Weekly Appointment Book / Changing Dates / Maybe Using Master Pages?

[ADusa]

Hi all, this is probably a long shot but I thought I'd give it a try.

I'm trying to create a 5 day per week, appointment book for a client. I have 2 facing pages, 8.5 x 11 each, that will be bound with plastikoil or GBC in the middle. Across the top of page one is for example, Monday June 4, Tuesday June 5, Wednesday June 6, then the next page has Thursday June 7, Friday June 8, Notes. Then each date/column will have lines for the people to record appointments. I need to do this for the remainder of this year and a separate book for next year. 

So my question is, is there a way to have those dates automatically update from spread to spread, without me having to manually go in a type each new date? I was thinking maybe something on the master pages or maybe a script?  If there is a script, could you give me detailed instructions on how to use it?  I've heard of scripts but never used them.

I figure this is a long shot but I'm not looking forward to doing this manually. 

Thanks so much,

Annette

[Barb Binder]

Hi Annette:

You can generate dates in Excel. See Create a list of sequential dates - Office Support . Save it as a txt or prn file.

In InDesign, set the date frames up as threaded frames on the master and then you can auto-flow the Excel file on the body pages and use Frame Breaks on the paragraph style to put each in its own frame.

~Barb

[jane-e]

Barb's idea is good. You can also use a script by Scott Selberg:

Calendar Wizard Home

[Colin Flashman]

I have a script on the downloads page of my website that will make a range of dates once it is given start and end values. It is called day of the week maker:

https://colecandoo.com/scripts/

Run the script and it will generate a threaded text frame with the appropriate dates. From here, the text can be cut and then pasted into text-frames from a master page that is formatted as desired.

Installing a script isn't a problem, InDesignSecrets have a handy video about this: InDesign How-To: Install a Script (Video Tutorial) - YouTube

[ADusa]

Thanks everyone for these suggestions!  I will review them and see if I can make them work.

Annette

[pedley_s]

I do this as a Data Merge.

I have a table with dates and days in a spreadsheet (I use OpenOffice) and save it as a CSV file. Then I map those columns to a two page facing page spread InDesign  After the data is merged, I add in covers and notes pages, etc. to fill out the book.

Updating it every year is pretty simple - my spreadsheet uses a simple formula of adding +1 to the day before it (the cells are formatted as dates). So I just need to adjust that first line in my table to find the first of the year, and usually adjust the last line to get to the new 31st. Export the new CSV file and update the master file for the new data merge.