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Manage Tasks and Calendars from Gmail
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 11:08 PM on August 20, 2008
Earlier this week, we highlighted a Greasemonkey script for Firefox that puts Google Calendar into a right-hand sidebar in Gmail. That in itself makes Gmail a pretty good organiser, but what if you like to keep your appointments and scheduling separate from your actual tasks? Enter hyper-connected web organiser Remember the Milk, which can integrate your GTD-style tasks into that Calendar sidebar. There's a few other tricks to making it all work smoother, so let's get started turning Gmail into a one-stop page for all your daily data.
The first step is to install the Greasemonkey script-handler for Firefox and the GMailAgenda script, if you haven't already. Next up is Remember the Milk—if you're not using it now, you can get a free account.
Once you're set up there, you can add your tasks into Google Calendar from this page. On both the Google Calendar main page and in your Gmail sidebar, you click the checkmark icon next to the listing for each day ("Tasks for Wednesday ..."), and a drop-down box with your to-dos for that day rolls out. It's seriously convenient, with task editing, adding, and even Google mapping available from the little widget.
So now you've got the ability to manage email, add calendar events and tackle tasks while you're at the Gmail page, but the GCal sidebar can't follow you everywhere. That's why I recommend installing the Google Calendar Quick Add extension (which you'll need to tweak to make it work with Firefox 3) and the Remember the Milk Quick Add Bookmarklet. Both do a great job of popping up a quick interface for putting tasks and appointments into your webapp organizers without having to jump away from what you're looking at.
Of course, Remember the Milk also offers a Firefox extension that integrates your task list and turns Gmail stars and labels into tasks, but it gets a bit wonky (and crowded) with both sidebars shoved onto Gmail. Of course, that's personal preference—if you're rocking a huge, widescreen monitor, you might not notice at all. Here's what my setup looks like with just the GCal sidebar and Gmail set up:
Got your own all-in-one Gmail setup, with or without extensions and scripts? Let's hear about it in the comments.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
jdoree
Posted 12:37 AM 21/8/08
I used RTM for a while but found it annoying and found that it didn't handle large numbers of projects very well. I really wanted to like it. I'd love to see something like this working with Toodledo, which I settled on after trying just about every connected web organizer out there.
jdoree
It_Figures
Posted 12:59 AM 21/8/08
So far, it's not working with my GAFyD installation. I've tried tweaking the URLs that hook into the script, but no joy, and I don't have time to futz with it further at present.
Anyone have any sort of success with this using GAFyD?
It_Figures
chiieddy
Posted 12:57 AM 21/8/08
Honestly, Google just needs to develop GoogleTasks and be done with it.
chiieddy
Bubarubu
Posted 12:50 AM 21/8/08
GMail Addons script and the RTM extension. My tasks are always available in the sidebar while my GCal and GReader are one-click away from taking up the bottom half of my screen, and then one click away from disappearing.
Bubarubu
sw4383
Posted 1:25 AM 21/8/08
For now I'm just going to stick with having another tab open for my calendar. I'm finding too often that extensions in Firefox for Gmail and Google Calendar are slowing down the rendering of those pages for me either at home or the office. I'll use superstars and filters for those in quick links to make a to-do list so I can at least have a hierarchy of tasks in Gmail.
I can see why Google is slow to add an agenda view to Gmail as it would take away from the simple, clean interface of each offering.
sw4383
neil2121
Posted 1:13 AM 21/8/08
@Bubarubu: I'm with you on this one. The agenda view showing up on the right-hand side just looks a little too busy. I love the current look of the rtm extension for gmail and don't mind that gcal is just a click away.
Plus, I don't like the look of all of those check marks showing up on my gcal.
neil2121
jkrell
Posted 2:02 AM 21/8/08
Has anyone tried this using the Redesigned themes?
jkrell
coderneedsfood
Posted 3:16 AM 21/8/08
@holdemm: i think it directly references www.google.com/calendar . you will need to edit the source and change that to your apps calendar URL ?
coderneedsfood
coderneedsfood
Posted 3:13 AM 21/8/08
google redesigned theme doesn't display on the calendar portion of the display
coderneedsfood
holdemm
Posted 3:12 AM 21/8/08
Any way to get the Google Calendar Quick Add Extension for Google Apps to work? It wants to add it to my Gmail Calendar, but I want it for the Apps.
holdemm
pfostpfilms
Posted 3:10 AM 21/8/08
the Gcal Sidebar CAN follow you everywhere if you just use the Gcal widget in your sidebar...bookmark the following:
[www.google.com]
then edit the properties and check "Load this bookmark in the sidebar".
the quick add extensions are still super-useful, the sidebar is there WHENEVER you need it, and it doesn't slow down gmail.
pfostpfilms
cancel.man
Posted 3:30 AM 21/8/08
"Anyone have any sort of success with this using GAFyD?"
