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Ummagumma

Score: 0
Just keep in mind that for this to work, it has to be a per-parent setting rather than a global setting.

I.e. I have a parent task called "Bills". That task is not actionable by itself, so it makes sense for it to assume the earliest due date of it's child tasks (individual bills).

OTOH some parents are actual tasks that have their own attributes, including due dates, with child tasks being pre-requisites, e.g.

Project financial presentation due 5/15
Collect information from stakeholders due 5/10
Send meeting notice due 5/5

Getting this to work would be tremendously helpful.
Ummagumma

Score: 0
Yes, almost. I had in mind setting the earliest start and earliest due date (worst case scenario) for parent, but this could be changed in settings.

E.g. for me Project A would be Start Oct 1 Due Oct 3

Basically your approach would be good for setting project duration, while mine is more for keeping track of the next due and start dates for a project with multiple subtasks.

The best way would be to add a setting for the parent task to assume children tasks' date with options for earliest or latest. And this would need to be done per task rather than globally (some parent tasks will have their own start and due dates while the others will inherit them from subtasks).
Ummagumma

Posted Oct 21, 2016 in: Easy links to local and web based files
Score: 1
There's an easy way to create links to local and web based files in any Toodledo record.

1) (optional) Get FreeCommander file manager. It's a freeware two-pane (Norton Commander style) portable file manager with a great set of tools. One of them is copying the full name (with path) of any file. (You don't need FC to do that, but it does speed up the process of creating a link.)

2) In Windows 7, hit Start - Run. Then locate the Run icon on the taskbar, and pin it there.

3) Now, use FC to copy the full path to a file (e.g. "C:\2016\Projects\Project123\Contractor Cost Comparison Template.xlsx") and paste it in Toodledo note field. When you want to launch that file, highlight that text -> copy -> click on the "run" icon on taskbar -> paste and enter. Takes just a second more than clicking on a web link.

I think in the later versions of Windows, you can skip #2 and just paste this into search / Cortana bar, but I can't check it now.
Ummagumma

Score: 0
There's two usability limitations of iOS app that could easily be fixed

1) The font is just too small. On my iPad Mini, it's tiny and there's no way to change this. Why not let people use custom fonts ?

2) The Notes app needs quick buttons for bold, italic etc., and it needs to render them in edit view just like it does in preview. Not too many people like to type < b>< u> Title< /b>< /i>. This could easily be made transparent to user.


This message was edited Oct 21, 2016.
Ummagumma

Posted Oct 21, 2016 in: A-la Carte Pricing Model ?
Score: 1
I just signed up for 2 years of Silver, just because I've been using TD Basic for years and feel the need to contribute.

I am not using task collaboration - I work for a large corporation and we're using Outlook for that.

I would like to get task attachments but am not going to pay $30/year for that. Especially since I can't use that feature at work (yet can use Wunderlist) and I can't use it on mobile.

Outlines, Habits, and Lists are quite honestly very basic compared to Onenote and Excel / GDocs. It's far easier for me to use a GSheets spreadsheet & embed a link to it into my task note than to try & use List

So, really, the only paid feature I am going to be using extensively is Nested Tasks. And this heavily depends on another paid program (Informant) that most people would likely not want to invest into.


If I was basing my decision purely on cost vs features, I'd honestly stay with Basic. And that's probably how many users see it.

I think Toodledo would get far more subscribers if they offered an a-la carte pricing model. E.g.in the Silver plan, allow subscribers to chose between Attachments and Collaboration. After all, three new Silver subscribers are going to bring in more money than one Gold subscriber.
Ummagumma

Score: 0
It would be great to have an option for the master task to assume the due date of it's earliest subtask.

It would be even better if this was a toggle switch that could be activated per task rather than globally.
Ummagumma

Posted Oct 20, 2016 in: Saved Searches Examples
Score: 1
Wondering who's using what saved searches.

I have two main searches that are also replicated in Informant:


* Today

- Starred
- Starts Today
- Due in the next 2 days


* Action Plan

- Starred
- Due in the next 4 days
- Next Action
- In between Start and Due
- Overdue

So, the "Action Plan" is to make sure I don't miss any tasks that are coming due, while the "Today" is to concentrate on the tasks that I need to do, well, today / tomorrow..


