- A Basic Notepad
- Simple To-Do Lists
- More heavy-weight Structured To-Do Lists
- Use of third party applications, possible with some degree of integration (spun off to a separate discussion at To Do Lists / Work Management: What External Apps may people use? (16814))
I'm not considering integration with third party applications here, as it's an option that Calico Pie are unlikely to pursue, given they've started down the Research Note route. Any such integration is more likely to be achieved via a plugin.
I'm also not considering solutions that don't involve Research Notes, because this is a request for enhancements to CP -- however, some of the enhancements required are more generally useful and are noted if such (ditto if they're existing entries in the Wish List).
For those worried about portability of Research Notes, they can be exported if necessary as Shared Notes using the Export Gedcom File plugin... optionally tagged in some way to differentiate them from other Shared Notes. This should also be something that CP include in their export routine and I've covered that below.
Consolidated requirements (from the original discussion, and some more recent additions on the subject, plus stuff off the top of my head because this is one of my major hobby-horses ):
Basic Notepad
This is the ability to create a single Note with:
- a single free-text note with all to-dos in one place, each one having a text element and a field for Completed
- the to-do list readily visible when FH starts up
This is the ability to create and update simple notes for multiple tasks (about research or other tasks, at whatever level of detail satisfies a particular user), with (everything optional except the Title):
- a Title,
- some editable free-form content (as much or as little as the user wants for a particular item)
- Date(s) -- Created/updated and Due
- a Status field for Completed
- a link to a FH record of any type (or more than one record of the same or different types )
- the to-do list readily visible when FH starts up
- a facility to remind users about (over)due items
As well as the capabilities of the simple list, this could include:
- the ability to link to facts for individuals and families
- the ability to link to queries, reports, and diagrams (so that work in progress can be readily resumed)
- the availability of to-do specific fields for tracking such as priority and status, and one or more flags/tags; these should be user-definable, including any restrictions on content
- the ability to link to a webpage
- the ability to auto-populate a note when creating it
- the ability to restrict field contents to a predefined list (and select from a dropdown)
- the ability to group to-do items to create a 'project' or 'plan' or 'hierarchy' of tasks
All approaches, and in particular the 'Basic Notepad' and 'Simple To-Do List' should be easy for users to apply, especially FH novices. (I'm battle-scarred enough to know that the 'heavyweight solution will have limited appeal )
The Simple and Structured approaches should deliver:
- a To-Do menu item
- a visual indication that one or more (outstanding) to-do item exists (in the Focus Window, the Property Box, the Records Windows and Diagrams -- i.e. all the starting points for navigating data
- the ability to query, sort, filter and report on all aspects of the to-do items based on standard fields and fields defined by the user (including for example to-dos associated with a set of sources or repositories).
- example queries should be provided, so that novice users don't have to start from scratch, and can produce customised versions more easily if required. (Documentation should be enhanced to cover such customisation, for queries and for the relevant Records List Columns).
- the ability to export to-do list items within a Gedcom export as Shared Notes (marked to indicate that they are to-do list items)
Solutions already in the Toolbox
I would characterise CP's approach to implementing To-Do lists as building from a set of Lego -- fine for experienced users, but not so much for newcomers -- a starter kit is required.
The Lego bricks we have to hand in FH7 (and which I would expect to be leveraged in any enhancement) are:
• One or More Research Note records
• Text formatting, including tables
• Embedded links to other records and external URLs
• Autotext templates
• Named Lists (can be used to group to-dos)
• Hashtags (can be used to group to-dos)
• Labelled text for user-defined fields (e.g. Created Date -- Updated Date is tracked automatically, Status, others as required by users)
• Queries for items by status (and other filters) using GetLabelledText function
Exploiting these could be addressed by content in the Knowledge Base, but we have to acknowledge that many users never find their way there, relying only on FH help and the obvious facilities.
