Question: Can I assign a different hotkey to each of my Tags?

[John Smith]

Hello

Is it possible to assign a tag to the currently selected task(s) using a user-defined hotkey (keyboard short-cut) ?

Ideally it should toggle on/off.

Fwiw, this is something that MLO allows and which I used to use all the time!  

With thanks

J 

[.dan.g.]

This is not currently possible.

>> Fwiw, this is something that MLO allows and which I used to use all the time!  

Then why are you not sticking with MLO?

[John Smith]

No, MLO is deeply flawed.

In many ways MLO is brilliant - massively configurable and very good at doing various things. I 'lived there' recently for about 12 months.

However from a GTD perspective the deep problem in MLO there is no field for Area of Life and no field for action status (Waiting, Someday-maybe, Active etc) . And there are no spare fields that can successfully be used as such. And given the fairly high number of tasks that I had on the system (including 'Somedays' I usually have c. 400 -500 tasks)... every single workaround I tried had nasty unintended consequences. 

By the end, The Monkey's Paw kept coming to mind! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey%27s_Paw 

I must have tried about 8 fundamentally different ways of structuring my data and trying totally different workarounds, but in the end the problem with MLO is that it's database architecture is fundamentally screwed for GTD use.

Coming from MLO, what is particularly refreshing about TDL is the number of data fields, and the ability to set up your own and even define various things about them (e.g. type of list etc) is a real breath of fresh air. 

Unlike TDL, MLO also fails to let you control what fields 'inherit' from parents.

I participated quite a lot in the MLO forum, but the developers themselves were extremely unresponsive, and also had very VERY slow iteration times. Moreover most of the other users seemed to shudder at yet more complexity being added to an already confusing and cluttered interface. So eventually I was forced to jump ship.

J

[.dan.g.]

>> Moreover most of the other users seemed to shudder at yet more complexity being added to an already confusing and cluttered interface

This is a very real issue though.

The answer to an app not meeting everyone's needs is not to add every feature that would meet their needs.

That would be an unmitigated disaster.

There must always be compromises on both sides.

[Alex]

1. Create a UDT (Tool name: Tag NOTE; Path: your path to ToDoList.exe; Arguments: -tg NOTE)
2. Assign a shortcut to the UDT (Preferences-Keyboard Shortcuts-User Defined Tool 1.
3. assign any currently selected task a NOTE tag by pressing the shortcut.

[John Smith]

Fair enough but have you seen the MLO interface? That horse has already left the stable. The UI is already pretty much an "unmitigated disaster" and users are required to build their own systems from the ground up and spend countless man-hours doing so.

I spent a fair while on MLOs forums seeking advice, and every single user seemed to be using it utterly, utterly differently, which is fine but it does take quite a lot of time to set up in order to get anything even vaguely usable. 

What is a total disaster is when it turns out that the system simply cannot be built that complies with some fairly simple user requirements, no matter how many man-hours are involved, particularly when the user-requirements aren't so unusual. Particularly when if they were too concerned about UI clutter all they really needed to do was add 2 or 3 custom task attributes deep in the menuing system somewhere.

Re compromising - agreed - it is important that one type of use does not significantly interfere with another type of use.

J

[Alex]

I do know something about MLO, I've bought a PRO license for it and was a heavy user for some time.
I've been using GTD practice making things simple, then overcomplicating them, and now back the origins - as simple as it can be but not too much.
Finding the balance is a painful route, because mostly not the application (the tool) that you use what is important but your overall needs (personal/work/business), requirements (office regulations and restrictions if you are office-mounted, or attempts to keep yourself organized if you are a freelancer), overall knowledge (which can be a burden sometimes when you get overwhelmed by it and its 'false' requirements which are not actually yours, but apt to some doctrine (GTD, Covey, pomodoro, kanban, list vs tree view, you name it). So in the end this is you to develop your Life Action Plan. OR you get a piece of ready philosophy, say, MS Outlook, imposed or intentially, read documentation and help which is available and enough to cover the needs of 90% of the people using it.
My view on this - ask quiestions, if something is unclear, get responses, be ready to dig more, keep experimenting but don't expect to find a solid solution right away and for a long time. My own practice has changed drastically since I started to implement it and it is undergoing some tuning now as well.
Btw, if you think TDL is a difficult tool to handle try out Org Mode, that's where you'll find a lot of shortcuts, extensive features an so on (although my suspicion is that TDL itself is somewhat Org Mode on GUI steroids, because I cannot recall a single application that gives you such a freedom for customization;)

[John Smith]

I had a quick look at Org Mode. Yes it certainly is clever can it do things like showing the Next [n] Tasks per Project?

J

[Alex]

It's a bit of offtopic but..
http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode
You can use this source as a vivid example of main concepts of Org Mode as well as an opportunity to borrow some ideas/approaches.
But if it comes to Windows-based applications to me TDL has no rivals there.
Regarding your question: I think yes (http://doc.norang.ca/block-agenda-nonproject.png).

[Tony G]

THIS is the answer!