Adding an event to my calendar that does NOT require an activity

[Jonathan Thomson]

I am a complete newby to ACT. Could anyone please tell me how to add an event to my Calendar that does not require an acticity. For example, I would like to add my chidren's birthdays, but don't want to have to mark them as completed on the Task List.  I have tried to search ACT's help pages, but find nothing that solves my problem.

[ghollister · Accepted solution]

You can schedule the birthdays as an Annual Event, by going to Schedule/Manage/Events. Click the Add button to setup a new event.

[ghollister · Accepted solution]

You can schedule the birthdays as an Annual Event, by going to Schedule/Manage/Events. Click the Add button to setup a new event.

[jnelson296]

I created the event as you suggested but the event doesn't appear on my calendar. And I don't see an Event Report. Am I doing something wrong?

[ghollister]

Hello jnelson296,

When you schedule an Event, it will show as a banner at the top of the calendar. Also, since it is not a task and not associated with any contacts, it will not show on any reports. I do not know of a report that will show Events. You would need to schedule as a recurring activity in order for it to show on reports.

[jnelson296]

First let me say - I have been an ACT user for several years. I keep using it (any paying for upgrades) for one reason: I want to see my  notes when I view a contact. 

The calendar of ACT needs work.  It is NOT user friendly/adaptable.

When you enter a birthday in the contact field - it does NOT appear on the calendar. And itr does not update annually. So if I enter my birthday 12/12/1955, it's on the contact screen but not the calendar. If I enter it as 12/12/2010 - same thing. It never updates to the new year; that has to be done manually.

I puchased ACT Add-On: Durkin ACT Calendar view.  It is a big help/improvement but has bugs which I have been in contact with them about.  For example - daily acctiviries appear in alphabetical order AND the time (start time) does not show at all. But, it is better than nothing.

I also purchased ACT Add-on:  CampanionLink yto sync ACT with my Blackberry.  BIG help but again - not perfect.  All to-do's go to the task list NOT your calendar.

ACT is good - the calendar part is NOT!

[ghollister]

The birthday field on the contact screen is just a date field - it isn't linked to the calendar. If you need to put a recurring birthday on the calendar, then you would schedule it as recurring timeless activity in the contact's record. You can query on the birthday field to find out who is having an upcoming birthday.