Gcal plus Evernote Gadget Evernote is one of my favorite Online note taking tools. It has an excellent interface and its cross browser compatible.Evernote Desktop software can help you edit and take notes from your computer even when you are offline. This service helps you remember anything and enables you to read your notes on the Web, Desktop PC or your Mobile.

Google Calendar helps you keep up with your schedule and organize your life and Gmail is known for both its speed and features. Wouldn’t it be great if you had access to Evernote right from the Gmail or Google Calendar interface?

You could take notes in Gmail and add them to Google Calendar agenda via Evernote. If you take notes on your mobile or on the Evernote Desktop application, you would have access to them online in Gmail and Google Calendar. This would essentially synchronize note taking between all these services.

Google has made it possible to add external services to Gmail and Calendar interface using gadgets. Lets first look at how we can add gadgets to Gmail and Calender and then see how to add the Evernote gadget.

How to Add a gadget to Google Calendar And Gmail:

Google has made the process of adding gadgets to Gmail or Google Calendar quite easy. Just click on settings on the top right corner of your Google Calendar or Gmail and click on the “labs” tab. Then enable the labs feature “Add any gadget by URL”

Enable Gadget feature in Google Calendar

Once enabled you get the option to add new gadgets by URL in the Calendar Gadget Panel as seen below. You can input the URL for the gadget in this box and click on add to enable the gadget.

Add Gadget by Url in Google Calendar

Lets look at how we can add Evernote gadget to Google Calendar.

Add Evernote Gadget in Google Calendar and Gmail:

A good example of a useful Gmail and Google Calendar gadget is Google Tasks.Google Tasks lets you take quick notes and you can then add them to the Calendar schedule as and when required. But Google Tasks doesn’t have many features that Evernote provides. Evernote can do a much better job here.

So I created the Evernote gadget for Gmail and Google Calendar. This way I can quickly take notes in Gmail and if needed add them to Google Calender Agenda via Evernote gadget.

If you have enabled the Add gadget features in Gmail and Google Calender,  just input the URL below in the “Add gadget by URL” box and click on add button.

http://sites.google.com/site/vikitech/EvernoteGadget.xml

You would get a window that shows you the  information about the Evernote gadget that you are about to add to your Calendar sidebar panel.

Evernote Gadget for Gcal

Click on “Yes, add this gadget” to enable Evernote in your Gmail or Google Calendar.

This gadget just renders the Evernote Mobile version in the Gadgets Panel. The exchange of data takes place between your computer and Evernote, so it’s completely safe. Just input your Evernote user-name and password and you are good to go.

This gadget does not use the Google OpenSocial and hence does not have access to your Google profile information.

Evernote Gadget Sign In

Once signed in you can view the list of your notes in the Gadget Panel, in Google Calendar as well as in Gmail. You can search for a specific note by a keyword or a tag that you have defined.

Search For Notes

You can also access the settings by clicking  the “settings” link at the bottom. There you can  enable or disable note thumbnails and select the number of notes displayed in the list. It also displays how much space you have used up for the month.

Note: This gadget works best with Firefox and Internet Explorer 8. Google Chrome has some rendering issues. It functions properly, but you get a couple of error messages at the top. If you are using Google Chrome, just scroll down past the error messages and it should work alright. I’m working on fixing this issue, and would update once its done.

Conclusion:

If you are an avid Evernote user and would like to access it via Gmail and Google Calendar interface, you will love the Evernote Gadget. You will have access to Evernote mobile version and can add and remove notes right with Gmail and Google Calendar.

Let us know what you think and if you like it.