I’ve always been cluttered and unorganized. I’ve attempted to correct this by writing myself notes on Post-it pads (my monitor eventually ended up looking like a mangy sunflower), notes (I have a 6″ pile on my desk now, waiting to be sorted), pocket calendars (found one the other day from 2007, neatly labeled with to-do lists and appointments… all forgotten), and normal calendaring software (Mozilla Sunbird is great, until you try to use it to keep track of ongoing projects).
In desperation, I hit wikipedia, looking for calendaring software that could handle my needs. None of the newer packages suited my needs. Then I saw a simple, unassuming package named Chandler on the list. Looking into the program, I found out it’s a derivative of the old Lotus Agenda scheduler. Seeing as the integrated engineering program I used in my old job used a form of Agenda for its scheduler, I knew I had a match.
The program is a small download, easy to use, has a great array of tools, and it is flexible. Need to make yourself a note? Just type one into the menu bar, it’ll be on the top of your to-do list. Need to share a list of tasks with your team? Simply make a calendar of all the tasks, assign it to its own group, export that group to the Chandler Hub, then email your team a link to subscribe to that group… all within Chandler itself.
Worried about losing your calendar? Try this program. I set up my hub account, and now, every few minutes (and at every shutdown), the program backs up everything except my trash. Need to keep track of work, school, personal, and family calendars? No sweat, you can share any, all, or no calendars with anybody.
The only downside is that the program takes forever to start, due to the fact that it syncs all calendars at startup, and the backup at shutdown can be a long wait… but that may be because I have 2500 notes and counting. Also, this is an open source program, and the main programmer has left the project. So, no support, few updates, and little documentation. But it’s free, and useful.
Watch the Youtube video linked above, and the 4 part series that details use and features. It takes about 2 minutes for the narrator to set up and distribute plans for a cookout, from “hey, honey, you wanna grill this weekend” to “hey, here’s how you get to my place.” All in one program.
(FTC note: I was not paid to do this testimonial. I just really like the program. Plus, it’s a FOSS project, I doubt they pay their programmers.)
