5.1 Tasks

Let us start by creating a task labelled

     Join http://mail.gna.org/listinfo/planner-el-discuss/

From anywhere (even this info buffer!), call M-x planner-create-task-from-buffer to create a new task. Fill in the description and choose a date by:

• typing 1 - 31 to put the task on that day of the month,
• accepting the default (today) by pressing RET,
• selecting the date with mouse-1,
• typing +n (where in is an integer) to schedule the task in n days time, or
• typing nil to make an undated task.

For now, accept the default (‘today’) by pressing <RET>.

You will then be prompted for a plan page. Plan pages gather related tasks and notes, giving you an overview of what you've done so far. You can accept the default TaskPool, create your own plan page, or specify nil to make a task that is not associated with a plan page. For now, accept the default (‘TaskPool’) by pressing RET.

You have created your first task. View today's page with M-x planner-goto-today. You will see a line of the form

     #B  _ Join http://mail.gna.org/listinfo/planner-el-discuss/ (TaskPool)

If you created the task from this page, then there will be an additional annotation:

     #B  _ Join http://mail.gna.org/listinfo/planner-el-discuss/ : Tasks (TaskPool)

The URL, ‘TaskPool’ and ‘Getting Started’ are hyperlinks. You can use TAB and S-TAB to navigate between them and RET to follow the link.

Create more tasks using M-x planner-create-task-from-buffer. This is bound to C-c C-t in planner-mode pages for your convenience. For example, create the following tasks:

• ‘Describe my current way of working and how I would like to work’, for three days from now (‘+3’),
• ‘Learn how to schedule a task’, an undated task (nil) on the TaskPool page,
• ‘Browse through the Planner info manual’ for today (. or accept the defaults), and
• ‘Add (plan) to the end of my [[~/.emacs]]’ for today, but without a plan page (specify nil at the plan page prompt)

Tip: I bind planner-create-task-from-buffer to "F9 t" so that I can easily call it from anywhere. You can do that with this elisp fragment: (global-set-key (kbd "<f9> t") 'planner-create-task-from-buffer)

Next, visit the TaskPool by:

• <TAB>-bing or using the cursor and typing <RET> to follow the link,
• C-x C-f TaskPool RET to use find-file, or
• C-c C-f TaskPool RET to use muse-project-find-file

You can see an overview of the tasks as scheduled on different days. Unlike many personal information managers that store all of your data in one file and then perform magic in order to present different views, Planner uses plain text files. The data is duplicated and kept updated by functions. This makes it simpler and easier to modify, because what you see is (almost) what you get. On the other hand, you'll need to get used to either editing both files, or using the built-in functions for editing and updating files. If you prefer not to work with linked tasks, you can configure Planner to use only plan pages or use only day pages.

The TaskPool page should list the tasks you created earlier. Go to the one named Learn how to schedule a task . Type C-c C-c (planner-copy-or-move-task) to schedule the task. Type RET to accept the default (today). Go to the day page by following the link or calling M-x planner-goto (C-c C-j C-d or the menu bar); you will see the newly-created task there. You can also use C-c C-c (planner-copy-or-move-task) to reschedule a task to an earlier or later date.

Well, that task is done. To mark the task as completed, type C-c C-x (planner-task-done). You can also edit the status manually (change _ to X) as long as you remember to call M-x planner-update-task to update the link page as well. Updating relies on the task description being the same, so do not edit this manually.

Quick summary of commands:

• Go to today's page: M-x plan to carry unfinished tasks forward, or M-x planner-goto-today to just go to today's page.
• Create a task: C-c C-t (planner-create-task-from-buffer), or type a task manually (call M-x planner-update-task if the task is linked)
• Mark a task as done: C-c C-x (planner-task-done), or edit the task and call M-x planner-update-task
• Edit a task description: M-x planner-edit-task-description
• Reschedule a task: C-c C-c (planner-copy-or-move-task)
• Reschedule many tasks: Mark a region and use M-x planner-copy-or-move-region
• Change the plan of a task: M-x planner-replan-task, or do C-c C-c (planner-copy-or-move-task) and type in a plan page rather than a date
• Delete a task: M-x planner-delete-task
• Reorder tasks: <M-p> (planner-raise-task) and <M-n> (planner-lower-task), or normal editing commands like kill and yank
• Change task priorities (‘#A’ > ‘#B’ > ‘#C’): <C-M-p> (planner-raise-task-priority) and <C-M-n> (planner-lower-task-priority), or edit the task and call M-x planner-update-task.

You can save your tasks with C-x C-s the same way you save any other file, or Emacs will prompt you to save it when you exit.