C
Colby Dean
Guest
Hello, all!
I'm sorry for the long post, but I'm trying to be as descriptive as possible, because this whole thing is driving me crazy. Okay, first, I'd like to share a little background info before detailing the issue at hand:
There are several people in my department with whom I share an Outlook 2013 calendar to track sick/vacation leave time in our department (we also use this shared calendar to track meetings, deadlines, birthdays, etc). I am the creator of this shared "leave calendar" (it is separate from my personal calendar). I have granted editor access to two colleagues and reviewer access to six others. I have also created 20 different color categories for use with this particular calendar.
Everyone in my department with whom I've shared access to the leave calendar is able to see the color categories I created such that the calendar looks exactly the same when viewed on their terminal as it does when viewed on my terminal. None of my colleagues ever had to add any categories to their master list to be able to view the ones that I created. In fact, the categories and colors on their personal master list remain the same after sharing the leave calendar with them as they did before sharing it.
Here is an example, and thanks to one of my colleagues for taking the following screencaps:
When my colleague views the color categories of his personal calendar (My Calendars - Calendar), these are the color categories that are available to him:
<<<IMAGE WILL SHOW ONCE ACCOUNT IS VERIFIED>>>
Now, when he views the color categories of the shared calendar (Shared Calendars - Leave Calendar) that I granted him access to review, the entire list is different. These categories match the same exact categories that I originally set up on my terminal for use with the leave calendar:
Please note
<<<IMAGE WILL SHOW ONCE ACCOUNT IS VERIFIED>>>
Again, those two screencaps were taken from the same user on the same terminal and the same is true for everyone else in the department, all of whom I've shared access with to either edit or review the leave calendar. As you can see, my colleagues have access to two different sets of color categories:
None of my colleagues had to add any new color categories to their personal master list in order to be able to view appointments properly in the shared leave calendar. Since these color categories are shared with each user I've given access to, they are able to see the same calendar I see when I open it up; all the colors and categories match perfectly. Also, I did not have to enable something or check any boxes to share my categories or anything; simply sharing the calendar with them automatically shared the color categories I created. Lastly, whenever I create a new color category in my master list, everyone who has access to the leave calendar is able to see that new category in the shared list without having to do a single thing.
Here is the issue:
We have a new addition to our department. I have shared the leave calendar with her and have granted her access like normal. I followed the same exact process to give her reviewer access to the leave calendar as I did with the other reviewers in our department and she has accepted my invitation to open the shared calendar. However, the color categories that I created do not show up for her in the shared calendar. Instead, when she views the color categories list in the shared calendar, her personal master list is displayed.
Our new employee can review appointments in the leave calendar just like everyone else, but they are all the same color, which isn't very helpful. Certain appointments in the leave calendar (like meetings and deadlines) are entered as all-day events so that they filter to the top of each day and have brighter colors so they stand out amongst all the other less important clutter (like so-and-so's 11:00 Dr. appt next Friday). For some reason, those color categories I created aren't being shared with her like they are with everyone else.
It took what seemed like an eternity just to get our IT department to understand exactly what the problem was in the first place. Of course, we're now being told by IT that it's impossible to share color categories between users, even though I have given them sufficient proof of the contrary (the same exact proof that I have provided here). I feel like they're just grasping at straws while trying to pacify me. One technician even remoted into one of my colleagues' machines and was in complete denial when seeing that he had access to two sets of color categories, saying that it must be some kind of bug (despite the same being true for everyone else in our department).
The only solution that IT can offer is that we need to add those special categories to her master list which will enable her to view the categories on the shared calendar, which I suppose would work, but we didn't have to do that with any of my other colleagues when giving them access; everything happened automatically as soon as they opened the shared calendar for the first time. Not to mention, if I were to add a new category, then it would not update with her like it would (and has been proven it would) with everyone else; she would have to enter the new category in manually. I know that it doesn't sound like much work to add them in manually, and it's honestly not, but I'm old fashioned and believe it's about the principal of the matter: if it works for one person (or in this case, several people), it should also work for another. Needless to say, adding those color categories to her master list is a last resort as far as I'm concerned. Call me stubborn, but I will exhaust any and all resources before accepting that truth.
Anyway, I've tried revoking her reviewer access to the leave calendar and granting it back to her again. IT has tried deleting her user data file and setting up her MS Exchange inbox again. I even tried granting her editor access to the calendar to see if that would help. All of this was done to no avail. No matter what we try, I'm unable to share my master list with her like what happened automatically with everyone else. I've also scoured the Internet looking for a solution to the problem, and I've found several instances of this issue (or, rather, slight variations of), but no rock solid solutions.
It's all very frustrating and I'm unsure what else to do, which brings me here. Any help offered is greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much for your time!
Continue reading...
