A simple walkthrough for color-coding calendars inside of SharePoint 2010, 2013 or SharePoint Online. *Note* - Here's the step-by-step text walkthrough if you'd rather read it: www.spsimply.c...
Great OOTB solution. However, be aware of the following three downsides: (1) Events will not be directly editable in the resulting Overlays view. (2) Slower page load time as it has to load each Overlay as a separate calendar. The more overlays, the longer it will take for the view to load. (3) Overlay color-coding will not be consistent with the individual filtered views.
Hi Joe! great tip! I had the same problem of EVENTS APPEARING TWICE EVERYTIME. I realized that I was working with a previous link to acces the calendar and it was not linked to the new "normal view", but to the previous "default view". Thats why it was not working. Hope it can help people with that problem. Good luck!
Like others have mentioned, this is exactly what I was looking for. Very helpful video! I wish MS would make the color-coding by event process a little easier.
I was looking for something like this. It was easy to understand you and your fluency was just great. You should create more videos like this. Thank you very much and keep up the good work!
Extremely interesting. I am wondering if I make a team calendar with a colour per person, and then wants to add if it is a vacation or a travel that is entered - is that possible to do? And also if a person is adding the vacation into ones personnel outlook calendar, if the team sharepoint calendar could be "invited" so that you only need to make one calendar entry - without sharing all your outlook calendar entries.? Thanks for your good and detailed guidning.
Thanks a lot, not sure if this is my issue but when I make the events, it kind of shows double, one with color coding and one with the usual color of the calendar 😅
Once the calendar is created let’s say I have to change “meeting” to “event” how do I do that to take out meetings in categories and replace with event since I only am allowed 10 options in category?
Hey joe, Thanks for your video. I have a query, how to remove the calendar name in the left navigation also when i click on any view ..events available in that view are getting displayed but i don't have the option to click on the another view in the left navigation panel. How can i resolve this?
Hey Joe, great video! It was very helpful for me but I have one problem. When I click one of the other calendars (e.g. Meetings) I don't know how can I go back. You just clicked on Calendar in Recent but it didn't work for me and I need always reload the tab. Can you help me with this, please?
Ok. So I have my main calendar on the front page of my sharepoint. When I put my events in, the colors don’t show as separate colors. Just the same. What am I doing wrong?
So realize this is an older video, published in 2016. I don't know if Joe Preiner is still checking comments on this particular video. But I'll be honest. This video was a major FAIL for me because at the 06:49 mark, you reference exactly what I thought you would be showing your viewer how to do, which is to actually CHANGE any one of the listed colors that Sharepoint gives you in the calendars so you can create your own unique color coded system. And all you say is "that requires development expertise," which is exactly what I didn't want to hear because I thought there was a relatively easy to add colors in the Sharepoint calendaring system, instead of just being stuck with what Sharepoint gives you. If you have another more updated video that shows you how to add additional colors to the Sharepoint calendaring system then I'd greatly appreciate you pointing it out to me. Thank you.
Hey there Byron. I have a separate video that shows how to customize the colors so you can use your own: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kwbUzx9HVTI.html. Make sure to check the video description because it links to a post where you can just copy and edit the CSS if you'd rather not write it yourself.
I can't tell you have thankful I am for this video. I keep accessing it over and over when I add a new category or create a new calendar. There are so many steps, but your video walks through each one so carefully that it is easy to do. Beats the written instruction I have found in searches. THANK YOU!! BTW, did you ever create the video for adding more colors to the category selection?
Glad it's been helpful! And good reminder on the editing colors. I haven't made a video for it yet, but you can use the "Alternate CSS URL" setting in sites settings and target the colors on the calendar to change them from the crappy ones SharePoint gives you by default. There are two CSS classes that control each color. One controls the "Calendars in this view" color and the other controls the event color.
Prior to creating the calendar views with the categories and overlays there were already entries on my calendar. After following your instructions the entries that were already there show up as duplicated in every category-any suggestions? I don't know what I'm doing wrong, your instructions were very good!
I had this same problem. The solution I found may not be perfect but was to go into the list settings for the default view and change the filter to Category equals blank.
I watched this video several times. Thank you. You are a very good Facilitator. Unfortunately the categories i created did not show up, but the ones i deleted are gone. :-)
Sorry to be a pain, posting this again, as I got no response. This is BRILLIANT! Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you! However, when you filtered the views from 9:02 onwards, I noticed that the Meetings filter, where the category was green, then changed to blue, can that be altered so that the colour stays the same as the category when the filter for a particular calendar is selected? Thanks again!
