Nexus calendars using Outlook 2007

You can use Outlook 2007 not only to access email, but also to use an online calendar. This has several benefits: you can access the calendar from any Exchange client, including Outlook Web Access; other Nexus users can use your free/busy information to schedule meetings with you; and you can give other people access to your calendar so they can add or update events, or just view your schedule.

This guide will explain how you transfer events from your existing Outlook 2007 calendar on your local computer into the online calendar, how to share your calendar with your colleagues, how to schedule a meeting using Outlook 2007, and how to synchronise Outlook 2007 with the Oxford Nexus (the Oxford University Exchange server) to ensure your information is always up-to-date and correct. This guide assumes you have already successfully configured Outlook 2007 to access Oxford Nexus.

1. Importing events from your local calendar to the Exchange server

If you already use the calendar function in Outlook 2007, you may want to transfer your existing calendar entries into your new Nexus calendar, so that you can access your calendar from anywhere using Outlook Web Access, or so that you can share your calendar with other Nexus users.

When you start Outlook 2007, you should be able to see both your personal calendar (locally stored on your own machine) and the new Nexus account calendar. You can view both calendars side by side by selecting each calendar from under the [My Calendars] menu. If you only have a few items in your personal calendar you can simply drag and drop them on to the correct place in the Nexus calendar.

Dragging and dropping event from one calendar to another

Many users are likely to have many entries in their personal local calendar which will need to be transferred to the Nexus version. In order to do this you need to export your personal calendar and then import it into Nexus:

Exporting your Personal Calendar

Click on [File] from the top menu and select the [Import and Export] option
The Import and Export wizard then opens
From the list of possible formats choose [Export to a file] and click on Next
On the Export to a file screen choose [Personal Folder File] and click on Next
On the Export Personal Folders screen navigate to the personal calendar you wish to export and click on Next
On the next screen you can choose what to call the file and where it will be saved.

Click the Finish button when you have made your choices.
Your file will now be saved to your specified location

Now that your data has been saved to a .pst file you need to import it back into Outlook and into your Nexus calendar. To do this:

Importing your personal calendar data into your Nexus calendar

Click on [File] > [Import and Export]
Click on Import from another program or file and click on Next to continue
On the Import a file screen select Personal Folder File (.pst) and click on Next
On the following screen you can browse to where you have stored the file you wish to import. Select the file and click on Next
From the Import Personal Folders screen, select what you want to import (calendar in this case) and select your Nexus mailbox as the receiving folder. Click on Finish
Your calendar is now imported into your Nexus accounts calendar. You will see entries from your personal calendar now appear in both your Outlook Nexus calendar and your calendar on the web (https://nexus.ox.ac.uk/owa)

2. Adding UK holidays

Outlook will allow you to add in extra features such as the standard UK bank holidays to your default calendar. To add UK holidays to your calendar:

Go to [Tools] > [Options] to open the main Options screen.
Click on the Calendar Options... button
On the Calendar Options screen click on the Add Holidays button
Tick the country name for the holidays from that country to be added to your calendar.
Click OK. The countries holidays are now added to your own calendar.
You can check that the holiday dates have been added by navigating to a suitable date e.g. Christmas Day. You will see that the holiday name is added to the top of the day column in your calendar.

3. Sharing your calendar with colleagues

Using Outlook 2007 with your Oxford Nexus Exchange account enables you to share your online calendar with colleagues within the University. However your colleague must be a registered Nexus user for you to share calendars. If they are using other local departmental systems or are from outside of the University please see 3.1. Sending calendars to Non-Nexus colleagues. To share your calendar with colleagues on Oxford Nexus do the following:

Click on the Calendar button found on the lefthand menu. This will open your calendar as shown below:
To share your calendar with others, right click on the name of your calendar under My Calendars. A contextual menu appears.
Choose the [Share Calendar] option from the menu. A new screen appears which is partially completed for you.
Type in your message into the box provided and if you want to be able to see the other person's calendar make sure that you tick the box labelled Request permission to view the recipient's calendar.
When you have finished your message click on the Send button. Your request will then be emailed to your colleague.
Your colleague will receive an email similar to the one shown below.
When your colleague accepts your request, they will be able to see your calendar in their Outlook 2007 client.

Private calendar events: Some clients do not fully support private items and your private items may be revealed to those you share your calendar with. Please see the "How private are my private calendar entries?" entry in the Nexus FAQ for more details.

