14 DAY TRIAL // As simple as it may be to remember various events, given the software solutions available on the market today, plenty of people still forget about birthdays or different tasks that sometimes are even part of their daily routine.
Holiline of the eponymous developer proposes a simple approach that does not assault you with alerts and places the reminders in a visible location on the desktop so you can’t miss them.
The application is free of charge and installs in a jiffy without attempting to push unwanted code onto the system.
By default, it shows all reminders on a strip applied over the taskbar. Obviously, the taskbar is unusable for as long as Holiline runs, but you can make it go away with a simple swipe of the mouse cursor over its rightmost edge, where the system tray area begins.
Since the application starts with the system, you will have a scroll bar in the lower part of the screen that informs of all events added into the reminder. Scrolling stops as soon as you move the mouse over the taskbar.
If Holiline’s default position is not suitable for you, the program offers the possibility to change the location either at the bottom of the desktop (above the taskbar) or at the top edge of the screen. In either case, the sensitive exit area remains in the same place.
There is no limit to the number of events you can add into the application, but all the entries have to be added manually, unless you have a calendar that can export in EVT format because this is the only file type supported. This is also one of the reasons few users might make the switch from a different reminder to Holline.
Populating the calendar with events is quite easy and can be done from the “Events Editor,” accessible from the context menu of the event strip. There are three types of event formats to choose from: birthday, wedding day, holiday or custom.
In all cases the editing dialog allows you to post a custom image and define the remind time; also, a comment or a short description filed is available.
The “Events Editor” looks pretty good and includes a search function that seeks the event by text or by date.
Holiline provides a simple way to display all events in the calendar if you switch to “table” view. The section lists the entries accompanied by date, type of event, distance in time to the event, caption and the comment.
The developer maintained everything as simple as possible. As such, the configuration panel does not offer too many settings. There are two sections available, one for tweaking the looks of the application (“Appearance”) and the other for defining the behavior of the application at system startup or for enabling exit triggers.
As far as the “Appearance” section is concerned, Holiline allows setting the first day of the week in the calendar, the position of the reminder strip and the speed for scrolling the text.
Further customization in this section touches on the looks of the text, allowing you to modify the font, its style and size.
If you choose to keep the event strip off the taskbar, then Holiline also allows personalizing its color. The options are simple as you are given a regular color selector panel that lets you pick a color of your choice to replace the default.
Additional settings are present in the “Advanced” section and refer to the “hot exit area.” Since it cannot be changed, the application makes available the possibility to disable it altogether and close it by left-clicking it instead.
In order to keep the strip filled only with fresh reminders, Holiline can remove the expired events after a user-defined period (set in days).
Although you can disable the application to start with Windows, this would defeat its purpose because you would have to start it manually. Having it show the events on the taskbar ensures you are aware of the current and upcoming events.
On the downside, there is no section to add regular tasks to the list. Adding a custom event may seem like a solution, but it is still designed for more important reminders. This would come in handy, especially since many people rely on their mobile phones to remind them of important events such as birthdays or weddings.
The Good
The reminder strip can be moved from on top of the taskbar to the upper edge of the screen or above the taskbar.
The Bad
The Truth
Support for tasks or lists would make for a nice improvement as there are plenty of solutions for more important events such as weddings or birthdays.
