ForumsQuestionsChecklist in Tasks notes section


Checklist in Tasks notes section
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rich_sargent

Posted: Jun 08, 2016
Score: 2 Reference
Hi, is it possible to add a checklist in the task notes section (similar to Trello). I find it easier to create a few bullet points when I need to remember to do a task like "send info to John" and then I note down the items I need to send like - letter a, email b, article x, etc.

currently I enter these as bullet points, then type in Done after the sentence. it would be much nicer to have a checklist that you can tick off. I know this might complicate things for new users, but for experienced users I think this would be a really nice feature.

thanks
Richard Sargent
Salgud

Posted: Jun 08, 2016
Score: 0 Reference
This is easily done if you have any paid version of TD. Simply make "Send into to John" a parent task, and the items you need to send as subtasks.

And yes, this would be a nice additional feature which would give us the often requested additional level within TD's task management features.
Sabina A.

Posted: Jun 08, 2016
Score: 0 Reference
It's not possible to do this in task notes, but like Salgud said, you can use subtasks with an upgraded subscription. Here's some more information:

http://www.toodledo.com/info/help.php?sel=56

Hope that helps.
Ummagumma

Posted: Jun 09, 2016
Score: 2 Reference
Using Subtasks is not the same, especially if you sync TD to any devices, these subtasks show up as regular tasks which is exactly what using checklists inside the body of the task helps avoid.

Wunderlist has it implemented very nicely.

A program that I used on iPad before I switched back to TD (Calengoo) also did it rather elegantly, although for some reason this could only be used in calendar entries. They allowed checkboxes inside the notes field, which used simple text tags [ ] for unchecked and [x] for checked. So any checkbox added in the program would show up as [ ] text in online calendar (e.g. Google Cal) and any line of text added online or in Outlook that started with [ ] would be converted to a checkbox in Calengoo. Very nice and clean. Unfortunately, doesn't sync to Toodledo.
Salgud

Posted: Jun 09, 2016
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by e20.09g:
Using Subtasks is not the same, especially if you sync TD to any devices, these subtasks show up as regular tasks which is exactly what using checklists inside the body of the task helps avoid.


They only show up as regular tasks if you don't keep them (subtasks) indented (online).
Ummagumma

Posted: Jun 09, 2016
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Salgud:
Posted by e20.09g:
Using Subtasks is not the same, especially if you sync TD to any devices, these subtasks show up as regular tasks which is exactly what using checklists inside the body of the task helps avoid.


They only show up as regular tasks if you don't keep them (subtasks) indented (online).


Only if you use Toodledo mobile.

However one of my main requirement is to have my tasks showing on my calendar, so that I could manage all of my timed events for that day, whether meetings or tasks. This is also the main reason for the use of Start date. If I had to use a separate program for my tasks, Wunderlist would start looking mighty attractive.

And when syncing to calendars, these indented Toodledo tasks are being treated like regular tasks. I.e. they show up in the task list (indented if using PI), they show up in the searches, custom filters etc.

The idea of a checklist inside the task is to hide these tasks from all the searches and lists, and only see them when opening the main task. Which at this point TD can't do.
Salgud

Posted: Jun 09, 2016
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by e20.09g:


Only if you use Toodledo mobile.


Actually, TD for iOS doesn't have indented subtasks. AFAIK, only the online version does. (Never used TD for Android, but I'm assuming it doesn't because iOS version doesn't)

However one of my main requirement is to have my tasks showing on my calendar, so that I could manage all of my timed events for that day, whether meetings or tasks. This is also the main reason for the use of Start date. If I had to use a separate program for my tasks, Wunderlist would start looking mighty attractive.

And when syncing to calendars, these indented Toodledo tasks are being treated like regular tasks. I.e. they show up in the task list (indented if using PI), they show up in the searches, custom filters etc.

The idea of a checklist inside the task is to hide these tasks from all the searches and lists, and only see them when opening the main task. Which at this point TD can't do.


I'd say TD isn't the best software to use if you want to tie tasks to a calendar. The calendar feature is very limited. I just went to check my TD calendar, since I haven't even looked at it in months. Right now, it's telling me that all my tasks are done, which is definitely NOT what my task list is showing, and there are quite a few tasks with Start and Due dates. It probably atrophied from lack of use. ;)

TD is actually intended as a GTD app, and GTD doesn't even recognize tasks with dates as tasks, but considers them appointments (like that report you're writing that has a due date. That's really an appointment :) So tying tasks to the calendar is not TD's intent, although they have deviated enough from GTD to have start and due dates to accommodate the rest of us. I think it a bit unfair to criticize TD for not functioning with a calendar very well, because it's not really intended to function with one at all. I pushed for years to get them to integrate it with a calendar, but I guess Jeff doesn't want to stray that far from GTD, or maybe he just doesn't want to add another thousand tasks to his TD fix list. Who knows?

