* To Do Lists / Work Management: What External Apps may people use?

[davidf]

There has been a three page (so far) thread developing on the New Wish List Requests Forum headed A simple to-do list.

This has developed into a slightly wider discussion of means of managing our genealogical work.

Some of us are trying to develop actions from this under the general headings of:

1. Updated Knowledgebase content for the major work-arounds
2. A short summary of external todo list applications that users have found useful - possibly linked to user contributed notes about workflows for working with specific applications (is that within scope of fhug?)
3. Suggestions for improvements to work-arounds that might be required
4. Suggestions for enhancements to FH

This topic is addressing (2) above, under the following headings.

I suspect the final result in the KnowledgeBase ought to focus on

1. the advantages and disadvantage of using an external app; plus
2. tips and tricks for integrating it with FH.
3. A simple example plugin -- or more likely some code snippets -- for whatever integration is possible would be a good idea as well.

Absolutely we can't tackle "1001 todo applications" and even if we did, we'd miss somebody's favourite -- so examples are they way to go, but I'd definitely include some sort of Note-taking application like OneNote as well as at least one calendaring/to-do app. I'm not sure we'll get many user-contributed workflows but let's structure stuff in the Knowledgebase so that anyone who wants to contribute one can do so?

So if someone is making extensive use of a particular application to manage their genealogical tasks where the application has a particular function that marks it out as different to the run of the mill to do list, could they add details?

Under the above headings of particular interest is why an application is better or worse than using some of the work-arounds or features within FH.
In terms of integration, this probably arises from a personal work-flow rather than software integration
It may well be that there are areas where "if only a certain feature" was available in FH (or the application under consideration) the two applications could be made to work together better (possibly as Ancestral Sources works with FH).

If there is sufficient interest we can update the knowledge base to help others.

I will add a couple in the near future.

[davidf]

Use of Zim for genealogical Work Management
The advantages and disadvantage of using an external app
I have found myself using this application more and more to help manage various genealogical projects that I find myself jumping between. The loose "wiki" structure helps enable this and the ability to embed "to do tasks" into my notes as they arise is to me particularly useful. This is not the sort of functionality that I would expect to see incorporated into FH.
A screen shot of some work I am doing into an episode in my late mother's life possibly gives a hint as to how it helps.

Zim1.jpg (235.63 KiB) Viewed 8076 times

Features of particular interest to genealogists

• The hierarchical index pane on the left - allowing a separate page for each "project"
• Under the index pane there is a tags pane which I do not yet use but it allows tagging like in a blog
• The main pane which allows extensive structured note taking - the editor is as comprehensive as this forum's with links, images, bold, italic etc, but also with a heirarchy of headings which facilitates
• A table of contents for the page (top right) - which toggles on and off. This helps jump to relevant sections of the page.
• The main edit pages will also hold tables - unfortunately the paste function does not for instance allow you to paste tabular information (e.g. FreeBMD or FindMyPast) directly into a table.
• A sort line feature - highlight a block of lines and select sort! So you can alphabeticalise lists or sort them by date (provided of course the date is at the begining of the line in yyyy-mm-dd format!)
• Within the main page the ability to add a todo list item in the context of the note - you just type square brackets followed by the item. It then formats into a check box which allows the user to mark when an item is done.
• In the icon bar at the top there is an icon which brings up a task list (shown in the image above) in a separate window which lists all outstanding tasks in the wiki. Clicking on a task in the task list takes you to it in the relevant page.
• Also on the top icon bar is a calendar icon - which creates a journal page per day
• In the right hand margin there is a label backlinks which will open another pane (like the index pane) listing all those pages which link into the pages

Tips and tricks for integrating it with FH.
The screen shot above is of a fairly well controlled element of a project. Elsewhere it is much less structured. I might list a whole lot of people who for instance might be a parent of an individual and then as I work through the list add notes indicating evidence for or against before transferring my conclusions to FH.
The workflow tends to be to have a browser doing my search for sources, Zim holding my research plan and recording what I am doing and how I get to my conclusions (and what is outstanding), and FH open to record my conclusions and provide already known information. I take my laptop to archives so interfacing to other devices is not important to me. Given the "standard" format of the underlying files, I suspect others will be able to find applications for tablets and smartphones which could read those files.
Integration is unfortunately minimal - Mainly cut and paste. The actual Zim files are text files - one per page in what I think is a version of Markdown format and these can be exported "At the moment exporting to HTML and LaTeX is supported, as well as the Markdown and RST text formats."
A simple example plugin -- or more likely some code snippets -- for whatever integration is possible would be a good idea as well.
The plugin that I would most like - which I have mentioned elsewhere is the ability in FH to right click on a record and select "create to clipboard a hyperlink to this record", which I could then paste into Zim (or other applications). The Thunderlink addin for the email client Thunderbird does something very similar - with the right click offering a short set of format options.

