Add Options to Schedule by Linking, Copying, or Cutting a Task
under review
Eduard Metzger
At the moment you can only schedule a task by copy & paste.
Means NotePlan doesn't delete the task in the current daily note. Instead, it copies it to the target date and marks it as "scheduled". This is ok for some tasks, but not all.
Many users have the habit of cutting tasks to the next day so that only the completed are left in the current or previous day. And some users want to add just the
>date
tag and link daily notes together instead of copying or cutting the task (which is not working at the moment and).The problem:
In addition to the previously said, the fact that scheduling behaves differently in the project and daily notes create some confusion and friction.
The solution:
(see screenshot)Add options to the scheduling, remembering your last selection in regular and calendar notes:
- Link (just adds a >dateto the task)
- Cut (cuts the task and pastes it to the target date)
- Copy (copies the task to the target date and marks current as scheduled)
Additional changes required:
- Rename "move" to "schedule" at the top.
- Create a backlink for >date, except the state of the task is "scheduled" to avoid duplicates in the schedule by copy option.
- Remove preference "Only add date when scheduling in notes" (you can use the options at the bottom to control this).
- Add an info button to explain the differences.
- Remove "Complete Task" to reduce clutter. And consider removing "Cancel Task" (Click on check-box cycles three states)
- Shortcuts (CMD+1...) would behave according to the last selected option.
For consideration:
- Add a "Clear" button to remove an existing link
- Add "move" section to move a task into a project note.
Related:
Matthias
Might be related:
When moving tasks and paragraphs from references it does not leave a trace. This works for navigating todo lists but not meeting notes.
For instance if I copy everything out of a meeting note to its respective list, the meeting note is now not a clear record of that meeting.
Eduard Metzger
Rob Grace Merged your request with this one as it's part of it like mentioned on Discord.
Eduard Metzger
Merged in a post:
Typing ">date" references in Dated notes does nothing to target date
Rob Grace
It does not show the task (or non-task text block) at all on the target date, leaving the user with a false sense of security (and possibly a missed appointment!)
Instead, this behavior should be consistent with
>date
typed in a Normal note: the referenced task or text block should show up in the References section, with a note reference to the source Dated note (e.g. "2021-06-02" as a collapsible heading).This also gives the user a useful alternative to the "reschedule" action (which instead
marks
the task with [>] and copies
the task to the target Dated note)Eduard Metzger
under review
Rhubarb
What do mean by "link daily notes together instead of copying", Eduard Metzger? So far I'm only aware of the (re-)scheduling actions in attached flow chart.
- Green: Must have for everybody
- Orange: Nice to have for some
- Red: Causes most of the confusion
Rhubarb
And here's a flow chart for
un
scheduling.
Rhubarb
And this is how the Scheduler would look like, when all the (re-/un-)scheduling options of the flow charts should be made available.
(For better symmetry, one might also want add "move to daily note …", if the selected task is in a regular note.)
Rhubarb
After some feedback on Discord, I included even more options, so that everybody's wishes should be included. See also: https://write.as/rhubarb/tasks-in-markdown-v1
Personally, I think that only the most frequently used options should be included in the UI. For everything else there is always the source code or a plugin. The green checkbox ✅ marks options, that I would expect in the UI.
And there is still the question of terminology. I don't know, where some of Eduard Metzger's requirements would fit in, eg "create a backlink for >date, except the state of the task is 'scheduled' to avoid duplicates in the schedule by copy option".
Eduard Metzger
Rhubarb: Linking daily notes is not covered by the scheduler right now and not supported in the backlinks. Only if you use
[[date]]
it creates a backlink, but users expect >date
also to create a backlink entry, because it does so with regular notes. I think it stems from the fact that the scheduler adds a
>date
to the task, so you might think you can do this without opening the scheduler UI - which works in regular notes - but fails to work in daily notes.Eduard Metzger
Rhubarb: The backlink part is not part of the scheduler UI. It should behave the same as
[[date]]
or >date
in regular notes. This is one of the current problems. The different linking behaviors. With linking I mean that >date
should create a backlink also
in daily notes.Rhubarb
Eduard Metzger: Not sure what you mean by a backlink "in" daily notes. Do you want to insert text into the daily note?
Rob Grace
I'm all in on this, but coupled with the discussion under "Eliminate task state 'postponed'" (or "scheduled"), I think there's good reason to just leave the task state as "Open" after copying, as long as we append a ">date" link in the original task (so, "Copy-and-link"). See my rationale in that other discussion
Rob Grace
Ok, Rhubarb set me straight. Keep the "Scheduled" state. So, how would you avoid duplicates in the schedule by copy option? Assume it would then not resolve as a backlink, just a task copy in the target note. You'd lose context, but maybe that's the cost of copying rather than linking
Rhubarb
Rob Grace: What do you mean by "linking", when you say "copying rather than linking"? You seem to have a mechanism in mind, that I'm not aware of.
Rob Grace
Rhubarb: Eduard's second bullet under "Additional changes" indicates copying AND using >date (linking). So I wanted to confirm that the "duplicate" being removed would be the backlinked original task in this case (from the resulting target daily note). I think I understand now that the "scheduled" state in the original case gives it special status, so it doesn't remain as an OPEN duplicate of the new copy that is created.
Rhubarb
Rob Grace: Yes! That's exactly what the task state Postponed/Scheduled/Moved is about:
- When the source copy is marked with - [>], itstopsbeing interpreted as an Open task and is ignored by filtered views like Review or Overdue.
- The target copy is marked with - [ ](or*depending on your preferences). It is the copy that shows up in filtered views like Review or Overdue.
Rhubarb
Thanks for writing it up! In this reply thread I'll provide some inspiration.
Rhubarb
Rhubarb
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Rob Grace
Rhubarb: ("no date") interesting. This state is possible in NotePlan (remove >date from a scheduled task). Has a special but obscure role in filtered task searches, but again... confusing for general use