If you're a highly organized type, chances are you rely on some kind of calendar and scheduling software. More specifically, though, you probably rely on the computer on which that software is loaded. Contrast that to 30 Boxes from 83 Degrees, a remarkably powerful, flexible, and easy to use Web-based calendar application that's always as close and accessible as the nearest browser.
User Interface
30 Boxes, which is still in beta release as of this review, is written using AJAX (Asynchronous Java And XML), a programming technique that can help Web-based applications appear and behave a lot more like conventional software. One of the main benefits of AJAX is making web pages more responsive by exchanging small amounts of information with a server, eliminating the need to constantly refresh the entire page.
Use of AJAX doesn't mean that you're likely to mistake a web-based application like 30 Boxes for shrink-wrapped software, though, and in the case of 30 Boxes that's not necessarily a bad thing. In contrast to the busy, feature-laden interface you're likely to find in the typical PIM-based calendar, the 30 Boxes UI is decidedly simple, dominated by a large four-week display (technically, this is only 28 boxes, but we digress...) along with a handful of links to various application options.
This default four-week calendar view can helpfully span across two months rather than requiring the user to switch back and forth between months x and y. Events are displayed for each day, and clicking on a box brings up another window with a more detailed view of that day's events.
Creating Calendar Entries
There are two main ways to add new events to your 30 Boxes calendar. The more conventional method is to click a detailed entry button, which calls up a dialog box through which you can create an event and specify all the particulars, including start and end times (and dates, if applicable), category tags, and random notes, as well as recurrences and reminders. Reminders can come in the form of an e-mail or to your mobile phone via a SMS-based text message.
A much more convenient way to create new entries is by using the One Box, a free-form text field at the top of the page. With the One Box, you can enter as much or as little data as you care to in a single stream of text. 30 Boxes then parses what you typed and automatically creates the entry based on what it can discern from the information provided.
For example, to create an entry for that informal gathering this weekend, you can simply type "Drinks with Mike and Jill Sunday 4:00," and 30 Boxes creates a corresponding entry for the upcoming Sunday at 4 PM. If the event is a bit further out in the future, you can type specific dates (i.e. 4/14) instead of days of the week.
If an entry is for a recurring task or event you can add language like "repeat weekly" to your description. You can also have items that repeat bi-weekly, monthly, or yearly, and have them stop recurring on a given date, but at this time 30 Boxes can't handle more complex recurrences, such as "the first Friday of each month."
The One Box's recognition of user intent doesn't translate perfectly every time — it's recommended to enter the event name, date, and time in that order — but it is surprisingly accurate, and as often as not works as expected. It even displays some rudimentary AI — when 30 Boxes detects keywords in the description like "birthday" or "anniversary" it automatically offers to create yearly entries for that event.
Moreover, if you forget to specify AM or PM in an entry (as in the example above), 30 Boxes does a pretty good job of determining what you meant — when we created entries like "breakfast at 7:30" and "dinner at 7:30," the application correctly identified which event would be taking place at dawn and which at dusk. It doesn't always get it right when dealing with more vague terminology – like "soccer game" – but it always errs in favor of the afternoon over the wee hours of the morning.
The One Box isn't just limited to the who, what, and when of an event: There are a number of useful tricks you can employ to enhance an entry. For example, you can indicate a high-priority event by adding an asterisk to your description, which becomes a yellow star in the calendar entry. If your description includes an address surrounded by brackets, it becomes a Google Maps link. Web addresses also can become links (but unfortunately you must include the http:// prefix for them to be recognized as such).
