How can I add several calendar events (Birthdays) at once?

[Husker87]

Hello, I have a list of 115 Birthdays (workers at our company). I would like
to know if anyone knows how I can enter all these at once rather than one at
a time in to my outlook calendar.
THANKS.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Hello, I have a list of 115 Birthdays (workers at our company). I would
like
to know if anyone knows how I can enter all these at once rather than one at
a time in to my outlook calendar.

In what form are they now? Ususally one can import events that are in CSV,
TSV, or spreadsheet files or hosted in an ACT! or Access database.

 

[Husker87]

They are in a excel spreadsheet and can also easly be in a CSV sheet. THANKS
for any ideas you might have.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

They are in a excel spreadsheet and can also easly be in a CSV sheet.
THANKS
for any ideas you might have.

What exactly have you tried so far? Usually File>Import and Export>Import
from another program or file does the job.

 

[Husker87]

Thanks for the reply… I can follow importing a excel file but do you know
where I could find the fields necessary to add birthdays as an all day
calendar event? I would think the column headers would have to be specific.
I will try “Subjectâ€, “Start Timeâ€, “End Time†and “ALL day event†and show
time as; “Freeâ€.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Thanks for the reply… I can follow importing a excel file but do you know
where I could find the fields necessary to add birthdays as an all day
calendar event? I would think the column headers would have to be specific.
I will try “Subjectâ€, “Start Timeâ€, “End Time†and “ALL day event†and show
time as; “Freeâ€.

Correct. You need a column labeled "All day event" and it must contain the
value TRUE or FALSE. The "Start Time" and the "End Time" columns should
contain "12:00:00 AM". the Start Date should be the date of the event and the
"End Date" column should be the next day's date. The "Show time as" column
should contain the digit "3", not the word "FREE". Don't use a spreadsheet,
use a comma-separated values file (.csv). It's easier that way because you
don't need to worry about a named range.

 

[Husker87]

PERFECT, could not have done this with out you…Thank you. Only note: I
entered the “Start date†and the “End date†as the same day (their birthday)
so that the calendar event only shows up on one day. I’ve tried to add
columns to get the recurrence to be yearly but I don’t think I’m even close.
Any thoughts regarding that?

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

PERFECT, could not have done this with out you…Thank you. Only note: I
entered the “Start date†and the “End date†as the same day (their birthday)
so that the calendar event only shows up on one day.

If you were to export an all day event, you'd see that Outlook sets the "End
date" as the next day, so I would expect that importing an all day event
specified that way would show on the calendar as only one day.

I’ve tried to add columns to get the recurrence to be yearly but I don’t
think I’m even close.
Any thoughts regarding that?

You cannot specify a recurrence on an imported appointment. None of the
recurrence fields are mappable fields. What I'd do is also add a column
headed "Categories" and give it the value "Birthday" in each entry. All the
birthdays you import will have that category. Then, after importing, you can
display your calendar in the By Category view so all the birthdays are
colocated. It will make it easier to add the recurrence manually because
you'll have them all together. There may be a third-party tool that can make
this change in bulk, as well, so it might be worth looking. In fact, one of
these tools might make the entire entry process simpler. Start here:
http://www.slipstick.com/addins/calendar.asp

 

[Husker87]

Thanks Brain. I resorted to a very simple work around to get the recurrence.
(for 3 years anyway) I simple did a find and replace on the date (2009 to
2010, etc..) and imported the list again.

Bottom line is that it was very easy and it will be very helpful to us.
Thank you again.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Thanks Brain. I resorted to a very simple work around to get the
recurrence.
(for 3 years anyway) I simple did a find and replace on the date (2009 to
2010, etc..) and imported the list again.

That's how Microsoft creates its Holiday file. It includes about six years of
each holiday in the file when it is distributed because you can't specify a
true recurrence.

Bottom line is that it was very easy and it will be very helpful to us.
Thank you again.

You're welcome.