Tasks
A task is a to-do item. It has:
- a name,
- an optional due date and estimate (in hours),
- zero or more tags, and
- zero or more subtasks, kept in the order you give them.
Tasks are listed on the Tasks page. Each row can be edited in place (name, tags, due date and estimate), and its buttons move a task up or down among its siblings, or indent and outdent it to change its parent. A task doesn't need a project.
Task tags
Every task owns a task tag, named after the task. Task tags show up in
every tag field, drawn as an outlined pill starting with #, so there is no
separate task picker:
- Type
#in a tag field to see only tasks; the parent task's name is shown next to subtasks. - Type
#and a new name, then press Enter, to create a task on the spot.
A time entry carrying a task's tag is time logged on that task. An entry can carry several task tags, and its time counts toward each of them.
Task tags take their color from the task's project, or from its first tag
when it isn't in a project, or a default blue when it has neither. The
projects that count are the ones listed on the task's page, including those
of the task above it; in several projects, the first by name gives the color. They aren't listed on the Tags page, and a task can't be
tagged with another task's tag, though it can carry project @ tags. Two tasks may share a name.
Where task time counts
Each task has effective tags: its own task tag, its tags, and those of every task above it. A time entry logged on a task counts toward all of them. So with this setup:
| Tags | |
|---|---|
| Project Website | acme, #Build landing page |
| Task Build landing page | design |
| Subtask Hero section | none |
an hour logged on #Hero section counts toward Hero section, Build
landing page, the design tag and the Website project. An entry still
counts only once toward a project, however many of its tags the project has.
A task belongs to a project in three ways:
- Assigned: its task tag is one of the project's tags. Adding a task's tag to a project assigns it, and a task can be assigned to many projects.
- Tagged with the project: it carries the project's
@tag, directly or through a parent. - Shared tag: it carries one of the project's regular tags, directly or through a parent.
Totals are computed when you look at them, so moving a task, retagging it or assigning it to a project changes past totals too.
On a project
A project's page lists its open tasks and has its own quick-add field, which creates a task and assigns it to the project. Next to the list are two figures that together make up the project's total:
- On tasks: time logged on any of the project's tasks, open or closed.
- Additional: the rest of the project's time, logged on its tags but not on any of its tasks.
On the calendar
Open tasks with a due date appear as all-day markers on their due date, colored like their task tag. Clicking one opens the task.
Closing and deleting
A task is closed as done (its checkbox) or ignored (the block button next to it). Closed tasks are hidden unless Show Closed is on, which lists them in their own section, and their task tags are archived with them, which hides the tags from pickers while keeping their time.
- Closing a task closes its open subtasks.
- Reopening a subtask reopens the tasks above it.
A task can only be deleted, with its subtasks, while none of them has logged time. Otherwise, close it instead.