Rune Kenneth Meisingset - Help Information for Time and Date widget

Help Information for Time and Date widget

Sunday, 21. January 2007, 20:06:50

calendar, widget, date, time, help

Help Information for Time and Date widget.

Contents

Overview of the functions of the Calendar window
Quick Start

If you want to set an event, click on the date in the calendar, and then click on New event. Optionally you can just double-click on the date.

Enter all the relevant information in the Event window, then press OK. If you set a reminder for your event, a reminder message will pop up to remind you about the upcoming event.

If you later want to edit your event, just click on the event in the Calendar window, then click Edit event. Optionally you can just double-click on the event.

If you want to delete your event you can do this in the Event window by pressing Remove. Alternatively you can do it in the Calendar window by pressing the Delete key on the keyboard whilst the event is selected.

To choose country, language, skin aso. press Settings in the Calendar window.

Country lets you set which country the calendar displays holidays and observances for.

Language lets you set which language is to be used.

Appearance lets you set which skin is to be used.

Alarm sound lets you set which sound is to be played for reminders. Note that you can click on the icon to the left of the menu to preview the sound.

Date placement lets you set the position of the date that the widget displays in its minimized mode, relative to the windows.

First day of week lets you set if the calendar starts weeks on Sunday (american style) or Monday (european style).

First week of year lets you set the rule that is used to count weeks. Different countries and different organizations use different rules, but often 'First four day week' is used in Europe, and 'First day' in America. A description of the different rules is given below.

Date and time format lets you set what you would like the widget to display in its minimized mode. The widget will substitue f.ex. dddd with the full weekday name and yyyy with the current year represented by all four digits. Descriptions of the different expressions you can input here is found in the scrollable area of the Settings window. Examples of different input values are given below.

Check for updates on startup lets you set whether you want the widget to check for newer versions on startup.

Upgrading to a newer version

Note that upgrading the widget to a newer version causes all your settings to be reset and all your events to be lost. In order to keep your settings and events, you have to export them from the old version. Then, after you have upgraded, you import them into the new version.

A description on how to import and export settings and events is given below.

Date and time format

Note that you are not limited to inputting expressions from the list in Date and time format. You can also insert ordinary words or characters.
However, if you're going to use a character that have a special meaning to the widget - f.ex. w which the widget will substitute with the current week number - you'll have to escape it with \, so that instead of w, you write \w.

Some examples of different values for Date and time format are:

dd/MM/yyyy

16/11/2003

dd.MM.yyyy HH:mm

16.11.2003 23:05

dd-MM-yyyy hh:mm tt

16-11-2003 11:05 PM

dd-MM-yy, \week w

16-11-03, week 46

ddddd of MMMM yyyy

16th of November 2003

dddd, ddddd MMM yy

Sunday, 16th Nov 03

ddd, yy/MM/dd, HH:mm, w

Sun, 03/11/16, 23:05, 46

ddd, yy/MM/dd, TC

Sun, 03/11/16, five past eleven

Importing and exporting

To import or export settings and events, click on Import and export in the Calendar window. The Import and export window will be shown.

To import old settings and events, choose Import settings and events.

You have to find the file in which you stored your old settings and events.
Open this file in a text editor (like f.ex. Notepad).
Copy all the text from your text editor to the text input area of the Import and export window.
Press OK.

Note. This will overwrite all your current settings and events.

To export your current settings and events, choose Export settings and events and press OK.

A new page will open in Opera with your current settings and events.
From the File menu in Opera, choose Save as... (or just press Ctrl+S).
Choose a filename for your file (f.ex. mysettings.txt).
Press Save.

To import settings in iCalendar file format, choose Import iCalendar.

Open the iCalendar file in a text editor (like f.ex. Notepad).
Copy all the text from your text editor to the text input area of the Import and export window.
If the file is online, you can skip the previous steps, and instead copy the URL into the text input area.
Press OK.

The imported events will be added to your current events.

Note that the iCalendar support is not complete.
It does not support secondly, minutely and hourly repeating events, time zones, reminder time (It detects alarms, but just sets the reminder to a default 1 day before the event), rdate, exrule, exdate and some more.
Still, the iCalendar support is large enough to import a large number of iCalendar files perfectly.

To export your current events in iCalendar file format, choose Export iCalendar and press OK.

A new page will open in Opera.
From the File menu in Opera, choose Save as... (or just press Ctrl+S).
Change the File type from Text file to All files (*.*).
Choose a filename for your file using .ics as the file extension (f.ex. myicalendar.ics).
Press Save.

Week numbering rules

First day indicates that the first week of the year starts on the first day of the year and ends before the following designated first day of the week.

