iCal default duration - Lion Upgrade

I tried the script and it's not working for me either. I hope a bug fix is coming soon because this is becoming really really annoying.

I have the same problem. I use iCal in month view and have always created new events by double clicking on a specific day. Events by default were set at 1 hour, and the starting hour more or less matched the current time of day. Now if I try the same thing I get an all day event, and when I unclick "all-day" I get an event with a default duration of 8 hours. No good. PLUS, I have to create a name for the event and then double click the event to modify properties (calendar etc). These are pointless changes. If something isn't broke don't fix it! I urge all to go to www.apple.com/feedback

and then scroll down to iCal and log in your comments / complaints. Hopefully an update will address these issues soon.

I have been scratching around trying to find a way to change this irritating 8-hour default back to the more logical 1-hour setting to no avail. Thanks for the Terminal tip but that is really only a patch (and doesn't solve the problem in Month view)

I wouldn't call this a fix, but other annoying options are set forth in this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3369806?start=0&tstart=0

OK, I had the same reaction everyone did to this issue.

Now I think I understand the logic Apple's using here. The intent is to communicate more naturally with iCal than we're used to. I'm used to specifying every little detail as I think most of us here are. Now we can tell iCal what to do with more natural English instructions.

We're supposed to just click in the "+" box and type the instruction, "Update my resume tomorrow at 3 pm" and iCal can understand that and will create a 1 hour event tomorrow at 3 pm.

I can deal with this. It's different, but much more sophisticated if you think about it.

I decided to give this new method a chance. I'm not used to interacting with my Mac in a way that's more like I would interact with a human being, but it's very interesting and could be even better.

This approach fits with the new artificial intelligence approach we see in Siri on iPhone 4S.

I suggest we all try this for a while and see if we like it.

Sorry i'm just not finding the new iCal more sophisticated. When i use it i feel like it's been dumbed down to match the iCal programs on iPhones were there is no access to a full keyboard. Aside from that i hate it's "new" look. Why make it look like torn paper? I'm on a computer make it look neat like it belongs on a computer.

This has been bugging me for a while, and I've just tried what you suggested. It's really very clever 🙂

Not specifying a date drops the entry into today. You can use phrases like "call Tom tomorrow at 2200" or "go shopping 25th Nov at 3pm" and it deciphers them all very nicely. And it doesn't then create an all day event.

The only hassle is...this isn't really a more natural, quick way of adding events to a calendar! The natural way is to click on the day and away you go. Being able to set defaults would seem very straightforward to me (much more so than adding NLP to iCal!). If they'd added this along with the NLP, everyone would be happy, but as it is, I fear it's being too clever.

Thanks for posting though. Might well make me start playing around with other apps now!

Agree with suggestions to include "old" funcitonality with new NLP. NLP is nice but requires typing. I am a poor typist (there, I said it) and the previous iCal allowed me to easily click in Month view to create new events. As long as Apple is fixing this (hope they are), may as well make default event a preference that's configurable.

Now when Siri is on my computer so I can tell her the way I do on my 4GS... 🙂

Another vote to fix. Yes, when you type in the hour 'Lunch with Carl 12' it automatically makes the calendar an hour post, but again you have to double check the AM PM issue. My biggest problem is calendar alerts that I have subscribed to from another source automatically populate my calendar with All Day events and competely pollutes my whole calendar. I have had to unsubscribe to some of these external calendar alerts for this reason.

Pain in the arse. Please fix.

Same here! I *don't care* what view my calendar is in, I want to set the default meeting time so that I don't have to: a) uncheck All day; b) change the start hour from the bad day-long guess; c) change the end hour from the bad guess; d) change either the am or pm pointer.

Possibly, at this point it would be better to a) delete the newly created badly scheduled event; b) change the view to week or day; c) go back to mail and start again; d) fix anything that is still messed up like the title of the event etc. It might be a close-run thing between these strategies but either one is MUCH worse than just being able to rely on a one-hour appointment default regardless of calendar view.

Please, Apple, stop making decisions for the users. Let us decide for ourselves. I have no problem with there being a default work flow, and I understand that it may be most efficient if everyone learns this from the outset. Unfortunately, many of us have established workflows, and FORCING us to change, which also causes a slow down in our ability to continue "business as usual" is just rude and insensitive to the very users that made Apple the rich company it is today.

I'd like to add my name to the list of disillusioned iCal users...

+1 for adding a preference option to allow the user to set the default appointment duration....Who has these 8 hour meetings?...maybe that's what they do in the Apple iCal offices...or in the bar down the street.

Same bar as you pick up the prototype iPhones?

😉

Apple, please fix this. It's very frustrating. Default for new meetings should be what it was in Snow Leopard.

I read this thread and found the defaults write does not help for month, but this does...

Double-click on the day that you want the new event. In the event name include the start time...

It defaults to one hour starting at that time. 🙂

Edit: It is still not perfect. If you press Cmd+E after entering the event name with time, it will show the correct time in the Month view of the event, but the edit window will show one hour duration that starts at midnight. 😟

Instead, I create the event with the time in the title and then press return to create it. I then immediately press Cmd+E to edit it with the correct start time.

I vote for the default option being a time that can be changed rather than all day event --- the previous version was fine. I do like that if the time is in the reminder then it is recognised but both options would be best.