This message was edited Oct 20, 2016.
Ummagumma

Score: 0
I have a couple issues with this beta New Layout:

1) BUG: In the New Layout Preview, whenever I add a new task, or edit an existing one I get an "Error syncing tags (#-3)... error adding (editing) task" message. The old layout works just fine.

2) USABILITY: The yellow background for the new task line makes it hard to see if the Star was applied or not. (Either that, or the Star is not applied until the view is refreshed).


This message was edited Oct 20, 2016.
Ummagumma

Posted Oct 19, 2016 in: Notes Should Be a Wiki
Score: 0
Yes, I know that there's two links. However copying the Onenote: link and pasting into browser window on Chrome results in a google search. You have to use IE for this to work.

You can also open the web version and then use the "open in Onenote" button - but whether it works or not depends on what permissions had your IT set up.

I find it easier to just use web notes, since I am not invoking Onenote from Toodledo all that often anyway.
Ummagumma

Posted Oct 18, 2016 in: Notes Should Be a Wiki
Score: 0
You can use Onenote (which has all of these features) & copy links to ON notes into Toodledo note comment fields.

The only drawback (at least on my work machine) is that this opens the note in Onenote Web application and not the desktop program.


This message was edited Oct 18, 2016.
Ummagumma

Score: 1
If not please consider this a feature request.
Ummagumma

Posted Oct 18, 2016 in: Days till Due Column
Score: 0
In Outlook, I can set up a column showing the number of days until the due date.

Would be great to have this in Toodledo.
Ummagumma

Posted Oct 18, 2016 in: Can I save this view setup ?
Score: 0
I want to arrange my tasks in this order:

1 Starred
2 Due Today
3 Next Action
4 Overdue

Is it possible to do that and save this for later use ?
Ummagumma

Posted Sep 29, 2016 in: How Far Ahead Do You Look
Score: 0
I love TD's feature set, but I am switching out. Since TD doesn't sync to Outlook without expensive and iffy 3rd party conduits, I am switching to a different solution. In the process, I think I've developed a method that is very service-portable.

I have two task accounts. One is my work Exchange account that I sync to my phone and iPad. The other is my home Outlook.com account that I also sync to my phone, iPad and Outlook on work computers. The main reason I selected Outlook.com is that it doesn't need any special tools to sync with Outlook program.

I use Onenote to plan all of my work and home projects, and generate tasks as I brainstorm them. I also create tasks from emails within Outlook. These tasks are automatically synced to all of my devices and computers.

I use three priorities to break tasks into three categories.

1) High priority is "Today" and basically works like a star in TD . I am trying hard to never have more than 3-4 tasks in this category.

2) "Normal" priority is "Next action". Again, it only contains 5-6 tasks.

3) All other tasks are automatically assigned low priority.

The other important thing is due dates and alarms. Due dates are self explanatory. I don't use the "four quadrant" method because to me, there's no such thing as "Urgent but not important". If a task has a hard deadline, i.e. it absolutely must be done by a particular date, then it must be done and it doesn't matter if it's important or not. If the date can be skipped, it doesn't matter how urgent or important that task is, either. The due date, and starting on time to meet it, is the king.

The final important feature is the start date. It has two functions. One is to remind you to start working on your task on a given date. Another is to filter out the tasks from your calendar or task list.

Since Reminders and Google Tasks and most other online services don't support Start date, and I wanted to have a method that would work with most services, I am using the combination of priority filters and alarms instead. The alarms remind me to look at the task, and priority filters keep it off my mobile calendar and task list.

I use Outlook on the desktop and Pocket Informant on mobile. Both of these programs allow great flexibility in creating custom filters and views. My "Today" filter in PI shows high priority tasks (regardless of due date) on current day, followed by due tasks, then overdue. Outlook on the desktop is equally flexible.

With this setup I could switch to Google Task or Todoist or Wunderlist without having to change a thing - except none of them at this point sync with Outlook as easily and seamlessly.

This could be also accomplished using Categories / Labels, but they take longer to assign, and are not supported by all services. Due date, priority, and alarm are guaranteed to work almost everywhere.

I'd love to come back to Toodledo but I am tired of constantly copying and emailing stuff.


This message was edited Sep 29, 2016.
Ummagumma

Posted Sep 28, 2016 in: Leveraging Technology for GTD
Score: 0
One thing that I completely agree with you on is not spending the time on massaging your GTD flow. I'd say KISS - don't make things any more complex than required to get them done. (20+ years in manufacturing project management).

