You are here: Chapter 8: Using FootPrints > Calendar and Scheduling > Creating Appointments

Creating Appointments

Appointments can be created in the Calendar using one of the following methods:

If the Workspace contains at least one Date/Time field, appointments can also be created from the Create Issue page (described in Linking Appointments to Issues).

To create an appointment from either the Workspace or personal Calendar:

  1. Click the Create Appointment button or select an hour in the Day View.  A pop-up window is displayed with the Create Appointment dialog.
  2. Title—Enter a Title for the appointment.  This is the subject of the appointment, such as Quarterly Meeting.  If it is important for other users to know who is involved in the appointment at a glance, you may want to include the names of the people involved in the Title, e.g., Bob S. to work on Server.
  3. Start Time—Select a time for the appointment to start.  If a time was selected from the Day View, it is pre-filled here.  Hours are listed in one drop-down (1-12 or 0-23 depending on your preferences), with minutes available in 5-minute increments (from 0-55) in a second drop-down. If the 12 hour clock is used, a third drop-down is available to select AM or PM.  If an appointment lasts all day, select None for Start and End times.  These appointments are displayed at the top of the Day View with no time associated.
  4. End Time—Select a time for the appointment to end. If a time was selected from the Day View, this will default to 1 hour after the Start Time. If the 12-hour clock is used, remember to select the correct option for AM or PM.  If  None is selected for Start Time, it should also be selected for End Time.
  5. General Info tab—The General Info tab has the following options:
  6. Location—Optionally enter a location for the meeting or Appointment, e.g., Board Room or Customer Site.
  7. Link to Issues using the field—If the current Workspace contains at least one Date/Time field, you can optionally link the appointment to an Issue.  When creating the appointment from the Calendar, this automatically creates a new Issue with data from the appointment.  Select the Date/Time field to populate with the appointment Start Time from the drop-down.  Select No Link if you do not want to create and link to an Issue.  Refer to Linking Appointments to Issues for complete information on this feature.
  8. Calendar—This option only appears when creating an appointment in a personal Calendar. If Personal is selected, the appointment is displayed in the user's personal Calendar as well as any invitees' personal Calendars.  If Personal & Workspace is selected, the appointment is also displayed in the Workspace Calendar for all users to see.  When an appointment is created in the Workspace Calendar, this option is not displayed.  These appointments are automatically displayed in the Workspace Calendar and in the personal Calendars of all invitees.  

Note on Use of Calendar

Customers, members of other Workspaces, and non–users of FootPrints are not available to be Invitees. The FootPrints Calendar is intended for use by FootPrints Agent/administrator users.  If non–Workspace Members must be notified of an appointment, the email notification you receive can be forwarded to them (see below).  Users can also be copied on any Issue linked to an appointment.

  1. Description—The Description can be used to include any notes or details of the appointment.
  1. Invitees tab—One or more members of the current Workspace can be invited to the appointment. Examples of invitees would be members of a committee who attend a committee meeting or a technician who is scheduled to work at a customer’s site or an entire Team at once for a Team meeting.  To invite a user or Team, double-click on the name in the People list; the name is displayed in the Invitees list. You can also click once on the name in the People list and click the right arrow button to make them an Invitee.  Select Check Availability to see who is available for the appointment.  Refer to the chapter on scheduling for more information.  To invite all of the members of a single Team: double-click the team name or click the team name once, then select Assign Team, then click the right arrow button.  The appointment is propagated to the Availability calendar for all the individual members of the team.  The ability to invite a Team is only supported in the Day View.
  1. Check Availability—Before inviting Agents to an appointment, you can check Agent schedules to determine the best time for scheduling the appointment.
  1. Email ConfirmationFootPrints can send users email confirmation about an appointment. This is in addition to any email notification the users receive regarding FootPrints Issues (including linked Issues).  Email notifications include all of the information about an appointment as well as an optional link to synchronize the appointment with the Microsoft Outlook Calendar (the link is for those not using the FootPrints Mobile add-on module). The options are:
  2. Email me—If this is checked, you receive an email notification about this appointment (regardless of whether you are invited to the appointment).
  3. Sync w/Outlook—If this is checked, notifications include an attachment that synchronizes the appointment with the user's Microsoft Outlook calendar (refer to Syncing Appointments-this is not for FootPrints Mobile users).
  4. Email Invitees—If this is checked, all users invited receive an email notification for the appointment.
  5. Set reminder—If a reminder is set, users receive a second email notification before the appointment starts.  The reminder is sent before the appointment as specified by the person who created the appointment.  Time period available before the appointment starts are: 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes, 1-5 hours, 1 day, 2 days, and 1 week.

Note

The time specified for the email notification to be sent is based on the internal clock of the FootPrints server.  If an appointment is set to begin at 1:00 PM, Monday, December 2, 2017, and the reminder is set for 30 minutes, the email is sent at 12:30 PM of that day based on the time on the server where FootPrints is installed.

  1. Recurrence tab—Appointments can optionally be set to recur at regular intervals.  The appointment is displayed on the Calendar for each day that it recurs.  The options are:
  2. None—No recurrence.  The appointment occurs just the one time. Recurrence is left off by default, but if you have clicked the Activate Recurrence checkbox, you can click it a second time to turn it off.
  3. Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly—Click the radio button to select the frequency with which the appointment occurs. It can be once every day, once a week, once a month, or once a year.
  4. Daily—Set the recurrence for every X day(s) of the week (i.e., enter "1" for the recurrence to be every day, Sunday through Saturday, "2" for every other day, "3" for every third day, etc.) or only on weekdays (i.e., Monday through Friday) in combination with the every X day(s) schedule.
  5. Weekly—Set the recurrence for every X weeks (i.e., enter "1" for the recurrence to be every week, "2" for every other week, "3" for every third week, etc.) and select which day(s) of the week it is to occur by clicking the appropriate checkbox. You can select more than one day per week. For example, you could create an appointment for every second week on Monday and Wednesday.
  6. Monthly—The appointment recurs on a monthly basis.  By default, there is no end date. Specify the date on which it is to occur (for example, the 19th of the month) by selecting the radio button and entering the date, as well as the frequency (every X months) of the appointment (i.e., enter "1" for the appointment to take place every month, "2" for the appointment to take place every other month, etc.). Alternatively, select the second radio button, then use the drop-down fields to designate in which week of the month (first week, second week, etc.) the appointment occurs, the day in that week, and the frequency.
  7. Yearly—The appointment recurs on a yearly basis.  By default, there is no end date. Specify the date on which it is to occur (for example, September 19th) by selecting the radio button and entering the date of the appointment. Alternatively, select the second radio button, then use the drop-down fields to designate in which week of the month (first week, second week, etc.), the day of the week, and the month of the year in which the appointment occurs.
  8. No end date—When this is checked, the appointment recurs without end.
  9. End by—Specify the date on which the appointment ceases to recur.
  1. Click SAVE to create the appointment.  The appointment is added to the Calendar and email notifications are sent to users (if selected).  The appointment is displayed in the Day, Week, and Month view of the Calendar.

Note

If you want the appointment to appear on the Availability Matrix, it must have a Start Time and End Time.  If you select None, the appointment does not appear on the Availability Matrix.  To schedule a full day appointment, select Start and End Times of your work day, e.g., 9 AM for the Start Time and 5 PM for the End Time.