Re: [MLO] Outline Task status icons

[Lisa Stroyan]

This looks very interesting!  I'd be interested in seeing the details, though I don't have time to play with it right now. But I've sent a copy to my evernote account (to save the picture, I hope), and to my task-by-email account :)  If you have details already written up and don't want to post here, would you send them to me, lstroyan at gmail? Thanks!

Lisa

On Sun, Oct 21, 2012 at 9:07 PM, JimboDimbo <pe...@pd1.co> wrote:

Hi Guys,

Has anyone tried using the Task status icon technique to quickly show a Task status in Outline view (also shows in To-Do)?

This was mentioned in a post from Jarek on Oct 6 which I cannot find on this forum unless I do a search, but he referred to a blog post here: http://manage-this.com/mylifeorganized-custom-status-icons/

You need to read this blog post, but his really good idea is to assign a status icon to a Task based on it's status.

Based on this, these are the status categories I have developed:

1. Live + Overdue or Starred (Play Red icon)

2. Live (Play Green icon)

3. Scheduled this week (Pause Light Green icon)

4. Scheduled this month (Pause Green)

5. Scheduled after this month (Pause Dark Green)

6. Delegated/Waiting For (Pause Red)

7. Someday/Maybe (Pause Grey)

8. Task is a note (Notepad Yellow)

See screen shot attached.

The main idea I had is that tasks are either (a) 'paused' because they are scheduled, waiting on someone or are tagged as 'sometime/maybe'; or 'play' which means they are 'live' (my term for any task which I could be working on; which is similar to the MLO 'active' but ignores dependencies and the 'hide-branch').

I now find this status icon invaluable to review my Outline. When there are many items in Outline it is hard to easily make sense of all the folders/projects/tasks. Now with the icon status I can quickly see which tasks are 'live' or 'paused'. I know you can filter or zoom, but I like to trundle through my whole list, or at least one of the top level folders to get an overview and prioritise my activity.

Sometimes I find myself prioritising a 'paused' task because I have recent information that changes the status which is not yet captured in MLO and the task is not in my To-Do.

It's not really possible to keep MLO totally current, or at least it would take too much work. So I find that a quick run through my Outline is required most days to check status and keep the To-Do list accurate.

I have adapted/developed custom rules based on this idea and I do not see any other references in this forum to this technique. I would be interested in comments from others.

I have the icons and rules if anyone is interested. I have also written some detailed notes along with these, but I'll see if there is any traction on this before posting, as it gets quite detailed.

I see that v4 has more Outline filtering, but as I said, I still like to review main focus areas (work/home/folk) at times, for a GTD type weekly review.

This icon does not work on Android, but I use that mainly read-only. The idea here is to aid the Outline reviews.

Cheers,

Peter.

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[Petr Urbanec]

Hi, nice!!!
Could you post the *.mlaf file with settings and the source of these icons?

Petr

Dne pondělí, 22. října 2012 5:07:58 UTC+2 JimboDimbo napsal(a):

[m...@grantsmiths.org]

Peter,

Very nice work. Thank you for sharing it.

-Dwight

[Petr Urbanec]

Thank you, Peter!

Dne středa, 24. října 2012 1:50:44 UTC+2 JimboDimbo napsal(a):

Hi Guys,

Yes. Here is some more detail.

Attached is a screenshot of the 12 rules in the Automatic Formatting Rules window. Together with the .mlaf export of them.

As you infer Petr, the icons do need to be imported and license restrictions prevent me from posting them here. They are free to use for personal use and can be used commercially if bought as a set.

I used 16x16x32 .png files from IconArchive (http://www.iconarchive.com/show/play-stop-pause-icons-by-icons-land.html and http://www.iconarchive.com/show/plex-icons-by-cornmanthe3rd.2.html for the little yellow notepad, I wanted a clear difference from the MLO notes icon).

Then converted them to .ico using http://www.convertico.com/

Then imported them into MLO via the Icon screen in the Auto-format window.

I think I am allowed under the license to share these icons with individuals, so email me if you want the .ico set I used (peter at pd1.co).

I also attach my detailed notes (Lisa), but these are a bit rambling as I was trying to justify/test my decisions at each point.

As you may be aware, when importing the .mlaf rules they dump into the top and you need to drag them down to the 'Add custom rules here' section.

The rules require the use of Contexts with 'Waiting', 'Someday' and 'Notes' in them. For GTD people the first two will be familiar and you probably will have these (but maybe you use 'Sometime' which will not work until you edit the @Someday Rule). I also tend to put tasks which are only notes in MLO; which maybe I shouldn't, but for now it works for me. It's nice to flag these so I can ignore them (or find them).

The auto-formatting is surprisingly powerful and quick. This is a strong endorsement of MLO and it's design.

I note that Cloud sync does not include the Auto-format rules. Which is probably OK. I have been in "programmer mode" whilst developing these rules. Now that they are developed I can drop back into ordinary life mode and get using MLO normally.

