Hi Dwight I have tried posting 5 or 6 times over the past week and am resorting to foreign assistance for help. Attempting to understand the technical issues by remotely posting this reply.
Regards, Tolqua On Tuesday, 3 May 2016 08:43:42 UTC+8, Dwight Arthur wrote: > > Hi, Laurence. I had not thought of using skip occurence to force a > recurring folder to regenerate. Thanks for the tip. > > On 5/2/2016 12:47 PM, Laurence Glazier wrote: > > Hi Dwight > > Just to say that I use the recurrence property for a folder containing > todo lists every day, I hope there are no plans to remove that feature, try > it out, skip next (possibly receded by up to current) occurrence is an > approach to resetting todo lists within a folder. I prefer storing my check > lists in folders, seems neater to me :) > > Laurence > > > > On Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 2:40:39 AM UTC+1, Dwight Arthur wrote: > > Hi, Tolqua. > There are an unusually large number of issues in your latest post. Let's > deal with some smaller ones first. > > 1. *Support*. I rely on the MLO support email for issues like, I found a > bug, or I can't figure out how some feature should work. I rely on the > forums for help like, how can I get the most out of some feature, how do > I use MLO to manage some complex situation, or is there a workaround for > some bug that isn't fixed yet. This is working pretty well for me. > > 2. *Recurring Folders.* Everything you said is correct. Folders can do > everything that tasks can do except for being completed. This includes > being a project, which is sometimes useful. It also includes having > recurrence options, which is unfortunately meaningless for an object that > cannot be completed (as you have pointed out). My guess is that nobody > before you has ever tried. It would be a good idea for mlo to gray out the > recurrence options for folders. But this does not seem like a really > urgent fix. > > 3. *Multiple inboxes*. It's very likely that at some point you created a > new profile on some device, used it for a while, and then set up synch, and > this caused your multiple inboxes. Cure: pick one inbox and move all of > your inbox content there. Delete all empty inboxes. Sync. If you have > multiple inboxes again, repeat the procedure another time or two. > Explanation: New profiles are created without an inbox. There are numerous > functions within MLO that reference the inbox, if there is none one is > created. Now you have one. If you sync, the sync process will add the inbox > folder from the cloud copy to your profile. Now you have two You are > allowed to have multiple tasks on MLO with the same description, so MLO > does not recognize anything wrong with having two inboxes. This should > probably be fixed, but none of us have pushed the issue very hard, probably > because it only affects users who are still trying to get their workflows > set up, after a while they get it cleaned up and don't care enough to > pursue getting a fix. > > 4. *Repeating tasks with repeating parents.* This is very unlikely to > produce the results that you wish for. Each task will be regenerated when > it is completed, and then will be regenerated again when its parent is > completed. If that is what you really want you can do it but almost > everyone wants their tasks to be regenerated only once for each time it's > completed. > > OK, that brings us to the big issue: the requirements for the checklist > you want to build. Short answer: I don't know how to meet all of these > requirements in a single design. Maybe somebody else does, in which case I > will learn something. Otherwise, I would venture to say it's probably not > possible. This does not happen very often. One possibility here is that you > are asking for something that is actually more complex than what you really > need. In that case, , maybe some of the people on this forum could help you > envision something that you would find useful although it's not what you > were requesting. Alternatively, maybe there is a different tool that would > be able to do all of this. I haven't seen one, but maybe you would find one. > > Recapping what I think are your requirements: > > - Multiple checklists > - Each checklist has a header that describes it > - Each checklist follows a schedule for when it appears, like daily > 0900 or weekdays 1700 > - Each checklist has multiple (zero, one or several) tasks under its > header > - When all of the tasks in a checklist are completed the checklist > header becomes inactive and does not appear until it is next scheduled. > The > checklist header does not have to be closed or completed, completion of > the > last task will close it. > - When a task in a checklist is completed it does not reappear until > some subsequent appearance of the checklist title > - A task may be present every time the checklist header appears or in > may have its own schedule. For example, a daily 0900 checklist could > include a task which appears only on weekdays. > - A checklist can be opened with a single click at which time all > tasks that appear on this issue of the checklist will appear > - A checklist can have a reminder which will appear in the > notification area of a phone running MLO. From the reminder area, it > should > take no more than one click to bring up the checklist header and another > click to open the checklist and display its tasks. > > As I said, I cannot envision a way to use MLO to satisfy these > requirements. If I were trying to make checklists of