The task list

Introduction to the task list

The task list is used to view and manage your tasks. You can create your own queries to group the tasks according to your needs. We'll discuss using queries to organize your tasks in a later section of this chapter.

Task list

Double-click on a task in the task list to open the task editor. To activate a task, click on the circle in front of the task title. Active tasks are indicated by a purple circle, the task title is displayed in bold font. Tasks with two authors are displayed as a parent task with two subtasks. To see the subtasks, click on the triangle to expand the parent folder.

At the top of the task list, you will find the following buttons and features:

The text field allows searching for a task by name, ID, or terms from the task summary.

Searching for a task title

Icon legends and color coding in the task list

It's useful to pay attention to the small icons in front of the tasks. They are related to actions that can be performed (e.g. activating a task), or give information about the task (e.g. high priority). The color of a task also provides useful information (e.g. tasks scheduled for today are blue). To access the Task UI legend click the small triangle next to the Synchronize icon in the toolbar, and select Show UI Legend. Note: If you are working with Windows, completed tasks are crossed out.

Icon legend and color coding for Mac OS X

Creating a query to organize your tasks

You can use queries to organize tasks according to your needs. When you create a query, a folder will be added to your task list that contains only the tasks that meet your search parameters. Once you've created a query, you can update results by pressing the synchronize button . This way, you will always keep up to date with the tasks you are working on.

Tasks organized by category in the task list view

To create a query

You can also bring up the query form from the the main menu: Go to File > New > Tasks > Query.

The query form defines which tasks will be downloaded and displayed in the task list folder. You can specify different parameters as necessary to filter the query results. The form is separated in three tabs: Basic parameters, Assignees, and Miscellaneous parameters.

On the tab with Basic parameters, you need to specify a name for your query and select the repository.

The following parameters can be specified

Specifying basic parameters in the query wizard

In the Assignees section you query for users, it aligns with the Assignees section in the task editor. You need to enter the user name which is used in the task management system, in most cases this is the email-address of the user. If you want to create a query for all the tasks that you are assigned to simply enter your user name in the query fields for Author one, Author two, Reviewer one, Reviewer two, and Adjudicator (see screenshot). If you want to follow up with the tasks that you created, enter your user name at Reported by.

Specifying assignees in the query wizard

Miscellaneous parameters

Click on an item to select it, hold CTRL/CMD to select multiple items, or to un-select an item. If no items are selected, all parameters are included in the query. You should refresh the available parameters if the project structure on the task repository has changed recently.

Once you have set your specifications, click "Finish" to start the query. A new folder for your query will be displayed in your task list.

Specifying miscellaneous parameters in the query wizard

To make changes to an existing query, right-click on the query folder in the task list and select Properties. This will bring up the query form where you can make changes. Hit Finish to execute your new query.

It's also possible to clone a query. Right-click on the query folder, and select New > Clone query. The query form has the same specifications as the selected query.

To delete a query, right-click on the query folder, select Delete from the context menu, and confirm the dialog. This will remove the query folder.

Sample task queries

Ready for authoring: To create a query that retrieves your authoring tasks

Ready for review: To create a query that retrieves all tasks that need to be reviewed

Ready for adjucation: To create a query that retrieves all tasks that need to be reviewed by the adjudicator

Ready to be promoted: To create a query that retrieves all tasks that you reviewed and that are ready to be promoted

Tasks created: To create a query that retrieves all tasks that you entered

Completed authoring tasks: To create a query that retrieves authoring tasks that you already completed

Scheduling tasks

Scheduling your tasks can help keeping up with due dates and organizing tasks based on time restrictions and priorities. The scheduled date is the date you plan to start working on the task. Scheduling tasks is optional, it's a way to group your tasks based on a schedule, but not a precondition for working on a task. Scheduled tasks are private to your work space, your team members won't be able to see your schedule.

There is a wide variety of scheduling options

Scheduling a task

Setting a schedule

To schedule your tasks in the task list, right-click on the task to bring up the context menu, choose Schedule for, and pick an item from the list (see screenshot below).

Scheduling a task in the task list

Following up with your schedule

To see the upcoming dates along with the assigned tasks, their due dates, or desired completion times, click on the Schedule button in the view's toolbar. The tasks are organized in folders based on the different scheduling options (e.g. Thursday, This Week, Unscheduled) has. Use the triangles to open and close the folders and see your tasks. Since the scheduling is private to your work space, it's not necessary to submit your changes to the repository. Tasks with a schedule date in the past will appear in the Today folder. If you change the schedule of a task (e.g. from Today to Next Week), it will be moved to the respective folder in the task list.

Tasks organized by schedule in the task list

Different colors are used to indicate the status of a task:

Color coded tasks in task list

Click on the Focus on Workweek icon in the toolbar to see the tasks that are scheduled for the next seven days. In this mode, unscheduled tasks or tasks that are further in the future will not appear.