Sorting Checklists When Tasks Are Checked Off

[postitnotes 2]

Does anyone know how to sort checklists by automatically moving checked off items to the bottom of the list? There is a lot of other note making software that offers this handy feature so it would make sense that something as powerful as Evernote would offer this.

[jefito 5,589]

Were Evernote primarily intended to be a To-do list application, maybe so, but it isn't. That being said, got To-do items inside a single note, there's no really way to do it except moving them by hand. If you have a task per note, then you can the todo: search option to filter for todo items, either checked, or unchecked or both.

[postitnotes 2]

Evernote Evangelist,

If Evernote is going to give checklist functionality to their product then I believe they s/ give it To-do list functionality as well. A quick check of the definition of checklist comes up with the following:

"A list of items required, things to be done, or points to be considered, used as a reminder."

When you check off a checklist box you s/ have the option of that entry automatically being moved out of the way to the bottom of the list so you don't have to keep on reading it every time you look at your To-do list. The list can be revived daily or weekly by unchecking all.

I believe this will improve checklist functionality of Evernote significantly.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Evernote Evangelist,

If Evernote is going to give checklist functionality to their product then I believe they s/ give it To-do list functionality as well. A quick check of the definition of checklist comes up with the following:

"A list of items required, things to be done, or points to be considered, used as a reminder."

When you check off a checklist box you s/ have the option of that entry automatically being moved out of the way to the bottom of the list so you don't have to keep on reading it every time you look at your To-do list. The list can be revived daily or weekly by unchecking all.

I believe this will improve checklist functionality of Evernote significantly.

As Jefito pointed out, Evernote's focus is not to be yet another to do list/task manager. Yes, they allow checkboxes in the notes. Whether you think they should augment that functionality or not is irrelevant...they have chosen not to do so. There are many fine to do lists/task managers out there & I know at least some of them have this capability. IE, there is a fine iOS app called Egretlist that allows editing check list notes from Evernote. However, even it does not move any items to the bottom of the list when they are checked off.

[jefito 5,589]

Dear Member, er, postitnotes (note that user names are located at the top-left of the post, in green; the Evernote forum group that the user belongs to, e.g. "Evernote Evangelist", "Member", "Browncoat", etc. are located underneath the user's picture/avatar),

What you quoted as the definition of checklist ("A list of items required, things to be done, or points to be considered, used as a reminder.") is fine. But that does not imply the behavior that you recommended is required for to-do functionality:

When you check off a checklist box you have the option of that entry automatically being moved out of the way to the bottom of the list so you don't have to keep on reading it every time you look at your To-do list. The list can be revived daily or weekly by unchecking all. I believe this will improve checklist functionality of Evernote significantly.

Convenient, maybe. Required, no.

Frankly, that's not the sort of behavior that I'd like to see, if it were totally automatic. I often mix nested, multi-level bullet lists and checklists, in which list order is more important than checkbox location, and I don't want Evernote moving things around on me automatically (not to mention that it might be tricky to determine the location of a moved item in such a list). So, ok, maybe in constrained lists, and maybe with an option to enable/disable the behavior, but all of that's ripe for user confusion.

So it's not a bad idea, but there may be more to it that you supposed, and while the checkboxes are handy, again, Evernote's primary focus is not to be a dedicated, first-class task management application.

[Stuj 2]

I read a lot about it not being "another to do" list but what I don't understand is what it is trying to be.

If it is a filing system for "stuff" or a filing system of "stuff I want to share" then I wonder why you would want to keep stuff or share stuff if not to create action.

If you are trying to create action then progressing action seems fairly fundamental.

 

I buy into the view that it could just be about "stuff", but then I see that Evernote has a "for business" product.

And that's where I am again confused.

 

Given the proportion of posts written about Evernote being about this feature, will Evernote listen to it's users and become a better, more relevant product?

Anybody that doesn't need the feature of course, doesn't have to use it.

 

This post is from a premium user running a £100m turnover business with 200 staff exploring the functionality of Evernote for use across the business.