this sort, I would > devote a context to each checklist and create a saved view showing each > checklist. I would create tasks, each with its appropriate recurrence and > with a context associated with its checklist.On my phone, I would create a > home page within my launcher with up to four MLO widgets, each showing one > checklist. On Windows, I would create a series of locked workspaces, each > showing one checklist. When I want to see a particular checklist it should > be only one tap to get there. I would doubt that I would need a reminder > for checklists that are tied to major events of the day, like getting up or > end of work. If I felt, for example, that lunchtime might sneak up on me > without my remembering to scan my lunchtime checklist, I might set an alarm > in my alarm app that says "lunchtime checklist" to remind me, but without a > link to the checklist - no a big loss to me if the checklist is only a tap > away. > -Dwight > > > On 4/26/2016 3:14 AM, Tolqua wrote: > > Hi Dwight. > > Not having a great deal of success here. I'm spending more time writing > these posts and sending questions to MLO support than I'm saving using the > program. This is to be expected at such an early stage, but there are > limits and if I'm not seeing any light at the end of the tunnel I'll have > to call it a day and try something else (Todoist seems to have much better > support, but I just couldn't get started with the unhelpfully 'clean' UI). > I've made a specific request for some input on this here, but no luck so > far and I'm still waiting for a response to my last set of questions. > Looks like it's just one guy handling support and the quality isn't great. > > Here's a copy of the message which brings you up to speed with where I am: > > I’ve made a start and had some success using Folders for the lists with > the list items appearing as recurring Tasks (which accommodates the > differing recurrences of the items), but I’m having some problems: > > > > 1. > > I’ve set a daily recurrence pattern for the list Folders, but since > they’re folders, they don’t get completed so how’s the recurrence supposed > to work? I’ve set them so they’ll regenerate when all Tasks are done but > that doesn’t seem to have created new folders – they’re still showing > yesterday’s date: > > > > > > I have the reminder set to get triggered from the list rather than the > individual tasks (that’s the point of the checklist) so if it doesn’t get > regenerated I don’t get a reminder. What’s the point of allowing > recurrence options on a folder if it can’t be completed and doesn’t get > automatically regenerated when all its tasks are complete? > > > > 1. > > When I tap on the Folder’s reminder (on the phone) it takes me to the > folder, but I can’t see how to get to the Tasks inside – This is the same > whether it’s a Folder or a Task. > > > 2. > > How do I Skip a recurring Task (it’s not required today so I don’t > want to mark it as done, but I do need to check it off the list and > regenerate the next instance)? > > You can also see from the screen-shot that I have a couple of empty > erronrous duplicated <Inbox> folders. I have no idea how these got > created, but they only appeared after I'd done a Wi-Fi sync. I've asked > MLO support for some help, but they just said to delete them. This I can > do, but it isn't the first time I've seen them so it probably won't be the > last. > > I'm a bit concerned now about the slowness of my progress and am beginning > to doubt that MLO's suitable for my needs. I don't mind putting in the > effort, but I'm seeing what looks like upredictable (buggy?) behaviour, the > support's not great and you're the only one to have given any input here. > Also, despite looking awesomely powerful and configurable, MLO's a bit > daunting in its complexity. I've also had some unnecessary questions > regarding the rather limited Wi-Fi sync that could easily have been avoided > if the documentation were clearer, but pointing this out didn't get a great > response. For now I'm pushing ahead, but life's too short to waste time > going down roads that lead to more work so I'm also taking another look > around. > > Thanks again for your time. > > Tolqua. > > > On Thursday, 21 April 2016 14:37:50 UTC+1, Dwight Arthur wrote: > > Hi, Tolqua, glad to meet you. This forum is a good place for advice on > issues like this. MLO is good at ad hoc task list but so are dozens of > other task managers, some of which are probably better than MLO at the most > basic stuff. Where MLO really shines is when you spend the ime to figure > out what tasks you need to see when, and set up a system of contexts, > filters, etc that lets MLO manage that for you. You seem to be totally > headed in the right direction. > > As you say, there are probably many ways to address what you are trying to > do. If I wanted to do this the first thing I would try would involve > dependencies on repeating trigger tasks. I will explain. Disclaimer: I have > not tried this. I am not certain that I fully understand dependencies on > repeating trigger tasks. My usual practice is to test any advice I'm unsure > of, but I don't have time right now. So I'm going to share untested advice, > please come back and report on what you do next (if you are lucky some > other user will show up with advice better than mine) and if you need it, I > may be able to help with debugging or further refinements next week. > > OK, so what I would do would be to create a recurring task for each > checklist (Morning Checklist, recurring daily at 7am, Going Home checklist > recurring weekdays at 4:45pm, etc). I would then set up each of the tasks > that belongs in each checklist, each with its own recurrence schedule > (example, pack lunch recurring weekly on MoTuThFr). Here is an important > gotcha: if there is a start time it *must* be before the start time of the > checklist header. Otherwise it will be tomorrow's task. And I would feel > safer if the task start time was well in advance of the header's start > time. Make sure that any conditions for the task to go active (open/closed > contexts, dependencies, delayed dependencies, tasks in order, uncompleted > subtasks, etc) are all resolved *before* the header task is activated. You > can create a reminder for each header task if you want it to appear on the > phone's notification bar: I think it should work as you want but I am not > sure because I don't use reminders often. > > So, by 4:40 any weekday there will be a collection of tasks that are all > ready to go except for one thing: they are dependent on the uncompleted > "Going Home Checklist" task, which is itself inactive pending its 4:45 > start time. The dependent tasks will consequently all be considered > inactive and will not appear on any list of active actions. at 4:45 the > Going Home Checklist header task will reach its start time and become > active, appearing on your active actions list. Presumably at about that > time the reminder will go off. Soon afterwards you will check the > completion box on the header task. Because it is a recurring task it will > not become completed; it will regenerate for the next weekday afternoon. > But during this regeneration process anything that was dependent on the > header task will see the dependency satisfied and will become active, > appearing in your active actions list. > > hth > -Dwight > > On 4/20/2016 6:30 PM, Tolqua wrote: > > I've just started using MLO, syncing between my Windows desktop and Nexus > 5 via Wi-Fi. I'm fine with using ad-hoc tasks and organising them in > Outline view, but I now want to set up a system to deal with a particular > type of recurring tasks. > > I have noticed that there are two or three times in my day where a > ‘checklist’ of items to be completed would be extremely useful (e.g. Before > going to work, Before going home, etc.). The items on the list would all > be recurrent items, but with differing patterns (e.g. every working day, > every three days, alternate Wednesdays, etc.) so each day’s lists will be > different – or different enough that a repeat cycle could be potentially > very long. > > > > The items on the lists would all be simple tasks without sub-tasks > (probably) that simply need to be checked off – whether that’s achieved by > marking a task complete or simply by putting a check mark in a box is not > important. What is important is to have the lists appear on my To Do > list or Action List as just the checklist name (e.g. Morning Checklist) > with the items on the list hidden until the list is opened. This is > important so that the space on my daily Action List isn’t filled with all > the regular routine stuff on the checklists. The checklist should > probably have a reminder. Since I’m in the habit of checking the status > bar at the top of my Nexus 5 whenever I pick it up, this tends to be my > immediate action list as it’s available to all apps, not just MLO. The > reminder, unless Snoozed or Cancelled, should take me straight to the open > checklist or to the Action List with the checklist highlighted so that one > more tap would open up the checklist ready for me to go through the things > on the list. The list would need to stay open or be available until I’d > checked off all the items, at which point the checklist would disappear > from the Action List until the next day (or be greyed-out or changed in > some way so it’s clear it’s complete). > > > > I'm not sure whether the checklist itself would need a recurrence pattern > and how it would relate to the recurrence patterns of the items, but in the > unlikely event that none of the checklist items was due to appear on the > list, the list should either appear empty or not appear at all. > > > > It doesn't sound too complicated and I'm sure it's well within the > capabilities of MLO, but I need some guidance as to the best way to set it > up. Should I make each checklist a Project with the items as Tasks or > make each checklist as a Task with the items as Sub-Tasks? How do I have > the checklist appear on the To Do List, but hide the items until the > checklist is opened? How can I have the checklist disappear when all the > items have been either checked off or ‘skipped’ (not done, but with the > next occurrence in the pattern generated)? > > > > There may be many ways to achieve this and I’m sure I’ll have a lot more > questions once I start using it, but for now I just need to get it up and > running enough to be able to start working with it on a daily basis so any > help/suggestions will be most welcome. > > > Tolqua. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MyLifeOrganized" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to mylifeorganiz...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to mylifeo...@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/mylifeorganized. > To view this discussion on the web visit > > ... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MyLifeOrganized" group. 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