Explanation of Subtasks

Subtasks are a convenient way to organize projects and tasks that have multiple steps. This helps you stay organized and keeps your to-do list less cluttered. If you have a Pro Account and you want to use subtasks, first go into your account settings and under "Fields Used" select "Subtasks".

1. Folders, Tasks and Subtasks

Any task can be turned into a container that holds other tasks. This allows you to organize things into three different levels of hierarchy. The terminology that Toodledo uses for these three levels is Folder > Task > Subtask. Although this may seem straightforward, there are some unique behaviors that you should understand about subtasks before you start using them.

When using the "Folders" view, subtasks will be nested inside their parent tasks by default (see image 1). When using any other view, subtasks may be displayed outside of their parent tasks.

2. Un-nested subtasks

For example, when viewing the Hotlist, any subtasks that are due soon or have a high priority will be displayed un-nested (see image 2). This is important, because if they were displayed nested inside their parent task, you may not notice any urgent subtasks. You can always load the parent task by clicking the icon adjacent to each subtask.

To reveal or hide a task's subtasks, click the icon adjacent to the task.

Toodledo has made it very easy to organize your tasks and subtasks by using drag and drop (see image 3). Each loose task or subtask will have a hand icon adjacent to it. If you click and drag this icon, you will be able to move it inside any other task. You can also move a subtask, by dragging and dropping it, from one task to another.

3. Drag tasks to create subtasks

To remove a subtask from its parent task, just drag it out and drop it off to the top, bottom or side.

When you complete a task that contains uncompleted subtasks, Toodledo assumes that those uncompleted subtasks are now irrelevant. We will no longer display nor remind you about them. If these tasks are important, you should move them out of their parent task before you mark it as completed.

When you check off a subtask as being completed, it will be marked as completed and will no longer appear under the task unless you have the "show completed tasks" filter turned on.

When you delete a task, all of its subtasks will also be deleted.

If you have a subtask that is set to repeat, it will automatically reschedule itself and remain within its parent task each time that you complete it.

If you have a task that is set to repeat and this task contains subtasks, those subtasks may or may not get carried forward depending on your settings. To have a subtask carried forward when you complete a repeating parent task, you must set the subtask to repeat in some fashion. Subtasks have an additional repeating option of "With Parent" which can be used when you only want to complete a subtask once within each occurrence of the parent task. Subtasks that do not repeat are considered to be one-time tasks that will not be carried forward when you complete the parent task.

4. Repeating tasks and subtasks

In the adjacent example (see image 4), "Buy a new file cabinet" is a non-repeating subtask, so it will not carry forward when you complete the parent task. The "File papers" subtask is set to repeat when the parent task is completed. This means that when you mark it as completed, it will disappear from this month's "Clean my office" task. When you finally completed the parent task, it will reappear on next month's "Clean my office". The subtask "Take out the trash" is a weekly repeating subtask. When you mark it as completed, it will automatically be rescheduled within its parent task one week in the future. When you complete the parent task, this subtask will also get carried forward to the new task.

Subtasks will not be visible under the "classic" view. It is just not possible to retrofit "classic" to use subtasks and this is one of the major reasons why we transitioned away from classic in the first place. If you want to use subtasks, you will need to use our other views.

When sharing your tasks with other people, or when using any of our export options, tasks and subtasks will be flattened out into the same level. This is something that we will be addressing very soon.