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start dates

khaled.allen says:

Firstly, I would like to say how much I love rtm. I'm a new user and I've shopped around a bit, and this is the best task manager I've seen online so far.

One problem I have with most of the task programs out there is that you can set only a due date, but not a start date. I like the ability to set a start date for homework assignments mainly, because then I can put them all in at once, and I won't have to even see the ones that haven't started yet, thus I don't get psyched out.

Also, it would be nice to be able to see tasks that are further ahead than a day or two. A lot of tasks need to be started a week ahead of time, so it's nice to have them appear on the list more than a day before they are due. This ties in with the start date thing I guess. A task can be active, and thus appear as a reminder, for a period of time. This way, it exists more than simply in reference to its due date. Maybe if you can set it so that it displays tasks out to a certain number of days ahead of time, instead of just today and tomorrow?

Outlook does this really well. If you check that program, you might get a better idea of what I'm talking about, as I feel like I'm not doing a good job of explaining it.

Posted at 1:35am on September 14, 2007

rajjan ProPower Poster says:

Try this:
1 Add tag zzz to all tasks that should treat the due date as a start date.
2 Search for NOT due:never AND NOT (dueAfter:"2 days of today" AND tag:zzz) (Change number of days to your taste.)
3 Save this as a smart list.

The smart list will only show dated tasks, either due sooner than 2 days in the future (with tag zzz) or due whenever (without tag zzz).

Hope this helps!

Posted 4 years ago

ranbarton ProPower Poster says:

Khaled.allen, you are not alone. This idea has been discussed at length here in these forums. Search for "start date" or "hide until" and you'll see what people have said on the issue previously.

Posted 4 years ago

jkalvin Pro says:

Sticky due dates would be the answer to Start Dates.

Due Date : 15-09-2007 to 30-09-2007

Posted 4 years ago

ranbarton ProPower Poster says:

I admire the thinking behind sticky due dates. Clever.

Posted 4 years ago

khaled.allen says:

these suggestions help a lot. thanks

Posted 4 years ago

ranbarton ProPower Poster says:

Khaled.allen - if you want to use a smart list to help you, without adding tags to the items to "snooze" them, then you can also create a smart list that shows you, for example, over due, due today, and due in the next 7 days. If you wish to be more subtle than that, you can also, for example, show all priority 1 due in the next months, priority 2 due in the next 2 weeks, and priority 3 due in the next week, and unprioritized items due tomorrow.

I just add this here to illustrate how much smart lists can do to target what you see. The zzz tag idea is very clever, if you're willing to add that tags to your items.

Posted 4 years ago

tvjames Pro says:

Honestly, I don't think Smart Lists are flexible enough. I use RTM for every chore around my house. It replaced one I had written myself that included Start Dates. (It's stuck on my last employer's server where I can't update the code.) I honestly don't even know why it's a debate. Seems like a rather easy thing to implement, and if you don't want it, you just don't use it.

I appreciate that you can do somewhat decent workarounds but until I see a Smart List example that can search within the notes field for a date (if that could be done, I'd use the notes field as my start date field) then it's the one thing that keeps me from going pro.

Posted 4 years ago

ranbarton ProPower Poster says:

For the record, I've never said I was against start dates - I simple think it's useful to see alternatives until they are implemented (or I should say, if).

Posted 4 years ago

This idea is considered similar to "Start dates", and all votes have been transferred to that idea.