Calendar
Accessing the online calendar
The Faculty of Medicine runs an online calendar which anyone with a Faculty email account can access. To use the calendar first go to: http://cal.med.usyd.edu.au/ and log in using the same username and password as your Faculty of Medicine email account.
The interface has the following features:
Along the top are the tabs "View", "Calendars", "Groups" and "Options".
- View - shows you your calendar as is shown in the figure above.
- Calendars - shows you which calendars you have subscribed to. There is more detail on subscribing to calendars below.
- Groups - shows you which calendar groups you're in.
- Options - allows you to change basic settings in the calendar, such as the colours and default settings.
Beneath the tabs are five unlabelled buttons. They are, left to right:
- Compose Event - This creates a new event in your calendar. Events will appear at their date and time in the main view.
- Compose Task - These are for ongoing tasks. The due date and time will appear in your calendar, but you usually review your list using the ‘Action Items’ panel at the bottom-right of the View window.
- Jump to Date - This allows you to look at a specific date, this function is also on the right-hand side of the View window.
- Print - This creates a printable view of the calendar currently displayed.
- Search - This allows you to search through your calendar for a specific word.
The "Current Calendar:" drop down menu allows you to easily see other calendars you are subscribed to.
You can move forwards and backwards through the calendar using the left and right arrows, either next to the date above the grid, or next to the name of the month on the right hand side. The former will jump you forward one iteration of the current view. So if you are viewing a week they will show you the previous or next week. If you are viewing a month they will show you the previous or next month. The arrows next to the month on the right will always go forward or backward one month.
The View options are "overview", "day", "week", "month", "year" and "comparison".
- Overview - Will show you the week ahead.
- Day, Week, Month and Year - Show you the events in that timeframe.
- Comparison - Shows all the events in a day for your calendar and anyone else in your group. This can be useful for arranging meetings.
Creating a new event
To create a new event either:
- Click on the Compose Event button, OR
- Click on one of the plus (+) icons on the timetable itself. The latter method has the advantage that the date and start time are automatically set.
Creating new events is mostly self explanatory. You give the event a name, set the date, time and duration, enter a location and description if you wish and then click OK. However there are a few functions which bear further detail.
- Repeat - If this event occurs on a regular basis you can set a repeat pattern. Between "Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Yearly" it's easy to use. However remember that the more events you set in your calendar the slower it will get. So while a few hundred events is fine, it is probably unnecessary to set weekly meetings until 2080. This is why you should either set an end date (eg. 31/12/2005) or tell it to only create a certain number of instances (eg. 26).
- Privacy - This can be set as "Public" so that everyone who subscribes to your calendar can see this event. It can be set to "Time and Date Only" in which case the time and date will be blocked out, but the details of the event are not available. It can also be set to "Private" in which case none else will be able to see the event. This is mostly useful for keeping private personal information. Note that the time and date only option will show others that you're not available for meetings and such, but not give them the details of your activity.
- Invite other users or resources - This is how you use calendar to organise meetings. You can either search the Faculty Directory for other calendar users to invite or the "Quick Invite" drop down menu will show you other calendars which you have already subscribed to. Each of these other users will be informed about your event and will be given the option to accept or decline. If they accept it will be entered as an event in their calendar.
- Reminders Tab - Up the top is the Reminders tab. In this you can instruct the calendar to email you (or someone else) a specified amount of time before the event with the details of the event and an extra message if you wish. This can be useful to remind yourself to finish reports (1 day reminder) or run to a meeting (15min reminder). This isn't turned on by default, but you can turn it on and set the default time in the Options tab in the main window.
When you're finished click OK and it will be saved as an event. To edit it in future you’ll need to click on the title in the main window.
Accessing other calendars
To access other calendars you first need to subscribe to them.
- Click on the Calendars tab in the main window.
- Then click on the Search icon (the magnifying glass) near the top of the window. Here you’ll need to search for the calendar you wish to view.
- Enter a name and click search. If they're in our Faculty Directory they should be easy to find.
- Then check the box next to the name of the person, in the "Select" column.
- Then click OK.
When you switch back to the main view (the "View" tab, top-left or the "home" link, top-right) you can use the "Current Calendar" drop down menu on the right to view the events in their calendar.
You won't be able to view any events which they have marked as "Private", and you won’t get any details on any event they marked as "Date and Time only".
Once you have subscribed to other calendars they will also come up in the "Quick Invite" drop down menu when you're making new events.