I'm sorry for the long post, but I'm trying to be as descriptive as possible, because this whole thing is driving me crazy. Okay, first, I'd like to share a little background info before detailing the issue at hand:
There are several people in my department with whom I share an Outlook 2013 calendar to track sick/vacation leave time in our department (we also use this shared calendar to track meetings, deadlines, birthdays, etc). I am the creator of this shared "leave calendar" (it is separate from my personal calendar). I have granted editor access to two colleagues and reviewer access to six others. I have also created 20 different color categories for use with this particular calendar.
Everyone in my department with whom I've shared access to the leave calendar is able to see the color categories I created such that the calendar looks exactly the same when viewed on their terminal as it does when viewed on my terminal. None of my colleagues ever had to add any categories to their master list to be able to view the ones that I created. In fact, the categories and colors on their personal master list remain the same after sharing the leave calendar with them as they did before sharing it.
Here is an example, and thanks to one of my colleagues for taking the following screencaps:
When my colleague views the color categories of his personal calendar (My Calendars - Calendar), these are the color categories that are available to him:
<<<IMAGE WILL SHOW ONCE ACCOUNT IS VERIFIED>>>
Now, when he views the color categories of the shared calendar (Shared Calendars - Leave Calendar) that I granted him access to review, the entire list is different. These categories match the same exact categories that I originally set up on my terminal for use with the leave calendar:
Please note
- none of the categories from his master list are in this shared list
- he is not able to create, rename, or delete any categories in this list
<<<IMAGE WILL SHOW ONCE ACCOUNT IS VERIFIED>>>
Again, those two screencaps were taken from the same user on the same terminal and the same is true for everyone else in the department, all of whom I've shared access with to either edit or review the leave calendar. As you can see, my colleagues have access to two different sets of color categories:
- their own master list, via their own personal calendar and
- my master list, which is shared with them when they open my shared leave calendar
None of my colleagues had to add any new color categories to their personal master list in order to be able to view appointments properly in the shared leave calendar. Since these color categories are shared with each user I've given access to, they are able to see the same calendar I see when I open it up; all the colors and categories match perfectly. Also, I did not have to enable something or check any boxes to share my categories or anything; simply sharing the calendar with them automatically shared the color categories I created. Lastly, whenever I create a new color category in my master list, everyone who has access to the leave calendar is able to see that new category in the shared list without having to do a single thing.
Here is the issue:
We have a new addition to our department. I have shared the leave calendar with her and have granted her access like normal. I followed the same exact process to give her reviewer access to the leave calendar as I did with the other reviewers in our department and she has accepted my invitation to open the shared calendar. However, the color categories that I created do not show up for her in the shared calendar. Instead, when she views the color categories list in the shared calendar, her personal master list is displayed.
Our new employee can review appointments in the leave calendar just like everyone else, but they are all the same color, which isn't very helpful. Certain appointments in the leave calendar (like meetings and deadlines) are entered as all-day events so that they filter to the top of each day and have brighter colors so they stand out amongst all the other less important clutter (like so-and-so's 11:00 Dr. appt next Friday). For some reason, those color categories I created aren't being shared with her like they are with everyone else.
It took what seemed like an eternity just to get our IT department to understand exactly what the problem was in the first place. Of course, we're now being told by IT that it's impossible to share color categories between users, even though I have given them sufficient proof of the contrary (the same exact proof that I have provided here). I feel like they're just grasping at straws while trying to pacify me. One technician even remoted into one of my colleagues' machines and was in complete denial when seeing that he had access to two sets of color categories, saying that it must be some kind of bug (despite the same being true for everyone else in our department).
The only solution that IT can offer is that we need to add those special categories to her master list which will enable her to view the categories on the shared calendar, which I suppose would work, but we didn't have to do that with any of my other colleagues when giving them access; everything happened automatically as soon as they opened the shared calendar for the first time. Not to mention, if I were to add a new category, then it would not update with her like it would (and has been proven it would) with everyone else; she would have to enter the new category in manually. I know that it doesn't sound like much work to add them in manually, and it's honestly not, but I'm old fashioned and believe it's about the principal of the matter: if it works for one person (or in this case, several people), it should also work for another. Needless to say, adding those color categories to her master list is a last resort as far as I'm concerned. Call me stubborn, but I will exhaust any and all resources before accepting that truth.
Anyway, I've tried revoking her reviewer access to the leave calendar and granting it back to her again. IT has tried deleting her user data file and setting up her MS Exchange inbox again. I even tried granting her editor access to the calendar to see if that would help. All of this was done to no avail. No matter what we try, I'm unable to share my master list with her like what happened automatically with everyone else. I've also scoured the Internet looking for a solution to the problem, and I've found several instances of this issue (or, rather, slight variations of), but no rock solid solutions.
It's all very frustrating and I'm unsure what else to do, which brings me here. Any help offered is greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much for your time!
Continue reading...
