Often we need to create an appointment, reminder, or meeting that repeats. There are many repeat options that we can select from. When we click Repeat, a dialog box appears and within here we can select our repeat options.
As can be seen in the preceding screenshot, the Repeat Options is split into the areas, which we will discuss now.
- When the Meeting Repeats: From here we can select the repeat interval such as Daily, Weekly, Monthly and, in the next field, we can select how often should we have the repeat interval such as Daily, Weekly, and so on. There is a Custom option that allows us to simply select the dates that we need the calendar entry to repeat on.
- How long the Meeting repeats: If we have selected Daily in the previous section, in this section we need to select for how many days, if weeks for how many weeks, and so on. In the Number of scheduled Meeting days section, it will show the repeating dates, which assists in knowing that we have selected the correct number of days, weeks, or months to repeat.
- Specify Exceptions: In this area it caters for if a repeating entry falls on a weekend. We have the following options: Move to Friday, Move to Monday, Move to Nearest Weekday, or Don't Move.
- Number of scheduled Meeting days: This area shows the days that the calendar entry will be repeated on. It is important to check these dates to make sure the repeating intervals are correct.
There may be times when we need to change the details of a repeating calendar entry. Imagine we've created an appointment that repeats every Friday. We realize that Easter is coming up and we need to move the Friday meeting to the next Tuesday. We would open the Friday appointment and change the date to Tuesday. When we click on the Save and Close, we will be prompted with the following dialog box:
Because we are modifying a recurring calendar entry, we need to select if the change of date applies just to the entry we have changed or to all of the repeating appointments. We can also choose This instance and all previous instances and This instance and all future instances. Once we have selected an option or left it at the default which is Just this instance, click the OK button. The changes will then be applied to the effected entries. If we are changing a meeting, invitees, rooms, and resources will be updated. We need to watch for the responses from our invitees and the rooms and resources if booked. I have known of people turning up to a meeting room and finding it occupied. What they failed to notice was that the room responded as unavailable when the meeting date was changed, as they didn't take notice of the responses.