Double-click on the Birthday Bar icon to open it.

License Agreement

Read through the license agreement and, if you agree, press ‘I Agree’.  If you do not agree, press ‘I Decline’.  The gist of the license: This software is freeware.  You may use this software on as many computers as you like and you may distribute it to your friends and family so long as you distribute it with all accompanying notifications and documentation.  Please do not reverse engineer the software.  Please don’t sue me.

The next screen you will be presented with is a set of initial preferences.

Check for Birthday Bar Updates

When this is selected, Birthday Bar will check the shoofile.com website weekly for updates. The bar will change color to indicate that an update is available.  See the section on Birthday Bar Privacy to read about the privacy ramifications of enabling this feature.

Check for Wish Lists

If this is selected Birthday Bar will send the e-mail address of your contact to the various Amazon websites (amazon.com, amazon.ca, amazon.co.uk, amazon.fr, amazon.de, amazon.co.jp) to see if they have registered a wish list.  See the section on Birthday Bar Privacy to read about the privacy ramifications of enabling this feature.

My Closest Amazon

Certain selections in Birthday Bar, such as ‘Find Wish List...’ and ‘Send Flowers...’ will take you to one of the Amazon websites.  Use this pop-up to select between being taken to amazon.ca, amazon.co.uk, amazon.co.jp, amazon.com, amazon.de, and amazon.fr.

Open Birthday Bar when I log in

If you would like Birthday Bar to run automatically when you log in, so that you do not need to open it manually, turn on this preference.  If you would like Birthday Bar only to open when you command, turn this preference off.

Display Order

Select between showing the date formatted as Month / Day or as Day / Month.

Start Birthday Bar

Begin using the Birthday Bar Application.

Address Book Set-Up

Adding Birthdays

1. 1.Open Address Book.  (Address Book can likely be found in your dock.  If not, it is located, by default, in your Applications folder.)
   

2. 2.If you do not see a field in which you can enter a birthday, it can be added from the ‘Card’ menu by selecting ‘Add Field’ and then ‘Birthday’.
   

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3. 3.If you would like to make the Birthday field display in every card, open the ‘Card’ menu.  Select ‘Edit Template...’ from the ‘Add Field’ menu item.  A window will appear.  From the Add Field pop-up menu select ‘Birthday’.
   

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4. 4.Edit a contact to add their birthday information.  When you are done editing Birthday Bar will update the display to show you upcoming birthdays.
   

Adding Anniversaries and Other Events

1. 1.Open Address Book.
   

2. 2.From the ‘Card’ menu select ‘Add Field’ and then ‘Dates’.
   

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3. 3.You will now see a field labeled ‘anniversary’ when you edit the contact.  Enter the appropriate date in the field.  When you finish editing, Birthday Bar will display the date and type of event when it nears.
   

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4. 4.If you would like to be reminded about a date other than an anniversary or birthday, select ‘anniversary’ from the list and choose ‘Custom...’
   

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5. 5.Give the event an appropriate name and enter the date of the event.  When you are finished editing the contact Birthday Bar will update itself to reflect your changes.