ForumsQuestionsWhy should I upgrade to pro for subtasks?
Why should I upgrade to pro for subtasks?
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dagherl |
Out of the many task management programs out there, many do not support subtasks which is an important feature to me. Subtasks are the reason why I am trying out ToodleDo. I like some of the features that ToodleDo offers but these are the problems I encountered with sub-tasks:
1) There is no subtask keyboard shortcut which slows down list making process 2) You cannot reorder parent items of subtasks (only the subtasks themselves) As soon as you make an item a parent, the drag and drop hand disappears in place of a chart symbol 3)Another thing I found difficult was simply reordering tasks that you do not want as subtasks. For example, if you have three items andwant to move the last item so that it is second, dragging the icon upward makes it a child of item two which is not always wanted. Free members don't have this issue because subtasks are disabled all together. |
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Salgud |
Posted by dagherl:
Out of the many task management programs out there, many do not support subtasks which is an important feature to me. Subtasks are the reason why I am trying out ToodleDo. I like some of the features that ToodleDo offers but these are the problems I encountered with sub-tasks: 1) There is no subtask keyboard shortcut which slows down list making process 2) You cannot reorder parent items of subtasks (only the subtasks themselves) As soon as you make an item a parent, the drag and drop hand disappears in place of a chart symbol 3)Another thing I found difficult was simply reordering tasks that you do not want as subtasks. For example, if you have three items andwant to move the last item so that it is second, dragging the icon upward makes it a child of item two which is not always wanted. Free members don't have this issue because subtasks are disabled all together. 1. Seriously. This will waste about 1 minute a year, right? It's more of a nuisance that a time waster, don't you agree? 2. True. You have to decide if you can live with these limitations 3. That's not what I'm seeing. When I drag a subtask up or down in the list, it moves above or below the other subtasks and does not become a subtask of a subtask. In fact, TD is often criticized for not having this feature. Of course, you are right, this software has flaws. But that's hardly unique, is it? I suggest you spend some time with TD, read the Help pages, frequent these forums, ask some questions, then decide. Do TD's strengths outweigh it's weaknesses? Only you can decide that for you. I'll give you my lists of strengths and weaknesses for TD. Weaknesses: It's ugly. They're working on that. I use a skin that looks better. When you choose the Sort order for a View, you're choosing the Sort order for all Views in that set. I'd like the Sort order to be saved with each View. They're working on it. When I mark a Starred repeating task done, the next task will automatically appear on any Star list. I have to remember to de-star if I don't want the next event to show until it's Start date or Due Date. They're working on that. Some people don't like that there's only one level of subtask and want more. I think it would make a total mess of the interface and create more problems than it would solve. Strengths It does what I need now, today, with enhancements coming on a regular basis. Tags, Contexts, Folders, Start & Due Dates, cloud-based and accessible everywhere. It's not the simplest Task Manager, but I want all these features so I've learned to use it. They have a dedicated team working on improving TD, and better yet, they are here in these forums answering questions every day. These are some of the most helpful, friendly, upbeat forums I've experienced in over 20 years of using online help. (Some competitor's forums are veritable war zones!) Only you can decide if TD works for you. You can certainly make a list of flaws to post in these forums if you like. That's nothing new. We regularly get folks coming in here, taking a glance at TD, posting their list of favorite flaws, and moving on. You can do so too if that's your choice. Or you can take an honest look, give it a try and then decide. If you decide not to use TD, you can even post a friendly "Why it doesn't work for me" list on your way out. I'm sure the developers appreciate such lists. You've got lot's of choices here. |
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Toddbg |
I love the sub-tasks feature and have upgraded specifically for it.
However be aware that TD only has that one level (or three levels if you count folder, task, subtask) |
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Jake Toodledo Founder |
Manual sorting of tasks or parent tasks is a frequent request that is on our to-do list. We have not yet figured out how to implement this in a clean way. I explained the specific difficulties somewhere in these forums, but I cant find it now.
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Saurnil |
+1 @ Salgud's list of Weaknesses and Strengths
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j2020 |
4) Due date of parent task is not automatically updated to reflect the next sub-task due date. This means your choice is to either: Leave all subtasks expanded at all times so you don't miss a due date (thereby filling your visible list with dozens of unnecessary items) or, collapse your subtasks so your list isn't an unusable mess (and end up missing a due date because the relevant subtask is hidden).
Really, the current "subtask" system is more of a glorified tagging method than an actual subtasking system. This message was edited May 27, 2011. |
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Salgud |
Posted by judson2020:
4) Due date of parent task is not automatically updated to reflect the next sub-task due date. This means your choice is to either: Leave all subtasks expanded at all times so you don't miss a due date (thereby filling your visible list with dozens of unnecessary items) or, collapse your subtasks so your list isn't an unusable mess (and end up missing a due date because the relevant subtask is hidden). Really, the current "subtask" system is more of a glorified tagging method than an actual subtasking system. Not sure why, but I certainly don't have this problem. I don't see the current subtask system as a "tagging system". It works just fine for me, and I can't remember the last time I lost a subtask this way. I don't think it's a problem with the design, I think it's operator error here. :) |
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j2020 |
Posted by Salgud:
I don't think it's a problem with the design, I think it's operator error here. :) Perhaps you've never used a system that handles subtasks effectively. Subtasking is more than just a "container" to put tasks in. It allows you to be more effective by not only grouping your tasks, but also by hiding tasks that are not relevant, and drawing attention to tasks that are. Read the following (taken directly from the Toodledo subtasks help page) and tell me if you think it sounds like a good design: "It is important to understand the nesting behavior. When subtasks are nested, they will be hidden inside their parent task and will only be visible when you reveal them. This could cause you to forget about an important subtask. For example, if you have nesting turned on, a subtask that is due today will not appear in the "Due Today" section unless the parent task is also due today. It is safer to view subtasks flattened out because they won't be hidden and potentially forgotten." "Hidden"? "Potentially forgotten"? Do these sound like qualities you're looking for in an organizational system? Basically the options are: Show all subtasks all the time (which defeats the major purpose of subtasks in the first place), or hide subtasks and risk overlooking them (which defeats the purpose of due dates). I'm happy for you that you've never lost a task. I envy you. I have over 150 tasks in my Work folder alone. That's way too many to keep flattened and manage effectively. But it is equally unmanageable to put them in dozens of subgroups and constantly be opening and closing each one to check for upcoming deadlines, etc. Having to choose Due Dates or Subtasking, but not being able to use both at the same time, is lame. This message was edited May 27, 2011. |
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Jake Toodledo Founder |
We freely admit that our current subtasking system isn't perfect. This is one of the reasons why we are resistant to complicating it with multiple levels of nested subtasks. We are working to bring things like task dependency and inheritance to the subtask system and to continually improve it.
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Salgud |
Posted by judson2020:
Having to choose Due Dates or Subtasking, but not being able to use both at the same time, is lame. I use both. Maybe I'm just not making it difficult enough? :) |
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