Quick Add Terminology
Don't like filling out complicated forms? Quick Add can (almost) read your mind. If you type in something like [Brunch with Mom at Java 11am Sunday], Quick Add can figure out what you mean and pop the new event right onto your calendar.
In a nutshell
The recipe for events is to enter 'what,' 'who,' 'where,' and 'when' (only 'what' and 'when' are required).
- What: This can be any text; the event title is created from this.
- When: This can be nearly any date and/or time expression. Using 'at' and 'on' can help.
- Who: This should begin with 'with' followed by a list of email addresses; these are added to the guest list.
- Where: This can be any text following 'at' or 'in.'
How Quick Add works and how to use it
If you have a name of a location that includes a date or time word, such as 'Taco Tuesdays' or 'Café 3pm,' use quotation marks around the name to avoid Quick Add from creating the event on Tuesday or at 3pm.
- Enter [lunch with John at "Taco Tuesdays" Friday 12 pm]
If you enter a time with no date, Quick Add will create the event on the earliest date that puts the event in the future; the present day if the time is later, or the next day if the time has already passed:
- Enter [Volleyball at 5pm]
If you do not enter a start time or end time, Quick Add will create an All Day event:
- Enter [Bank holiday 8/14]
If you don't enter an end time, Quick Add will create a one hour long event:
- Enter [Staff meeting next Monday at 13:00]
You can specify start and end times using either time ranges or time intervals:
- Enter [Running w/ Pat 2:15 tomorrow for 45 minutes]
- Enter [Running w/ Pat 2:15 - 3 pm tomorrow]
Multi-day events can be specified using date ranges:
- Enter [National Conference 9/23 - 9/26 in Atlanta]
If you'd like someone added to the guest list, enter his or her email address.
- Enter [Lunch at Charlie's tomorrow noon gcal@gmail.com]
Three-letter time zone abbreviations can be recognized following the time:
- Enter [Call New York at 3 pm EDT]
Creating recurring events
When creating recurring events, the time expression has three parts: the start, the repetition, and the end.
Example: [Gardening Monday at 10 am repeats weekly for 8 weeks].
The start is 'Monday at 10 am,' the repetition rule is 'repeats weekly,' and the end is given by '8 weeks.' Quick Add understands many kinds of repetition rules covering daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly repetitions. Examples are given below. We also encourage you to try various texts to explore this feature further.
To create a weekly recurring event:
- Enter [Meeting at work every Monday at 2pm]
- Enter [Tennis practice Tuesday 7pm to 9pm weekly]
To create a monthly recurring event:
- Enter [Dinner at Mom's on the first Tuesday of every month]
- Enter [Manicure on 9/1 every month]
To create a yearly recurring event:
- Enter [Mom's birthday June 19 yearly]
- Enter [Wedding anniversary July 3 yearly]
To create an event that repeats a certain number of times:
- Enter [Baseball Game every Thursday for 10 weeks]
- Enter [Language Class every Wednesday 7-8pm for 5 months]
When entering recurring events, don't enter a location in the middle of a time expression. For example, don't enter [dance practice every Tuesday in the gym at 8pm]. This event should be entered [dance practice at the gym every Tuesday 8pm].
Also, if you do not specify an end date, duration, or number of times the recurring event occurs, it will repeat for 365 times, which is the maximum number of instances currently allowed for a recurring event.
