If you are lucky enough to have scored an invite to mother-of-all calendaring BETA Scrybe, then you have probably been bombarded with invite requests like I have.
Like a couple other sites that shall not be named, Scrybe suffers from a little bit of a navigation headache. While I excuse the slips because this is a feature-powerhouse still protected by the BETA moniker, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out how to do things, especially when they aren’t listed in the “help” section.
As of 2 days ago, Scrybe officially invited everyone on the waiting list, and yet, I’m still being asked for invites. The only thing I can assume is that people don’t know how to invite others. So here’s how to do it.
First of all, there is no “invite friend” section, so don’t bother looking for it. As it stands, the only way to invite someone to Scrybe’s service is to add them as a contact to a calendar. Sounds simple? We aren’t done. For security reasons, Scrybe doesn’t let you invite people to your main default calendar, so you need to create a secondary disposable calendar. This is especially important if you are giving out invites to strangers who you don’t necessarily trust with your personal data.
“But how do I create that second calendar?”
At the very left of your scrybe screen is a tiny silver arrow which hints at you to click it. Once you do that, a new panel of options will appear, including the ability to create new calendars. In my case, I named the new one “invites.”
Now click on your new calendar, and then click on “Share with your contacts” in the pane beneath it. “Easy ’nuff.” We still aren’t done.
Now, odds are you are looking at a blank list with some buttons at the bottom. My impulse was to immediately hit the blue “contacts” button, figuring that it would toggle some sort of contacts management pane, which it does. Unfortunately, it actually pulls up Scrybe’s Plaxo section, allowing you to import you contacts from Gmail, Hotmail, and other similar services. This turned out to be a red herring because the service actually crashed on me, and now whenever I try to hit that button, a pop-up appears with a blank screen saying “The requested URL’s length exceeds the capacity limit for this server.” But I digress.
Scrybe has a little problem with “focus.” Sometimes you can’t really tell where your cursor is and if you have the ability to input text because it ignores some of the standard HUD conventions. What you need to do is click on the light gray box at the top of the “invite” pane, enter the invitees email address, and then hit the little “plus” sign next to it.
FINAL CATCH: hit “update” after you’ve added all the email addresses. Even though they say “invited,” they still haven’t actually been invited.
If everything goes according to plan, you have just invited someone to Scrybe’s great service.
Now if someone could just fix my Plaxo area, I’d be totally happy.
If there is still a single soul out there who doesn’t have an invite after reading this post, feel free to comment here and I’ll bring you into the fold.
Thanks for the explanation. NYT article today has resulted in many invite requests and your article will certainly help people join those who are interested
I use a Yahoo calendar for interoffice appointments but not having an off line feature certainly is a drag.
Will appreciate an invite to scribe.
Javed
@javed - invite sent. I’d love to hear your opinion of the service after you’ve had a chance to explore it.
I must be one of the “single soul”s not in the beta list. I’d love the chance to give scrybe a whirl. Thanks!
Jennifer - consider yourself in with the in-crowd.
Have fun!
Eli,
Can you add me to the in crowd?
Thanks,
Harry
@harry. Jeez, now that song is stuck in my head. Thanks a lot. Enjoy your stinkin’ invite. :)
I’m rolling. Thanks!
Eli, I too would love an invite. Thanks for the offer!!!
- Gene
Could you send an invite link. Thanks.
@gene and attis: invites are in your mailbox.
Eli,
First and foremost I would really appreciate a Scrybe invite. Looks like just what the doctor ordered. Secondly, I see you are a graphic designer. I’m out here in the Philippines so I don’t get much exposure to new artists. Any suggestions on who I should be watching out for? More interested in print (sorry to see it struckthrough like that) than web design. Thanks man.
Regards
Looks like an excellent program. Long overdue. Could you send me an invite. Thanks.
@neil and phil: invites in the airl
@phil - I’ll try to do a print design post next. I still very much love print design, but since I moved to New York City, I haven’t had much occasion to dabble it in. Most of my work in that field is self-taught, and the competition in this city is fierce. Focusing on web standards was a natural choice.
I’ll keep you posted though.
Thanks for the great comments, everyone! I’m sure you are all signing up for my RSS feed, right??? haha.
Would it be possible for you to send me an invite to Scrybe as well? You are undoubtedly being inundated with requests, but I hope you have time for one more! I’m eager to try it out, having tried just about everything else and finding them wanting.
