Creating Appointments


There are three methods you can use to create an appointment:

  • Open a new calendar form and enter your event details

  • Drag a message or other Outlook item to the calendar button or folder

  • Select an Outlook item, right-click and choose Copy to Folder, selecting the calendar from the folder selection menu

Creating an appointment using the second and third methods opens the form as an appointment with the next time slot used as the appointment time. For example, if you drag a message to the calendar at 2:50 PM, a calendar form opens with the appointment date and time set for 3 PM today. You can change this, of course.

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My all-time favorite time tip is using shortcut keys to enter the time and date. Instead of using the date picker to find 2 weeks from now, type 2w in the date field. Entering the time as 2:50 PM takes too many keystrokes, whereas 250p doesn't require the use of the Shift key.

Other shortcut letters you can use are d (day), mo (month), and y (year).


The appointment and meeting forms share just one form (shown later in this section), with different controls used depending on the commands you select. When you choose the Recurrence button, the dialog needed to create a recurring appointment opens. When you choose Invite Attendees, you can add email addresses to the form and select other options specific to meeting planning.

Using the New menu to open a form limits you to opening a new appointment form or a new meeting form, but you can use the toolbar button to make a recurring appointment. If you choose the wrong type of calendar form or need an all-day event form, select the toolbar button or option to change the form type.

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The reminder time for all-day events defaults to 18 hours. If you want a different reminder time, you must select it or type it in when you create the all-day event.


When you right-click on the calendar, you can select the type of calendar item you want to create. They are

  • New App o intment Create a new appointment with start and end times

  • New All Day E vent Create an all-day event

  • New Meeting Re q uest Send a meeting request to another person by email

  • New Meetin g Request Wit h Available only for Exchange server users and only when a shared calendar is displayed

  • New Recurring A ppointment Create an appointment that recurs

  • New Recurring E v ent Create an all-day event that recurs

  • New Re c urring Meeting Send a recurring meeting request by email

Right-click in any Day/Week/Month calendar and choose from the following context menu items to navigate the calendar:

  • Go to This D ay Used with Seven Day and Day/Week/Month views to open the selected day in a one-day view.

  • T o day Returns you to "today."

  • Go t o Date Opens the Go to Date picker. Select any date and calendar style and that date is displayed in the calendar.

The last items on the context menu are used to customize the calendar views:

  • Other S ettings Opens the Format Day/Week/Month dialog (see Figure 11.7). Use the Format Day/Week/Month View dialog to customize the fonts used on the calendar, to set the time scale, and to control how the time is displayed on appointments. This dialog also includes the option to Compress Weekend Days on the Monthly Calendar. You can also change the time scale by right-clicking on the time scale and selecting a different scale.

    Figure 11.7. The Format Day/Week/ Month View dialog enables you to customize the appearance of your calendar.

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  • C u stomize Current View Opens the Customize view dialog.

  • Automatic F ormatting Sets up rules to apply labels to existing appointments.

The Actions menu in the main calendar window also includes many of the same options listed earlier, plus the following two items:

  • Plan a Meeting

  • View Group Schedules

Plan a Meeting displays the free/busy information, as shown on the Schedule tab of an appointment form. Enter the attendees' names , check their availability, and choose Make a Meeting to open an appointment form with the time, date, and attendee fields completed (see Figure 11.8).

Figure 11.8. Use Plan a Meeting and View Group Schedules to show you the attendees' free/busy information before you begin to plan the meeting.

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View Group Schedules is available only for Exchange Server accounts. It enables you to create lists of colleagues' calendars. This is similar to a distribution list, but for co-workers whose calendars you open frequently. When you select a group, you'll see the group members ' free busy information.

One basic calendar form is used for all appointments, meeting requests , and all day events. Choosing the I n vite Attendees button adds a To field for you to enter email addresses. Click the Rec u rrence button to set up recurring events or add a check to the All Da y event box to create an all day event instead of an appointment.

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An appointment has a set beginning and ending time. Events last all day and sometimes span several days.