I tweaked the script to work with Google Apps and it works fine. You just need to add your Apps-specific addresses to the list of Included Pages.
You can do this by modifying the original script file or using the Greasemonkey interface:
In Firefox:
Tools -> Greasemonkey -> Manage User Scripts
Select GmailAgenda on the left
Now in the Included Pages area hit "Add..." and insert the following:
"https://mail.google.com/a/*
"http://mail.google.com/a/*
"https://www.google.com/calendar/hosted/[yourdomain.com]/embed*
"http://www.google.com/calendar/hosted/[yourdomain.com]/embed*
replace the yourdomain.com, of course.
cancel.man
timepiece
Posted 9:42 AM 21/8/08
I still prefer to just put everything in iGoogle, and then display it in the sidebar. If I have Gmail open, the exact same effect (except the sidebar is on the left).
timepiece
haggie
Posted 10:03 AM 21/8/08
Ever since Gcal started sending reminders on events sync'ed from Outlook, it has become useless to me. I can't have my business clients getting business reminders from Google. They should be focused on huge problems that make their calendar useless to business people rather than minor functionality upgrades...
haggie
DangerousLiberal
Posted 10:53 AM 21/8/08
@chiieddy: Yes, and Google needs to integrate calendaring, tasks, email, and contacts, kind of like, um, what was it called...oh, yeah, Outlook!
Meanwhile, my university is going to standardize on a calendaring solution using Groupwise. Please, Google, please create a tool that we can use to fight off this plague!
DangerousLiberal
OthelloBabalazi
Posted 2:43 AM 21/8/08
How did you get the GmailAgenda on top of the RTM sidebar? Mine are next to each other and take up too much space. thanks.
OthelloBabalazi
bramborak
Posted 5:18 PM 21/8/08
I personally skip the 'sidebar on a page' thing, and use Bubbles in my system tray ([bubbleshq.com]) with a separate system tray icon for GCal, RTM and Gmail.
Everything I need is on call at all times.
It works brilliantly for me ... but it is a XP/IE based solution. I think that Mozilla's Prism does a similar thing for FireFox, but because Bubbles works so well I haven't really explored it any further.
Incidentally, my sympathy on the Groupwise thing for DangerousLiberal. Ew.
bramborak
sreerc
Posted 4:45 AM 21/8/08
if IG allowed resizing of windows, this would be a breeze/
sreerc
QuinnMinos
Posted 3:58 AM 21/8/08
Showing RTM tasks in GCal is not really practical, as it adds a huge amount of clutter by showing the "Tasks for XXXX" on every single day (whether they have tasks or not). And you have to click that header/checkmark to open the popup to show the actual tasks.. huge pain. In addition, I have many tasks which don't have (and would never have) specific dates on them that will not show up at all. So unfortunately, i'm sticking with using the GMailAgenda and RTM Firefox Extension separately until they can play nicer together.
QuinnMinos
AndreAzevedo
Posted 3:32 AM 21/8/08
I prefer PermaTabs to keep two always-on tabs, one for Gmail and the other for GCal. Just can't get used to GCal in a sidebar, so I prefer to have it full week/month view.
AndreAzevedo
ziipppp
Posted 1:03 PM 27/8/08
I have a sick monkey I think.
I have FF3, and the latest GM and I'm running Vista (don't ask) and googleapps. Every time I try to add an "Include" page, it just doesn't load or show. The monkey icon is switched on - what is going on? Why isn't it working?
I've uninstalled and reinstalled the monkey - same diff.
Better GMails CC scripts don't work either, and I'm thinking this Monkey business is the issue.
I've looked all over - no dice on solutions. If anyone else has run across this - or even better fixed it, I'd love to know.
Gratefully yours.
Owner of a sick simian
ziipppp