Set up default Event Template ?

Simplest for that is to make a dummy event (you could call it Template!) and give it those settings. When you want a new event, go to the day where you have stored the template, select it then either duplicate it (Command-D) and drag the duplicate to the appropriate place or copy it (Command-C), go to the appropriate place and paste it. Change the name, add your notes ... You could periodically drag the template forward so that it is easily accessible.

Alternatively, write a little applescript that, when run, will prompt you for name, date, time etc and then will create a new event with the entered details and the alarm defaults.

Although iCal only offers those values, they can in fact be anything you like. How are you at Applescript? I tried using it to change the trigger date of an alarm on an event, and it worked. The problem is to make it as simple as selecting a value in the existing alarm ...

Paste this into Script Editor:

tell application "iCal"
set trigger date of sound alarm of event 14 of calendar 6 to date "Sunday 17 July 2005 23:15:00"
end tell

but note that you need a calendar 6 and an event 14, with a sound alarm, for it to work! It is of course possible to refer to calendars and events by name, but what I cannot see (anyone else have any ideas?) is a convenient way to do what you want - intercept the firing alarm and grab its details. Once you have that it is, as you can see, easy to reschedule it.

I suspect you might be able to change the list of options offered by the alarm, but that would not affect the changes that are made to the alarm trigger date.

What would you add to the standard default?

Did you ever find any information on getting event details for the firing alarm? See my new topic "Alarm scripts".

Thanks!

I want my default alarm to be 30 minutes which is one of the options. Do you know of anyway to set this as the default without using AppleScript?

Thanks.