Hey there Brian. Thanks for the response. You can keep the colors consistent when you go from the overlay view to the default filtered view. You'll have to edit the view-specific page and drop a content editor or script editor web part on it with the CSS override. It's a bit of a pain to do, but essentially you're correcting for Microsoft using that same default class on all the filtered view pages.
This is a great video. Just one question - when I connect the Calendar to Outlook and create a new meeting it does not come across to the Sharepoint calendar. Is that to do with the specific categories we're using? Thanks
Hi Lisa. Yes, that's exactly what's happening. Those events you create in Outlook are technically in the SharePoint calendar also, they just have no category assigned so they aren't visible on your color-coded overlay view. If you wanted them to be, you could set up a workflow in Power Automate that monitors new events on the Outlook calendar, and maybe if you use consistent titles, you could assign a category to the SharePoint event based on the Outlook event title.
Worked great. However we've added the calendar view on the front page of our Sharepoint and on that view, that colours arent displayed. When I open the calendar app from that view, the colors are displayed. Is this a feature or something I missed?
This is BRILLIANT! Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you! However, when you filtered the views from 9:02 onwards, I noticed that the Meetings filter, where the category was green, then changed to blue, can that be altered so that the colour stays the same as the category when the filter for a particular calendar is selected? Thanks again!
Where do I add more colors? The option I am given are dull and a duplicate color is there also. I know how to obtain the color codes, just not sure where to add them on here to get better options. Thanks. Great video b ugh the way.
Hello Aggie, I actually have a video on how to use your own non-ugly colors for those overlays. You can find it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kwbUzx9HVTI.html Note also that if you want to just grab the CSS I mention in that video and swap in your colors, I include a link to do that in the comments.
Appreciate the information. However, perhaps I have a different version than everyone else. My events show twice on my calendar when I do this and if I delete one, both delete. A bit lost on how to make this work...
Hello Valley. Sounds like you have an issue with your default view filtering. Check that step again. The default view on your calendar should filter to only show items where "category [equals] blank"
Hey there! Check on your default view for the calendar and ensure the filtering is set to "show items only when category is empty" You're getting duplicates because your default view should be blank with the overlays on top. Your default view isn't blank so you're seeing your events in the default view AND in the overlays.
Nice, is the color-coding transfered to Outlook if one connect it? My thinking is that the diffrent colors are diffrent people and there is one person who putts all there data from management so everyone only need to check (and one management person only need to write in) one calendar when checking there meetings.
Thanks Joe, it worked a treat, I think I caused a few problems changing the names of the categories too many times but got there in the end. Do you know if there is a way to take the same list/data from the calendar and displaying it using the Sharepoint gantt view? Gantt view is listed as an option create view panel.
There isn't the same kind of class assignment on the Gantt view for color coding. You can target and change the default color for the duration rectangle, but that's about it.
Thank you for a clear explanation and the demo. I am having issues when updating the events that it doubles up on the calendar. Like when I enter an item and select a particular Category, it creates duplicate entries with the same information. One with the correct color coding and one with a default layout. What am I doing wrong?
Hey there Sketchy. That's only ever the result of your default calendar view now filtering out events where the category is null. That default-colored event is basically just your default calendar view showing all items.
@@sketchymandalas You won't remove any lists. But you'll go to the calendar > list settings > scroll down to the views > find the default view > edit it > go to filters > make sure there is a filter for "only show items when "Category" (or whatever column you're basing your overlays on) is equal to...and then leave that value blank.
Since this is for a Team Site, how can everyone see the different calendar overlays? Is there another step to take so everyone can view this calendar with the different colors?
Hi Emily. The calendars in SharePoint work the same regardless of the kind of site. With the overlays, everyone who can access that default public view will see the color coding. If you've set up the overlays and other people can't see them, check to make sure you've applied them on the default public view.
As is typical with all things microsoft; it didn't work for me. The items appeared in the original calendar AND the overlay calendars so I just ended up having several versions of the same event in all the colours. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I had items already existing in the calendar. But even when I added new items, it made one event bin the original blue colour and one in the intended colour. What gives?
Hey there Daninil1, it sounds like you've got an issue with your filtered views. I'd go through and double-check that they are all filtering on a category value (has to be an exact match to what you entered for that category column) that you're expecting. I'd say probably 100% of the time you see duplicate events in overlays it's because the filtering is not quite right, or your events don't have category values, or both.
Hi Huddyy. There's not a set template you can use, but you could accomplish the same thing by building a workflow in Power Automate to create the events. You could have that run monthly or just have it populate an entire year at a time if you wanted.
when you selected the Meetings category the color green was changed by the default color (blue) Is there a way to avoid that behavior? if the view was configured with color green SP should keep the color instead of changing it.