Figure 11.9. The appointment form provides you with the fields necessary to input important information about an appointment.

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To create an appointment, select N ew or N ew, A ppointment if you aren't looking at the Calendar folder.

  1. Fill in the Sub j ect field of the appointment, and press the Tab key to move to the L ocation field. Enter the location of the appointment, if desired. The location list is stored in your profile so that you can select from locations you entered previously, but you can't share you locations with other users.

  2. Next, tab to the label field and select a label, if desired. When a label isn't selected, you can use automatic formatting to color appointments by view.

  3. Enter a start time. You can type a date in or use date shortcuts, such as 2w for two weeks from now. Enter the time of your appointment, which accepts shortcuts formatted as 245p . Tab to the E n d Time field and enter the time, if the default is not correct.

  4. If the item is an all-day event, skip the Start Time field and add a check to the All Da y Event box.

  5. Change the default reminder, if necessary, and choose your desired Sho w Time As selection.

S elect Save, close the dialog, and your appointment is added to your calendar.

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When you're viewing the calendar, you can double-click on a time in the Day Planner view to create an appointment at that time. Double-clicking in the monthly view creates an all-day event.


Moving Appointments

After you've created your appointments, you might discover the appointment needs to be moved to a new time or date. Other times, you'll need to make a second appointment using the same details. In that case, making a copy of the original appointment is easier than retyping it. There are several ways to perform a move or copy:

  • Open the item and change the date. It's boring, but it works.

  • Select the item and use the keyboard shortcuts: Press Ctrl+X or Ctrl+C to cut or copy, and then press Ctrl+V to paste it on a new date.

  • Select and drag to a new time or date to move, or hold the Ctrl and drag the item to copy it. You can also right-click and drag to choose between copy and move.

  • Change the start or end times by dragging the edge of the appointment up or down, when using the Day or Work Week view.

Although dragging and dropping works well when the new times or dates are visible on the screen, it's more difficult to do if you need to scroll very far through the calendar. In most cases, it's easier to open the item and type in a new time when you're moving the item or using cut (or copy) and paste.

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It's tricky to use the Day/Week/Month view to move appointments from one time or date to another, or even to another calendar. It's also sometimes difficult to select the appointment without also entering edit mode. If you happen to enter Edit mode, press the Esc key to return to Select mode.

You can also right-click on an item, and after the context menu appears, choose Outlook's E dit menu to return to Select mode.


Although the preceding methods work well when you use the Day/Week/Month view, you can also let Outlook change times or dates for you using a Table view.

  1. Select a Table view, such as By Category.

  2. Right-click on the row for field names, selecting Group B y Box.

  3. Drag the Start field to the Group By area. This groups your appointments by the date.

  4. Select appointments or all-day events and drag them between groups. The time and/or date changes to what is used by the new group.

You must sort by the start time and drag the item to another group. Although this method doesn't seem very practical because you don't normally want more than one appointment at a specific time and date, it works well to change all-day events on group calendars.

Recurring Appointments

You can create recurring appointments using the same methods you use to create appointments or all-day events: by selecting the Rec u rrence command button to open the Appointment Recurrence dialog (see Figure 11.10).

Figure 11.10. Use the Appointment Recurrence dialog to set up your recurring pattern. Different options are available when you select Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly pattern.

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Choose the appointment times and the recurrence pattern. The recurring appointment must fit a pattern, such as every nn days or every other Monday. Recurring appointments that fall on Monday one week and Wednesday the next week require two appointments, one for each pattern.

If you decide you don't want to create a recurring appointment, choose R emove Recurrence and you're returned to the appointment form.

When you're using a Day/Week/Month view and open, move, or delete an appointment that is part of a recurring series, Outlook warns you that the item is part of a series. In the case of opening or deleting an appointment, you're asked whether you want to open or delete the item or the series.

You receive a similar warning when you move recurring appointments and are offered the opportunity to change only the current item. If you want to change all the items, you'll have to open the series and edit the date.



Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
ISBN: 0672325543
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 228

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