A column for each person
A family calendar answers one question quickly: who is doing what today. A grid calendar mixes everyone’s plans in one box per day; columns keep each person’s plans apart, so it is easy to see that Tuesday is swimming for one child and a late shift for a parent. Each page is a month with the days down the side, the weekday next to each date, weekends shaded and the names across the top in the calendar’s color.
Type the names in People, separated by commas. The order you type is the order of the columns, and you can use any label, such as a pet, a car or a room that needs booking.
Filling it in
Add dates in “Your dates”. Start the text with a name and a colon to put it in that person’s column; leave the name off for something that concerns everyone, such as bin day or a family trip, and it goes next to the date. Tick “Yearly” for birthdays and anniversaries. Dates can also be pasted as a list or imported from a calendar file, and the text before a colon still decides the column.
| You type | It appears |
|---|---|
| Ana: Dentist 10:30 | In Ana’s column, as “Dentist 10:30” |
| ana: Dentist 10:30 | In Ana’s column (capitals do not matter) |
| Recycling pickup | Next to the date, for everyone |
| Grandpa: Visit | Next to the date, as “Grandpa: Visit”, if Grandpa has no column |
Keeping it up to date
Print the month on the first of the month and pin it where everyone passes, with a pen on a string. The maker remembers your names and dates in this browser, so next month you only add the new dates and print again. Use “Copy a link to this calendar” to open the same calendar on another device, for example to add dates from a phone.
Questions
How do I put an appointment in one person’s column?
Start the text with the person’s name and a colon, exactly as you typed the name in People, such as “Leo: Swimming 5 pm”. Capital letters do not matter. Text without a matching name goes next to the date, where holidays are shown too.
How many people fit?
Up to eight. With four or five people on a portrait Letter page each column is about 1.2 to 1.5 inches wide; for six to eight people, landscape or Legal paper gives each column more room.
Can the whole family share birthdays and holidays?
Yes. Choose your holidays and they appear next to the date in the holiday color. Add birthdays with “Yearly” ticked and without a name prefix, and they appear next to the date for everyone, or start them with a name to put them in that person’s column.
Is there room to write by hand?
Yes. Each day is a ruled row across every column. On Letter paper a row is about a quarter of an inch high in a 31-day month, enough for a short note in each column.