Add

This first step for all users is to create their own To Do List, select the option on the ribbon in the My To Do Lists section to 'Add' a To Do List and you will be presented with a form to capture all the required configuration for your list.

The form leads you step by step through the To Do List configuration and after creating your list you are immediately directed to setup the Select List configuration for the list. Once that is done you are ready to start adding items to the list.

To Do List - Defaults

Your To Do List will be created with the default settings and columns. The following provides details for the defaults that all To Do Lists are created with

Configuration

Due Date Warning Days - This setting determines when the warning formats are applied to an item. (Default: 3 days). If an item is due within the Due Date Warning number of Days then the Due Date Warning format is displayed for the row. If the item is Overdue then the Overdue Cell format is displayed.

MAX Hours per Day - This setting is configured on the setup of the To Do List and can be changed. It determines how many hours on a given day that items in this list can be worked on (Default: 2 hours per Day). For example if a list had the MAX Hours per Day set to 4 hours then if a task was set for 10 hours it would need to be spread over 3 separate days

Valid Days of the Week - The days of the week that items in the list can be worked on is set for the To Do List on the initial form (Default: All Days). For example you may have a list that should only be worked on weekdays (eg Work) or a list that is only to be worked on the weekend (eg Garden). This configuration will ensure that you are warned if a task is set to be worked on an invalid day for the list.

Warnings to be Checked - As each item is entered to the list it is checked against the warnings that can be determined (eg MAX Hours per Day, Valid Days of the Week, Overlapping Tasks. (Default: All Warnings are Displayed). The user can elect not to see these warnings, this is not recommended as the real value of To Do List is it's ability to organise and schedule your activities to avoid issues that could result in the activity not being completed by the Due Date (ie Overlapping Tasks)

Columns

Ref # - This is an automated reference number that increments for each new item.

Task Description - A full description of the task / activity that is to be tracked in the list

Category - A list of categories for items in the list (Default: Business, Personal, Training, Corporate)

Status - A list that indicates the status (Default: Not Started, In Progress, On Hold, Completed, Cancelled)

Priority - A list to prioritise the items in the list (Default: Critical, High, Medium, Low)

Calculated Sort (Hidden) - This column is used in the sorting for the list and uses values from Status and Priority to set a value that then determines the order of items in the list

Who is Responsible - Free Text field that can use to identify the person responsible for an activity

Due Date - The date on which the activity is due. This can be changed manually or set by the Auto Schedule

Estimated Effort - This is the estimate of hours for the activity and can be part of an hour (eg 1.5 is 1 and half hours)

Calculated Start Date - This is a calculated field and will use the values in Due Date, Estimated Effort, MAX Hours per Day and Valid Days of the Week to determine when the task needs to be started to finish it by the Due Date

Warning - This will display a warning message if the item is found to "break" any of the warnings that are to be checked (eg Overlapping Tasks). The Warning Message is designed only to show if there is an item that needs to display a warning.

Completion Date - This is a date field that is used to indicate the actual completion date for an item. It can be entered or left blank. The reporting and other analysis work best if this field is entered when an item is completed.

Notes - A free text field to store any other information relevant to the item

Sort

The default sort order for a To Do List is set to

Status - Ascending

Category - Ascending

Priority - Ascending

Due Date - Descending

Blank...

There are 5 levels to the automated sort for the To Do List, you can select any of the existing columns to be included to the sort, you can create your own column and use it in the automated sort.

Key Note: The automated sort for To Do List will use the 'Custom Sort' option that is included with Excel. This creates a sort order based on the order of the items in the list. For example with Category the order of the items in the list (Business, Personal, Training, Corporate) is created as the sort order for Category. If you move the order of those items in the Select List then the sort order will also be changed for that field in that list. For more details on this advanced feature of To Do List see the Select Lists and Sort in the Customise section of Help.

Formats

Each To Do List uses the same formats to indicate items that are approaching their due date, have past their due date, have been completed or cancelled.

As items are entered into your To Do List the colour formatting for these cases is applied depending on the status of the item and the due date.