Customize Your Calendar

Like most apps, GCal isn’t “one size fits all”. You can customize several elements to make the calendar fit your needs. Here are some settings you can change:

• Custom views. By default, GCal gives you the following views: Day, Week, and Month. The day and week views can be too short for some, while the month view can be too long for others. You can create a custom calendar view by going to Settings > Custom View and select anything from two days to four weeks.
• Multiple timezones. Since most web workers have professional contacts all over the globe, it might be a good idea to include multiple timezones in your calendar. Just remember that you need to use the Day or Week views to see the timezones compared side-by-side.
• Aesthetics. Apart from the color of each calendar you set up, you can’t really change much of the visuals within GCal itself. Here are some alternative ways to change the calendar’s look and layout:
  • Helvetical. For a minimalist calendar design, you can install Ad Taylor’s Helvetical user script which gives GCal a simpler, cleaner look. If you’re working with a small monitor or a netbook, keep in mind that the large Helvetical header may lessen your usable screen area.
  • Better GCal. This add-on by Gina Trapani is handy for netbook users, as it allows you to collapse the header and the right sidebar, which is handy if you want to install some GCal gadgets but can’t afford to have them hog your screen. It also comes with a sleek gray skin for your GCal interface. I can’t seem to get some of the other features to work, though.

Use Your Calendar as a To-do List

This may seem like common sense — after all, many people use Google Calendar to record their tasks. But my approach helps to keep me organized and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

I created a new calendar and named it “Done”. Whenever I’m finished with an item on my list, I simply transfer it to the “Done” calendar. This calendar is hidden, so if I do all my assigned tasks for the day, my agenda for the day becomes clear and empty, giving me the same feeling of accomplishment when I achieve Inbox Zero.

To add a bit of fun, I uploaded a background image so that when my schedule clears, I can see the word “Done!” for that day (see screenshot below).You can upload your own image for this purpose via Settings > General > Calendar Background.

Use GCal an an Appointment Scheduler

It’s easy to book appointments with Google Calendar if your clients and colleagues have Google accounts, but what if they don’t? Some third-party tools can help:

• Darrell reviewed ScheduleOnce a few months ago, and the Firefox add-on can be found here.
• Earlier this month, Simon brought our attention to the Setster widget, which you can set up on your web site for appointment booking. You can integrate this with your Google Calendar.

Use GCal For Invoicing

If you want to use Google Calendar for invoicing, you can do so with Google Calendar Invoice Creator, a free Adobe Air application. To see how it works, check out the review and tutorial that Thursday wrote. gTime is a similar application, but you only need your web browser to use it.

GCal + Google Docs + Gmail = Collaboration

Apart from just scheduling meetings, you can also use a combination of GCal, Google Docs and Gmail for minimalist project management. The calendar sharing option makes this possible.

Here’s an example: When there’s a new design project for my team, I add a new event on our shared calendar and invite them all to it. I’ve enabled the “Attach Google Docs” feature from Google Calendar Labs, so I have the option of adding a design brief that everyone can refer to (see screenshot below). Unlike using Google Docs by itself, this allows you to attach group-wide email reminders and deadlines to your files. Just remember to share both the calendar and the file.

Also, if you need to add a calendar item while reading your email, simply click on the “More Actions” button, then “Create Event”. Gmail Labs also has Google Calendar and Google Docs gadgets for your sidebar if you need to refer to them often in one interface.

Integrating these three apps isn’t necessary if you already have existing, more robust collaboration software. But if your team is hesitant to use new tools or if you can’t afford to pay extra fees, this simple freebie approach is worth a try.

Search for Past Events

The search function is Google Calendar’s simplest and most overlooked feature. It comes in handy if you want to know the last time you did something, whether it’s a maintenance task for your car, cleaning up your hard drive, or sending greeting cards to your clients. Google’s own Matt Cutts uses this feature to keep track of his haircuts.

How do you use Google Calendar? Do you customize it in any way to suit your needs?

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For those with a Mac on your desk but a PC in your pocket, Eltima Software offers SyncMate, a software solution to keep your Mac and mobile device connected. SyncMate Free lets you connect your Mac with your PDA or Pocket PC (aka Windows Mobile device), keeping documents, contacts, calendars and more all up to date across both devices.

Support for Entourage and Google Calendar and Contacts seem like nice touches. Sync is available via USB or WiFi.

The Expert Edition adds support for iTunes and iPhoto along with to-dos, mail, bookmarks, call history and more.

We didn’t have anyone here with this hardware combination to test (it seems most Mac users I know have one of those iPhones) so if you try it be sure to let us know your opinions.

SyncMate is available for free download while the Expert Edition runs $39.95. Additional Family Pack and Business License options are available.

It is compatible with Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2005/2006, Windows Mobile Smartphone 2005/2006 and Mac OS X 10.4 and higher / Mac OS X 10.5

Do you need to connect a Mac with a Pocket PC/Windows Mobile device? What do you use?

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As nice as the mobile interfaces for these apps are though, I found I did miss the benefits of having this information stored in my phone’s native apps, specifically for caller ID and visibility from the main screen without needing to launch a browser.

So with a bit of online research, I was really pleased to find the GooSync service from the folks at Toffa.

Different than the GoodSync application I also recently reviewed, The GooSync service is designed to allow you to synchronize your Google Calendar with just about any mobile device. It is available as both a free service as well as a Premium offering which adds considerable functionality, including the ability to connect to multiple calendars as well as contact and task sync as well.

For simple single calendar synchronization the free option will probably work well enough for most folks, but for me the upgrade was a no brainer. I have multiple calendars in use for both personal and business and being able to have them all available is a necessity. Add to that an auto-sync function and I’m sure to always be up to date even when others are adding items to my calendar for me, which is frequently.

The contact synchronization option in the premium service can be set to connect to either your Gmail contacts or to a web based database. Given the sheer awfulness of Gmail contacts, I opted for the latter.

Because I use another app for contact management, the sync process isn’t quite as seamless as it is for calendaring. I think I’ve managed to make it pretty easy, and seem to have found my first use for DejaClick as well.

An export from Batchbook (or most any app really) provides a .csv file that is easily imported into a GooSync account, and then the autosync takes over. My full contact database is loaded up and available in my phones contacts app. I’m hoping that future upgrades will allow direct sync between various web services but for now this is a workable solution.

There is task functionality included as well, but with no Google counterpart, it’s GooSync specific. I haven’t had much use for it but for keeping track of simple to do items, it seems workable.

On the security side of things, I like that it is able to connect to my calendars using Google’s own authorization process rather than my needing to provide them with my Google login information.

Setting up the service is relatively easy: Create your account online, choose and configure your mobile device, and then start syncing.

As mentioned, there is a free plan available while the Premium service runs £19.95 (about $40) yearly. It does sync over air so data charges from your provider may apply.

How do you sync your desktop to your mobile device?

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