Task Recurrence based on the Date of Completion
I'm missing a feature which is part of Outlook's Task Scheduler.
When marking a task with a given period for recurrency as done i.e. completed the task should be rescheduled based on the date of completion.
Available in release 1.2.24.
-
@T.J. You are right, I am confused :-) A few more questions about what would happen to tasks when they recur based on the completion date:
1) What would happen to a recurring task with a start date, but no due date when it recurs based on completion date? Say a task with start date May 1 recurs weekly and you mark it complete on May 10. What would the new start date be? May 17?
2) What would happen to the example in 1) if you mark it complete on May 2. Would the new start date be May 9?
3) What would happen if the task in 1) has an original due date on
May 3. When you mark it complete on May 5 (so it is overdue) what would the new start and due date be? May 10 and May 12?4) What would happen when you mark the task from 3) completed before the due date, so on May 2? Would the new start and due date be May 7 and May 9?
Thanks, Frank
-
T.J. Mueller commented
Frank, I think it is great you guys are doing this. I know it is a lot of work, especially when you are trying to keep a bunch of vocal users happy. Thank you!
Regarding this requested feature, I think there is still some confusion. Is it correct to say that currently, a new recurring task date is computed at the time/date of completion, but using the due date as the starting point? That is, if I want a reminder every 7 days, the task dates are seven days apart regardless of when I actually complete the task. That is, 7 is added to the due date, even if I don't complete on the due date. Is that not correct? My request is to optionally change that, so that the completion time/date is used for the starting point. Thus, if I have a the recurrence set to 7 days, the next task date will be 7 days added to the completion date, not the due date. Does that give you a different sense of what we are asking for?
-
@T.J. Thanks, the example makes it more clear for me. I still think the title of the request is wrong; what is wanted is that the recurrence is not based on the date of completion, but rather on the original due data.
@Bo "This is a must" No, there is no such thing as a must when we are giving you Task Coach for free. Now, if you want to sponsor us, matters change of course ;-)
-
T.J. Mueller commented
Here is a simple, concrete example. I need to clean the cat box every other day (repeating task). I clean it on the 3rd, mark the task complete and see a new task with a due date of the 5th. But I'm out of town on the fifth, so don't get to it until the 6th. (poor cat). As task coach is now, when I click complete on the 6th, it adds to days to the due date, telling me to clean the box again on the 7th. Not what I want. I want two days added to the date I actually completed (the 6th), telling me to clean the box again on the 8th. This is sometimes called a re-generated task. Does that clear anything up?
-
T.J. Mueller commented
(New user). What has happened to this request? I would like it also. How about a radio button in the recurrence section of the Dates tab in the task edit dialog. Choices are: When task is marked complete, automatically generate new task 1) from due date or 2) from completion date. Is this what everyone is asking for?
-
Bo Darsenius commented
This is a must. The absence in Task Coach of recurrence based on date of completion - a lot of Task managers have this possibility- and also of recurrences with variable texts (some task managers have the possibility of variable text) makes it impossible for me to move from "My life organized" to Task Coach.
-
@fl All feature requests are basically accepted unless we explicitly decline them :-)
-
fl commented
@Frank Niessink
Hello I am quite surprised that this feature request is still not in the "accepted" list, as it is something that lots of users voted for in the last 12 months. Even if you don't have time to fix it right now, putting it in an "Accepted" status would give us hope. ToDoList has implemented this feature under the following terms: "Calculate next occurence : 1-from due date 2- from completion date" which sounds right to me.
Thanks -
@Nerdie What you are describing is already possible. You can have recurring tasks without due or start date.
-
Nerdie commented
Yes, task recurrence is really a 'must have' option...!
Suppose I have to take the trash out on tuesdays. Now I have to schedule 52 tasks for it, to fill a year. It would be much more efficient to let this be 1 recurring task, which is scheduled again next week, when I completed it this week.
Thus, it needs not have a completion date or end date.