The status icon really does help me using MLO. I suspect that for most people the Outline review is a key activity and involves scanning potentially hundreds of tasks. The MLO folder/project hierarchy helps, but having an icon to focus on the live (play) and paused tasks is so useful.

I hope people can make good use of these status icon rules.

Special thanks must go to Carl at the Manage-This site, whose blog started this. I have just refined this and produced a simpler and more consistent set of rules/icons.

Cheers,

Peter.

P.s. Sorry for zip file, but got error posting separate files in Google.

[Petr Urbanec]

Thanks a lot for inspiration to JimboDimbo and to Jarek for referring the link http://manage-this.com/mylifeorganized-custom-status-icons/.

I don't like a lot of icons but I appreciate it if there is anything important.

Therefore, I try to use these icons for weekly review and in order to have a good overview in to-do list. The .mlaf file and a screenshot is attached.

Petr (the another one)

No icon 4

I needn't fill this condition everywhere

(IsFolder) or (Complete)

no icon

Missing Context

Sometimes I need to "re-schedule" or "change context" of the task

((Context is empty) OR (Contax contains !Reschedule)) AND (not(IsProject))

Red Exclamation

Ancient Stars

I like to use Starred tasks for Most Important Tasks of the day. But there are situations I forget to delete Star for weeks and it's good to know that the star is rather "ancient".

(Starred) AND (StarToggleDateTime before Today-14)

Red Exclamation

Hot Scheduled WF

I use DueDate or Stars for items in the context of @WF or @Someday sometimes. I also have to wait for other dependencies. But if the DueDate is over, I need to know.

((DueDateTime on or before Today) OR (Starred)) AND ((Context contain @WF) OR (Context contain @Someday) OR (HasIncompleteDependency))

Red Pause

Hot Scheduled

Everyone must meet the deadline.

(DueDateTime on or before Today) OR (Starred)

Red Play

Live Scheduled WF

I don't mind if there is StardDate without DueDate. I use that to postpone for another time. This also applies for @WF, @Someday or for uncompleted dependencies.

((StartDateTime on or before Today) OR (DueDateTime in the next 7 days)) AND ((Context contain @WF) OR (Context contain @Someday) OR (HasIncompleteDependency))

Green Pause

Live Scheduled

If the DueDate is set without a StartDate, I want to know in advance.

(StartDateTime on or before Today) OR (DueDateTime in the next 7 days)

Green Play

Active W Goal WF

Active Tasks within the Weekly Goal are Green. I wanted to distinguish @WF and the others from the task I can deal with it.

(Goal=Week) AND ((Context contain @WF) OR (Context contain @Someday) OR (HasIncompleteDependency)) AND ((ActiveAction) AND ((StartDateTime on or before Today) OR (StartDateTime does not exist)))

Green Pause

Active W Goal

I found out that ActiveAction state is something different that Active Tasks in To-Do so I have to add the StartDateTime condition.

(Goal=Week) AND ((ActiveAction) AND ((StartDateTime on or before Today) OR (StartDateTime does not exist)))

Green Play

Active M Goal WF

That is something similar, but with the month goal.

(Goal=Month) AND ((Context contain @WF) OR (Context contain @Someday) OR (HasIncompleteDependency)) AND ((ActiveAction) AND ((StartDateTime on or before Today) OR (StartDateTime does not exist)))

Yellow Pause

Active M Goal

Did you know that the Weekly Goal is promoted to the all subtasks? Why it doesn't work for the Monthly Goals?

(Goal=Month) AND ((ActiveAction) AND ((StartDateTime on or before Today) OR (StartDateTime does not exist)))

Yellow Play

Project InProgress W Goal

If the "InProgress" project is a part of the Weekly Goal, it deserves the Green Icon.

(IsProject) AND (ProjectStatus=InProgress) AND (Goal=Week)

Green Play

Project InProgress M Goal

That is the same for the Monthly Goals. It is any good for the Weekly Review.

(IsProject) AND (ProjectStatus=InProgress) AND (Goal=Month)

Yellow Play

Project InProgress

What projects are active? Tell me!

(IsProject) AND (ProjectStatus=InProgress)

Blue Play

Upcoming Scheduled WF

I am not interested in future tasks. But the upcoming task attractive. Regardless of the fact I have to wait for the others or not.

((StartDateTime in the next 7 days) OR (DueDateTime in the next 14 days)) AND ((Context contain @WF) OR (Context contain @Someday) OR (HasIncompleteDependency))

Grey Pause

Upcoming Scheduled

((StartDateTime in the next 7 days) OR (DueDateTime in the next 14 days))

Grey Play

Inactive Goal WF

There are inactive tasks within the goal too. Grey colour suppresses their importance.

((Goal=Week) OR (Goal=Month)) AND ((Context contain @WF) OR (Context contain @Someday) OR (HasIncompleteDependency))

Grey Pause

Inactive Goal

The difference between "Pause" and "Play" icons is the thing you already know.

(Goal=Week) OR (Goal=Month)

Grey Play