GIXr

When creating the GIXr calendar web site I was very disappointed when I found, during testing, that Outlook 2003 did not have the build-in ability to subscribe to my calendars. Although you can still download a GIXr calendar and import it, the whole point was to dynamically update calendars on the fly, without the user having to re-import all the time.

Having the calendars working with Outlook 2007, iPhone, Google was great but every time someone downloaded the version for Outlook 2003 I was kicking myself. So I went on the hunt for a solution.

I found a reference to remote calendars on the Microsoft web site that linked to a third party plug-in for Outlook. Unfortunately the developed and withdrawn the download and I hit a brick wall.

And then success….

IF YOU READ ON and INSTALL THIS PLUG-IN. READ MY NOTES BELOW.

I would be very interested in feedback. So feel free to add comments.

NOTES:

How I got it working.

This is not my application. Please don’t ask me any support questions about it.

Step 1:

Download from Sourceforge
http://sourceforge.net/projects/remotecalendars/files/

Select the RemoteCalendarsSetup-6.3ALL.zip

Step 2:

Use Windows Update to install or update to the latest version of Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0

Step 3:

It goes without saying. Read the installation instructions.

Unzip the RemoteCalendarsSetup-6.3ALL.zip file and then install the applications in the “Prerequisites” folder.

Step 4:

Install the Remote Calendar application.

Step 5:

You know it is working when a new toolbar appears when you start Outlook.

Remember. This is not my application. Please don’t ask me any support questions about it.

Step 6:

Start adding GIXr calendars to Outlook 2003. And they update all by themselves.

The World Motor Sport Council has just announced a new points system and dates for the FIA Formula One World Championship.  Your GIXr calendar will update automatically at no extra cost to you.  Get ahead of the game by registering with GIXr and having access to the latest sports calendars which can be downloaded directly into your calendar.  Let GIXr take care of alerting you to any changes to your event by automatically updating your calendar as soon as the information becomes available.

DOWNLOAD the 2010 Formula 1 Calendar NOW!

Don’t delay, register today.

We will be publishing a new version of the calendar over the next 48 hours. The new calendar will list all the available events for the category and in the case of there being no future events in the category the calendar will include the last event even if that is in the past. This prevents errors for subscribed users.

Guests to the web site will be able to download the next event in any category. Full calendars will only be available to registered users.

Try it: | Formula 1 | MotoGP | Horse Racing | School Holidays |

We have created a new calendar for Horse Racing. This calendar lists all the venues as “all day” events. We will add dates to the calendar month by month. Notable races will be added as additional events. (Visit Horse Racing and download)

The MotoGP dates for races in 2010 have been added to the site (MotoGP Calendar).

We have created a new version of the calendar that can be added to applications like Google Calendar, Outlook and even your iPhone. The new calendar (working with Formula 1) will automatically update when changes are made to the event  details (“quite likely in F1 2010″).

Initial tests show that we can subscribe to GIXr calendars using the iPhone. This means that users will be able to create their own calendar files, containing their choice of events. Updates to the calendar or events will then synchronise with the phone.

We will be looking to create a test calendar for the 2010 Formula 1 schedule over the next few days. This calendar is likely to change and race times will be fixed in due course. This should be an ideal live test and we will post details on how to subscribe.

To help with testing please register on the events site: www.GIXr.com

After creating the test site using my old faithful PHP Nuke (content management system) I found myself with the problem of whether to move onto a new up to date CMS. The big advantage being that the open source community are creating new features and addons for these CMS.

So I downloaded a raft of CMS software. I started with the list of popular CMS programs I found on the Woopra site. I like Woopra.

I have to say, I instantly liked Joomla so I started working out how to customise it and add my own modules.

I managed to convert the old site easily and found the quickest way to include my own content was to use the built in html wrapper feature.

So we now have a first draft of the site up and running with Formula 1 race dates ready to download to your calendar.

Please let me know what you think and make suggestions for new calendars.

Having initially created the site to make it easy to keep track of sports events for the complete season. It occurs to me that there are many uses for this type of calendar in everyday life.

A large number of us must have the school term dates stuck on the fridge door. So I am going to add a new channel to GIXr for all the UK school holidays. There are a lot of different schedules as each education authority can create their own calendar.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who would download this type of event. Are there any bits of information that would make the calendar more useful?

Download school holidays