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Parse assigned tasks forwarded from Outlook

beau.raines says:
We use Outlook at work (unfortunately) and some people have started assigning tasks through Outlook. I can setup a rule and forward it to my RTM inbox, but then I have to manually set Due Dates and what not.

The task emails in fairly cleanly and dumps all the outlook information in a note.

Subject: blah, blah
Due Date: Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Status: Not Started
Percent Complete: 0%
Total Work: 0 hours
Actual Work: 0 hours
Owner: rtm_import_address
Requested By: requestor name
--
Task notes from outlook


It would be really cool if RTM would parse these and at least automatically set the Due Date or I could even set the list through +listname on the import email.

Emily - I have two tasks that start "Task Request" either in my inbox or work list. I won't touch the notes part, but do plan on setting due dates, if you want to check it out.
Posted at 7:48pm on June 29, 2007
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Beau, we'd be happy to check this out and see if handling it on our end is a possibility. Would it be possible to forward one of your emails with the assigned task to us at [old address removed]? Thanks!
Posted 16 years ago
beau.raines says:
Emily,
I just sent one on its way.
Thanks
Posted 16 years ago
bball2 says:
It would totally rock if rtm were able to sync with outlook!
Posted 16 years ago
hypernayte says:
OK, I just discovered RTM (latercomer), but I'm also stoked about the idea of syncing, or something similar. I'd be happy to help, if there's something I can do (testing, maybe?)
Posted 16 years ago
beau.raines says:
I would love to be able to sync with Outlook, but I bet development would take some time.

My initial request was really driven at being able to create a rule in Outlook that would forward any tasks received to RTM, so that all my task management can be done in one application.
Posted 16 years ago
scarson says:
I have just recently began using RTM and I would definitely like to be able to sync outlook with this service as well. As I use outlook for work related purposes, it would be nice to be able to manage everything with just RTM.

Side note, is it possible to sync outlook with any services? (i.e. Google Calendar?)
Posted 16 years ago
blckclbrtn says:
I haven't had the courage to do so yet, since I'm not a coding expert, but you could create a macro via VBA for Outlook that would allow you to "export" Task entries to an Outlook form which would auto-populate the fields RTM uses for email submission into a new message:

Subject
Priority
Due
Repeat
Estimate
Tags
Location
URL
List

You could then create a rule to run the macro for incoming tasks, or just send them off manually.

Since all of my VBA experience is in Excel, this is a daunting task for me. Any code-heads out there want to give it a shot?

- Morgan

PS - I could be completely wrong about this, but I don't think so :)
Posted 16 years ago
ranbarton Power Poster says:
Scarson - you might find Plaxo of interest - it will sync Outlook and Gcal for free.
Posted 16 years ago
glen_a_smith says:
I'm working hard on an app called SyncTheMilk that will be able to Sync RTM to Outlook and back (and the sync source will be pluggable, so will a little work, I could potentially sync RTM to most anything given the time and incentive :-)

Progress is going well and I'm hoping to have something unstable for people to trial by the end of August.

It's a desktop application written in Java, so it will run on Windows, Mac, and Linux (though it only Syncs with Outlook right now, so it only makes sense to run it on Windows :-)
Posted 16 years ago
beau.raines says:
Glen, I'll try it out. I try to avoid outlook as much as I can, but it would get RTM into the hands of more people!
Posted 16 years ago
s3bishop says:
Glen, I would love to try out your SyncTheMilk solution.
Posted 16 years ago
ranerio says:
I also would love to be able to synchronise outlook, my mobile phone (windows mobile 5) with RTM.
I once again suggest SyncML for that, because there are Outlook plugins from Funambol which provide Outlook support and mobile phone support. No need to develop specific plugins.

Another site I find particularly useful is www.scheduleworld.com . They offer google calendar sync and I have my RTM account syncing to google. As they provide syncml support I am able to sync my phone, but it`s quite a burden, because the tasks do not appear in tasks /to do list, but in calendar, which is of course google approach to RTM.

Good luck with the nice project.