First full week indicates that the first week of the year begins on the first occurrence of the designated first day of the week on or after the first day of the year.

First four day week indicates that the first week of the year is the first week with four or more days before the designated first day of the week. This rule complies with ISO 8601.

Advanced

In the Advanced Settings tab you will find these settings:

reminderDateAndTimeFormat

Here you can set the date and time format that is used in the Reminder window.

timeFormat

Here you can set the time format that is used in the Calendar window.

defaultReminder

If checked new events will have '10 minutes' as the default value for the reminder. If unchecked it will have 'No reminder' as the default value.

defaultSound

If checked new events will have 'Play alarm sound' as the default value.

alarmSoundRepeat

If checked the alarm sound will be repeating.

alarmSoundRepeatInterval

Here you can set the number of seconds between each time the alarm sound is played.

visualAlarm

If checked a web page will open in the browser to alert you that a reminder is shown.

useAnimations

If checked animations will be used.

restrainPosition

If checked the widget position will be restrained so it is kept inside the screen space of the primary screen. If you want to move the widget outside this area, you should uncheck this box.

lockPosition

If checked, the widget position will be locked. If you want to move the widget, you should uncheck this box.

Changelog for Time and Date widget

Comments

1 2 Next »

opera_jp # 23. January 2007, 08:32

This is cool and simple widget! Do you mind if I recommend your widget at my blog(http://my.opera.com/opera_jp/)?

rkm # 23. January 2007, 10:29

@opera_jp: Of course not. Recommend it as many places that you want to. The more the better

If you want to, please also vote for me in the Win a Wii with Opera Wiidgets contest.

opera_jp # 24. January 2007, 02:09

Thank you. And i voted to your widget!

rkm # 24. January 2007, 02:17

Thanks!

Anonymous # 5. February 2007, 03:36

Anonymous writes:

Thanks for this widget - which I find the best of the calender so far! I'm from DK and am going to use Opera again after some years with only FF after Opera implemented several (new) features I've missed compared to FF. Though I have a problem with the '\w'-switch showing weeks in the display - do you have any idea?

Thanks again - and I'll of course vote for you

Greetings :-)

rkm # 12. February 2007, 01:34

@Anonymous: I will have to rewrite the help information soon, to make things a bit clearer. But in the meantime:

If you enter f.ex. \week w in Date and time format, the widget should currently display week 7.
If you enter week w, it should display 7eek 7.
If you enter \week \w, it should display week w.

If the widget behaves differently for you, then this has to be a bug. In this case please contact me with further details, so I can try to fix the problem.

Anonymous # 7. March 2007, 08:13

Anonymous writes:

Thanks for this widget. I have notebook and I never turn off them. Is it possible to start reminder every time when I upraise cover?

Greetings :-)

rkm # 8. March 2007, 22:03

@Anonymous: I don't think that would be possible. The widgets aren't allowed to retrieve information about your system, so it is no way to detect when you upraise the cover of your notebook.

Anonymous # 19. May 2007, 05:46

Hugues writes:

I'm a new user of opera.
Your widget seems very usefull,but I encouter this problem : when I minimize the widget, It's no more possible to enlarge it.

rkm # 26. May 2007, 16:34

@Hugues: That is strange. You are clicking on where the date is displayed to restore it, right?? Are you using Windows?

AyushJ # 11. July 2007, 02:00

Rune, great widget. Simple but powerful..

I have a suggestion- Use preventDefault method on mousedown event to prevent text selection. Sometimes when clicking the hidden widget to show it again, the hotclick menu comes

marpos # 18. July 2007, 18:01

Rune Kenneth, finally something I long missed!!! Great! I am going to test it now. I hope it will work OK.
For now I have found little (bug) thing: The Czech is not proper. It's more like mixture of Slovak and Czech language. Just tell me how I can help you with that. I think, being Czech, I could help you with more proper Czech.

Thanks a lot for this widget!!! 5 stars

marpos # 20. July 2007, 10:12

Rune, meanwhile I found the article: Translation of Time and Date 1.2, so I am working on the translation. It is almost done I will soon ask you just several questions about a context of certain phrases which I could not find in the widget and there could be several meanings of the English phrases/words...
For now I am also testing the widget and it works fine for me...
I found 2 minor bugs though:
1. little more serious: when loading or reloading the widget there always appears an error pop-up stating (of course only if I leave the "Check for updates on startup" checkbox in settings checked):

"An error occured when trying to retrieve data from:
http://files.myopera.com/rkm/timeanddate/version.txt?rnd=Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:49:48 GMT+0200"

2. really little thing: Whatever country/language I choose there are two buttons (so far I found those two: "Today" and "None" buttons in drop-down box with calendar when editing (new) event) that stay in language the whole Opera is configured. Or let's say those buttons do not obey the language setting of the widget (while everything else is OK) but they obey the language setting of Opera.

