Chapter 4. Views and Filters

While calendars (resources) can hold events, to-dos and/or journal entries, these items are very different in nature. To-dos may have no date associated with them, so a schedule view is not suitable to them. Journal entries are a collection your reflections, occurrences or experiences. They require their own view mode, as they are not related with the list of upcoming events or the list of to-dos, etc.

To solve the challenge of displaying your information in a useful and intuitive fashion, KOrganizer offers different views, filters and search capabilities. You can also assign tags to related events and to-dos, which will help you to view them later, using filters or colors.

KOrganizer Views

In this section, we describe the different view modes, and present an overview of how to browse your personal data using KOrganizer.

The KOrganizer window can be divided into two main areas: the main window and the sidebar. The main window displays the main views and the sidebar displays the Date Navigator, the To-do View, the Item Viewer and the Calendar Manager View. To show or hide the sidebar components, check or uncheck the menu items under the SettingsSidebar submenu.

The Date Navigator is provided to browse and select dates. Today's date will be outlined with a small box, dates which have events scheduled on them will be bold (daily or weekly recurring events may not be marked as bold, depending on the view configuration), and holidays will be colored red. If you want to jump to a date, simply click on it. Hold down the mouse to select multiple contiguous dates at once. The What's Next, List, Agenda and Journal views will only show events, to-dos or journals items from the dates selected in the Date Navigator. The Month view will show events or to-dos from the first month shown in the Date Navigator (the selected days in the month won't change the Month view, only month changes).

The To-do View sidebar component lists your to-dos, just like the To-do view. It is useful if you want to see your to-dos while using the other views.

The Item Viewer sidebar component shows details of the currently selected events, to-dos or journal entries.

Finally, Calendar Manager Viewer sidebar component allow you to enable or disable the resources on the list, by checking or unchecking the resource box, and to manage your resources. For more information, please check the section called “Calendar Resources”.

You can also browse your calendar view by choosing the GoBackward menu item (or pressing the toolbar button), which goes to the previous day, week, month or year, choosing the GoForward menu item (or pressing the toolbar button), which goes to the next day, week, month or year (depending on the view), or choosing the GoTo Today menu item (or pressing the toolbar button), which will include the current day in the current view.

What's Next View

This view displays events and to-dos in a simple format you can quickly read. All open to-dos will be displayed, but only the events from the days selected in the Date Navigator sidebar will be shown. Events and to-dos are displayed one per line.

Switch to the What's Next view by choosing the ViewWhat's Next menu item.

Event List View

This view displays all your to-dos, events and journal entries for the dates selected in the Date Navigator as a list. Open to-dos that are not due on the selected dates are not shown. This view is good for displaying many different items in a compact fashion. It is also useful if your events are spread out over a long time period that would not be displayed completely on the screen when using one of the other views.

The items are displayed one per line. Columns show if a reminder is set (a bell icon displayed in it means the reminder is set), if it repeats multiple times (a chasing-arrows icon means a repeating event), the start and end time information. Hovering the mouse over an item will bring up a tooltip with detailed information about the item.

Switch the display to the list view by choosing the ViewEvent List menu item.

Agenda View

The Agenda view presents your events or due to-dos for one or more days, sorted chronologically. You can also see the length of each event in the day timetable. To enable the Agenda view choose the ViewAgenda menu item or press the toolbar button.

The Day, Work Week and Week views are variations of the Agenda view. In fact, you can set the days shown in the Agenda view at any time by selecting them in the Date Navigator.

Time is indicated by a time bar on the left side of the view. A scrollbar on the right is provided when the whole day cannot be displayed on a single screen (which is the usual case). Each rectangle in the view represents an individual event or to-do due for that time, and displays the start and end time and summary. A bell icon is displayed if a reminder is set, and a chasing-arrows icon is displayed if it repeats multiple times. Hovering the mouse over an calendar item will bring up a tooltip with the item detailed information. To make KOrganizer show a red line marking the current-time on the current day (the Marcus Bains line), check the Show current-time (Marcus Bains) line box in the KOrganizer view configuration.

Any event can be re-sized with your mouse. Simply move the mouse pointer near the top or bottom edge of the event, and drag the edge up or down. This way you can visually modify the starting and ending time of your event. This also works in the Week and Work Week views. In other words, it is possible to change start and end times with the mouse by just moving the upper or lower border of the event to the new time.

Any event can be rescheduled with your mouse. Move the mouse pointer over the event, and drag it to a new time location. This also works in the Week and Work Week views. Events can be moved to other, presently non-visible dates. Move the mouse pointer over the event, and drag it to the Date Navigator.