Hello Cindy, the overlay color is independent of the view default color for a calendar. If you wanted to control the colors on the overlays outside of what it gives you, you can target the calendar item classes with CSS in the Alternate CSS URL field under Site Settings > Master Page.
Hey Joe, so I did this but now everything I put on the calendar.. is doubled and no matter what I do with the settings.. I can make it worse, but I can't seem to make things ONLY show up once. Any suggestions? Anyone?
Hi evolutionofj J, If you want, send screenshots of your filter settings on your default view (and other views) to sharepointsimply [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll take a look. Duplicate events are almost always default view filter missteps.
Thanks for the tutorial, it was great!The colors changes on the individual calendar page, but when I try to add the app on a Wiki page, the colors revert back to their original settings. Can you help me figure out if there is a fix for this?
i did as you say in this video but at the end i automatically get 2 events in the same square : one in blue like the default type from normal calendar and just on the right (the other half of the square) the same event but with the color that i wanted. Could you tell me what I need to do (maybe untick a parameter somewhere?)
Laetitia - If you're getting duplicate events and one is default and one is your overlay color, that means you've got an issue with your default view setup. Check the view you have set to default and make sure the filter section is "show items only when category is blank." That should remove the default-color events displaying on your calendar.
Hi Kathi, If you're talking about sorting how things actually appear on the "Calendar" view, you're going to be a bit limited. The calendar view doesn't have any sorting options available by default. You could get into SharePoint Designer and do some CAML editing, but no one really likes that. If you're looking to sort in any other view BUT the calendar view, then setting up an additional field to sort/categorize by is simple enough.
Hey Joe! I have a question regarding SharePoint calendars... I manage a department with over 150 employees who all utilize (and love) SharePoint. I have several SharePoint calendars for them and myself to use, however I want to create a new calendar that features everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries. Which is pretty easy. The question I have for you Joe is, is there a way for you to add like a 🎂 icon next to their name on the calendar to show that it’s the employees birthday? And something like a 🎉 icon next to their name if it’s their anniversary? I know this sounds very strange lol but I just wanted to make the calendar easy to see who’s celebrating what in our department. Not only that but it would be so easy for me to input this information in the calendar. I’d rather not have (for example) “John Smith’s Birthday” as the title because it’s too long and tends to go to the next line. I’d prefer it if we could do something like “John Smith 🎂”. Or something like that. I hope my question makes sense. Haha. But any advice or tips would be GREATLY appreciated!
Hello Lance, This intrigued me so I tested out some things. Turns out it's actually pretty simple. Using the same custom CSS file, you can append an icon to the title. Easiest way to get icons for this is the way you already did in your comment. Here's what that CSS would look like: .ms-acal-color5 .ms-acal-title::after { content: " 🍰" !important; } So basically you're telling it to look for your category-specific overlay, target the title element and add the icon after the title.
Yes, that video can be found here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kwbUzx9HVTI.html and if you'd rather read it or just copy the CSS required to change the colors, that's here: www.spsimply.com/home/2018/6/2/sharepoint-customize-the-colors-for-calendar-overlays
Hey Joe, good tutorial! Any idea how to get these colour-coded items to stay in Outlook when you sync from Outlook from SharePoint - it reverts to a standard colour in Outlook.
Hello Anil, As far as I know the color-coding of events is contained to SharePoint, even when you sync the list with Outlook. That's likely because Outlook has no way to read your views and view settings, and the overlays aren't synced inside Outlook.
Hey Joe, great how to video. Is there a way to color code the day itself. I have a team that works a rotating shift between nights and days and would like to see if it is possible to color the Date (1,2,3 etc) either yellow or blue for night and day... obviously.
Hey there Chris, There are a couple classes you could use to do this, but I don't think they will give you the effect you're looking for. You can target a class called "ms-acal-summary-dayrow" and it will let you adjust the background color of the very top part (the part that displays the day number) of the calendar. You can also target "ms-acal-summary-itemrow" to color-code the detail part of the calendar. The issue is that all the weeks use these same classes, so if you add a background color for one, you add the background color to all of them. There's also the ability to target individual days (mondays, tuesdays, etc) but you'll run into the same issue where it's either all or nothing.
Your tutorial is very easy to follow, thank you! I didn’t get the same result though, because my event would show twice as a “Calendar”, and as “Meeting”. Please help!
Question: I have a list, that I display in calendar view, but it's not a calendar per se. I can get to my list settings from my list tab, not the calendar tab. I do not have a calendar overlay. I need to use a list, not a calendar, because adding events is through an InfoPath form which is not supported in the regular calendar app. Is there a way to color code the events using a Custom List instead of a Calendar List?