-
mikael commented
ThinkingRock calls it a "subsequent" action - but provides an explanation of what it means, in the screen where you make that choice
-
appyface commented
I too keep Outlook because of these features, and vote to see them introduced into TaskCoach. Both types of recurrance are needed: 1) The next recurrance date will continue to be based on the original date and intervals (paying rent is good example, always due on the 1st even if last one wasn't paid until 5th), and 2) The next recurrance will be the original interval but from the completion date of the current task (kitty litter and haircuts are good examples, next one is always xx days from when last was actually done, and not when it was *supposed* to be done).
Thank you in advance for consideration of this feature :-)
-
danpoirier.net commented
I've seen this described before as "Recur every" vs. "Recur after", which has always made a lot of sense to me.
-
Dan commented
I agree completely with Lukasz. This is the feature that always prevents me from moving away from Outlook tasks because no other task manager has it... and I use it so often for my "maintenance" type tasks that I find I can't live without it.
Other examples of where this type of task is useful:
-- clean or change filters (A/C, water, heating, etc.)
-- rotate mattress
-- change smoke alarm batteries
-- request free credit reports
-- change oil
etc.In every case, this type of task should be done every x weeks (/months/years), but sometimes I don't get around to it until x+n weeks... and then I want the new task to be regenerated x weeks after I actually complete the task. If I want to get pull a credit report from Equifax every year, and am due to pull the next on on Feb 01, 2010... but don't get around to doing it until Apr 01, 2010... then I want the next recurrence to be Apr 01, 2011, NOT Feb 01, 2011.
If Task Coach can replicate this feature from Outlook Tasks, it will be a major win. I can tell you from having searched many other task managers that no one ever seems to get this one right.
Dan
-
kevin.grelling commented
Outlook handles this wonderfully.
Tasks that RECUR do so based on their start date recur every x days/weeks/months etc. (Note that tasks that do not have an explicit start date set have an implied start date equal to their due date).
Tasks that REGENERATE based on their completions (like kitty litter changing) are set to "regenerate x days/weeks/months after this task is completed". Outlook presents recurrence on its own pane with two radio buttons to select the type of recurrence/regeneration.
For a regenerated task, when a task is marked completed, the program code simply creates a duplicate of the original task with the start/due dates calculated from the current date/time and on the regeneration period.
This is a very useful feature for tasks over which you play a part but there are other outside-of-scope resources/variables (like the amount of precipitation's affect on a "mowing the lawn" task) over which you have no control.
-
@hazysonic I think you're right: skipping postponed tasks and shifting the dates are two different things.
@Chris Caven: I humbly disagree. Suppose I have a dancing class every week and I skip a lesson: that would be an example of a recurring task that can be skipped, but that can not be shifted.
-
hazysonic commented
An option to "skip postponed tasks" makes sense to me.
It also occurred to me that you might do a task BEFORE it was due, and want the due date of the next task to be automatically moved forward accordingly.
maybe this could be implemented with two check boxes? One that determines how the next due date is set, and another that skips all postponed recurrences.
-
I'd say that exercising is skippable... But maybe the distinguishing feature is not whether the task is skippable; since all tasks can be skipped or at least postponed. Maybe the distinction is whether, after you've postponed the task, you still need to do the task or that you cannot do the task anymore. So paying the rent can be postponed but not be skipped and exercising can be postponed but cannot be catched up.
How about "When task is postponed until the next recurrence: skip the postponed task" and "When task is postponed until the next recurrence: don't skip the postponed task" (long, but descriptive, I think ;-)
-
hazysonic commented
how about "flexible" and "scheduled"? This suggestion involves how the due date will be set for the next recurrence and whether each instance of the task must be performed on a certain date in order to stay current. But each of these could still be "skipped".
As an example of how an "unskippable" task might still need to be skipped:
Exercise would be a non-skippable or scheduled task, since it's probably done regularly on certain days of the week. But if you are on vacation and miss a week, you would skip 3 instances, and then all future instances would still be "non-skippable"so because of that I suggest not using "skippable" and "unskippable", but "scheduled" and "flexible"
-
@hazysonic: If you are saying that "skipping" or "canceling" is useful for non-recurring tasks as well, I agree.
I don't particularly like "rent" & "haircut" to indicate the two types of recurring tasks as these terms only make sense when one has seen this discussion. I currently think I'd go with "skippable" and "not skippable" (unskippable?) recurrence.