Regards

Martin

Anonymous # 24. August 2007, 09:54

Anonymous writes:

it's a good tool, thx for it.

one thing: is it possible that, when you minimize the widget,
there is no entry in the taskbar. for me it is just a icon in the taskbar better.

bye
mss

osamlt # 26. August 2007, 07:16

Hello,
Great widget. I like, but i want tralstated in my language. How i can do it? Are you let me?

rkm # 26. August 2007, 09:57

@marpos: The "Today" and "None" buttons in the drop-down box with the calendar, is something that is drawn automatically by Opera. It's an example of a web forms 2.0 element, which as far as i know Opera is the only browser that has implemented yet.

@Anonymous: If I understand you correctly, it might be that my widget tab replacement is what you are lookinhg for. The widget tab replacement program will remove the entries for the widgets from the task bar, and add an icon to the system tray. Clicking the widget icon in the system tray will bring up the widgets.

@osamlt: I would be happy if you translated the widget to your language:) Just go here to translate the widget. If your language is lithuanian just click on 'Other language', then select lituanian.

osamlt # 26. August 2007, 10:28

O I lovely tralsate into Lithuanai language.

Ps. Traslating process is like netvibes translator. I like it.

osamlt # 26. August 2007, 11:16

Notes.
In Lithuania time don't have AM PM marker. IT is simple 13 (after 12 hourday) or 1 (after 24 hour night).

rkm # 26. August 2007, 13:29

@osamlt: It's the same in norwegian. Just leave AM/PM and A/P as it is then. The default setting is to show the time in 24-h format, so AM/PM won't show up unless the user himself changes the settings in this way.

Anonymous # 6. September 2007, 14:25

Anonymous writes:

The best calendar widget until now. Propper project. Works fine.
Thx. pkh

rllorent # 16. September 2007, 22:59

I agree. Best calendar available for Opera.
It would be possible to allow drag-and-drop operation ?
I mean, to drag an email from Opera mail client to the calendar
should open the "add event" dialog automatically.

Also, some integration inside Opera would be great (I guess this would be difficult). Integration like a menu entry like "Add to calendar" or similar.

Opera needs a calendar to have a chance to compete with Outlook or Thunderbird/Lighting. This widget is a great opportunity to
go ahead.

Thanks for the execellent work

Roberto

Anonymous # 26. November 2007, 15:08

Anonym writes:

hello,

I can't use sound to tell me an event occur.
can you give the possibility to bring the window to the top without sound ?

I'm deaf.

Thanks for this great work.

rkm # 26. November 2007, 17:33

@rllorent: Sorry. I had forgot to reply to this. No, drag and drop operations won't be possible. More integration with Opera won't be possible either unfortunately.

@anonymous: I see. In principle it should work to set the widget to display "Always on Top". Then the reminder window should pop up in front of everything. But my experience is that "Always on Top" can't always be relied on - sometimes the widget still drops behind some other windows. I have an idea for how to make a more reliable visual reminder. Look for changes in the next version...

Anonymous # 7. December 2007, 00:58

Anonymous writes:

Do you have to use the widget through Opera? For example if I have an Archos 605 and I use this widget, do I have to have connection to access the calendar and to input events, or use the alarm?

rkm # 7. December 2007, 02:20

@Anonymous: You have to use it through Opera in the sense that Opera needs to be running for the widget to work, but you don't need an internet connection.

Anonymous # 10. January 2008, 11:15

Anonymous writes:

Hi
I think that there is a bug in version 1.26: when you add a "New event" the hour in field "At" must have two numbers (for hours less than 10). If not, the task list in not well formated. For example, you must input "08:00" and not "8:00"
Regards
Joaquin.

rkm # 27. January 2008, 07:54

@Anonymous: This is really not anything I can control. If the time isn't well formatted - if you f.ex. input "8:00" instead of "08:00", no value will be given for that input field.

Anonymous # 26. February 2008, 20:17

Anonymous writes:

An automatic synchronization between Workstation and Notebook would be great!

joeyoga # 27. February 2008, 05:09

I am having trouble making the import ical format work. I am trying to import my google calendar. I have tried to both paste the link and the code into the text input area of the import window. When I click OK all that happens is the pasted info goes away and my calendar is not updated. Am I missing something? BTW, I am using Opera 9.5 beta on windows XP: Version
9.50 beta
Build
9613
Platform
Win32
System
Windows XP

Thanks

Anonymous # 2. March 2008, 05:42

Anonymous writes:

:clown: :knight: :sherlock: :D :eek: :confused: :insane: :yes: :knight: :wizard: :rip: :spock: :knight: :bandit: :sing: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :coffee: :heart: :flirt: :love: :furious: :yikes: :yikes: :yuck:

furngully # 5. March 2008, 18:06

Have not given it a good try yet, but the little I have used feels very nice.