Since the Agenda view cannot contain the whole day on most screens, you will have to scroll up and down to see the whole day. There is a useful hint that tells you if there are any currently invisible events above or below your current view; it is a small down-pointing arrow at the bottom of each day view or up-pointing arrow at the top.

Tip

There are two useful shortcuts for adding events:

  • Double-click any open region of time, and KOrganizer will automatically create an event with default duration (which is customizable in the preferences dialog). You can immediately add the summary. The events snap to half-hour increments, rounding off to the closest half hour from where you clicked.

  • Select any open region of time, and double click it or start writing the summary of the event. KOrganizer will automatically set the duration and start time as defined by the selection area in the Agenda view.

To help you organize your agenda, the color of the events reflect their tags, and depending on the KOrganizer view configuration, it may also reflect its resource. Therefore, if you assign tags to events and different colors to tags , you will be able to quickly identify the type of event by its color.

The Agenda view can display events from all your calendars merged into one view or show a view per calendar. Having both views available via tabs is also possible and can be customized in the preferences dialog.

Day View

This view presents the Agenda view for a single day.

Switch the display to the Day view by choosing the GoDay menu item or pressing the Day button in the toolbar.

Next X Days View

This view presents the Agenda view for the next days, starting from today. You can change the number of days to be displayed in the KOrganizer view configuration. The default value is 3.

Switch the display to the next days view by choosing the GoNext X Days menu item, (X represents the number of days, usually 3).

Week View

The Week view provides a view similar to the Day view. Events for seven days are shown next to each other.

Switch the display to the Week view by choosing the GoWeek menu item or pressing the Week button in the toolbar.

Work Week View

This is the same as the Week view, except that it shows only the working days of the week.

Switch the display to the Work Week view by choosing the GoWork Week menu item.

Month View

The Month view shows all the events and due to-dos for the current month in a familiar month calendar layout. Each cell in the view represents a day, and each day contains all of the events that can fit in the area provided (maximizing the window will enable you to see more appointments). Information on repeating and reminder status is indicated through bell and chasing arrows icons, just as in other views.

Navigate the Month view using the Date Navigator arrows, or the items and toolbar buttons from the Go menu. Since the visible area of a day cell may not contain all events and to-dos, you can use the keyboard to browse the items, or you can use the scrollbars to see all the events and to-dos from that day.

Hover your mouse over any calendar item to display a tooltip with the item details. Double click an empty area to create an event, double click any calendar item to edit it.

To help you organize your data, the color of the events may reflect their tags, and their resource, depending on the KOrganizer view configuration. Therefore, if you assign tags to events and different colors to tags, you can identify the type of event (or resource) by its color.

Switch the display to the Month view by choosing the ViewMonth View menu item or pressing the Month button in the toolbar.

Timeline View

The Timeline view shows all events for the selected timespan in a gantt view. Every calendar is displayed in a separate line.

Hover your mouse over any calendar item to display a tooltip with the item details. Double click an empty area to create an event, double click any calendar item to edit it.

To-do List

The To-do List provides a place for you to jot down quick (or long-term) notes about things that need to be done. The To-do View sidebar component appears right below the Date Navigator. You can also display it in the main panel if you click the To-do List view toolbar button or if you choose the ViewTo-do List menu item.

You can give your to-do a date due, in other words a date when the to-do should be finished.

You can also assign priorities to to-dos, and they will appear sorted in order of priority. The lower the number, the higher the priority, except that zero (0) is defined as no priority.

To make a new to-do entry, right click the To-do View sidebar component, or the To-do List view, and choose the New To-do menu item. If you right click an already existing to-do, you will get more choices: you can Show the summary, Edit... the to-do details, Delete the to-do altogether, or you can create a New Sub-To-do... You could for example make a large to-do like building a house, and make sub-to-dos like choosing the right building site, hiring an architect, hiring workers and finally arranging a party for your friends.

When you choose New To-do..., a dialog will pop up, allowing you to enter all necessary information.

Click any to-do in the list to highlight it. If you click the thick-line box on the left of the to-do description, you will change the completed status of the to-do. If you double-click the to-do description, you will be able to edit all its details.

You may also pick Purge Completed from the right mouse button menu to delete all to-do entries that you have marked completed.

To-dos can also be dragged around with the mouse to rearrange the hierarchy or to exchange to-dos with other calendar windows. You can also read an overview of all available drag-and-drop operations.

Journal View

The Journal view provides a place for you to record your reflections, occurrences or experiences. You can display the Journal view in the main panel if you press the Journal View toolbar button or if you choose the ViewJournal menu item.

When you click the New journal ... link (or the New Journal ... button), a new journal entry will be created. If you want to edit a journal entry, just click the text box and edit it! To remove a journal entry, press the delete button in the Journal view.