Overview
The Task Editor window enables new tasks to be defined or
existing tasks modified. When you create a new task, the
following window will be displayed. The initial/default values
will be different, based on your
options, the
Task Calendar Properties, and the active
task calendar
name. This window
will also be displayed when opening an existing task, enabling you to view or modify any of the task's parameters. Tabs
are displayed enabing modification to the task reminder,
details, file attachments, and links to other
items. If any data or
settings have been entered on a tab, the tab's name will be
bold to indicate data is present. Tasks are displayed in the
Task List and
Desktop Calendar. They can
also be displayed in the
Calendar View when the
View menu option to show tasks is
enabled.
Toolbar Commands
A toolbar appears at the top of the Task Editor,
providing a number of commands.
From left, to right, the commands are defined below:
- Save And Close - Saves the task and closes the
editor window. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+S.
- Save - Saves the task but leaves the editor window
open.
- Save and New Task - Saves the task and creates a
new task in the same editor window. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+N.
- Delete - Deletes the task and closes the editor
window. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+D.
- Print - Prints the task details. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+P.
- Email - Initiates a new email using your default
email program. The body of the email is initialized from
the current task. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+E.
- Defaults - Expands in to a submenu for saving the
current task data as the default for new tasks
belonging to the same calendar, or loading the
associated task calendar's defaults, which will override the
current settings.
- Previous/Next Task - Saves the current task and
opens the previous or next task in the same editor
window. The next or previous task is found by using the
date and time of the current task and searching
backward or forward in time until another task is
found. The keyboards shortcut are Alt+UpArrow and Alt+DownArrow.
- Close - Closes the editor window. If there are
unsaved changes, a message will appear asking if those
changes should be saved first. The keyboard shortcut is Alt+F4.
- Help - Displays this documentation. The keyboard shortcut is F1.
Task Defaults
The "Task Defaults" button enables the currently
specified reminder settings, as well as the details and other
basic information, to be saved as the default
for any new task that are created belonging to
the same calendar. This is equivalent to modifying the task
defaults in the
Task Calendar Properties,
but is a convenient shortcut. You can also load the default
settings and assign them to the current task.
Task Information
Task Title
- This is a short title or description of the task. There is no
limit to the length.
- If tasks are displayed in the
Calendar View, they will be
titled with the text entered here.
- This title will be displayed in the
Task List and
Calendar View to identify the task.
Calendar
- The task will belong to the specified calendar.
- Clicking the drop-down arrow will display a list of all
task calendars.
- You can type a different calendar name to add the task
to a new calendar. The calendar will be created after
closing the Task Editor window.
- When opening an existing task, you can use the Calendar
field to reassign the task to a different calendar.
- When reassigning an task to a different calendar, a
window will be displayed asking if the default properties of
the destination calendar, such as the category and reminder
settings, should be applied to the task.
Category
- Tasks can be assigned to one or more categories. The
Task List can display task
categories in a column, and this column can be sorted or
filtered.
- To assign categories, place checkmarks in the desired
categories, accessed from the Category drop-down list.
- You can also create, delete, or rename categories by
clicking the "..." button. This will open the
Category Editor window.
Priority
- Tasks can be assigned a priority.
- To select a priority, click the drop-down arrow and pick
a priority name from the list. If a priority is not desired,
select "None".
- The list of defined priorities can be modified by
clicking the "..." button. This will open the
Priority Editor window. Up
to 10 priority types can be defined.
Status
- The task status can be set to Not started, In
progress, Completed, Waiting, or Deferred.
- The status can also be set by right-clicking the
task in the Calendar View
and selecting the desired status from the popup menu.
- When the status is set to "Completed", the percent
complete will be updated to 100%. If the task repeats,
this will result in the next instance of the task being
added to the calendar. If any other tasks have start
dates that are dependent upon the completion of the
edited task, those tasks will be updated to start on the
current date.
Start/Due
The "Start/Due" tab has allows entry of when a task
should start and when it should be due.
Start
A task can have no specified start date, a date
only, or a date and time. Tasks can also start when a
subtask is completed or when another task is completed.
- No start date - The task has no
defined starting date. It can have a due date, but the
start date is either unknown or arbitrary.
- On date - The task will start on a
specified date, selected using the date drop-down to the
right of the Start field. If there's a reminder, it will
appear based on an offset from the specified date.
- On date/time - The task will start
at the specified date and time, using the date and time
drop-downs to the right of the Start field. If there's a
reminder, it will appear based on an offset from the
specified date and time.
- When first subtask starts - The
task will start when the first of its subtasks is
scheduled to start. If the first subtask is reschduled,
the task will move along with the subtask.
