How to set any new event to "busy" by default?

[docthib]

Dear all,
after an unsuccessful search on Thunderbird, Seamonkey and Calendar newsgroups, I posted a question on Seamonkey, but after more than a week (and only one answer), I realize that it would be more logical to post it here. Sorry for the cross-posting.
Here is my problem :
- in Lightning (Seamonkey, but same problem with Thunderbird), when I create a new event, its *privacy* is automatically set to "public", and I would like to establish as a privacy setting _by default_ that all new events are "show only date and time".
- this way, when I share a public link to my calendar, people can see _when_ I am busy, but not _on what_ I am busy
I have browsed through about:config / config editor without success.
For the time being, I also have not found a solution, except doing it manually for each event - which is not only cumbersome, but also leads to the possibility of forgetting - which means having some private data accessible to anyone with the public link.
I am on SeaMonkey 2.49, but once again, it seems more of a Lightning / calendar problem.
Any help / thoughts appreciated,
Sincerely,
Doc

[mgagnonlv]

I think you are confusing two different status.

• The availability of an event may be defined as "Busy" or "Available".
  As far as I know, all events you create are defined as "busy", unless you change them manually.
  I think Google Calendar or some other server allows you to define all events of a calendar as "available", which could be useful if, for example, you create an agenda to reserve a projector rather than to actually book an appointment.
• The confidentiality of an event may be defined as "Public", "Display only time and date", or "Private"

As you said, all events are defined as Public by default, so that you and all who have access to the full agenda may be able to see the details. And if you have a local agenda, the only way you can share it is by exporting is as an ics file or as a web page. Both will show full details.

If you have a distant agenda -- i.e. saved on a remote server like Google, Outlook, your office's server, OwnCloud, etc., local exports behave the same way as above, i.e. you share all details. Besides, you export a static version of your agenda, i.e. all your appointments as they were, say, on Sunday, December 5, when you exported the file, and not the newer events. But fortunately, there are other ways to do what you want.


Exporting a "Free-Busy" agenda

The exact way to do it depends on the server your calendar is hosted on.
For example, for Google calendars, go on https://calendar.google.com to see your calendars.

• In the left panel, click on the 3 dots to the right of the name of the agenda you want to share, and select "Settings and sharing".
• If you want to share with everyone in the world (not recommended), click on "Make available to public", then "See only free/busy".
• If you want to share with selected individuals, look for "Share with specific people", then "Add people".
  For each person you add, you can select whether they can update your calendar, read it (with all details) or only see free/busy information.

If your office calendar is on an exchange server, there are similar ways to define the rights other people may have in seeing/not seeing your calendars. However, these rights might be defined by someone in your organization rather than you.

[docthib]

Thank you Michel for your very clear answer.
Indeed, I was referring to the second status: my problem is about Confidentiality.
From what you mention in "Exporting...", here are my thoughts:
1. I am indeed trying to replicate what I was used to practice with Google Calendar i.e. sharing an agenda on the fly (so always synchronized) without sharing the privacy of the events (people would only see blocks with date and time, no more). But for reasons of... privacy, I quit Google some years ago, and do not plan to go back.
2. I am now on https://ecloud.global/, which runs - I guess - a modified version of Nextcloud on a distant server. From what you say, I gather that I would have to search on the parameters of the distant server (if I can indeed go under the hood, which I doubt) to switch on a "privacy" status for my calendars. I am pretty sure I cannot do that, since I am not an Admin. I had the hope to tweak the event at the source, i.e. when I create it in Calendar.
I will keep on searching,
Un bonjour de la France,
Docthib