There are three methods you can use to create an appointment:
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.
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.
When you right-click on the calendar, you can select the type of calendar item you want to create. They are
Right-click in any Day/Week/Month calendar and choose from the following context menu items to navigate the calendar:
The last items on the context menu are used to customize the calendar views:
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 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.
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.
Figure 11.9. The appointment form provides you with the fields necessary to input important information about an appointment.
To create an appointment, select N ew or N ew, A ppointment if you aren't looking at the Calendar folder.
S elect Save, close the dialog, and your appointment is added to your calendar.
Moving AppointmentsAfter 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:
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.
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.
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 AppointmentsYou 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.
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. |