Tutorial:Simple To Do List Enhancements: Difference between revisions

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Let's begin in the Library Edit screen. Press the blue <big>'''+'''</big> button in the lower-right corner, then select the '''Field''' menu option, and then select the field type '''Radio Buttons''' to add the field to the library. That brings up the Field Edit card.
Let's begin in the Library Edit screen. Press the blue <big>'''+'''</big> button in the lower-right corner, then select the '''Field''' menu option, and then select the field type '''Radio Buttons''' to add the field to the library. That brings up the Field Edit card.


While on the MAIN tab of the card, enter a name for the field. I suggest calling it '''Category'''. Then touch to open '''Where you can edit''', check all the boxes, and press '''OK'''. This allows the category to be changed from within the list.
While on the MAIN tab of the card, enter a name for the field. I suggest calling it '''Priority'''. Then touch to open '''Where you can edit''', check all the boxes, and press '''OK'''. This allows the category to be changed from within the list.


Under Display Options, touch '''Display in the list as''' and select '''Entry status''' so the category will be displayed in the list.
Under Display Options, touch '''Display in the list as''' and select '''Entry status''' so the priority will be displayed in the entry's list bar.


=== Add the categories ===
=== Add the categories ===

Revision as of 19:52, 13 October 2016

« Page as of 2016-09-28, editions Mobile 3.9.7, Desktop 1.0.3 »

This tutorial page walks through implementation of enhancements to the Simple To Do List.

Show only incomplete tasks

This enhancement is done by a user viewing the list of tasks to be done, not by the library editor. It can be done two ways. The first is simpler.

Group the tasks by Done?

Separate the tasks that are completed from those that are still to be done.

While viewing the list of tasks, open the Right-Side Menu by swiping from the right side of the screen to the left.

Select the Group option from the menu.

A card will be displayed showing a list of fields in the library as radio buttons. Select the Done? field, saying to group together tasks whose Done? boxes have the same value. The card will exit right away.

Now, only group bars are shown, one for each value of Done? in at least one entry of the library. Touch the No bar to see tasks that are not yet done, and touch the Yes bar to see completed tasks. To see all the tasks, either open both bars or select the Group option again and select the No grouping option.

Filter the tasks by Done? being unchecked

The following accomplishes more or less the same thing, showing only the tasks that are yet to be completed.

This enhancement is done by a user viewing the list of tasks to be done, not using the library editor.

While viewing the list of tasks, open the Right-Side Menu by swiping from the right side of the screen to the left.

Select the Filters option from the menu.

A card entitled New filter will appear, with a blank containing "User filter" for the filter name.

Enter a filter name, such as "Incomplete tasks", and press OK.

A card will be displayed showing a list of fields in the library. Select the Done? field and uncheck the box, saying to show only tasks whose Done? boxes are unchecked. Press the checkmark in the upper-left corner to save the filter and exit the card.

Now, only incomplete tasks tasks are shown, and as they are checked as done, they will disappear from the list the next time the list is generated. To once again see all the tasks, select the Filters option again and select the No filter option.

Categorize tasks

By adding one more field (Category or Priority, Urgency, Importance, etc) to the library,

  • The tasks can be grouped, sorted, or filtered by it.
  • The Category field may appear in the list as an entry description or an entry status.
  • Tasks may be moved between categories without having to edit the entry.

What field type?

So, let's add a Priority field to the library. The first thing to decide is what field type to use. A Text field could be used, and Memento's Autocomplete feature for Text fields would help a little with that, but it is an inadequate choice in many ways.

Memento has a couple of multiple-choice field types — Multiple-choice List and Checkboxes — and if a task must really be able to be in multiple categories, they may be used, but they come at a cost, as sorting doesn't work on them and they present other anomalies, as well.

Ideally, a task can be in a specified category and in only one category, and if that is true, it can be used in Memento to maximum benefit for the user. We will assume that a task has at most one priority. That makes sense.

Given this, there are two field types to consider — Single-choice List and Radio Buttons. Radio buttons are simple and familiar to most users, so let's use that field type.

Add the Radio Buttons field

Let's begin in the Library Edit screen. Press the blue + button in the lower-right corner, then select the Field menu option, and then select the field type Radio Buttons to add the field to the library. That brings up the Field Edit card.

While on the MAIN tab of the card, enter a name for the field. I suggest calling it Priority. Then touch to open Where you can edit, check all the boxes, and press OK. This allows the category to be changed from within the list.

Under Display Options, touch Display in the list as and select Entry status so the priority will be displayed in the entry's list bar.

Add the categories

Now select the ITEMS tab, press the blue + button in the lower-right corner, and begin entering the categories you want. For this example, we'll use High, Medium, and Low, so the categories can be used to indicate the priority of the task. In fact, the field could have been named Priority, but it could also have been used to indicate local tasks vs distant tasks, his tasks vs her tasks, or whatever else. So, consider adding multiple category fields as needed.

So, after pressing the button to add items, enter High and press OK, then the same for Medium and Low.

Save and exit

Finally, press the checkmark in the upper-left corner of the card to save and exit the card and go back to the Library Edit screen and then press the checkmark in the upper-left corner of the screen to save and exit the screen and go back to the Entries List screen.

Test using the category

If you have task entries already, note that there is a new 3.5-line icon now between the checkbox and the task name in the list. Press that icon for each task you already have to put it into a category. Then add tasks, if you like, to have enough tasks in enough categories to have a good test.

Now you can try sorting by Category, grouping by Category, and filtering by Category; I tend to use grouping more than the others, though if you have more than one category, grouping by one and sorting by the other can work well. You've already seen that a task can be moved from one category to another directly in the list.

If you include Done as a category, you can simplify by eliminating the checkbox for Done?.

My shopping lists have a category for the stores I might visit, so I know what to buy at what store. My task lists have a category for the GTD (Getting Things Done) phase of a task and another to identify my tasks vs those of my wife. I'm sure you can think of more.

Aggregate and chart tasks

If your tasks have something quantitative about them, like an estimate of the time or money it'll take to do them, then Memento's aggregation feature can really help.

Let's switch to bigger tasks now, like the tasks of a project — perhaps building a workshop add-on to your home. Once the time required for each task is estimated and entered into Memento, aggregation and charting can help you visualize the project.

Let's keep the tasks we've defined above, but before we begin, let's change the categories a bit.

Categories of a different nature

It might be useful to be able to see the tasks that will be done by a particular person or contractor. It might also be useful to see the tasks that require electricity or water to already be on, foundation to have been laid, etc.

To do this, let's create two more category fields: Worker and Phase. For Worker, we can define items Painter, Electrician, Plumber, and General, for a general contractor. For Phase, let's define items ...

TBD