Yes. By default Acquit copies the shorthand your diary already uses, so new entries look like the ones already in it. To change that, go to Settings → Calendar format.
- Pick a section. Court dates covers appearances; Events covers deadlines, conferences and prison visits.
- Click Insert field under the Subject or Location box and choose the fields to include, or type your own words. Events also have a Notes box inside the entry.
- Click a field to set its options, and drag any field by its grip to reorder it.
- Click the gap between two fields to change what joins them: a dash, comma or space.
- Set the case per field if you want. Every field starts on Automatic, which follows the styles set under Settings → Event defaults; short forms your firm uses (BOE, BMC, DVO) keep their capitals whichever style you pick.
The panel beside the editor shows the Outlook entry your format produces, built from one of your own real entries, with the rest of your diary underneath for context.
Use the Acquit format switches to our suggested shape: a COURT: prefix, the appearance type in full, and your file number. Reset to detected goes back to matching your diary. Neither applies until you save.
The messages under the preview
- “Acquit won’t recover…” is a warning, not a block. Entries Acquit writes still link to the right matter (it tags every one), but an entry someone retypes by hand in that shape may not match.
- “Your diary is written…” means the change no longer matches how your diary is typed, so you would end up with two formats side by side.
- “…is empty on this entry” means that field has no value on the previewed entry (not every matter has a file number), so it and its separator are left out; entries that have a value show it.
A field you have no data for is greyed out with the reason shown, rather than hidden. Leaving the Location box empty is also a choice: remove every field and Acquit writes nothing there.
Different appearance types can each get their own format: see Can different appearance types have different calendar formats?. If Acquit isn’t writing to your calendar at all: Why isn’t Acquit writing court dates to my new calendar yet?.
What this doesn’t change
Dates, times and durations (your court session defaults), category colours, town agency cover events, and how Acquit reads your diary: reading is learned from your calendar, not from this screen. Existing entries are never rewritten; a format change affects entries Acquit writes from then on.