One of the most important and valid Google services especially in the workplace and organization is the Google Calendar Calendar that I had already mentioned about the best online agendas. The Google Calendar is an excellent support for organizing work and becomes a sort of virtual secretary who remembers dates, appointments and deadlines.
It is a web application that, being integrated in other Google services such as Gmail, becomes, perhaps, the best of alternatives, even better than the Microsoft Outlook calendar.
The difference is that with Google everything is online while with Outlook the items marked on the agenda are stored on the computer.
Both students and consultants and self-employed workers can use Google Calendar, free of charge, to manage their work and activities, both professional and student or otherwise.
Calendar is quite simple to use so I will be very brief in the general instructions, focusing on the additional functions that are the real added value of the application.
To use the Google calendar well, you need to start populating it with your own commitments and deadlines for projects, exams or jobs.
In addition to the dates, you can write the duration of a commitment, the place and any tools required.
Once you open Google Calendar, you can immediately use a predefined and empty calendar.
If you click on the Add link located on the left under " My calendars ", you can create a new calendar differentiated from the other.
This allows you to mark different types of activities in different agendas and, if you wish, to share one or the other agenda, with different people .
When creating a new calendar you can choose a predefined template from " Other calendars " including holidays and sports calendars.
To start adding an entry to the calendar, click on the " Create Event " button at the top.
In the Event tab you can specify all the details, even if it is a commitment that is repeated regularly over time and to set reminders .
An event can also be added by pressing on any day in the main interface.
Reminders can be set via SMS, via Pop Up and via Email.
By going to Settings and then on the Labs tab, you can enable discrete reminders that allow integration with the Google Chrome browser and allow you to receive notifications on the PC Desktop .
Going into general settings, you will see a menu item relating to discrete reminders with the possibility of receiving audible alarms .
In Google Calendar you can schedule new activities and lists of events with Google Tasks which is discussed in another post.
If you want something more to notify reminders and manage Google Calendar from your PC desktop, you can download the GMinder program.
Staying on the subject, there is also a desktop client for Google Calendar.
To send notifications to the mobile phone via SMS, you can always go to the mobile configuration menu from the settings.
Through this function it is also possible to receive free SMS on your mobile phone.
Sharing the calendar is a special function in case you want to organize with other people, for sports, for work or for study.
There is a " Find best time " function that allows you to send a meeting notification to the participants of the meeting, with a semi-automatic voting system.
Google Calendar is a fundamental application of the Google Apps management dashboard for small businesses.
After having programmed some events and all the related reminders, you need to make Google Calendar available not only on your computer but also on your mobile phone or smartphone .
Google Calendar synchronizes with many mobile phones and smartphones such as Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia / Symbian and Windows Mobile for which there is always a dedicated and free application.
Those who use Gmail can take advantage of integration with Google Calendar, creating new events from the new message page.
In the Settings -> labs you can activate the calendar gadget which, after saving and restarting Gmail, will appear in the lower left.
To see it, press the three dots button on the bottom left.
In the settings and in the Labs of Google Calendar you can find other truly unique accessory functions.
For example, you can add the calendar as a gadget on any website by copying and pasting the html code found by clicking on Calendars> calendar name.
From Google Labs you can activate:
- Attachments for each event;
- Automatic rejection of events in case you go on vacation;
- The vision of the calendar of the whole year in one page;
- Darkening of repeating events;
- Display of the person's name in the event of a two-person meeting.
Those who use Microsoft Outlook can synchronize the Google calendar and manage it from there.
In conclusion, although, I'm sure, there are more powerful web applications than this, Google Calendar, for flexibility, because free and for the numerous additions and continuous developments, it is perhaps the best option to keep an agenda on the internet.