3.1. Sending calendars to Non-Nexus colleagues

If your colleague is not on Nexus but you still wish to send them your calendar, Outlook will let you send a static version instead. To create and send a static version do the following:

Click on the Calendar button in the main menu.
Under the My Calendars section right click on the calendar you wish to send and choose [Send via Email...] option from the menu.
Two separate screens will appear one on top of the other. One is a normal email screen where you can type a message and fill in the email details of your colleague. The other is the Send a Calendar by Email screen:
On the Send Calendar by Email screen you can choose a calendar from the Calendar dropdown list.
From the Date Range dropdown list choose how much of your calendar you want to send. This can be just one day, a month or any date range you specify.
From the Detail dropdown box choose how much information you want to send. The default Availability only option will often be all that is needed.
You can limit the calendar to just your normal working hours by ticking the Show my time within my working hours checkbox.
If you click on the Advance button you will get several other options including the Email Layout option. This is set to Daily Schedule by default, but can be changed to just a list of your events.
Click on OK when you have set your calendar options.
Outlook will then compile your calendar details into the open email:
Add in any message and click on the Send button
Your calendar will be sent to your colleague.

3.2. Permissions

After you have shared your calendar with someone else you may decide that they no longer need to be able to access it. In order to review who can see your calendar and change their permissions for it:

Open the Calendars section by clicking the button in the main menu.
Locate the calendar who's permissions you wish to review - under My Calendars section.
Right click on the calendar name to open the contextual menu and click on Change Sharing Permissions. You will now see the Calendar Properties screen:
Under the Permissions tab, you will see a list of people allowed to view your calendar.
Select one of the people in the list in order to review their permissions on your calendar.
If you wish to change that persons access to your calendar either choose new ones from the Permissions settings, or delete them entirely.
Click Apply and then OKwhen you have finished to close the Permissions screen. You will return to your Outlook calendar.

Please note: Having permission to see a calendar is not the same as being a delegate for that calendar. If you wish someone to act on your behalf e.g. editing your calendar or responding to emails, or if you have been asked to do this for someone else, you will need to read our information on Delegating access to email, calendar and other Nexus features.

4. Viewing another person's calendar

To view another person's calendar in Outlook 2007 you need to do the following:

If you have received an email from a colleague giving you permission to view their calendar it will look similar to:
If you click on the Open This Calendar button, your colleague's calendar is automatically opened in Outlook in a new window. You can then see their appointments.
If you close down the window you can still see the other person's calendar by going to the Calendars section. Click on the People's Calendar section to reveal your colleague's shared calendar.
Click the checkbox next to the name of the shared calendar to view it.

If you have previously been given access to a calendar but have since deleted it you can regain access by:

Under the calendars options there is a small help section. One of the options is to Open a Shared Calendar. Click on this link.
A new dialogue box opens:
If you already know the username type it into the Name field and press OK.
If you have permission to view the person's calendar it will now open up.
If you do not know the persons username you can find then by clicking on the Name button. This opens up the University Global Address List:
Type in the name of the person and, once found, click on their name to select them before clicking on OK.
You will be returned to the first name screen again and this time the persons name is in the field and underlined:
Click on OK. If you have permission to view the calendar it will appear in your Outlook calendars page. If not, you will see a new message asking if you want to request access to this users calendar:
If you do want to send a request, a new email opens which is partially completed. Add your message and press Send. Your colleague will then decide if they want to grant you access or not.

4.1. Printing Calendars

Microsoft Outlook 2007 is not designed to print multiple calendars. However, there is a Microsoft tool that can be installed should you need to print multiple calendars. Please see Printing multiple calendars using Outlook 2007 for details.

5. Schedule meetings

One of the great features of Outlook 2007 is the ability to schedule meetings with colleagues. You can easily see when someone is free and plan your meetings accordingly. To schedule a meeting follow the instructions below:

Click on the Calendar option in the main lefthand menu.
From the main Calendar tool bar, select New to open the New Appointment email.
To the Appointment email, add your recipents email addresses and set a subject for the email.
To open the Schedule Assistant, click the large button in the top menu. (N.B. can appear just as text if your Outlook window is small)
You will now see the Schedule Assistant screen.
Under All Attendees column add in the names of the people you want to invite.
You can quickly gauge your attendees availability for a given date by simply selecting the date from the calendar.
To see a more detailed view of attendees availability, select the date and time from the drop down boxes.
The schedule assistant suggests times when all your attendees are available. If you select one of these times, the times are automatically adjusted on the main view.
If you are happy with the selected time and date, press the Send button. Your time and date are automatically added to the Appointment email and sent to your colleagues. The appointment is also added to your own calendar too.

6. Where next?

Now that you have seen how to use calendars with Outlook 2007 you may like to have a look at some other Nexus features:

If you have any problems, in the first instance you should contact your local (College or Department) IT staff. If they cannot help then please contact the OUCS Help Centre for further assistance.