SocSci Computing Services Help Pages

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====== How to use Google Calendar for appointments ======

You can use Google Calendar to set up appointment time slots. Once complete, here is what it looks like on your calendar (the left side) and for people viewing it (the right side):

{{:howto:gcal-appt-views.png?600|}}

===== Overview =====

The steps to set up an appointment system in google calendar are:

  - create a google calendar dedicated to your appointments
  - create individual appointment event time slots
  - set appointment options:
    - duration (default is 30 minutes)
    - days to repeat
    - location (if you want to share your personal zoom link or physical office location)
  - get a shareable link to your appointment calendar
  - share this link via email, possibly in your email signature, or even on a website if it is for your department
  - once people have made appointments, they show up on your google calendar

==== 1. Create a Google Calendar for your appointments ====
I recommend creating a new calendar rather than using your existing event calendar. This way it is clear which events are being creating as appointments, and you can publish appointment time slots for people to select separately from your other events.

  - Click on the **gear icon** in the top-right, then click on **Settings**
    * {{:howto:gcal-appt-1-1-create-new-cal.jpg?400|}}
  - On the left side, click **Add calendar** and then **Create new calendar** 
    * {{:howto:gcal-appt-1-2-create-new-cal.png?250|}}
  - Name your calendar (i.e. "appointments") and then click **Create calendar**
    * {{:howto:gcal-appt-1-3-create-new-cal.png?400|}}

==== 2. Create an appointment event ====
After creating a new calendar to hold all your appointment events, create a new event to hold appointment time slots.

  - On your [[https://calendar.google.com/calendar|google calendar page]], the **Create** button
  - Click **Appointment slots**
  - Change the calendar to the new **appointments** calendar
  - Click on **More options** to edit further settings
{{:howto:gcal-appt-2-1-create-appt.png?500|}}

==== 3. Set more options on the appointment event ====
On this screen you can:

  - Set the name of the appointment (i.e. "office hours")
  - Set options for:
    - start/end time
    - appointment duration
    - days to repeat
  - Set a location:
    - zoom link
    - physical office location
  - Click **Save**

{{:howto:gcal-appt-3-1-more-options.png?600|}}

If you would like more appointment time slots at different days/times, then repeat steps 2 and 3 for each new block of time.

==== 4. Get a shareable link to your appointment calendar ====

To get a link to your appointment slots that you can send to people, go to your main Google Calendar page, then click any of your new "office hours" appointment events, and find the link for **Go to appointment page for this calendar**.

{{:howto:gcal-appt-4-1-get-link.png?400|}}

I recommend right-clicking this link, then selecting **Copy link address**

{{:howto:gcal-appt-4-2-copy-link-addr.png?400|}}

==== 5. Save or share the appointment link ====

I recommend saving this link in your email signature. For example, I made a link like this in my UCI gmail account's signature:

{{:howto:gcal-appt-5-1-link-in-email-sig.png?500|}}

Please note that specific steps to create/modify your email signature will vary depending on which email system or program you are using, and is beyond the scope of this document. Try searching for "how to add a link to my email signature in _________" and append the name of your email program (i.e. outlook, gmail, Mac Mail, Thunderbird, etc).