In any case, this is why I started using PI as my personal task manager a year or so ago. It would have been my work task manager as well, but didn't have a desktop version. It does all the things we're talking about here, and even more. As you probably know, it ties your task list, calendar, contacts and notes all in one very user friendly app. One icon replaced four on my iPhone home screen. And it can create a checklist inside a task!

But enough of the praises for PI. TD has served me well and long, and these forums are great sources of support. I hope you find what you're looking for, but I doubt you'll get the kind of calendar connection you're seeking for the foreseeable future with TD.
Ummagumma

Posted: Jun 10, 2016
Score: 1 Reference
Posted by Salgud:
Posted by e20.09g:


Only if you use Toodledo mobile.


Actually, TD for iOS doesn't have indented subtasks. AFAIK, only the online version does. (Never used TD for Android, but I'm assuming it doesn't because iOS version doesn't)

However one of my main requirement is to have my tasks showing on my calendar, so that I could manage all of my timed events for that day, whether meetings or tasks. This is also the main reason for the use of Start date. If I had to use a separate program for my tasks, Wunderlist would start looking mighty attractive.

And when syncing to calendars, these indented Toodledo tasks are being treated like regular tasks. I.e. they show up in the task list (indented if using PI), they show up in the searches, custom filters etc.

The idea of a checklist inside the task is to hide these tasks from all the searches and lists, and only see them when opening the main task. Which at this point TD can't do.


I'd say TD isn't the best software to use if you want to tie tasks to a calendar. The calendar feature is very limited. I just went to check my TD calendar, since I haven't even looked at it in months. Right now, it's telling me that all my tasks are done, which is definitely NOT what my task list is showing, and there are quite a few tasks with Start and Due dates. It probably atrophied from lack of use. ;)

TD is actually intended as a GTD app, and GTD doesn't even recognize tasks with dates as tasks, but considers them appointments (like that report you're writing that has a due date. That's really an appointment :) So tying tasks to the calendar is not TD's intent, although they have deviated enough from GTD to have start and due dates to accommodate the rest of us. I think it a bit unfair to criticize TD for not functioning with a calendar very well, because it's not really intended to function with one at all. I pushed for years to get them to integrate it with a calendar, but I guess Jeff doesn't want to stray that far from GTD, or maybe he just doesn't want to add another thousand tasks to his TD fix list. Who knows?

In any case, this is why I started using PI as my personal task manager a year or so ago. It would have been my work task manager as well, but didn't have a desktop version. It does all the things we're talking about here, and even more. As you probably know, it ties your task list, calendar, contacts and notes all in one very user friendly app. One icon replaced four on my iPhone home screen. And it can create a checklist inside a task!

But enough of the praises for PI. TD has served me well and long, and these forums are great sources of support. I hope you find what you're looking for, but I doubt you'll get the kind of calendar connection you're seeking for the foreseeable future with TD.



I am using PI as well, both on my iPad and Android phone. As a matter of fact, I've been using it since around 2005 or so.

However, as I said, the dated subtasks still show in PI calendar views and searches.

This is why I so much prefer the Wunderlist approach. However WL doesn't support the start date in tasks and it doesn't really sync to any decent calendar program.

The "task is an appointment" approach is too rigid. The task is not an appointment. Both are timed events that have somewhat different actions associated with them, and require slightly different display and edit method . The best approximation of a task is the floating appointment the way it was implemented in Palm, but even that is not perfect since it doesn't have due dates or overdue flags. PI is perfect in how it integrates Tasks with Meetings, and desktop Outlook is very good also.

When I look at the calendar, I want to see all of the timed events tied to today. It may be a meeting, or a task that is due, or a task that I must work on today to get it done on time. These are all timed and belong to a certain date or series of dates. For some reason neither of the major mobile OS developers "get" this (although I suspect it's more due to not wanting to spend the resources necessary to develop a workable solution, since most users won't care. MS certainly "gets" this concept very well in desktop Outlook).

There are ways of course to present your tasks as all day calendar events, but then you can't really edit your tasks from a calendar view and it makes it very cluttered.

So anyway.... I wish TD developers took the [ ] / [x] approach to creating the checklists inside their tasks, but this would take a major redesign of the task dialog and I just don't see it happening.

I don't think I will be subscribing to the premium membership when my trial expires, since TBH I find it rather underwhelming. I had big hopes for the file attachments but it seems they don't sync to mobile, and I have major issues attaching anything from my work (must be a firewall problem).

Oh well... TD is far from perfect, but it's the best compromise of any service that I've tried so far.
Luigi_B

Posted: Jul 23, 2016
Score: 0 Reference
I use Workflowy for checklists and I think it is the best program out there for this purpose: you can also strike out completed items and there are collaboration features too.

I think the best thing is to keep checklists and routines there and single tasks in Toodledo.

What I would suggest doing, if you have repeating checklists, is to put a general task (like "morning routine") in toodledo and the link to that checklist (you can do it with workflowy) inside the notes section of that task, so that you just click on the link in toodledo and you see the checklist you created.

Hope that helps.

(btw, the link above is my referral link)


This message was edited Jul 23, 2016.
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