Tasks - recurrence and search

[grahamrhind]

I'm beginning to get the hang of UR now (is that a sigh of relief I hear all round?) I have managed to set up UR to, in some respects, rival dedicated task management packages. However, two major issues still bother me:

1) I understand that recurrence depends on setting a reminder, and that when the reminder is dismissed the begin date is advanced according to the parameters given.

I don't work with reminders in any program - I want the task to stay in my list for that day until I decide it is done (e.g. I give it a flag "completed"), after which I want the task to reset itself for specified day. Programs like Outlook work that way. Secondly, I want recurrence at uneven periods (e.g. every Monday and Wednesday). The only way I've found to achieve these things currently it to move the due date manually every time I complete a task. I find that rather galling. Is there a better way?

2) I have set up search to show me, for example, all non completed tasks. The search parameters are:

Template item equals Task
and Completed % less than 100
or Completed % equals [empty]

When I run this, the search results always also display the templates from the templates folder for Task and for Project. Even when I add a new parameter (e.g. Context contains keywords Work), which are not in those templates, those templates are shown. The only way to get rid of them is to check the "limit search to siblings of current search item", but then I miss other tasks as the tasks are nested in the tasks folder.

Does anybody know a way of stopping the templates appearing as tasks?

Thanks!

[janrif]

Originally posted by grahamrhind
[snip]Does anybody know a way of stopping the templates appearing as tasks?Thanks!

Graham in search I believe you can add item = template name but that might affect your tasks using that template. The other thought is that you make your explorer item a folder (for example) and only assign task template as a child so now when you search you can use template = task as a positive + your other criteria. HTH

[grahamrhind]

Originally posted by janrif
Graham in search I believe you can add item = template name but that might affect your tasks using that template. The other thought is that you make your explorer item a folder (for example) and only assign task template as a child so now when you search you can use template = task as a positive + your other criteria. HTH

Strangely enough, I tried both of those already, and the two templates concerned continue to be shown.

For example, if I add:

and (Item) is not Project

You'd think that the project item would no longer be found, but it is ...

[quant]

Originally posted by grahamrhind
Strangely enough, I tried both of those already, and the two templates concerned continue to be shown.

For example, if I add:

and (Item) is not Project

You'd think that the project item would no longer be found, but it is ...

you most probably doing error when mixing logical OR and AND

How is your search indented?

Template item equals Task
and Completed % less than 100
or Completed % equals [empty]
and (Item) is not Project

[quant]

Originally posted by grahamrhind
Strangely enough, I tried both of those already, and the two templates concerned continue to be shown.

For example, if I add:

and (Item) is not Project

You'd think that the project item would no longer be found, but it is ...

the solution janrif suggested should work, another way to do it is to exclude exactly the template items concerned, AND itemID is not equal ...

[grahamrhind]

The search is now in this order:

Template item equals Task
and ItemID does not equal 1002
and Completed % less than 100
or Completed % equals [empty]

which seems to me logical. Anyway, Project template 1002 is STILL shown!!

I think perhaps the final and/or need to be bracketed to exclude the project, but I don't know how that can be done.

[grahamrhind]

OK, I've worked out how to do this with indenting, and that does solve the templates problem. Thanks!

Template item equals Task
and ItemID not equal 1002[indent]and Completed % less than 100[indent]or Completed % equals [empty]

Any ideas about the recurring tasks?

[quant]

Originally posted by grahamrhind
ISecondly, I want recurrence at uneven periods (e.g. every Monday and Wednesday). The only way I've found to achieve these things currently it to move the due date manually every time I complete a task. I find that rather galling. Is there a better way?

you could create two same tasks recurring weekly and starting on Monday and Wednesday, not very nice I know ... I suggested more sophisticated recurrence and reminders some time ago ... will see how Kinook responds ...

[ashwken]

Graham,

What if you created a copy of the UR Task Template, then named this new Template - Graham Tasks, then use this new Template as the basis for the actual Task Items.

Then searching on Template Name = Graham Tasks - should exclude the default UR Template Task.

Or maybe I'm missing something.

[grahamrhind]

Thanks Ken - that would probably have worked too.

Note to Kinook: my feelings about your help file are a matter of public knowledge. This is a good example to help you to maybe improve it.

Go to the help menu and look for "search". From there you can follow the link to Advanced Search.

In this section I think you should have covered all aspects of advanced search. As it is, you do, for example, mention "Indenting", but you do not mention WHAT this is, so it is hit and miss if a user follows that link.

If they do they get to the indenting section. This explains what indenting does. What is does NOT do is explain HOW to produce an indent. At this point the user has reached a dead end. I had to press many buttons before I found a way to do it. More explanation in the files is a necessity.

Thanks :-)