Ranerio
Posted 16 years ago
clarov says:
Glen, count me in, if you need help testing your SyncTheMilk solution. I've been looking for something that can Sync my Outlook task list with a web site.
Posted 16 years ago
philiptoews says:
I will be happy to participate in a beta test of an Outlook / RTM sync tool Glen. This kind of feature would definitely make the pro price worth while... ;-)
Posted 16 years ago
david.mcdanal says:
I would like to beta test syncthemilk as well. The main reason i need outlook is to sync my tmobile dash. I can sync to google calendar using oggsync, but it would be nice to sync rtm directly to the tasks.
Posted 16 years ago
angela.randall says:
If you work out that palm desktop .tda format is similar enough to outlook and will work with syncthemilk then I'd be more than happy to beta test the palm side of things. Thanks for putting the effort in!
Posted 16 years ago
david.mcdanal says:
Any progression on the SynctheMilk application, glenn? That would be huge, since no other task sites have this ability. Thanks
Posted 16 years ago
glen_a_smith says:
Yup. It's powering. But it turns out syncing was *way* trickier than I first though... So many tricky corner cases... So its taken much longer than I originally planned...

That said... progress is very good...

I now have a version that supports renaming of tasks on either side, due dates, priorities (though that's tricky since outlook only supports high/normal/low and RTM support 1/2/3/N).

Notes will replicate on new task creation, but I haven't got any updating of modified notes yet... And that's tricky too... since outlook only has a "body" field, whereas RTM has 1->many notes... At the moment I am collapsing the "many" notes into a single "body" entry on the outlook end... Which is enough for a first version...

No reminder support just yet.. either...

It's still got some nasty bugs around task creation at the RTM end that I need to fix this week... Once that's done, I'll have an early version to play with...

Thanks for your interest! Stay tuned...
Posted 16 years ago
angrydot says:
Did this turn into MilkSync or is it still in development? I am also interested in Outlook sync, however rudimentary.
Posted 16 years ago
mydjtl says:
please let me know if this comes out... mydjtl@gmail.com
Posted 15 years ago
mgoyal says:
any solutions yet for syncing outlook tasks and RTM?
Posted 15 years ago
sboerup says:
I think this is the one missing link for me, no sync to Outlook. It already can sync with WinMobile, why not Outlook?

I love the FireFox Gmail application. Using it on the iPhone is a little slow as it's a web connection, but good.

I would really REALLY love it to sync with Outlook, it would be the best Task App.
Posted 15 years ago
cbg3 says:
Yes, please! Sync with Outlook!
Posted 15 years ago
octane097 says:
thirded!! outlook sync would be great
Posted 15 years ago
ssharizal says:
saw something one the net,

www.codeplex.com/rtmos

Project Description
This is a utility project that allows you to synchronize your tasks in outlook with your tasks in Remember The Milk. It is not 100% working yet but hopefully you contribute to it and get it to a working stage. It is currently configured to deploy as a click-once application, but can easily be changed to a regular windows installer.

You can contact me at http://www.emadibrahim.com

IMPORTANT
You will need to get an API KEY from rtm and add it in th app.config and the MyGlobals.vb file
Posted 15 years ago
henri.gillet says:
I also would like to see this syn with outlook.
Posted 15 years ago
maggie586 says:
Any news on syncing with outlook? - I know it would be a lot of development work but so many requests for this have been posted for over a year now - PLEASE let us know if anyone is working on it - just upgraded to a pro account so my fingers are crossed ....
Posted 15 years ago
(closed account) says:
Me too!
Posted 15 years ago
omairsarwar says:
Glen,
Any progress on the syncthemilk? Would love to help test it for you.

I manage my GTD with Outlook and now that I no longer have a BB and can't sync my Iphone directly with it i'm at a big loss.

Any light on this mucho appreciated
Posted 15 years ago
ajayreddy says:
Any progress?
Posted 15 years ago
(closed account) says:
This would be pretty nice.
Posted 15 years ago
lila.balla says:
Is there any reason why you wouldn't want people to sync RTM with Outlook ? I mean it's been over a year and no progress or feedback .....???
Posted 15 years ago
astewart says:
Very, VERY interested in finding a way to sync Outlook with RTM. Whoever creates something like this will be my hero.
Posted 15 years ago
fazimoto says:
Unfortunately, it looks as if RTM is standing still next to other competitors. I'm considering Outlook --> funambol --> Windows Mobile, and also considering Things.app on my MacBook. RTM has lost its appeal.
Posted 15 years ago
(closed account) says:
Any update on this request? I assume it still isn't available.
Posted 14 years ago
(closed account) says:
since most company block any calendar outlook adds on (Milksync is not a solution), it would really helpful to use this function to create tasks in rtm from outlook.

can you please give us an update?
Posted 8 years ago
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