In my books Droid X For Dummies and Droid 2 For Dummies, I write about using the Google calendar. If you really want to take advantage of managing your schedule, you can employ multiple calendars.
The multiple calendars show up with different colors in the Calendar app on your Android phone. You can also choose a specific calendar when you create an event.
Yeah, that can be confusing. I blame the jargon.
You don’t really have multiple calendars. It’s not like you’re keeping track of the time on Earth as well as some other planet, or comparing dates between the Julian, Chinese, and Jewish calendars. Nope. They should have used the term date categories instead of calendars.
So, for example, on my calendar, I have multiple calendars (categories) for different types of events: One of personal stuff, one for my kids, one for work, one for travel, one each for the various organizations where I volunteer.
If I remember, I can set a calendar (category) when I create a new event. There is a menu or drop-down list in the Calendar app that lets you choose a calendar (category) for that event. That’s only if I remember, though: When I forget, a default calendar (category) is chosen. That’s my personal calendar (category), so it’s okay.
Besides organization, the different calendar (categories) can be hidden or shown in the Calendar app: You can use the Settings command to direct your Android gizmo to display only those calendars (categories) you want to see.
For me, I only use the calendar (categories) because they add color to the Calendar app.
Beyond understanding the calendar (category) concept, the only other thing you need to know about Google Calendars on your phone is that you cannot create new calendar (categories) on the phone itself. To do that, you have to visit your Google account on the Internet, preferably on a computer.
Once you’re at the Google Calendar page (http://calendar.google.com), you can create new calendar (category) by clicking the Add link in the My Calendars area. You set a color for your calendar (category) by clicking the menu button on the category itself and then plucking a new color from the palette.
One additional thing that you can do with a calendar (category), something I haven’t done myself, is to share a calendar (category) with other Google users. That would come in handy for sharing events for an organization or business. It’s yet another reason to create a separate calendar (category).