[jefito 5,589]

I read a lot about it not being "another to do" list but what I don't understand is what it is trying to be.

If it is a filing system for "stuff" or a filing system of "stuff I want to share" then I wonder why you would want to keep stuff or share stuff if not to create action.

If you are trying to create action then progressing action seems fairly fundamental.

To my mind, it's a big general purpose filing cabinet for storing and categorizing all sorts of information. It has some ability to create information as well, but it tends to focus on ways to get information into Evernote. You can share that information with others, in a coarse-grained way.

This works pretty well for research-related tasks (mine is usually software development) where you don't necessarily need to make "actions". Yes, I do have tasks that I work on, and I can track them pretty easily in Evernote, and attach links to other related notes in the database or web-based documents, but I don't need it to be a full-blown GTD system. I just need a light-duty todo/reminder system (I generally only work on a small number of tasks at any one time, and scheduling is handled elsewhere in the company in a different product) and Evernote's fills the bill for me.

I understand the other users want more from Evernote, but any company that makes software is determines their own priorities around what they want to produce vs. what customers (actual and potential) and level of effort to produce the additional functionality. Personally, I don't believe that they're interested in doing narrowly targeted solutions at this time, but that's just a guess.

Oh, and it's also an API for third-party developers to use the Evernote services to produce more specifically targeted solutions.

 

I buy into the view that it could just be about "stuff", but then I see that Evernote has a "for business" product.

And that's where I am again confused.

The business product, so far as I can tell, is intended for sharing information and collaboration.

 

Given the proportion of posts written about Evernote being about this feature, will Evernote listen to it's users and become a better, more relevant product?

Anybody that doesn't need the feature of course, doesn't have to use it.

So what is the proportion of posts written about this feature you're citing? And relevant to what? You do realize that Evernote services a broad range of user needs. It's fine to listen to your users -- and Evernote does -- but when what they want doesn't jibe with what you want to produce, then that's a choice that only evernote can make.

 

This post is from a premium user running a £100m turnover business with 200 staff exploring the functionality of Evernote for use across the business.

Sounds like you ought to be more specific in laying out what you're trying to do in general, and with Evernote, otherwise we're just guessing at what you want.

[sallyk 0]

New user wanting to sort to-do list. Should be able to remove completed either delete or move to.category for filing or ? Amazed at the extended & multiple requests for this option--from 2011!!--without response.

[jefito 5,589]

New user wanting to sort to-do list. Should be able to remove completed either delete or move to.category for filing or ? Amazed at the extended & multiple requests for this option--from 2011!!--without response.

You should consider looking into using Evernote's Reminders for this, rather than checkboxes in a note. Reminders are notes with a due date; if you use one reminder per task, that might suffice.

[sallyk 0]

Thanks. Will see if that works for me.

[jefito 5,589]

Thanks. Will see if that works for me.

If you have more questions about using reminders, just ask -- it's not for everyone, but it happens to work pretty well for me -- I actually use a mix; somethings I keep a checklist in a note; each item in the list is linked to a separate task note. As I work through the checklist, I pull the particular task notes into focus by putting a reminder date on the ones that I'm planning on working on in the current week (it's usually a small number, 1 - 7 or so). As I finish tasks, I mark their reminders as done, and move them to a journal, and then check the associated checkbox.

[Vineyard Paul 0]

+1 for sorting of checklists by complete...

[WZW 0]

I've just started using Evernote (bought the premium version). I use it for many things, but sorting checklists in a note, and preferably moving checked off items to an archive (other note) is at the top of my wish list. I don't want to have to use another solution for this outside Evernote. I purchased Evernote, because I want to keep track of everything in one place. This means files, but also the tasks linked to those files, tasks that come up in email etc. I was frankly quite surprised (and disappointed) that Evernote doesn't have the feature. I'm now copying things over by hand, which seems rather silly.

[Kanever 0]

Evernote team - please incorporate this functionality. Very useful for users, easy to implement, and offered by many alternative apps. 

 

Items on a to do list should automatically move to the bottom of the note or an archive note when ticked.