How To Use The Calendar In Entourage

Step 1: Create A New Event

On the main page, select the calendar button.

When a calendar appears, move the cursor to the right and click "New". A new "event" window will open.

Step 2: Enter Basic Information

On the subject line, enter the name of the event. Enter the location too. Fill in the start time, end time and duration. You can set yourself a reminder and account for travel time as well.

Step 3: Repetition

Under "Occurs", you can select from any of the options available or select "custom".

You can tell Entourage that this event occurs daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. Within each of these patterns, you have several options.

Also, you can customize your start and end periods.

Step 4: Notes

Write anything that pertains to this event: what you'll need to prepare, who you're expecting to see and so on.

Step 5: Associate

On the two buttons to the upper right, you can choose to associate the event with a category and/or a project that you have going.

Click on the colored list for "Categories". Select the category that best fits this event. When you've finished, the subject of the event will be whatever color you've assigned its category.

Click on the gray briefcase for "Projects". Select the project that best fits this event. After you've assigned a project to this event there will be a colored dot that matches project color.

Step 6: Invite Others

If this is an event others should know about, select "Invite" in the upper-left corner. This will turn your event into an e-mail.

The only thing different about this kind of e-mail is that you can only address the receiver in the "To:" box. There's no CC or BCC option. Address it to those concerned.

Step 7: Availability

You can request a response from people you've invited. On the top of the event, click on the icon of the yellow envelope with the white list and make sure "Request Responses" is checked.

If the event takes place out of town, mark down the event's time zone.

If you're on an exchange server, you can let those who see this event on your calendar know if you are going to be busy or free during that time. You can mark "Busy" or "Free", or you can mark the event "Tentative", or "Out Of Office".

You can also choose to make this event private by selecting that option in the menu.

Save it, and send it if it's an invitation.

Step 8: View Options

Now, you should be back to the main calendar page. If you want to see more detail, click on the green dot in the upper-left corner to fill the screen.

On the top, you'll see several view options. Explore which of these work best for you.

On the left, Entourage allows you to view your schedule in list form. You can look at your events all at once, by category, by time frame, or by reoccurrence. Select whichever meets your immediate needs.