Customizing the Calendar in Outlook, Part 2
In Outlook the Calendar Folder can be customized in several ways, including using colors, labels, and changing the view and time settings.This tip will show users how to customize their Calendar Folder to meet their specific needs.
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Calendar Views
The calendar view in Outlook can be customized many ways. The first thing to consider is how many days does the user want to see on the screen? The options include 1 Day, the 5 day Work Week, the 7 day Week and the Month. To set the number of days, click on the button on the toolbar that will display the calendar by the day, week or month. The toolbar options are shown below:
Once the user has selected the view they want, they can resize the various panes on the screen to show the information they need. In the example below, there is a border between the day view and the month thumbnail. For example, the user can make the actual calendar wider by grabbing the right or left border of that pane and dragging the border to resize the pane. To drag the border, move the mouse over a border until it looks like a line with an arrow pointing in the two directions in which the border can be moved. See below.
Depending on how the Calendar Folder is customized, there will be different numbers of borders to use in resizing panes in the Calendar. Users should work with the various borders to resize the different panes to get the view that works best for the individual user.
The Navigation Pane, which is the pane on the left side of the screen can be turned on or off. To turn it on or off click on View>Navigation Pane. This pane may or may not be useful to users. If the user views other users calendars on a regular basis, it makes sense to have the pane on. It it turned off, there is more screen real estate for the calendar view, month thumbnails and tasks.
Calendar Reading Pane
I like it when I discover something new in Outlook. Did you know there is a Reading Pane in the Calendar Folder like the one in the Inbox? To turn it on or off, and set the location, click on View>Reading Pane. Then select the location of the Reading Pane or turn it off. Since there are no scrolling options on the Reading Pane, it needs to be resized to view the information the user wants to see in the Reading Pane when clicking on an appointment or meeting. I prefer positioning the Reading Pane on the right, although I need to experiment with using it a bit more before I decide to have it visible in the Calendar Folder. Many users won't like the Reading Pane in the Calendar Folder. The nice thing about Outlook is that users do have choices and can customize the view in the Calendar to meet their needs.
Calendar Background Colors
Users can change the calendar background color. To do this, click on Tools>Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click on the Calendar Options button. This brings up the Calendar Options dialog box.
To select a new background color, click on the arrow and then click on a color to be used for the background color. It might take some testing of the different colors before a user will find their color preference.
Meeting and Appointment Colors
The background color of a meeting or appointment on the calendar by default is white. By using Labels, users can set up a custom coloring system that will work well for them. Note that these colors are only visible by the individual user and will not appear in the free busy schedule when it is viewed by others. Delegates for the user's calendar will see the colors. First take a look at the label colors and their default meanings. To look at the labels, click on Edit>Label. This will show the label colors and their default settings.
This image shows the menu where the label options, including the option to edit the label names appear. Users can also access the list of labels in the new appointment dialog box, by clicking on the arrow next to the Label: dropdown menu.
The labels shown here are the default labels.
The only place to access the option to change the names on the labels is shown to the left, in the Edit menu.
Here is an example of how I edited the Calendar Labels to better fit my work flow.
Here is what the monthly view of my calendar looks like with color labels applied.
Time Settings
For some users the default 30 minute time scale on the daily view of the calendar does not provide enough flexibility. To change the scale click on View>Arrange By>Current View>Customize Current View. This opens the Customize View dialog box. Click on the Other Settings button located in the top portion of the dialog box. Users should click on the arrow next to Time Scale: to select the time scale that will work best for them. Notice that users can also change the font and whether or not dates are bolded in the Date Navigator, i.e. the month thumbnails.
There are several other ways to customize the Calendar Folder in Outlook. These are the most commonly used tools.