibility can be opened by others viewing the calendar. Tasks with any other visibility can only be opened by the task creator. This behavior may change based on calendar permissions. |
| Color | The background color for this task on the calendar. You may want to color code certain tasks (for example, all tasks with due dates in a particular date range). To assign a background color, select this field, then the color on the color popup. You can also create a custom color by typing its hexadecimal value at Hex. |
| Icon | The icon that represents this task. To change the icon, select this field, then the icon you want from the icon popup. |
You can create a task in your own calendar, then assign it to someone else to complete by putting their name in the Assign to field. This makes the task show up in both your calendars, so that you can edit it if necessary and track task status (when it is overdue or completed).
When you assign a task to someone else, they are prompted to respond by accepting, accepting tentatively, or declining. After they respond, an icon is displayed beside their name indicating their response (green for accept, yellow for accept tentatively, or red for decline).
When someone accepts a task, they can edit it.
When someone accepts a task tentatively, they can update their response, but otherwise they can only view the task.
When someone declines a task, a reply message is created so they can give you an explanation. They can update their response, but otherwise they can only view the task.
To change task information, open the task and update it.
If you change the start date/time for a task, it will move to the new location on your calendar.
To change the status, choose it at the first State field in the Task section. If the task has been completed, you can simply select the next field and update the popup calendar with the completion date. This automatically changes the status to Completed. Or, if the task was completed on the same day you are updating this form, you can just choose Completed and today's date will automatically display.
If you need to revert a completed task to the status of not completed, choose Not Completed. The completion date is automatically removed.
Shortcut
To update the status of a task without opening it, select the icon in the Status column. Selecting this icon toggles the status between completed and not completed.
Reminders pop up at the time you specified when you created an event or task.
To open the event or task from a reminder, use the Details button. To close the reminder, use the Dismiss button.
If you want to be reminded again closer to the time, choose when to reopen the reminder at Snooze, then use the Snooze button.
If you aren't logged in when a reminder is due to open, it's mailed to you.
To customize your personal calendar, choose Preferences from the application menu, then go to the Calendar section:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Week start day | The day that you want your week to start in week and month views, as well as the mini calendar. |
| Work week start day | The day that you want your work week to start in work week view. This is the first of five days displayed in this view. |
| Start of work day | The normal start time of your work day. No events will be created with a default start time before this time. |
| Event duration | How long events that you create will last by default. |
| Set default reminder | Tick this checkbox to set reminders on by default for events and tasks that you create. Choose the time before the events/tasks that you want to see reminders in the next field. |
| Show week numbers | Tick this checkbox to display the week number of the year for each week. |
You can combine events and tasks from several calendars into one calendar. For example, if you have access to a group calendar, you can open your personal calendar, then view the group calendar items along with the items in your personal calendar, to get a complete picture of your commitments. The group calendar is called a punchthrough calendar.
Notes
This is just a special calendar view. You aren't actually adding these items to your calendar permanently, and they don't affect what FirstClass sees as your busy times.
If you also use the FirstClass client, you can color punchthrough calendars in the client. This makes their items stand out as punchthrough items in the combined view.
If a calendar has punchthrough calendars available for combining, you'll see a Filter Calendar button in the top right corner. Using this button displays a menu of the available calendars.
To add a punchthrough calendar's items to the calendar view, choose Show calendar name. To remove this calendar's items from the calendar view, choose Hide calendar name. This allows you to view any combination of the available calendars.
To remove a calendar from this menu, choose Remove calendar name.
To add a public calendar to the filter menu of your personal calendar, open the public calendar, then choose Add to My Calendar from its menu.
If you want your personal calendar to be available in someone else's personal calendar, invite them to be a member of your calendar as described under "Creating calendars".
To add a public calendar to the filter menu of another public calendar, drag the calendar you want to be a punchthrough calendar to the other calendar. In order to drag one calendar to the other, you may need to choose Add to Home from the calendars' menus to make both calendars visible on your homepage.
You can add an external calendar, such as a Google calendar, to the filter menu. Your administrator must first make the external calendar available for you to add.
To add an external calendar to the filter menu, open the FirstClass calendar, then choose Add external calendar name from the filter menu.
The first time you choose the external calendar from the filter menu, you will be asked to log into it.
If you want to create an event or task directly in a punchthrough calendar, choose that calendar from the New button's dropdown menu in the open calendar, then choose New Event or New Task.
You can import calendar items from an external electronic calendar to a FirstClass calendar. These items must be in iCal 2.0 format.
To import the calendar items from an iCal (.ics) file, open the calendar to which you want to import the calendar items, choose Import Calendar from the New button's dropdown menu, then choose the file to import.
Events are converted to FirstClass events and to-dos are converted to FirstClass tasks.
To import calendar items to a punchthrough calendar, open a calendar that has the punchthrough calendar available, choose the punchthrough calendar from the New button's dropdown menu, then choose Import Calendar.
You can also export events and tasks from a FirstClass calendar. They are exported in iCal 2.0 format.
To export an event or task, open it, then choose Export from its menu. You are given the opportunity to rename the export file.
You can create group, resource, and location calendars just as your administrator does. If you have trouble getting your calendars to work as you expect, contact your administrator.
To create a calendar on your homepage, choose New Container from your homepage's menu, then select the type of calendar you want. Follow the prompts to give the calendar an icon and name, then select Create. The new calendar is added to the end of your homepage.
To create a calendar elsewhere, open the container where you want the calendar to be created, choose New Container from the New button's dropdown menu, then follow the same procedure you would on your homepage. You can access the new calendar using the container's Folders button.