Zim was originally a Linux program but is also available for Windows. Like many programs of Linux origin it is freeware. I have not had problems with stability. It seems to autosave to the underlying files, but Ctrl-S forces a save if required. Given the simplicity of the files I would not anticipate data corruption problems.

[E Wilcock]

I use Evernote for anything I need to remember to do. House, garden, clothes etc. Evernote free is now limited for use on only two devices.
In the days when Evernote was free for many devices, there was a detailed blog or lecture from USA on how it could be used for genealogy. I switched to One note and then back again - the actual program doesnt matter that much. So long as it is cloud based and on my phone.

For documents in archives I use Zotero. Zotero is a free bibliography program. Bibliography software used to be massively expensive for anyone who did not have university membership and Zotero is the first class solution.

I keep a separate folder in Zotero called Archive list in which I list documents. There are fields for the Archive and the file number. Users sometimes complain that Zotero is not well designed to list archive files. But it works for me.

If I need to read a file I add a note "To read" followed by my own abbreviation for the archive. Zotero has an ultra efficient search across all fields, so I type in "To read Kew" and that produces a list of all the files and file numbers I plan to read at the National Archive and then, if one has a reader's ticket, one can order them up in advance.

Similarly in my Zotero Bibliography folder, I list books or publications with the name of the Library and the shelf number and I can use a text search to call up anything I have marked to read in the British Library or elsewhere.
Zotero is designed for citing references. So it is easy to copy and paste sources into fh.

Zotero can be used to make full notes on books and it will hold long text documents and pdf's. But I dont use it that way. Because notes can get buried. Whereas with Zim, one can see the hierarchy of notes.

[steveflanuk]

I use a mixture of 2 web apps to help with my research and to-do lists.

My research/to-do list is in Trello (https://trello.com/home). Trello is based on Kanban boards. Each board can have a number of columns, with each column having any number of cards (basically virtual index cards) which can hold, not just notes, but also checklists, attachments, etc.

For example, I have a list for topics I have created on my local society forum, with a link to that topic. I have other lists including research notes (linked to Notejoy notes) and to-do items. Cards can be moved up and down columns, so I have things I'm currently working on at the top of each list, plus cards can be moved from list to list.

There is a user guide (https://trello.com/guide. These links talk about using Trello for genealogical research (http://familyhistorydaily.com/genealogy ... genealogy/, https://itsallrelativenz.wordpress.com/ ... genealogy/ and http://www.ancestrypaths.com/tips-and-t ... ng-trello/). The major plus point for me was that Trello has an android app which I can link to my genealogy board so I can refer to it when doing research at the local library and so forth. The app also lets me update these notes which I can then view at home on my laptop.

For any notes I need to take, I use Notejoy (https://notejoy.com), mainly because I can link it directly from a Trello card and it also has a free android app - like Trello, as well as some useful formatting options in the notes.

[tLeodiensian]

There is a very effective replacement to Evernote called Joplin. (https://joplinapp.org/)

It is under active, open source development, and is free if you accept that notes aren't shared between different user accounts. A paid subscription allows server based sharing between user accounts on Joplin Cloud.

It works on Windows, Linux (Snap, AppImage & source code), MacOS, iOS and Android.
The synchronisation for single user account can be via your Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDav, Nextcloud accounts.

Like #davidf, I use it for all my life management stuff, and have it installed on all my devices (except my Paperwhite Kindle !).

It has been the refuge for a lot of Evernote users that couldn't cope once they introduced the two device limit for free accounts. It works with markdown text, and there is a plugin for Chrome and Firefox for web page clipping.
It has it's own plugin library and there are things like hotfolders and OCR available.

I have been looking at recycling the Evernote Todo that Jane created to work with Joplin, but not really got very far.

[Paul Wigan]

So if someone is making extensive use of a particular application to manage their genealogical tasks where the application has a particular function that marks it out as different to the run of the mill to do list, could they add details?

I was using a combination of "My Tasks" in Microsoft Outlook and Evernote to project-manage my genealogical tasks and to manage all of the other aspects of my life as well.

However, "My Tasks" simply didn't have enough features to do everything that I needed. Meanwhile, Evernote seemed to be going up in price and to be restricted in terms of the number of devices that it could be installed on. I replaced these with Microsoft "To-Do" and Microsoft "OneNote". Both of these were available to me at no extra cost as part of my Microsoft 365 subscription, and offered me as much or more in terms of features than I was using previously.