Hi Robin, Let me look into this one a little. So your scenario is: 1) You've created a custom list 2) That custom list has columns for start date...end date, etc? 3) You have a calendar view as the default for that list 4) You want to be able to color-code the items Let me know if I'm missing anything. The more detail you can give me, the easier it'll be for me to try to recreate.
Hi - I actually figured it out. I was able to tweak a javascript I found online from SharePoint junkies. www.sharepointjunkies.com/color-coded-calendar-sharepoint-online-using-javascript/ I put the javascript in a content editor underneath the custom list, and it color coded the items in the calendar based on a column value. It worked great -
exporting the list data? typically a blank file has to do with compatibility settings in your IE browser or adding the site you're exporting from to your "trusted sites" list. does it give you an error when the excel file opens?
Thank You for this Joe, it was very helpful. Using your video I was actually able to get color codes incorporated in my pre-existing calendar. I have one question though, I have a custom outlook calendar synced with SharePoint calendar, how do I take categories from SharePoint to Outlook so I don't have to come back and change them in SharePoint after successful replication?
Hi VSanan, That's an excellent question. Let me noodle on it and test a little bit and I'll come back to you with an answer. I haven't seen categories translate in the sync, but I doubt I've actually tested out that exact scenario either.
Hello Brenda. Yes, you can apply the color-coding at any time. Just create the filtered views and then follow the same steps for setting up the overlays.
I followed the same steps, the issue is that when i create an event and choose the category, the event is duplicated in the calendar. it shows twice; one with the color i created, and the other is with the calendar default color, any help please?
Hello Maha. Check your filter settings on your default view. That’s the issue. Default view filter needs to be “show items when category is” and then leave the value field blank.
@@JoePreiner Good day Joe, i would really need to thank you a lot, it seems it works! my next question will be how can i see the same colors when i send the invitation from Outlook calendar? i created categories in outlook calendar, and i send invitation and select the category, it reflects in the SharePoint with the default color not the categorized colors. any clue?
Very helpful - Thanks Joe! Question: When I add an event, it populates twice on the same date - One with the assigned color to it and the other is a different color. What am I doing wrong? I would not expect an event to populate twice. Thanks for your help! John
Hey John, just make sure your default view is the one where you have the filter set to show items when category is blank. That should take care of your duplicates.
That Worked! Thanks again Joe - Since I recently started to use SharePoint at my work, I may reach out to you periodically if that's OK. Appreciate the help - Take Care. John
Very interesting tuto. But, following step by step: when I create a new event it gets duplicated when I save it. Any hint on how to resolve? Where could I have gone wrong?
Hello Lorphie, if you have duplicates, it's almost always because in your default view you aren't filtering for events where the category is null. Double-check your default view settings.
@@JoePreiner Hi Joe I have the same issue. When I use the default view, the whole calendar is empty (since the view is showing items where category is null?), otherwise, when I try to view all items, there are duplicates. Hope you could help. Thank you!
Hi, this is a really good video and it works for me however I need this for a group of teachers so when I go to the bit where it says 'attendees', if I add another member of staff, I can't see their 'booking' only the coloured ones I have done. How can I make it so that it is a shared calendar so that all the team can see things? Thanks
Hi! It sounds like you might just need to check permissions on the calendar list. In order for people to see other people's events, they'll need to have at least read access on the list. And if they are posting events you can't see, check the events and make sure your calendar view isn't filtering them out based on a field value.
Thanks, our IT provider sorted it but I wished they'd told me how to do it rather than just do it in case I want it again, if they reply to my email I'll let you know what the issue was with but thanks again for your prompt and concise reply.
Added the calendar view on the front page of our Sharepoint and on that view, the colors arent displayed. When I open the calendar app from that view, the colors are displayed. Is this a feature or something I missed?
Hi Joe, Thank you for replying! Yes the events are displaying when I add the calendar to my main page the colors are not displaying, I clicked Current View and it takes me to my calendar page it wont allow me to modify it. Am I missing something? and again thank you so much!
When you open up the web part settings and select the view, manually select the blank overlay view you created instead of the default "current view" setting. For example, if your color-coded view is "Calendar," you'd select that from the list of available views in the web part settings. Let me know if you still have issues and I can help you through it.
Hi Javi, The only way - besides actually having duplicate events - is to have the filtered default view set up incorrectly. Make sure you're working with the default list view when you set the "null" filter. If you're doing it correctly, when you view the default list view, you should see zero events displayed if you've assigned categories to everything.
Thank you Joe for answer. One other question, in your example is it possible to hide the "Calendar" link in blue and keep only Meetings and Holidays displayed in the "calendar in view" menu?
You should be able to use developer tools in the browser to identify the element and then hide it in the Alternate CSS URL file under site settings. Keep in mind it will hide that default link for all calendars with that class on that site.
