Web services can be incredibly convenient, even more than their Desktop counterparts. Having a Gmail account means easy access to all your email as long as you have a web browser and an Internet connection; you don't need a separate email client installed. The same goes for keeping your to-do lists on the Web, or your music, or your documents. Sometimes, though, there isn't an easy way to access this information without a web browser. And let's be honest, who really wants to keep a web browser open all the time in order to watch a calendar, for instance?
Google Calendar is a popular choice for online appointment tracking, and thanks to a handy plasmoid for KDE called Google Calendar Agenda, it's easy to have an always-on view of all your upcoming tasks and appointments. Here's how to install and configure it in Kubuntu.
First open up your Terminal.
There are a few required libraries. Most are installed by default in Kubuntu, but on the off chance you've deleted some, we'll type sudo apt-get install plasma-scriptengine-python python-kde4 python-qt4 kdelibs5-dev in order to install them. All but the last should be installed already, but just in case, this will ensure that they are all present.
As you can see from the screenshot below, the three libraries in question (plasma-scriptengine-python, python-kde4 and python-qt4) were already installed, but installing the kdelibs5-dev package also required quite a few other libraries. They are necessary, so go ahead and let the installation complete.
Once installed, type wget -O – http://gdr.geekhood.net/gdrwpl/heavy/gcal-plasmoid-bootstrap.sh | sh -s into your Terminal to download and install the plasmoid itself.
When this is complete, you can shut your Terminal; the plasmoid is ready to be activated and configured.
To start using the Plasmoid, right-click on the Desktop and choose the Add Widgets option.
When the widgets bar appears, type calendar; you should see both Calendar and Google Calendar Agenda.
We want the second, so either double-click it or click and drag it to somewhere on your Desktop. You should now see the widget on your Desktop, with Polish holidays already populating it. Don't worry, we'll change that to your Google Calendar in just a bit.
To configure the plasmoid, hover over it with your mouse until the little control "drawer" slides out from behind it. Now click the little wrench icon to see the settings window.
The following window will appear.
So, how do we get the URL for the Google Calendar we want to view in the plasmoid? First, head to the Google Calendar website, while logged in, and click the settings gear, then click the Settings link.
Once in the settings area, click the Calendars link at the top of the page to view all your personal and shared calendars
Now click the calendar you want to use
Scroll down the page and you'll see links, both public and private, for the calendar. The one you want is the private URL for the iCal version, so click that little green button.
A pop-up will appear. From here, simply copy the URL to your clipboard.
Now simply paste the URL into the field in the plasmoid settings window and click the Add button.
Finally, click the Apply button so save your new calendar info.
At this point, the plasmoid should update itself and you'll be able to see your appointments. Below you can see our Google Calendar, with another calendar of U.S. holidays.
Note: you may need to restart your computer or logout and then back in, for the calendar to update itself automatically, but once it's up and running, updates should happen according to the settings window (every minute, by default).
And that's pretty much it. This is a pretty nice utility. It doesn't allow you to add or delete items, but simply provides a view of your Google Calendar without needing to keep a browser window or tab open to it all the time.
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