I look forward to giving this a go:D

dorje1428 # 13. March 2008, 15:27

Problem:
I go to enter, e.g., a repeating event on Sunday April 13th 2008, and set it to repeat the 2nd Su of each month, the drop-down menu offers the second Saturday or the 13th as the options; i.e., this portion of the program thinks April 13th is (Sa)the day before! I have the settings so that Su is the first day of the calendar week, changing it to Mo does not fix the problem.
Help?
Thanks
Otherwise, great widget!

Anonymous # 23. March 2008, 04:51

Abrar writes:

I live in the United States and our time went back one hour but my widget is still ahead an hour. I'd like to know if there is any way for me to correct this time and also change the 24-Hour format into a 12-Hour format. I will greatly appreciate it of you reply back to me at my e-mail address. hussain902@aol.com

arturotremendoni # 5. April 2008, 11:07

I love it! One small feature request -- which i might hack myself if you give me a lil guidance -- is : Automatic repeat only for weekdays and not weekends..

This way i dont wake up too early on weekends to do things i dont have to do

regards, keep up the good work

Anonymous # 25. April 2008, 03:23

ibex52 writes:

very nice! it would be better if there's an option not to display its button on the windows taskbar though.

spiralsan # 13. July 2008, 20:30

i love your widget, and have come to rely on it. so i am most distressed that it has stopped working!
i open it as normal - it shows the right time - but the clock is much bigger. i click the clock, and i see just a corner of the usual calendar window, again much too big, and completely unusable.
normally i would delete it and reinstall, but i suspect if i did, then all my preferences and reminders would be lost forever. the export button, like the other functions, is non-functioning.
please help!

spiralsan # 14. July 2008, 13:52

never mind, ignore me, i've sussed it.
congratulations again on a truly essential bit of widget.

Anonymous # 1. August 2008, 15:20

Stefan writes:

Hi,

great widget.
Is there a way to start it automaticly when I open opera?
I am an absolutly new user and just started learning.

Anonymous # 6. September 2008, 13:58

Boissoneau Dwayne writes:

tHANKS IT REALLY HELPS I'LL RECCOMEND TO ALL MY FRIENDS

Anonymous # 30. September 2008, 12:58

Anonymous writes:

Молодец!!! Виджет отличнейший! Жаль, что так мало у тебя виджетов! Хотелось бы видеть больше!

Anonymous # 30. September 2008, 13:04

Anonymous writes:

please, can you give me a link to the documentation of Audio-Object? I cannot fint it with Google. :(

AyushJ # 1. October 2008, 00:39

please, can you give me a link to the documentation of Audio-Object? I cannot fint it with Google.

See HTML 5 - The audio element
but note that it is not supported by Opera now

Anonymous # 16. October 2008, 09:49

Anonymous writes:

Great widget! Anyone know how to make it autostart when Opera opens?

Anonymous # 16. October 2008, 20:48

Anonymous writes:

Hi,

I agree with others that this is the best date and time thingy to come along.

One (hopefully) small request: is it possible to KEEP the box around the current date on the main display? Mine goes away and only seems to appear when the widget is first opened. Yes, I know the current date is on the bar as well, but it's just nice to be able to glance at the main window and see the current date "boxed".

Thanks again for a very useful widget!

Anonymous # 16. October 2008, 20:51

Anonymous writes:

By the way, I had to copy and paste this and my previous comment into Internet Explorer to get posted! In Opera, the anti-spam confirmation code was repeatedly rejected as in error. Anyone else have this problem? (This has nothing to do with the widget...just asking!) Paul.

Anonymous # 16. October 2008, 20:51

Jurgi # 21. October 2008, 23:21

Simple and useful. One of the best widgets IMHO.
It would be nice to have possibility to edit font, size and color, the clock mini-window is a bit hard to read for me, especially dharma.sk skin (noce but owful colors, I'm using Windows Classic skin, as I am minimalist

). Also possibility to change position of windows would be great.

Anonymous # 28. October 2008, 15:48

Ciro writes:

Excellent widget, the best I've seen.

I'm having the same problem as spiral san. I don't know what combination of keys I hit by mistake, now the size of the fonts is huge.

How did spiral san resolved his problem?