Assessing the requirements against the toolbox:
Basic Notepad
- a single free-text note with all to-dos in one place, each one having a text element and a field for Completed -- supported by a table in a single Research Note not linked to anything
- the to-do list readily visible when FH starts up -- not supported
- a Title -- supported by Research Notes
- some editable free-form content (as much or as little as the user wants for a particular item) --supported by Research Notes
- Date(s) -- Created/updated and Due -- Updated is standard; Due would be labelled text in a Research Note, but could be improved with a date picker
- a Status field for Completed -- supported with labelled text but could be improved with a dropdown and predefined valid values
- a link to a FH record of any type (or more than one record of the same or different types ) -- can be done easily from the 'other record' but not from the Research Note.
- the to-do list readily visible when FH starts up -- not supported
- a facility to remind users about (over)due items -- not supported
- a visual indication that one or more (outstanding) to-do item exists (in the Focus Window, the Property Box, the Records Windows and Diagrams -- i.e. all the starting points for navigating data -- not supported
- the ability to link to facts for individuals and families -- not supported
- the ability to link to queries, reports, and diagrams (so that work in progress can be readily resumed) -- not supported
- the availability of to-do specific fields for tracking such as priority and status, and one or more
flags/tags; these should be user-definable, including any restrictions on content -- Supported via GetLabelledText and #hashtags except for restrictions on content - the ability to link to a webpage - supported
- the ability to auto-populate a note when creating it -- supported via autotext templates
- the ability to restrict field contents to a predefined list (and select from a dropdown) -- not supported
- the ability to group to-do items to create a 'project' or 'plan' or 'hierarchy' of tasks -- supported via #hashtags and named lists but could be improved if there's a groundswell of demand (unlikely?)
- A To-Do menu item to easily access the to-do list is needed -- not supported
- a visual indication that one or more (outstanding) to-do item exists (in the Focus Window, the Property Box, the Records Windows and Diagrams -- i.e. all the starting points for navigating data -- not supported
- a visual indication that one or more (outstanding) to-do item exists in the Focus Window, the Property Box, the Records Windows and Diagrams -- i.e. all the starting points for navigating data
- Add Due Date to filter in Records Window to identify overdue tasks -- not supported
- Documentation and standard (example) queries and reports, to cover customising the Records Window, and standard Queries -- needs improvement
- for portability, the ability to export to-do list items within a Gedcom export as Shared Notes (marked to indicate that they are to-do list items)
Based on the above, I think we need the following Wish List items. Some of them exist already, but should be highlighted as requirements to improve this area. Some of them have more general utility, so should be raised as separate items, but ditto highlighted. And some of them are only relevant to this area. Other solutions may exist for many of the items, so we should allow CP some latitude... to conform to their (unknown) development direction.
In no particular priority order:
1. Existing item: To-do List readily visible when FH starts up:
Could be addressed by existing Wish List items Allow Workspace Layouts to be saved and restored and Preserve all Workspace and Window Characteristics, which are more widely useful.
2. New item: a visual indication that one or more (outstanding) to-do item exists (in the Focus Window, the Property Box, the Records Windows and Diagrams -- i.e. all the starting points for navigating data
3. New item: Reminders on startup for overdue items
Could be addressed by existing Wish List item Run Plugins via Expressions with the added ability to run nominated plugins at startup (do we have a relevant Wish List Item?) but possibly better addressed by core implementation... combined with the ability to select dates in Notes via a Date Picker
4. New item: Ability to export to-do list items within a Gedcom export as Shared Notes (marked to indicate that they are to-do list items)
5. New Item: The ability to link Research Notes to Facts for Individuals or Families
6. New item: Restricted contents for a field in a Research Note (and also elsewhere) combined with a dropdown selection box. Generally useful, not just for this purpose. Should include restrictions on #hashtag contents to ensure consistency.
7. New item: The ability to link Research Notes to queries, reports, and diagrams (so that work in progress can be readily resumed)
8. New item: Improved documentation and standard (example) queries and reports, to cover customising the Records Window, and standard Queries for Research Notes
9. New Item: the ability to group to-do items to create a 'project' or 'plan' or 'hierarchy' of tasks -- supported via #hashtags and named lists but could be improved if there's a groundswell of demand