iCal vs. reoccuring events

[skinnylegs]

I'm trying to make the switch; really I am.

However.....it's important that I get my calendar and contacts organized because they are critical to the operations of my business. I've figured out how to migrate my contacts over to Address Book which is great. I am having a few problems with iCal. Well.....probably not problems just a lack of understanding. My questions are as follows:

1. Is there any way to get Tasks to show up on the calendar itself rather than in the task column? I use Tasks with my currently Calendar program almost exclusively.

2. If I *must* use the calendar section as opposed to the tasks, how do I make an event reoccur? For instance, there are things I do every Friday and I want it to show up each and every Friday without manually re-entering it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[skinnylegs]

Here are a few pictures to clarify.....

This is my "Day" view which shows the tasks in the task column.....

Here is the "Month" view which shows the tasks on the calendar itself.....

BTW.....I know this PC based app. is 'kinda fugly.....that's one of the reasons I'm interested in switching.

 

[mkrishnan]

For (1) I'm not aware of a solution. For (2), yes, there is recurrence in iCal, and yes, it is very easy to use. It's almost identical now to the setup in Outlook.... Create an event. When you highlight the event, in the right-hand drawer, there will be a "repeat" section, where you can define this. You can use all the typical cadences for repeating (i.e. certain days every week, every year, the xth day of every month, etc.).

If you drag an entry that is part of a recurring event, you get the usual pop-up asking you if you want to detach the event or change all occurrences.

I'm not familiar with the software you're using, but to be honest, this is almost identical to Outlook. The learning curve for me from Outlook to iCal was pretty non-existent.

 

[skinnylegs]

Thanks, mkrishnan!

I actually figured out the reoccuring event thing. I don't know how I overlooked it other than I make things harder than they should be at times.

The program in the picture is Lotus Organizer. I'm *very* familiar with it because I've used it for many years. That said, it's time for a change.

In terms of the first question I asked, I've looked through the preferences and there doesn't seem to be a workaround. I guess it's not such a big deal. I can enter tasks as if they were calendared events at specific times and just ignore the times.

 

[skinnylegs]

BTW....I have an iBook which my g/f bought for me several years ago. That's what I'm experimenting with. It's a great little laptop but I'm looking at replacing my desktop rig with a 20" iMac.....hence all the questions.

 

[mkrishnan]

No problem.

In terms of using calendar events as tasks, what I have done, for whatever reason, is to always make them be all-day events. That way, they show up on the day in question in the calendar, and I can set an alarm, but they don't show up as "busy time" during the day. I did the same, actually, in Outlook, even Outlook might be able to do what you want (I'm not sure, but it might).

When I first got Panther, the recurrence options were not perfect, but they're reasonably good as of now, and most of the normal cadences are possible. I've been fairly happy using iCal for scheduling, and syncing it to devices.

 

[skinnylegs]

In terms of using calendar events as tasks, what I have done, for whatever reason, is to always make them be all-day events.

I tried it out and it works like a charm! I see what you mean.....when you make them "All Day Events" they, for all intents and purposes, appear to be tasks! Outstanding idea and thanks!

I'm using Panther on my iBook. Did they change iCal and Address Book much (if any) with Tiger?