Adding and editing events in the Calendar app

 Define locations, times, alerts and notes for events

APPLE PITCHES THE iPAD AS A DEVICE THAT

inhabits a space between a smartphone and a laptop. With that in mind, it's conceivable that many iPad owners will use it, in part, as a gigantic PDA.

It therefore comes as no surprise that the iPad's Calendar app isn't entirely reliant on data sent to it via a sync -you can use it to add new events and also to amend existing ones. On a subsequent sync you can allow this updated data to overwrite the corresponding events on your desktop or laptop.

The process for adding a new event from scratch is pretty straightforward, but when it comes to editing events, it's worth noting one of the options in the 'Mail, Contacts, Calendars' section of the Settings app. Scroll down to 'Calendars' and you'll find the 'Default Calendar' option. Tap this to see a list of the calendars on your iPad. Select one of them and it will be used as the default in the Calendars app when you create a new event. The setting can be overridden on a per-event basis, but it's a good time-saver to have your most-used calendar as the default option.

You'll find that all of the screen grabs in this tutorial are in portrait mode. This is actually the best orientation foryour iPad when you are creating new events, because it provides more vertical space for the 'Add Event' pop-up. This gives you a fuller overview and means you don't have to scroll to view the pop-up's content.


 KIT LIST:

■ iPad

Time required: 10 mins
Difficulty: Beginner

 Event pop-ups

In the Calendar app, pop-up windows are used for adding a new event ('Add Event') or editing an existing one ('Edit Event').

Event settings

A number of optional fields are available to you when creating events, including alerts and the ability to make events repeat.

Deleting events

To remove an event, bring up the 'Edit Event' pop-up and tap 'Delete Event', You'll get the option to cancel. A second tap confirms.

 1 Check for clashes Before adding an appointment, check whether you've already got something to do at the same time. See the previous tutorial for steps to access the date in question.

 2 Add an event Tap the V button at the bottom-right ofthe screen to bring up the 'Add Event' pop-up. If you decide at any time not to add the event, just tap 'Cancel'.

 Automate

There's not a great deal of point in manually adding a recurring event to your calendar over and over again; that's because the Calendar app lets you automate the process by way of its 'Repeat' menu item. Tap this to bring up the 'Repeat Event' pop-up. Here you can define an event to repeat daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or annually.

 3 Add details Tap inside the 'Title' and 'Location' fields to add details of your event. Note that these elements will be searchable, so it pays to type in something reasonably descriptive.

 4 Define a duration Tap the'Starts/Ends' field to bring up the 'Start & End' pop-up. Select 'Starts' and use the spinner to define a time, and do the same for 'Ends'. Tap 'Done' when satisfied.

 5 Set an alert Tap 'Alert' to set an event alert time. This appears as a notification at the set time. After setting an alert, you get the option to add a second one as well.

 6 Pick a calendar If the event you're adding isn't meant to be part of your default calendar, tap 'Calendar' and select a different one. Take care here -this setting cannot be edited later.

 7 Add notes Should your event need some information not covered by the basic details you've already putin, use the 'Notes'section. Be mindful, however, that notes are not searchable.

8 Edit events Most event details are editable. In day and list views, tap a selected event to see the 'Edit Event' pop-up. In week and month views, tap a selected event and then the 'Edit' button.