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Using shorthand to add tasks

phantroll says:

When I add a task on the RTM web page, I have to type out the task, then add a due date, URL, etc. When I email a task to my inbox, I can type everything -- the task itself, the due date, the URL -- using the shorthand format RTM provides.

I'd like to be able to use that same shorthand to add a task online. I should be able to click on "add task," then type out my task and the other parameters in one step. A-like so:

"Remember the milk D: Monday at 9 a.m."

Then I don't have to click on the description of the task to adjust the due date manually. Sorry, I'm a little lazy. But less clicks is good, right?

Google Calendar's Quick Add function does a similar thing for adding appointments. When you type a time and date in quick add, it assumes that's the time and date you want for the appointment. Occasionally it's wrong and you have to go in and fix it, but most of the time it's right and incredibly convenient.

Posted at 3:00pm on July 12, 2007

Launchedemily (Remember The Milk) says:

We've introduced Smart Add, which makes it super faster to add tasks. :) Please see our blog post for more details.

Posted 3 years ago

djhanson says:

This is a great idea. I hope it gets prioritized toward the top of the todo list.

Posted 5 years ago

ranbarton ProPower Poster says:

This idea appeals to me. So much so I suggested a close cousin of it 20 months ago. I think the RTM crew thinks the shortcuts are adequate to avoid the clicking you describe. I hope that as it gets suggested over and over, maybe they'll change their mind. Here are relevant threads...

http://www.rememberthemilk.com/forums/ideas/211/
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/forums/ideas/1633/
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/forums/ideas/1923/
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/forums/ideas/2270/
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/forums/ideas/2393/

Posted 5 years ago

kibitzer says:

agreed, this would be fantastic

Posted 5 years ago

brandonh says:

Yeah, I'm a little confused as to why this isn't incorporated already. Seems like a no-brainer. Who wouldn't want to add, at the very least, the due date on most tasks? And correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't use the shortcuts until after you've created, then selected, a task, right?

Posted 5 years ago

ranbarton ProPower Poster says:

I think the idea behind the shortcut approach is that, when you create a task and type enter, the new task is selected so that when you then type d and edit the date field, this can be done without any clicking.

This takes me to the thread around here where people suggest a better help/guide/tip display for users to learn the shortcuts. The most common suggestion is to appropriate Google Reader's overlay approach for that.

Posted 5 years ago

phantroll says:

That makes a lot of sense, ranbarton. But I'd still rather type it out in one fell swoop. Whether it's mouse-clicks or keyboard-clicks, there seems to be a lot of steps involved in what could be a single line of text for a single thought process. It's a small time-saver, but time-saving is what rmilk is all about, I think. And it seems that since the concept is there via e-mail task creation, it's not out of the question. Still, I'm going to try to get to know the shortcuts better and see if that helps.

Thanks for references to the previous forum discussions. I tried a search but hadn't been able to find anything.

Posted 5 years ago

eriktiki says:

I use a Treo to email most tasks to RTM (and review remotely). I set up a macro in my Treo.

I hold T to bring up a new email preaddressed to my RTM account.

I type the task in the subj line.

in the body, I type
.y (the y is for todaY)
which populates my email text with:
L: work
P: 1
D: today
Tags:
-end-

.w (the y is for tomorroW) types in:
L: work
P: 1
D: tomorrow
Tags:
-end-

from there it is easy editing for a quick well-defined task that will go to the correct list pre tagged.

Posted 5 years ago

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