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We’re drinkin the Google Juice! It’s so yummy and refreshing! Won’t you join us? We discuss GTD with Google IMAP and CalDAV along with the myriad of apps and products that go good with Google. What the heck are we talking about? Listen to this episode to find out more and get your fill of geeky goodness!

Everything AND the Sync

What is IMAP?

This Nuevasync hack predated Google Sync, but you might want to take a look at it for comparisons. BusyMac was another tool that predated Google Sync, but it costs $25.(whatever blows your skirt up, if you think it’s easier!)

Getting Started with CalDAV Support for Syncing Google Calendars iCal and iPhone or iPod Touch

Syncing Google’s Mail and Calendar Products:

Household CTO Tools of the Trade

As part of my “Nesting” phase during this pregnancy, I became very determined to find a way to easily sync the communications and scheduling information my husband and I share between several devices. Those devices being: our iPod Touch (a.k.a. “The Practice iPhone” or the “Gateway Drug to the iPhone”), MacBook Pro and my husband’s PC at work. Between the two of us, we manage several work and personal email accounts and calendars. Now with children added to the mix, they’ll also have their own calendars for scheduling information like school activities and doctor appointments. I wanted a solution that would enable us to easily see the same information no matter which device was accessed for emails and calendars. I also wanted the ability to read as well as modify each others’ calendars.

click to enlarge image Fig. 1

For example, our first son now has his own Google account with calendar. He’s only 3, so we manage it for him and share that calendar between all of us. Some time after the baby is born, I’ll likely set up an account for him so I can easily manage his doctor appointments. For the time being, a secondary calendar will work fine. We also have another secondary calendar dedicated to our activities and events — things we do together as a family. This calendar is then shared with other family members like my mother-in-law.

Either my husband or I have the ability to modify each others’ calendars so that any changes made are synced no matter which computer or device is accessed. When my husband is at work, he can easily log in to his Google account and check all our calendars to see what appointments I’ve scheduled here at home. Since he doesn’t have time to make phone calls during the school day at work, if I schedule a doctor’s appointment for him, I can put it directly onto his calendar for him to see and email him a reminder. He’s already entered his work activities so that makes it much easier for me to book appointments when needed and make sure there are no conflicts. If he has an activity that needs to happen after school like a social or after-school meeting with a parent, he can enter it on his calendar while at work and then I will see it when I log in.

Accomplishing Sync Zen

click to enlarge Fig. 2

Let’s start with Apple Mail. Here is an example of how I’ve configured my Mail application to manage several accounts at once. (See Fig. 2 and 3) Log in to your Gmail account. Click on Settings in the upper right, then click on Forwarding POP/IMAP and then click the radio button to “Enable IMAP.” You’ll need to do this before you set up accounts in Mail.

click to enlarge Fig. 3

Follow the instructions from Google on how to configure your Mail application. Be careful when reading Google’s instructions for Recommended IMAP Client Settings. I got a little confused and frustrated in the beginning when my messages wouldn’t delete when I deleted them by pressing the delete button on the keyboard or by clicking the delete icon in the tool bar. Manually dragging each message to the Trash folder was annoying. Turns out you just have to ignore the information where it talks about deleting messages off the server. Basically, just leave the Mail trash settings as they are.

click to enlarge Fig. 4

Google does not explain how to make the Inbox, Draft, Sent and Trash Mailboxes in Mail act as one — or at least not where I saw in the instructions. (See Fig. 4) For that part, I followed the advice found at 5ThirtyOne by Derek Punsalen. Thanks Derek! Here is an excerpt from his instructions: Properly sort Drafts, Deleted, and Sent mail in Apple Mail

Highlight ‘[Gmail] Sent Mail’ in the sidebar and select ‘Mailbox’ (menu bar) > ‘Use This Mailbox For’ > ‘Sent’.

