Mozilla is the non-profit foundation responsible for releasing the Firefox web browser (2nd most popular browser on the web behind Internet Explorer, and gaining marketshare all the time), as well as the Thunderbird Mail and News client. Google, of course, is the Internet powerhouse responsible for… oh… just about everything else on the Web, including search engines (of course), video sharing sites, social networking sites, email, blogs, calendars, word processors, spreadsheets, and a whole lot more.
What do these two entities have in common? Lately, Mozilla seems to be doing what it can to make it easy to access your Google data with Mozilla products.
It probably all started when Firefox added Google’s search bar to the Firefox menu bar. Later, Thunderbird was given an incredibly easy way to access your Gmail account right through Thunderbird, without having to go through the web interface.
Today, I’m going to show you a simple way to keep up-to-date with your Google Calendars right through Sunbird (Mozilla’s calendar application) or through Thunderbird (with the Lightning extension).
It’s really quite simple, but powerful, once you get it set up.
First, you’ll need to make your Google calendar sharable. To do this, simply log into your Google Calendar account, click on Settings, then choose the “Share This Calendar” tab. Make sure the “Make this calendar public” check box is checked. If you want to let anyone else who might access your calendar to know when you’re busy, but not necessarily with what, check the second box, which will then cause your calendar to show a simple “free” or “busy” entry, without giving out details as to what you’re busing doing.
After you’ve done this, simply click the Save button. Your Google Calendar is now accessible to third-party applications (and Google search, for that matter). Before we go back to Thunderbird or Sunbird, we’ll need one more piece of information. Go back to the “Calendar Details” tab and scroll down. Since Thunderbird and Sunbird are capable of checking a calendar on the Web in .ics form (the same form used by Apple’s iCal, and one of a few calendar forms Google Calendar supports), that’s the one we’ll grab. Click on the ICS button, and you’ll be shown a long link that, when viewed with a calendar program, will display your calendar with up-to-date information.
Now, head back to Thunderbird or Sunbird, whichever you prefer.
To set up the Mozilla application so that it displays your Google Calendar, simply right click in the Calendars tab. You’ll see a pop-up window appear; click the New Calendar option. On the next screen, you’ll want to specify that this calendar is On the Network (the second option). After this, option one (iCalendar (ICS) is what we want. Once you’ve made sure that option is selected, paste the address you were given by Google Calendar into the space provided. Finally, on the next screen, give your new calendar a name (and a color, preferably different from the colors you’ve chosen for your other calendars).
Now, click done and you’re all set!
As for why someone would want to do this (after all, Google Calendar is quite a nice setup), there are a couple main reasons I can think of. The first is that you need to occasionally gain access to your calendar even when not online, and while any changes made to your Google Calendar won’t appear in the version Mozilla accesses until you’re back on the Internet, it’s closer than you’ll get with Google Calendars (at least until they make Google Calendar compatible with Google Gears).
The second reason is that the calendar you’re accessing might not be your own. For instance, if you’re part of a group of busy people, it’s likely you all keep calendars. Using this method, you can keep track of what anyone is doing, all from within your Email application (if you’re using the Thunderbird option). Sure, Google Calendars might be closely linked to Gmail, but this way is convenient as well.
So there you have it. With only a few minutes of work, you too can be sharing your calendar with anyone, or accessing your friends’ and family members’ calendars as well.
