Add Google Calendar Events To The Ubuntu Panel With Evolution

Not too long ago, we highlighted a handy indicator applet called Calendar Indicatorthat made it simple to view your Google Calendar events in the Ubuntu Unity Panel. Simply add the PPA, install the indicator applet, and configure it. It's a nice tool that works for what it does.

For those Ubuntu users who use Evolution as their default email/calendar program, there's an even simpler way. Better, it doesn't involve installing any extra applications (beyond Evolution, of course), and the Google Calendar not only integrates with your Evolution calendar(s), but with your Panel calendar (click the clock to view it), as well.

Normally when you click the clock, you'll see a drop-down calendar. Without any calendar software running, it will look like this, with no events of any kind.

To get it up and running, the first thing we need to do is ensure that Evolution is actually installed. You can do this by typing sudo apt-get install evolution in the Terminal, or by installing it from the Ubuntu Software Center.

Once installed, go ahead and launch it.

Now, configure it with your email account info. The nice thing about this method is that you don't actually have to use Gmail in Evolution in order to view your Google Calendar events. When you're ready to add Google Calendar to Evolution, start up Evolution and click the Calendar button in the left sidebar; you should now see the Calendar interface.

To add a new calendar, click the New option in the toolbar, then scroll down to Calendar.

When the New Calendar window appears, choose Google as the type, give it a name and color, and configure the calendar settings the way you want. You can choose to copy the calendar contents for viewing locally, turn on reminder notifications, and select how often the calendar is refreshed. You also need to enter your Gmail/Google username.

Finally, click the Retrieve List button (shown above). This is so you can view all the calendars you may have set up in Google Calendar, and choose which one to view in Evolution. You'll need to enter your password at this point.

You can now choose which Google Calendar should be used.

Finally, click the Apply button. You will now return to the Evolution Calendar interface, only now a new entry will appear in the sidebar, using whichever name you chose earlier.

Any events in your Google Calendar will now appear in the Evolution calendar.

At this point, you can go ahead and quit Evolution. You'll also likely need to logout and then back in. When you do, you should now see those events in the calendar under the panel clock.

For those users who don't use Evolution, it's probably a better choice to use the Indicator Applet mentioned earlier. For Evolution users, however, this method simply makes the most sense. Your Google Calendar data is integrated seamlessly with any local events you already have in your calendar, and the Google Calendar events show up alongside the others in the panel clock calendar.