1.

Click the name of the calendar you want to add an event to.

2.

In Day or Week view, drag from the start time to the end time for the event, then type a subject for the event. In Month view, double-click the white area on the day you want the new event to appear, then type a subject.

You can also quickly create a new one hour event by double-clicking in the main calendar view.

3.

To make any other changes to your event (for example, how often it repeats or whether it has an alarm), click the Info button in the bottom-right corner of the iCal window to open the Info drawer, and make your choices.

In Day or Week view, you can also open the Info window by double-clicking the bar along the top of the event (where the event's start time appears).

If the selected event will take place in a different time zone (for example, if you will be traveling to another location for a meeting), choose iCal > Preferences and make sure the "Turn on time zone support" checkbox is selected in the Advanced pane. Then choose a time zone for this event from the "time zone" pop-up menu in the Info drawer.

For more information about changing the alarm, time zone, or how often the event occurs, click "Tell me more."

4.

To invite someone to the event, click None next to "attendees" and type the email address of each person you want to invite, separated by commas. When you're ready to invite these guests to your event, click the Send button at the bottom of the Info drawer.

If you're inviting someone whose contact information is stored in your Mac OS X Address Book, you can also type just their name in the attendees field. Matching email addresses appears as you type.

For more information about inviting guests to events, click "Tell me more."