Color Coding Your SharePoint Calendar

Sharepoint calendars are an essential tool for practice in team collaborations, project planning, event tracking, and deadlines. One useful feature that can make these calendars extra efficient is color coding. Color coding allows you to assign different colors to different types of events, making it easier for users to differentiate and locate them in a glance. This post will provide a comprehensive guide on how to color code your SharePoint calendar.

Step 1: Create Calendar Overlays

The first step in color coding involves creating a Calendar Overlay. In SharePoint, different color codes are assigned by using multiple calendars overlaid on a master calendar.

1. Go to your SharePoint Calendar and click on Calendar from the menu.
2. Click on Calendars Overlay.
3. Now, click on New Calendar.

In the New Calendar setup, fill in the following:

• Name: Give a name for this Calendar Overlay.
• Type: Choose SharePoint.
• Color: Choose a color that corresponds to this specific Calendar Overlay.

Click OK to save this setting.

Step 2: Create a New View for Each Calendar Overlay

For a successful color-coding, you need to create a different view for each calendar.

Follow these steps for creating a new view:

1. Go to your SharePoint Calendar, click on Calendar from the menu.
2. Click on Create View.
3. From the view format options, choose Calendar View.

On the “Create View” page, fill in the details:

• Name: Provide a descriptive name.
• Filter: Enter the filtering conditions corresponding to this view.

Click OK to save this view.

Step 3: Link Calendar Overlays to Views

Link each overlay to its corresponding view to activate color coding.

1. Navigate to the SharePoint Calendar.
2. Click on Calendar from the menu, and then select Calendars Overlay.
3. Click on the name of the overlay you created.
4. Locate the List View dropdown menu, and select the view that you created for this overlay.

Click OK to save this setting. Repeat this procedure for all the overlays.

Step 4: Test Functionality

Finally, confirm if color coding is working by adding items to your SharePoint calendar while selecting their corresponding categories. The items should reflect the color assigned to that category when creating calendar overlays.

Conclusion

Color coding not only enhances visibility in a busy SharePoint calendar but also improves user engagement by splitting workloads, events, or tasks into separate categories. It’s a simple yet effective way to maximize the utility of your SharePoint Calendar.