Highlight ‘[Gmail] Drafts’ in the sidebar and select ‘Mailbox’ (menu bar) > ‘Use This Mailbox For’ > ‘Drafts’

Highlight ‘[Gmail] Trash’ in the sidebar and select ‘Mailbox’ (menu bar) > ‘Use This Mailbox For’ > ‘Trash’

Highlight ‘[Gmail] Spam’ in the sidebar and select ‘Mailbox’ (menu bar) > ‘Use This Mailbox For’ > ‘Junk’

click to enlarge Fig. 5

If you’re like me and are managing multiple accounts in Mail, you’ll need to repeat those instructions for each folder in each account. I took these instructions a little further and manually dragged — what Gmail calls “labels” which are actually displayed as folders in Mail — to the parent [Gmail] folder in Mail. This is also referred to as an IMAP Path Prefix in the Mail Account Preferences. I achieved it by manually dragging those folders and it was much easier than trying to figure out what to type exactly in the account configuration.

Next, let’s take a look at Google Calendar, Apple’s iCal and the iPod Touch/iPhone Calendar layouts. The colors are consistent. Whatever changes I make on one device are immediately synced to the others.

Following Google’s instructions, I was able to set up several calendars in our separate Google accounts and then manage them in iCal and on the iPod Touch using Google’s CalDAV Calendar Sync. Similar to Gmail, while logged in to your Google Calendar (or anyone else’s), you’ll need to click on Settings in the upper right, then Calendars from the tabs at the top. Once on that page, you’ll need to edit the Sharing Settings for each calendar you set up and also in each account you have access to (See Fig. 6). For my family and I, my husband and I each have access to each others’ as well as Lucian’s Google accounts. I went in to each of their calendars and shared them with myself and gave myself the ability to “make changes and manage sharing.”

Once you have your Google Calendar settings configured, you’re ready to set things up in iCal Preferences.

click to enlarge Fig. 6

Here is what that may look like. (See Fig. 6) Once you have added the “Delegates” you can then make changes, edits, additions, etc. in iCal and they will all be reflected in Google’s web UI (user interface). You’ll notice the individual calendars appear in the left sidebar in iCal. I don’t like the fact that there is a parent for each item. It’s kind of redundant to have to click another triangle down to get to the calendar, but it is what it is for now.

Now let’s move on to configuring the iPod Touch/iPhone. This is where it gets a little tricky. In addition to Google’s instructions on configuring the settings for the iPod Touch/iPhone, you’ll also want to read this article on how to set up the secondary calendars. Google Calendars Sync Both Ways, Including the Secondary Calendars (Special thanks to Allister Jenks for this link!)

click to enlarge Fig. 7

For example, on our iPod Touch, I have added all of the accounts for myself, Lucian, and Nate — both Gmail and Google Calendars. I’ve found it’s really pointless to use POP mail accounts because it’s a pain to have to delete messages on different devices.

click to enlarge Fig. 8

Within my own Google Calendar, I have 2 secondary calendars that I share with Nate and Lucian. One is for my freelance consulting (TheMacMommy) the other for our family activities. I also plugged in the calendar for Moms Gone Geek that I share with Naomi for scheduling. Once they are all added and configured, it’s easy to see them all at the same time and see where conflicts and scheduling might overlap because everything is a different color. I LOVE color-coding everything! It just makes things so much easier to see when you have limited concentration and lots of dis…

click to enlarge Fig. 9

This all seems like a lot of work, and it was, but when you view it in the List view on the iPod Touch or iPhone, it’s all nicely color-coded and cohesive and flows nicely. It was worth all the work and tinkering. I feel much better now!

I hope you’ve found this helpful. Remember, you can right-click on the images and load them into another page to see them larger. I blurred out some of the information I didn’t feel comfortable sharing, but I think you get the picture. Ha ha! Picture!! Get it?!!

This concludes my review of how Google Juice does a body good by managing all of your communications as the Household CTO. I hope it’s just as tasty for you!