- When another task is completed -
The task will start when another task is marked as
completed. This option is useful if you have a sequence
of tasks that need to be completed in order, but you're
not sure when exactly each task will be finished so the
next task can begin. When this option is selected, a
task browser will
appear where the preceeding task can be selected. The
browser window supports the same search and filtering
capabilities provided in the
Task List of the main window. After a preceeding
task is selected, its title will appear to the right of
the Start field. Clicking the preceeding task's title
will allow selection of a different preceeding task. The
preceeding task can also be opened or removed.
Due
A tsk can be due on a date, at a date and time, or when
its last subtask is due. Tasks can also be defined without a
due date.
- No due date - The task has no due date.
If this option is selected, the task will not have a start
date either. This option is useful if you are aware of a
task, but aren't sure yet when it needs to be completed, or
if the task can be completed whenever time allows.
- On date - The task will be due on a
specified date, selected using the date drop-down to the
right of the Due field. If there's a secondary reminder,
it will appear based on an offset from the specified due
date.
- On date/time - The task will be due
at the specified date and time, using the date and time
drop-downs to the right of the Due field. If there's a
secondary
reminder, it will appear based on an offset from the
specified date and time.
- When last subtask is due - The task
will be due when the last of its subtasks is due. If the
last subtask is rescheduled, the task due date will move
along with the subtask.
Repeating Tasks
- Tasks can be marked as repeating by checking the
"Repeats" box and entering an interval.
- You can use repeating tasks to keep track of things that need to be
done periodically, such as changing the furnace filter or
replacing smoke detector batteries.
- The task can be set up to repeat any number of days,
weeks, months, or years. This value will be used to
calculate the next due date when an instance of a repeating
task is marked as completed.
Calculate Next Date Using
Reminder
A list of available actions is shown on the
Reminder tab of the
Task Editor window. Actions can be enable or disabled using the
associated checkbox. Actions that have already been
performed will be indicated with gray checkmarks.
When a reminder is enabled, additional
options will be displayed to
enable the reminder's settings to be viewed or modified. A task can have one or more of the
following reminder types:
Description
The task description/details can be entered on the Description tab using
a full-featured WYSIWYG editor.
- If a popup reminder is configured to show the task's
description, this text will appear in the reminder window.
- If an email reminder is sent, the description
will be included in the email.
- The description will also appear
in the Details Pane when the
task is selected, as well as the task's tooltip balloon when hovering
the mouse over the task in the Calendar View.
- If the description contains links to web
pages or files, those links will be clickable in the
Details Pane. You can also hold
the Ctrl key while clicking a link in the text editor to
open the link.
- The editor also supports drag-and-drop, so you
can drag files or pictures from Windows Explorer into the
Description tab.
The Related Tasks tab enables a parent task to be
specified for the currently edited task. New or existing
tasks can also be defined as subtasks.
Parent Tasks
To select a parent task, click the "Parent Task" text
field. A browser window
will appear enabling selection of the desired parent task.
The list of tasks in the browser can be searched, sorted,
and filtered, much like the Task
List in the main window.
After a parent task has been selected, its title will
appear in the Parent Task field. Clicking the parent task
field will enable a different parent task to be selected, the
current parent task to be opened, or the parent task
association to be removed.
Subtasks
New or existing tasks can also be defined as subtasks. To
add an existing task, click the "Add Existing" button. A
browser window will
appear, similar to the browser shown when picking a parent
task. Click the "Add New" button to create a new task and
assign it as a subtask.
Below is an example of a task that has both parent and
subtask relationships. When a subtask is clicked in the
list, its details are shown to the right. Subtasks can be
marked completed in the Related Tasks tab by checking their
boxes. Subtask due dates and titles can also be modified.
Custom Data (Ultimate Version Only)
VueMinder Ultimate provides the ability to define custom
data fields for events via the Custom tab of the Event
Editor. Custom data can also be imported or exported, and
will sync over a local network when using
VueMinder
Server. See the Custom Data
documenation for more information.
Files
Any number of file can be attached to the task (as
links), using the Files tab.
If a
popup reminder is configured to show the task details, linked filenames will appear in the reminder window.
The files will also appear
in the Details Pane when the
task is selected. Files can be opened from the Files tab by
double-clicking or using the Open command on the toolbar and
right-click context menu. More information can be found
here.
Links
Tasks can be linked with other tasks, events, notes, or
contacts by using the Links tab.
When a link is created, it becomes 2-directional, meaning a
backlink to the task will be automatically added to the
linked item. Linked item details will be shown on the Links
tab. For example, when a task is linked to a contact, the
Links tab will show the associated contact's email address
and phone number. More information can be found
here.
