An introduction to What ToDo - a task management app for OS X

What ToDo is a new task management application for OS X. While it is geared towards the popular work-life management system Getting Things Done What ToDo is designed to be flexible enough to be used for your own personal to-do system if GTD isn’t your thing.

My thoughts in a nutshell -

Excellent:

Very cool, small app that I’d be way more inclined to use vs. other “strict” GTD apps. It’s more flexible, allowing you to create subprojects to organize your tasks hierarchically.

Quicksilver integration = awesome

Easy to use and understand interface

A support/bug related email that I sent the developer was answered in under 24 hours

Not-so-excellent:

$29 USD? No that’s not expensive, but there are quite a few GTD apps, and a number of them are free.

Drag-and-drop for https sites doesn’t work (this may be a limitation of how https sites are supported in general, rather than a ‘flaw’ in the app itself)

The 15 day trial is long enough for me to know if I want to buy it or not, but the 25 maximum projects and actions doesn’t let me “fully use it” for two weeks (I’d have way more than 25 things accumulated in 2 weeks).

What ToDo Overview:

1. The first time (and each subsequent time until you register) you open What ToDo, you’ll be prompted to enter your Name and Serial number. Click Later to give the program a try before you buy it.


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2. What ToDo will open and the default layout and settings are displayed. Some example Projects are provided so you can check them out and start to understand how What ToDo works.


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3. To delete one of the examples, select it and click the - (minus sign) in the bottom of the main window.


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4. Click the + (plus sign) to add a new Project or Task. If you want to assign a Context for that item, use the up/down arrows to select one, or just double-click the context area and type one in.


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5. If you add a new context, it will be available to use again in the drop-down list.


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6. One of the neat features of What ToDo is dragging web pages addresses into the Shelf. When you add an item this way, the site icon (favicon) will be added in front of its name. Also, the URL field will be included in the Detail Drawer.


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7. For those of you who have embraced Quicksilver, open the What ToDo Preferences by selecting What ToDo from the Apple menu and Preferences… from the drop-down list. Select the Quicksilver tab and then click the Load Quicksilver Module button.



8. When prompted to install the plugin, click Install.


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9. Invoke Quicksilver and press . (period) to begin typing a ‘note’ (task)


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10. Tab to the Action pane and start to type What ToDo until the What ToDo actions are displayed. Choose What ToDo Add to Inbox to send the ‘note’ from the previous step to the What ToDo Inbox.


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11. Back in What ToDo the new task will have been created.


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12. To use Quicksilver to send a task to What ToDo with a context and notes, follow the format
    

    name of the task @context //this is part of the notes

Update: the above method doesn’t actually work, at this time. The “notes” won’t be saved correctly. I emailed the developer and he acknowledged the bug and will have it resolved in the next update to What ToDo. The format that will work right now is:


Call John about coffee @phone//His cell is 303-555-4567

Notice there are no spaces between @context and //. Another format that will work is:


@phone Call John about coffee //His cell is 303-555-4567

Putting the @context first will ensure notes are properly added.


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13. Tab to the action pane and this time select What ToDo Add Quickly.


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14. Your task will be sent to What ToDo and the context and notes that you specified will be associated with that task.


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15. You can sort items by selecting the View by: drop down list and then the preferred viewing option.



16. Below is an example of your items sorted by Context.


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17. And here’s an example of your items sorted by Due Date.


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For more info see the What Todo FAQs.