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First issue: creating subtasks Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
If you have an item in the Inbox that needs to go into a project and become a subtask, it takes loads of presses to move it there.

E.g., if I remember I have to phone someone about some detail within a project, what's the quickest way of entering it?

WORK [folder]
+--- Promotional film project
+---- Script
+----- [stuff]
+----- [stuff]
+---- Edit
+----- [stuff]
+---- Post production
+----- Graphics
+-----Prepare logo artwork
+-----Call Jeff to find out which logo <-- I need to add this new action

What's the quickest way?

Creating an item in the inbox and then moving it into position seems to be a complicated process, but isn't that what GTD is supposed to be about? Get it in the inbox, then when you've time, move it into a project and give it a context.

Process to move stuff out of the inbox seems to be:
- go to inbox
- tap the item
- tap the project box
- scroll down to the project
- tap project
- tap "Done"
- go to Projects
- scroll down to the project
- tap on the item
- tap "Move"
- scroll down through the hierarchy
- tap the branch of the tree you want to add this leaf to
- tap "Done"
(If there are already sub-tasks in there, you may need to re-arrange their order:
- tap and hold on item until re-order tabs appear on the right of the list
- drag item into position
- tap "Done".)


This is a hell of a lot of work for one single little action. Surely there has to be a quicker way? Maybe add an item to the tap-and-hold context menu for any action, allowing you to add an action right there in the hierarchy?

Am I doing it wrong?

Last edited by howiem; 2010-07-30 at 07:56 AM..
 
If I'm understanding you correctly, you should just be able to use the tap-and-hold menu on the target project to create a new action within the project.
 
Yes, that takes a few steps out of the mix if you have time to navigate to the right place at the time you're entering the action. Once you've created the item in the project, you still have to move it into its place in the hierarchy, too, so it's a kinda halfway-house.

I think the problem [for me] is best summed up as:
- It's nice to use the Inbox to get the action out of your head, but then it's a real pain to move the item to the right place later or
- If you have time, you can navigate to the right project before entering the action, but the action will be at the root of the project and needs moving into position straight away.

It's kind of pain now, or pain later, and while the pain now option isn't quite as bad as pain later, it's a shame there's any pain at all.

Suggestions:
- Adding a "New Task" option to the tap-and-hold menu for *any* item, rather than just projects, so you can just create the new sub-task action in the right place.
- Revisiting the Inbox review process: The only way to move an item out of the Inbox is into the root of a project. This is... clumsy, and if you've a number of items to deal with, you'd have to keep swapping between Inbox and Project view as you move the items.
 
Another approach: tap and hold on the Inbox item, select Cut. Now go to the project, tap and hold on target location, select Paste.
 
Ooo, yeah - that does make things a bit quicker, thanks.

I'd still like a "New sub-task" option on the context menu on everything, projects and actions, though, and it would be wonderful if we could just drag stuff around as you can on the Mac.

If the UI let you drag actions around (even between projects) then you could have a similar thing to the Mac where the Inbox appears at the top of the Projects page, and you could drag stuff straight from it into any sub-task of any project. That would be the most elegant solution, but it'd require a fair bit of UI work to stop it breaking anything else.
 
I find that once your database gets to a certain size, dragging and dropping from the Inbox on the desktop leaves quite a bit to be desired, and using the quick matching fields is much more efficient. YMMV, of course.
 
I am unable to create a subtask.

How on the iPad do you create a subtask in a project?
 
Create another task. Tap on the task to edit. In the Info pane, there's a Move button, tap it. You'll get a list of places where you can move it. This is covered in the last paragraph of the "Adding Projects and Actions" page in the Help (tap on the gear menu, then select Help)

Once you've got an action group in place, you can use drag and drop editing to move other actions inside of it. Tap the Edit button, then drag actions around with the drag handles (three horizontal bars at the right end of the row). The only catch is that you can't drag an action to be a new last row in a group (because there's no way to determine whether you meant for it to be the new last row in a group, or a non-indented row following the group). That's easily overcome; just drag to the penultimate spot, then drag the last row forward. Tap Done when done editing.
 
 


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