A frequently asked question is
"How do I provide a link for someone to click to add an appointment to their calendar?"
The answer: save the appointment as an *ics file and upload it to a web server then link to it like you would any other file on the internet. You can use the same method to provide a full calendar if you use Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2010.
Hyperlink styles you can use in email or on a web page
Visible hyperlink
To insert a visible hyperlink: https://www.slipstick.com/files/AddAppttoCalendar.ics you'll use HTML code similar to the following sample. This can be inserted into an email message by simply pasting the url and pressing enter to hyperlink it.
<a href="../files/AddAppttoCalendar.ics"> //www.slipstick.com/files/AddAppttoCalendar.ics</a>
Pretty Hyperlink
To create a "Pretty" hyperlink: Click Here to Add meeting to calendar, you'll use this format. You can use the Hyperlink button on the Toolbar or Ribbon in Outlook or your HTML editor and paste the url into the address field.
<a href="../files/AddAppttoCalendar.ics"><br />Click Here to Add meeting to calendar</a>
Hyperlink an Image
Image Hyperlink: (This image is one of the many images compiled in the Outlook exe and dlls, along with icons and other images you see through out Outlook.)
<a href="../files/lincoln-calendar.ics"><br /><img alt="Click to Add to calendar" src="i/LINCOLN.jpg" width="250" height="239" /></a>
Tip: If you use Outlook 2007 or 2010, you can save an ics containing the Full Calendar (or multiple days or weeks), not individual appointments.
Why did I choose the picture of Lincoln for this example? Because the picture was included in OUTLLIBR.DLL from Outlook 97 through Outlook 2010. I have no idea why it was included in the resource library dll, but I found it using a bitmap extractor to extract all icons and images from the Office files. It definitely was the most unexpected image in the suite.
Darlene says
what is the HTML code to add a link to create a new appointment in the user's outlook at the bottom of the email body? Without creating an .ics file.
TychaBrahe says
Is there a way to create an appointment as a clickable link without first creating the appointment in Outlook? I have a list of about 186 dates. Right now they're in a spreadsheet that colors them yellow if the date is less than 90 days away and red if it's less than 30. I want to create Outlook reminders so that I'm not constantly scanning this file looking for red flags. Obviously i don't want to create 186 appointments by hand.
If I wanted to create an e-mail as a link, I could enter the code
Send Mail
I can create hyperlinks to do this in Excel as
="Send Mail"
assuming that my two e-mail addresses are in A4 and B4.
Is there a way to construct a similar link to create a calendar entry?
Diane Poremsky says
It could be possible to use an Excel macro to write an ics on the fly... but it would be messy. I'd probably do a macro that looked for upcoming dates and created the outlook appointments. This is an Excel macro - https://www.slipstick.com/developer/create-appointments-spreadsheet-data/
Assuming you are adding them to your default calendar try this edit on the macro on that page - i think the IF statement will work to get just 30 days.
'this assumes there is a value in col 1. Change 1 to 2 if needed. you could put a value in 1 if importing then sort so they are all together.
Do Until Trim(Cells(i, 1).Value) = ""
Set subFolder = CalFolder
if Cells(i, 6) => date and Cells(i, 6) < date + 31 then ' create appt loop End if
Jim James says
Kind of an odd and offensive photo choice, don't you think?
Diane Poremsky says
I never really thought about it. I used it because it was included in Outlook 97 - 2010, in OUTLLIBR.DLL as LINCOLN.JPG. It looks like it was removed from Outlook 2013. I have no idea why it was in Outlook.
TychaBrahe says
You should make it a link to either the anniversary of Lincoln's death.
Diane Poremsky says
Lol. (You knew I'd do it, right? :))
karthi keyan says
Thank you, it's working.
But, it asking "Do you want to open or save Calendar.ics" how to avoid this?
How to open directly without asking questions?
Diane Poremsky says
You can't control how it works for other people, but you may be able to disable the warning when you open an ics file.
If the box is grayed out to 'don't ask', restart outlook using run as administrator and try opening the link - the check box should be enabled. https://www.slipstick.com/problems/disable-always-ask-before-opening-dialog/
Joan says
Thank you so much, this worked like a charm!