" I look at the IOS as an app" - agree, and if I was only using iOS, I'd have the same "use the best tool for the task" approach, with Spotlight search being used to find results from different tools.

The problem for most of us is, we're forced to use different systems. I have to use - daily - a Windows laptop, a Windows desktop (locked down like Ft Knox so anything I use should be either part of standard Office or web-based); an Android phone (not fan of Android but it's company issued and I have no choice in it) and an iPad. Plus, home computers, and every now and then a walkup station at some remote place. So any GTD'ing solution I use absolutely must be cross-platform and available from anywhere. For me, having a myriad apps simply won't work as I will be losing the main thing tying them together - the global search tool.

Another thing is "not spending more than 35-40 min a day doing GTD and emails". This is very specific to your particular circumstances. I have to deal with a constant stream of action items (in form of calls, emails, you name it). I have to process them as they come in, and re-arrange the priority of my task list continuosly (if there's a burning issue that had just arisen and it must be resolved in 2 days, something else has to give).

It really depends on what kind of projects you're working on. Some development projects have huge workload but also a long timeline. Some manufacturing equipment installation projects have a 1 - 2 weeks total timeline from start to complete system readiness (with a year of preparations), a few hard deadlines that simply can't be missed, and any of the myriad issues that come up closer to the deadline must be dealt with yesterday.

The point I am trying to make is that for many people, spending time in the morning to plan the rest of your day is a luxury they can't afford - you have to continuously juggle your schedule, your emails and calls, your task list, and get things done at the same time. So the GTD system you use must be as simple as possible, as efficient as possible, as streamlined as possible, and with checks and balances to make sure things don't get forgotten or fall through the cracks.

Toodledo is excellent in the features it provides, but I am actually getting away from it and going to Onenote / Outlook / Outlook.com / iOS Reminders based system. Just trying to work out how to replace task Start time feature (a Reminders deficiency), and already figured how to replace Star feature using Priorities and custom filters. This would allow me to spend less time copying stuff from Onenote and Outlook to my task list.

Looking forward to reading your book !


This message was edited Sep 28, 2016.
Ummagumma

Posted Sep 27, 2016 in: Sync reminders workflow
Score: 0
That's too much hoop jumping.

This message was edited Sep 27, 2016.
Ummagumma

Score: 1
What's needed is an Exchange setup so that Toodledo tasks could be synced without the need for a conduit. But even a conduit would be fine.

I miss much of TD functionality, but I developed a workaround for most of it.
Ummagumma

Score: 4
I have, for the second time, quit Toodledo despite liking it more than any other task manager out there.

It's just too disconnected.

I use Onenote and Outlook, both for work and home. In Onenote, I can take notes or brainstorm a project, and create Outlook tasks from lines of text with a single click. I can create Outlook tasks from emails. All of my tasks sync to my work Outlook on two machines (via Outlook.com) and my home Outlook, and also to my Android phone and iPad.

There's simply no place in this workflow for Toodledo. It doesn't integrate with Outlook, and all of the 3rd party solutions are too pricey for a tool that I would be paying out of my pocket to use on different devices. To get the best use of TD I'd have to pay $30 or so a year for TD, and another $30 for three gSyncit licences.

It seems that Wunderlist is working on better Outlook integration (although their plugin is currently rather lame), and Todoist has a plugin as well (haven't tried it). Outlook.com tasks have full Outlook integration. Toodledo, on the other hand, has the best service out there - bar none ! - but it's a thing in itself, out there unconnected.

In the end, it's easier for me to design a workaround for my most used task functions based on Outlook.com features, than to keep maintaining two unconnected task systems. :(
Ummagumma

Posted Sep 22, 2016 in: Pocket Informant vs 2do
Score: 0
PI is a calendar that also has a very powerful task management with strong Toodledo integration. This allows you to see your tasks in calendar views on start or due days, you can also set up powerful filters based on saved criteria. E.g. I want to see on today view my meetings and the tasks that are (a) due today (b) starting today (c) overdue (d) starred, in that order. It also has a Task view which is basically a full blown task manager,

2do is a task manager with very basic calendar functionality.

I've stuck with PI for years, always trying something new and always coming back.
Ummagumma

Score: 0
Thank you ! Just what I was looking for.
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