ForumsTips & TricksThe Real Power of TD, Saved Searches
The Real Power of TD, Saved Searches
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Salgud |
I've noticed a number of posts lately asking questions about views that don't come with TD in it's native form.I'm getting the impression that many users don't fully understand the power of Saved Searches, and how they can access the real depth of TDs capabilities. So I've decided to post what I consider to be a good example of a Saved Search, one I use literally every day and is the basis of my application of TD.
Below are the criteria for my custom Hotlist, which I use because the canned one just doesn't work for me (I tried to take a pic of mine and post it here, but Imageshack kept telling me to try to upload the image later (I tried different images) and Imgur wanted me to enter a CAPCHA code but wouldn't provide one to enter!.) Checked Off | No and Folder | Is not | Templates and Status | Is not | Canceled and Due date | is before | tomorrow or Start date | is before | tomorrow or Due Date | doesn't exist and Status | is | next action or Start date | is before | tomorrow or Due Date | doesn't exist or Starred | yes Basically, this Saved Search blocks any of my templates or canceled tasks from being included, and allows tasks with Due Date or Start Date today or earlier (before tomorrow). Starred tasks allow me to override all the other criteria and put them on my Hotlist, which I occasionally need to do. So any task due or overdue automatically appears on my hotlist, as well as Next Actions, as long as they don't have a Start Date or Due Date that hasn't occurred yet. This allows me to "funnel" down my list of tasks to a more manageable list to review each day to determine what to work on. This list usually contains more tasks than I can work on in a day, so I simple Star the ones I want to do and work from my Starred list. By the way, my Starred list is in my Saved Searches list, and simply emulates the Starred list available in the Main list of views, so I don't have to even leave the Saved Searches page to use it. I hope this helps to elucidate the convenience and power of Saved Searches. I'd certainly be interested in seeing how others use them, and welcome comments on this one. This message was edited Nov 18, 2015. |
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dtssantosh |
hii,
This is a good initiative.. lets share our saved Search which we use on a daily basis. Here's mine, Ive named it "Dashboard" ( I use Pocket Informant on my iOS device) Checked Off | No and Folder | Is not | Templates and Status | Is not | Canceled and Due date | is before | tomorrow or Status I is I Next Action Or Priority I is I Top Or Priority I is I High Or Starred I is I Yes Regards. Santosh |
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wsdupre_1423666212 |
When I use the following filter in a saved search:
Due date | is before | Today The search goes back to the day I created the saved search rather than "Today" It is absolute rather than relative. Am I missing something? |
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Salgud |
Did you type in "Today" or select it from the date picker? The date picker will use the date you created the search, the typed word will use "today" no matter what date you entered it.
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dave.erwin |
Here's the problem I have with saved searches: it doesn't always play nicely with subtasks.
Let's take a simple example and say that I have a Grocery List. So I have a Task "Grocery" with a due date of today. That task has three SubTasks "Peas", "Carrots" and "Apples", none of which have a due date. If I create a search that looks for: Due Date | is | Today ...it will find the "Grocery" task, but not the three SubTasks. It will actually display a button saying "three subtasks not shown" and give me an option to manually show them, but this is obviously laborious to do for every parent task, every time the list is refreshed. Aaahh, but you say, "you could just give your SubTasks a due date and avoid this". Not quite. Two reasons: first, if I do that, each of the SubTasks will display on it's own and look like it's own parent task. Instead of a parent and three subs, I'll have four parents. I often find myself confused because random tasks appear that I wasn't expecting, until I realize they were supposed to be part of a SubTask. Not the end of the world, but this is far from efficient. The second reason is that I might not have time to go to the grocery today and I need to change the date to tomorrow instead (this happens frequently on many of my tasks, no judging, haha). It's not too big of a deal to change that grocery date to tomorrow, but what if I had 12 SubTasks under that and I need to update the date on each of them too? What a pain! (yes I know there are ways to batch edit tasks, but I'm not really interested in that). This has bothered me for a while. I've tried to use saved searched because I realize the power they can contain. But this quirk has made it too ineffective to rely on. Any thoughts, suggestions, commiserating? |
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Salgud |
Posted by dave.erwin:
(yes I know there are ways to batch edit tasks, but I'm not really interested in that). Reconsider. It's like saying, "I want to fix my car, but I don't like wrenches." This message was edited Mar 02, 2016. |
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dave.erwin |
Posted by Salgud:
Reconsider. It's like saying, "I want to fix my car, but I don't like wrenches." No, it's not an efficient way to fix the problem I'm having as I described in my post. To use your analogy, if I have a flat tire, I want to replace the tire with a new one. I don't want to keep patching it. It's better to fix the source of the problem than have a work-around. I'm looking for solutions to the problem I described, not suggestions to do it the hard way. |
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Salgud |
Okay, so you have a flat tire, and only a box wrench to remove the lugs. It would be better if you had a socket wrench, but you don't have one in your toolkit. So do you curse the box wrench, or fix the tire with it?
Notice you've gotten no replies other than mine in 2 days, indicating that the "hard way" is the only way other than the "even harder way" you've mentioned. Your choice, of course. Meanwhile, my tires fixed and I'm headin' down the highway. Best of luck! |
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