Using the Kontact Calendar Features

Abstract

Kontact calendar allows you to organize and co-ordinate tasks and events. If you have configured Kontact to work with the Kolab server as described in the configuration part of this chapter, calendar information of all other users will be available for you and events will be synchronized via the Kolab server.

The Kontact Calendar Interface

To see the calender interface, click the Calender icon in the left hand panel.

Figure 10.9. The Kontact Calendar Interface

The Kontact Calendar Interface
[Tip]Tip

Dates on which you have meetings are marked in a bold font in your monthly calendar.

As shown in Figure 10.9, “The Kontact Calendar Interface”, the Kontact calendar interface displays To-do items, your days' itinerary and calendar month.

Organizing a New Event

If you have a meeting on the current day, Kontact displays the meeting times with its subject in the Itinerary window. If you wish to organize a new event:

  1. Select the day you wish to hold the meeting from the calendar.

  2. In the days' itinerary, click on a start time, and drag to the end time of the meeting. The time you have selected will be highlighted.

  3. Right-click in the highlighted area, select New Event and a window will pop up.

Figure 10.10. The Edit Event Window

The Edit Event Window

You will notice that the times selected previously are noted as the start and end times of the event. The duration is automatically marked as busy but can be set as free.

Select the Reminder check-box and the number of minutes before the event that you wish to receive the reminder. A sound file may be used to signal the reminder by clicking the note icon.

To associate categories to the event:

  1. Click the Select Categories button.

  2. Select the check box next to the categories you wish to be associated to this event.

  3. Click OK.

[Tip]Tip

To add a new category type, click the Edit Categories button in the Select Categories dialog and type your new category name.

To invite other users to this event, click the Attendees tab. It is possible to add users by clicking the New button. This creates a new user with empty fields. Simply fill in the blanks with the appropriate values.

Stored contacts may be accessed by clicking the Select Addresses button. This opens the Select Addresses window. Select the contact you wish to invite to the event and click OK.

If this event is going to occur on a regular basis, click the Recurrence tab. Select the Enable recurrence check-box and the recurrence option will be enable.

In the Recurrence Rule section, select the frequency with which your event will recur, either daily, weekly, monthly or yearly. You may also add an end date to the recurring event and special exceptions. For example, if your meeting occurs at midday on the 25th of every month, you may wish to add the 25th of December as a special exception when this event will not take place.

By clicking on the Gantt tab, you will see that it is possible to see the calendar information for invited users.

When you have configured your event click OK. As shown in Figure 10.9, “The Kontact Calendar Interface”, the event is now marked in the main calendar interface.

Organizing To-Do Items

To-do items may be jobs you wish to do yourself, or tasks which need to be fulfilled by a group of users. The Kontact task systems functions in a similar way to the event system.

To create a new to-do item, write the name of your new task in the To-do items text box in the Kontact calendar interface and press Enter. If you are using a groupware server the Resource Selection dialog will pop up. Choose the resource you wish to use and click OK. If you are not linked to a groupware server, this event will automatically be saved locally. The to-do item you have just created will appear in the to-do summary. To edit this item double click on the to-do name. The Edit To-Do window will open.

Figure 10.11. The Edit To-Do Window

The Edit To-Do Window

Most importantly with to-do items, you can edit the items priority and percentage completed.

As with events, you can edit the title, name, start and end times, attendees and attachments. When you have edited the to-do item, click OK.

When you have edited your event, click the Todo List icon in the left-hand panel of the Kontact window. You will see the event in the summary.