ForumsTips & Tricks[UserStyles] Minimalist style for new layout
[UserStyles] Minimalist style for new layout
| Author | Message |
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cliftonr |
I've posted a new style which I designed specifically to work with the new layout at: http://userstyles.org/styles/51883/toodledo-minimalist-style-for-new-layout
It's somewhat inspired by earnjam's MAC OS X style, mainly in trying to keep the focus on the relevant information of the relevant tasks. To me, having it look Mac-like wasn't important - in fact it keeps the overall look of the new site design - but hiding all the unused options and fields was critical. I can't find what's relevant in a sea of "None" "No context" "No date" etc. Also, I found the default color-coding unhelpful. In the version I've just posted, it also downsizes the top banner and left menu bar to leave more screen space for your tasks and to-dos, and converts the latter into a menu box which pops out when you mouse-over it. With these changes, I find the tasks page much more usable. Try it if you like, and I hope you enjoy it. |
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Salgud |
Interesting. I don't have 'a sea of "None" "No context" "No Date" '. I only have those things in the menus. You must be looking at something entirely different than me. Also not sure about what converting to-dos into menu boxes woud be for. Besides, I would only try a new style, unless I was desperate, without seeing a screenshot. Was just curious, really am very happy with the new face. I think it's great that others offer alternatives for those who have those areas (different browser maybe?) or just don't like the new UI. Each to his own.
This message was edited Aug 06, 2011. |
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Folke X |
@Salgud:
I too like the new UI very much. It is very good indeed. The "sea" is a remnant from the old UI. The 'sea of "None" "No context" "No Date" ' (which tends to obscure the view of more relevant facts on the screen) appears in Grid mode when you have fields enabled that you only fill out for some tasks, but not for all. For example, if you do not have due dates for everything, or if you choose to leave the context field empty for all tasks that are for the "standard context" (saves key entry time, too!), or if you set Goals only for those tasks that you feel need to be looked at together (e.g small projects), etc. I suffered from this "sea" to the extent that I brought it up with Toodledo, and they very kindly and constructively advised me of a very simple way to fix it - anybody can do it - see this thread (last few posts): http://www.toodledo.com/forums/2/11516/0/discreet-at-a-glance-visualization.html Maybe this fix ought to be made available to everybody as a simple checkbox under Settings? I imagine that would be an easy thing to implement, and maybe worth the effort for Toodledo if many users are bothered by the "sea" - but maybe we are just a few ... This message was edited Aug 07, 2011. |
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Salgud |
Ok, I see what you're talking about now, but I don't have that problem. Every task has nearly every field filled out, with a few exceptions like Location and tasks without dates. So there's no 'sea of "no Context" ' on my screen.
I understand the intensity of those who think they can save time by not entering a few fields each day, or by avoiding that great evil, the mouse, but I decided some years ago that the second or two saved this way was so insignificant as to be meaningless. I'm a believer in Pareto's Law, also called the 80/20 Rule. In this case, it means that I used to worry about the time it takes to make a few keystrokes, yet wasted far, far more time each day cruising the web or watching tv when I could have been doing more useful things. In fact, one could easily argue that the time spent in coming to these forums, posting a request to save time using keystrokes instead of mousing, then returning several times to read and reply to other's posts, wastes far more time than all the "unnecessary" keystrokes/mouse-moves that you'll do in a year. So worrying about wasting a grand total of a minute, or less, a day, on additional keystrokes is like worrying about the trickle of water coming into the boat around the prop-shaft seal when the waves are crashing down from above in a deluge, rapidly filling the boat. I no longer worry about wasting seconds in my life, more about wasting hours. If it ever gets to the point, and I doubt it will, that the biggest time waster in my life is unnecessary keystrokes, I'll have to rethink my strategy. YMMV. This message was edited Aug 07, 2011. |
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Folke X |
Yes, if you have them all filled out anyway, then it won't matter. Agreed.
Not filling things out is not mainly a matter of keystrokes, though. The main issue is the fact that things to be noted stand out much better if there is no clutter around them. Thus, if you adopt a principle such as interpreting an empty context as a standard context it then will be much easier to directly spot activities that have some more unusual context, such as "Away" or "Away specially equipped" etc, especially if the empty fields in that column are actually empty - as white as the background. Obviously, you could also have a bunch of additional saved searches to find these special things, each one showing just a narrow selection of tasks, but I personally prefer to have a larger selection on the screen as long as I can maintain a good overview and locate the things I need to see with ease. This message was edited Aug 07, 2011. |
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vihendi |
@cliftonr
Love it! It's what I needed, also like the sorta half hiding of the sidebar ;) Thank you for sharing. |
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Mark.M |
I think that this is a nice enhancement to the new UI.
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earnjam |
Good work @cliftonr!
I'm getting close to done with the latest iteration of the MacOSX userstyle. It's fully functional now, just need to tweak a few more padding issues and it will be ready for the first release. I've also got a few ideas for other userstyles with the new layout. The folks at Toodledo made a lot of improvements with this new layout and it's a lot easier to work with this time around. I'm also considering building some userscripts that would improve the functionality even more (adding a toggle switch for left sidebar open/closed, etc.). This message was edited Aug 12, 2011. |
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