Written by Eli | 01 May 2010
Posted in blog - web dev

There's a number of online calendars for websites to consider if they'd like to maintain an online schedule, be it a class schedule or a list of gigs. One calendar that often gets neglected is the Google Calendar.

Google Calendar has a lot of strength. Multiple users can update the same calendar if they have the right privileges, and anyone can subscribe to the calendar. That's really powerful. The new dates and events will automatically show up on in the subscriber's calendar view, keeping them up to date on the latest additions and changes. And a lot of mobile devices sync with Google Calendar. It's easy to embed the Google Calendar into any page. There are multiple views to choose from - Week, Month, and Agenda, and you can hide just about all the unnecessary elements. One of the things that is stopping the web developers from utilizing this raw power is - the color choices are limited.

The old "white and blue" color scheme makes it look like another out of place embed.

It's time to move beyond that and deliver the power without sacrificing the branding.

Behold, RESTYLEgc to the rescue! Their script works by piping in your own stylesheet to dictate the color choices. The results are flawless, and you even get a chance to customize graphic buttons.

Visit RESTYLEgc for detailed instructions. Some trial and error is required to find the right values for the right parts of the calendar. But the satisfaction of getting it done right, along with being able to give the client what Google Calendar can offer is well worth it.

Technical Requirements:

• A webserver with PHP installed. Most hosting services provide this.
• PHP’s cURL module must be enabled