Organise tasks into projects, folders and sections

Three layers, from the outside in. A folder holds projects, a project holds tasks, and a section splits one project’s tasks into blocks. Only the project is stored on the server; the other two are yours alone.

Read the rail

The left rail has two groups. Views lists Overdue, Today, Upcoming, Inbox and Someday with a count each. Overdue is missing when nothing is overdue rather than sitting there as a zero.

Projects lists your projects under it, pinned ones first. Past 8 loose projects the list folds and the last row reads Show 4 more, or whatever the number is. Show fewer closes it again.

Make a project

To make one:

1. Press the + on the Projects header.
2. Pick New project.
3. Type the name and press Enter.

The rail names it in place. On a phone the same choice opens a New project window with the box reading e.g. Clients. Either way you land in the new project rather than back on the list you were reading.

Pressing p anywhere on the page does the same thing, as long as no field or menu has the keyboard.

Project names cap at 60 characters. Two more names are refused: anything starting with __, and Inbox, which is already everyone’s default project. A name that only differs by capitals from one you have is refused too, and the toast says which rule stopped it.

Rename, pin, share or delete a project

The ⋯ on a project row holds the lot: Pin to the top, Rename project, Move to new folder, Save as template, Move up, Move down and Delete project. A project someone shares with you also offers Share project, or Who can see this when you’re not the one who can change it.

Caution

Delete project asks first, and the question names how many of the tasks inside belong to other people.

Gather projects into folders

A folder is a heading in the rail that other projects sit under. It holds no tasks of its own.

To make one:

1. Press the + on the Projects header.
2. Pick New folder.
3. Type the name and press Enter.
4. Drag a project onto the folder, or open the folder’s ⋯ and pick Add projects.

An empty folder says Drag projects here. A project lives in at most one folder, so filing it somewhere takes it out of wherever it was. Remove from and the folder’s name puts it back in the loose list.

The folder’s ⋯ also carries Rename folder, Move up, Move down and Delete folder. Deleting a folder deletes no project: they go back to the list, and the toast carries Undo.

Folder names cap at 60 characters, and two folders can’t share one.

Note

Folders, pins and the order of the project list are stored on the device you set them on, so the rail you build on your laptop won’t be the rail you see on your phone. The projects themselves, and every task in them, follow you to both.

Split a project into sections

Sections belong to one project, and everyone who can see that project sees them.

To add one:

1. Open the project.
2. Press Display, then set Grouping to Section.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the list and press Add section.
4. Type the name and press Enter.

Add section is a hairline across the list with the label sitting on it. Press s instead if you’d rather not reach for it.

Tasks with no section of their own draw first, above every heading, and that’s where anything you capture inside the project lands until you move it. Each heading has a ⋯ of its own carrying Move section up, Move section down, Rename section and Delete section (tasks → No section).

Note

Deleting a section keeps its tasks. They move back to No section.

Sections only draw under the Section grouping, so a project still set to Date shows none. Open the info mark beside Grouping to read what the current choice does. Inside a project the choice is remembered for that project only.

Move tasks between them

Right-click a task and pick Move to…. The picker searches your projects, and lists the chosen project’s sections underneath, so filing and sorting are one step.

Dragging works too: onto a project column on the board, onto a section heading in the list, or onto a section column on the board. Every move toasts with Undo.

To move a pile at once, ⌘-click or Ctrl-click the rows, then press Move to… in the bar that appears at the bottom.

Change how the list is drawn

Display holds the rest. Layout is List or Board, and Calendar ↗ leaves Tasks for the timetable. Completed tasks is the switch that shows done work.

Under Sort you get Grouping, Sorting and, once a sort is on, Ordering. Sorting offers Manual (drag order), Due date, Priority, Alphabetical and Task Score. Under Filter, the Date, Priority and Assigned rows each own their own slice of the query, so picking a date never clears a priority.

A dot on the Display button means something is set. Reset all puts it all back.

FAQ

Can two projects have the same name?

No. Two of your own are refused at the create box. A colleague’s project can share a name with one of yours, and the app keeps those two apart.

Why is Add section missing?

You’re not in a project, or you can only view this one. Sections shape a project, so only its owner and members with edit access can make them.

Does a folder show me its projects’ tasks together?

No. A folder is a heading in the rail. Open one project at a time, or use Views for the whole list.

Can I rename Today or Upcoming?

Yes, through the section heading’s Rename section. Note that a date bucket’s new name is kept on the device you set it on, while a project section’s name is shared with everyone who can open the project.