To protect your calendar from being deleted by accident, open it, choose Properties from its menu, then tick the Protected checkbox. If you really want to delete this calendar in the future, you must first clear this checkbox.
You use calendar permissions to control how the calendar behaves (for example, what others are able to do in the calendar).
To set calendar permissions, open the calendar, choose Permissions from its menu, then fill in the permissions form:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Do not publish in Directory | Prevents the calendar from showing up in the Directory. This keeps others from knowing about the calendar unless you tell them. It also means you can use any name you want for the calendar, without it conflicting with a published name. For resource and location calendars, we recommend you not tick this checkbox. These calendars must be in the Directory to enable people to book when creating events in other calendars. We also don't recommend that you tick this for your personal calendar. |
| Item expiry | The number of days an event or task can stay in the calendar before expiring. |
| Belongs to | Unless you are familiar with calendar groups and how they affect behavior, we recommend you leave this field as is. All calendars belong by default to calendar groups. Your administrator sets up calendar groups to control calendar behavior for groups as a whole. You'll see the groups that the new calendar belongs to here. You can add or remove calendar groups. To add a calendar group, type its name just as you would address a message to a conference. To remove a calendar group, select the x beside it. |
| Who | This is the area where you set permissions that control what others can do in the calendar. It's described in the next section. |
Because public calendars are collaborative areas, you need to give others access to the new calendar. To do this, you first set permissions that control what they can do in the calendar, then you make the calendar available to them.
To specify what you want someone to be able to do in the calendar, update the Who section of the permissions form. You must do this for every person and group with access to the calendar.
First, enter the person or group's name under Who just as you would address a message to them. The order in which you list people matters, because when someone opens the calendar, FirstClass checks the Who list from the top down. When it finds the first occurrence of this person, or the first group to which they belong, it uses the permissions it finds there. This means that if the first thing you list is the All Users group, and make the access for that group No Access, no one will be able to access the calendar.
Second, choose the access level for the person in the field to the right of their name. Access levels are predefined sets of permissions. You can assign an access level as is, or customize it by selecting and clearing the individual permissions which follow.
| This level | Gives these permissions |
|---|---|
| No Access | Prevents the person from viewing the calendar or adding items to it. We recommend that you add the All Users group at the end of your list with this access level, to prevent anyone from inadvertently being able to access the calendar. |
| See Times | The person can view the calendar, but only see the times set aside for events and tasks. They can't add events to the calendar. Instead, their invitations are sent to invitees' mailboxes. |
| Schedule Only | The person can add events to the calendar indirectly. An event is added indirectly to a group calendar when someone creates an event in another calendar and invites the group calendar. An event is added indirectly to a location or resource calendar when someone books the location or resource. |
| Schedule+Times | The person can view the calendar (times only) and add events indirectly. |
| Schedule+Details | The person can see popup details on the calendar and add events indirectly. They can't open items or create events directly in the calendar. |
| Editor | The person has all the previous permissions, plus can open items, edit and delete items, create events directly in the calendar, download attachments, and view item history. Events created indirectly remain uneditable. |
| Custom | Access is defined by the individual permissions that are selected. If you add or remove individual permissions for someone with another access level, their access level automatically becomes Custom. |
The icons to the right of the access level field represent the individual permissions that make up the levels. To toggle a permission on and off, select its icon.
Limitation
Be aware that certain permissions will only work if the person has been given appropriate privileges by your administrator.
From left to right, the individual permissions are:
| Permission | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Edit permissions | The person can edit this permissions form. This includes adding people at Who and making them members of the calendar. |
| Moderator | Doesn't apply to calendars. |
| Delete any item | The person can delete any item, including items added by others. |
| Create items | The person can create events and tasks directly in the calendar, and move items into the calendar. |
| Edit read-only items | The person can edit items that aren't normally editable (items created directly by others). Events created indirectly remain uneditable. For this permission to work, you must also select the Edit items permission. Be cautious about selecting the Edit read-only permission, because it overrides normal FirstClass behavior. |
| Edit items | The person can edit any normally editable event or task. |
| Save window and view properties | Doesn't apply to calendars. |
| Approve items | Doesn't apply to calendars. |
| Delete own items | The person can delete and change the properties of their own items. |
| View unrestricted details | The person can see the details of items with unrestricted visibility levels. This lets them see popup details for closed items. |
| Search items | The person can search the calendar. |
| Add participants | The person can update the calendar directly. For this permission to work, you must also select the Create items permission. For resource and location calendars, people without this permission must always book by creating an event in another calendar. If someone doesn't have this permission for your personal calendar, events to which they invite you will appear in your mailbox. |
| Open items | The person can open events and tasks. |
| Download files & attachments | The person can download attached files. |
| View permissions | The person can view this permissions form, but not edit it. |
| View history | The person can view the history of items. |
| Open calendar | The person can open the calendar. This lets them see the times for events and tasks, but no other details. |
To create a description of the calendar for others to read, use the About button on the calendar's permissions form.
To make the calendar available to someone, either create it in a container to which they already have access, or make them a member of the calendar. Making them a member of your personal calendar adds the calendar to their personal calendar's filter list. Making them a member of a public calendar puts a link to that calendar on their homepage.
To invite someone to become a member of the calendar, use the Members button on the calendar's permissions form. Enter the person's name in the members list just as you would address a message to them.
When you are done with the members list and permissions form, close them using the x button in the top right corner. Your changes are automatically saved.