@Philip I have indeed been surprised by the turn-out of Scrybe requests, but by no means inundated. I’m currently walking up 66th and lex towards a meeting, but I will send your invite as soon as I can fire up firefox. Something tells me Scrybe’s javascript-rich environment won’t render too well on my blackberry.
Eli:
Thanks for the prompt invite. Have started playing with it and like the ease of the calendaring input.
Best Wishes.
I am usually an early adopter. Indeed I am typing this on my iPhone. Imagine my disappointment today when I found out I needed a special invitation to Scrybe, disappointment which you have the power to banish and place elation in its stead. I am tingling with anticipation.
Nathan
I stumbled across your site and I am glad you did. I’d love to try Skrype - can you add me to your list?
I think you’ve done a great job here. I also looked at some of your portfolio and you have some cool sites you have developed.
Thanks :)
Jeff
Anyway you can send me invite please? This would be very useful for college . . .
Hi Eli!
I’d signed up for the beta way back (must have been December), but I never received an invite from them. Can you invite me?
Thanks!!!
Erik
Thank you so much for the invite!
@all of the above. Sent, sent sent sent sent.
As of today, Thursday the 6th, I’m still sending out invites, but they will happen at the end of the business day.
I’m honestly glad that this post helped out so many people - it was surprising. Look forward to more beta posts and invites soon.
I’m wondering if anyone else is having trouble with the bookmarklet? Webpages addresses show up, but so far it just reads downloading forever when I try to put any photos in the thoughtpad.
Jennifer -
I honestly haven’t experimented with the bookmarklet. The thought pad confounds me a little bit, and I avoid it in the same way that I avoid TinyMCE and other WYSIWYG editors. Since I write my own code, I tend to not trust scripts that try to anticipate the layout of information that I want to present.
That said, I also haven’t heard that complaint from any of my other friends who are heavy users. Have you tried re-installing?
Eli - Would love an invite. Thanking you in advance for this kind offer. - Maggie
Thanks for the quick invite! I’m excited to try out this new organization tool I’ve heard so much about. - Maggie
Hy Eli !
If you are not tired already sending invites please, make me also happy with an invitaion :) I need this invitation to make my life easier, because I believe that scrybe will help organize me a lot.
Thanks in advanced. - Ionut
Wow ! I can not believe it ! You send me the invite with the light speed ! I am already sign in ! Thanks a lot ! Scrybe looks amazing and seems very useful and easy to use. I can nearly wait to use for all my activities !
Thanks again !
@Ionut - It was my pleasure. I hope it works out for you. If you get a second, write me back and tell me what you think of the service. I’m preparing a review later and could use some quotes.
I write about BETAs and post invites here a lot. Check back frequently!
Eli,
Can I get an invite as well?
Thanks in advance.
hi Eli,
Could you please send me an invite? I just saw the Scrybe video and i’m dying to try it out!
Thanks in advance.
Aspasia Audencia
Hi Eli,
Can you invite me too? I’d be happy to give you some feedback for your article. I’m always looking for new apps to try out, so if you find other ones besides Scrybe that look good, I’d be happy to hear about them.
Thanks!
Laura
Hi Eli,
Would you mind sending me an invite as well? I just saw their video yesterday and have read great things about it since then - I’m excited to try it out.
Thanks for all your help with getting people signed up!
Cameron
Hi Eli,
If you have one more invite to spare, I’d love to to try scrybe!
Thanks,
Mavis
Eli,
Can I have an invite….. I am ready to get rid of Outlook!!!!
Sorry if I sound like a beggar, but may I have one too. I am tired of Google Calendar.
Thank you!
Could I beg for an invite also?
Thanks for your kind offer, even if you don’t invite others any longer. In case you still do it, I’d love to check out scrybe as well. Greetings from Europe! Frederik
Someone else already invited after some days of waiting. Thx again! ;)
Hey Frederik - Sorry that I wasn’t able to get the invite over to you, but glad that you got one regardless. I’ve been in Peru for the past week, and am still playing catch up on my blog comments and email.
Hope you love scrybe!
Eli,
Sorry if you already got my first Scrybe invite request.
It’s been a couple of days and I just wanted to be sure you got one from me.
Thanks again.
Dale
dale - invite sent.
I’m officially closing comments on this thread as it is getting hard to maintain, and I don’t want people leaving comments here only to get lost in the mayhem. With any luck, scrybe will become available to the public soon (if it isn’t already in the works). Until then, best of luck. Email me if you are really stuck and I’ll try my best to get you sorted out.