ToDoList Resources © AbstractSpoon Software

Please ensure that you have scrutinized the FAQ below, all the available menus (including context menus) and the preferences dialog before sending me mail asking 'How do I...?'

Q. Why does my html export have large gaps between each task?
A. You have got the 'Display a space below each task for notes' preference turned on.
Q. How do i change the number of days in a week, hours in a day, etc?
A. You can't at present.
Q. When doing a spell check, TDL doesn't move to the next task when I click 'Continue'
A. The 'Continue' button moves to next word in the current text. To move to the next task click 'OK' (note: the 'Continue' button has been renamed to 'Next Word' in the latest build of ToDoList).
Q. Where can i find dictionaries for spell checking?
A. Here
Q. Can I import tasks from Excel/Outlook/etc?
A. Not at present, but I'm proposing to add plugin support for importers and exporters to the next release after 4.0
Q. When time tracking, the time is not incremented if I select another task.
A. This is by design. To have ToDoList continue to track time regardless of the current selection, uncheck the 'Only track time on a task if that task is currently selected' preference.
Q. Does time tracking take account of hibernation?
A. Not at present.
Q. How can I remove unwanted entries from the Allocated To/From/Status/Category droplists?
A. ToDoList build these lists from the data stored in your tasklist and will remove any items not found when you next load the tasklist.
Q. Is ToDoList able to display tasks in a calendar format?
A. Not at present.
Q. How long is one day?
A. 8 hours. and one week is 5 days.
Q. Can I use the keyboard to move multiple tasks up/down the tasklist?
A. Not at present.
Q. How do I set up a tool?
A. <To follow>
Q. Why isn't my tool working correctly?
A. First, try using the 'Test' button to check that the parameters being passed to your tool are correct. In particular check that you are inserting double quotes where pathnames include spaces.
Q. Where can I find some sample XSLT transforms?
A. Here
Q. Can I get percentage complete (etc) for my entire tasklist?
A. Not at present.
Q. Can I set up recurring tasks?
A. Not at present.
Q. When I edit the priority of certain tasks the tasklist does not update correctly.
A. This is by design. ToDoList gives due/overdue tasks the highest priority so that they always get sorted at the top of other tasks. Likewise completed tasks get the very lowest priority.
Q. Does ToDoList have any reporting features?
A. For reporting needs which exceed simple exporting to html and text ToDoList provides a 'Tools' interface to simplify the running of external reporting tools (eg. XSLT transforms).
Q. Does ToDoList support the concept of a workspace containing multiple tasklists?
A. Not at present, but ToDoList will reload all the tasklists that you had open when you last closed it.
Q. Can I customize the toolbar?
A. Not at present because the icons cost me money. Requests for specific additional buttons will be considered.
Q. Can I make one task dependent on another?
A. Not at present, but you can link to other tasks in the same tasklist in either the 'File Reference' or 'Comments' fields using a custom protocol of the form tdl:// eg. tdl://420.
Q. Where have the system tray notification balloons gone?
A. A user commented that the notification balloon were stealing focus when they popped up which was a nuisance if they were currently typing. I have disabled them until I can research and fix the problem.
Q. Can I filter the tasklist to only show a subset of the tasks?
A. No. This has been researched in detail and the architectural implications are prohibitive. However, an effective solution can be achieved by docking the 'Find Tasks' dialog to the main window and using it to navigate to the items in which you are interested.
Q. Can I export the results of a 'Find Tasks'?
A. Yes. When the search has completed click the 'Select All' button to select all the tasks in the tasklist(s). Then select 'Export' from the 'Tools' menu and pick the option which says 'Selected Tasks Only'.
Q. How can I determine what tasks are due each day?
A. Select an option from the 'Tools > Show Due Tasks' menu item.
Q. Is ToDoList unicode compliant?
A. Unfortunately not. However, I am actively searching for a unicode replacement to the MFC CStdioFile which has a proven track record. Once I find that I will port ToDoList to unicode and provide different builds depending on people's needs.
Q. Can I add words to the active dictionary during spell checking?
A. Not at present.
Q. After I set the colour of a task the tasklist is not updated.
A. Check if you have the 'Colour tasks by priority' turned on.
Q. Why doesn't printing work for me?
A. ToDoList prints tasklists by first exporting them to html and then sending them to your default browser specifying the 'print' verb. It is therefore possible that your browser does not implement this feature.
Q. How can I enable tasklist encryption?
A. Download the encryption component to the same folder as ToDoList and then restart ToDoList.
Q. How can I enable spell checking?
A. Download the spell check component to the same folder as ToDoList and then restart ToDoList.
Q. Can I drag and drop from explorer into the file reference field?
A. Yes, both files and folders can be dropped into the file reference field and into the comments field too.
Q. Why can't I see any of the editing fields that are normally below the tasklist?
A. Check that you have not inadvertently selected the 'Hide Edit Controls' toolbar/menu option.
Q. Why is one of my tasks displayed in its completed colour when its checkbox has not been ticked?
A. Check you have not turned on the preference 'Treat tasks whose subtasks are all completed as also being completed'.
Q. Is there a way to unbolden the titles of top level tasks?
A. Not at present. This is to assist people who manage multiple projects within one tasklist.
Q. Can I disable sorting by clicking column headers?
A. Yes, in the preferences.
Q. Can I rename the fields in ToDoList to closer match my needs?
A. Not at present.
Q. Can I store my tasklists in a 3rd party source control system with integrated support in ToDoList?
A. Yes. Sven Axelsson has produced a number of related batch files which can be integrated into ToDoList as tools. You can find them here.
Q. Can I store my tasklists in a 3rd party database?
A. Not at present.
Q. Can I link to files in the comments field?
A. Yes. You can link to files either on your file system (using 'file://') or on the internet (using 'http://'). You can follow those links by holding down the 'Ctrl' key and clicking.
Q. Can I also link to other tasks?
A. Yes. Tasks can be linked to using the custom protocol 'tdl://' followed by the target task's ID. eg. tdl://42