I am still in the process of moving all of my data from Generations to FHv7, or at least in manually checking the Gedcom that has now been imported into the latter. I made no attempt to integrate my use of any of these programs into Generations, everything being added to Generations via copy and paste. I have only just begun to consider how to link them with FHv7, and will focus on this once my data-checking is completed.

[Vyger]

I find this thread counter productive, to be direct Family Historian provide for Research Logs, To-Do and Correspondence items, a more productive discussion might be why are those features not working for users?

I believe it would be controversial for me to say I use v7 of my previous genealogy software for this management and have detailed Research Logs going back 20 years, I can easily search and filter them when thinking about revisting those sources but the fact I am using cheap 8 year old genealogy software makes a very clear statement as to what is needed here.

I also know of several users who baulked at migrating to FH when they discovered FH restrictions so the more positive approach is to outline how FH offerings could work for you rather than moving on to another app. Half finished features should be developed to satisfactory conclusion as these important genealogy management tools need to integrated.

Jackson

[neil40]

I hear what you are saying Jackson, but unless you print them out, if you were say, in a graveyard, you have no access to your 'to-do' list (if you are being green and not wasting paper)
I use OneNote that syncs across my PC, laptop and mobile, so I have it in my pocket if I need it (as FH doesn't yet have a mobile version).
If I am trying to be green, I should avoid printing reams of paper, so to me, an alternate app that syncs across my devices is a no brainer.

[Mark1834]

No they don’t. A feature of “cheap 8 year old software” is that “you do it my way or not at all”. If that works for you, stick with it, but I suspect most users here prefer the flexibility of FH. It needs more effort up front, but you don’t get owt for nowt...

[ColeValleyGirl]

I find this thread counter productive, to be direct Family Historian provide for Research Logs, To-Do and Correspondence items, a more productive discussion might be why are those features not working for users?

1. This thread was started in 2019 when the features you mention did not exist, and a variety of approaches were adopted.
2. People who adopted a solution prior to the release of FH7 may not want to migrate to the new features... either because the one they use already suits them very well (including you, it would seem), or because of the sheer effort involved.
3. Organising your Research

[Vyger]

No they don’t. A feature of “cheap 8 year old software” is that “you do it my way or not at all”. If that works for you, stick with it, but I suspect most users here prefer the flexibility of FH. It needs more effort up front, but you don’t get owt for nowt...

Mark, when I can maintain a relative and large Research Log of past research and many To-Do items which then become Research Logs and quickly Print to PDF based on any filter there is little to be disliked. That provides the relative and linked To-Do items I need when I go off to the Cemetery, Library etc. hard to beat.

Please show me where that flexibility is in FH except for in depth queries which discourage many new trialers, it just doesn't exist for those possible migrants. Now I can "make" things work but the point is there is no "out of the box" functionality to quickly produce a filtered list of To-Do or Research items in FH and many people state exactly that point.

If CP have introduced and advertised a new feature in FH7 then I, at least, expect them to make it work and be functional to new users 'out of the box' The alternative is always to drop it from the feature list and stop promoting it as a feature. That cheap 8 year old software suffered badly from a feature list of unfinished but inovated ideas.

An old adage is "if you accept second best and that is quite often what you will receive"

I will be publishing a video on this subject and that will be 'out of the box' impressions, I really hate demonstrating negatives but those looking for software to suit their needs deserve honest opinions. Really the ball is squarely in the CP court and I am always ready to help and give feedback, but never happy to ignore and move on.

Different strokes.

[ColeValleyGirl]

Screenshot 2022-07-23 180441.jpg (373.63 KiB) Viewed 3328 times

Done with a query (it currently uses Facts to hold the tasks, but only because I haven't converted my existing tasks to Research Notes, but the same approach works with Facts, Notes or Research Notes).

The 'tasks' are created using an Autotext template (or a predecessor I implemented using a plugin in V6 Research Planner Version 2).

No, you can't yet prepopulate values in the template directly in FH. Everythin else is out of the box in FH7.

I think you have to recognise the FH approach that provides very flexible tools -- like queries -- that can be exploited in a number of ways rather than imposing a one-size fits all solution. And no, I don't expect new users to write a query like the one that produces the image above -- but if they ask in the mailing list, here, or on Facebook they'll get help to customise this one.... As far as I recall, you're the first to express an interest.

[gsward]

Has anyone made any progress on handling their research since this was last discussed in 2022? Specifically, I'm looking for a way of exporting Research Notes into a generic notes application, in my case Joplin, but the same process would work for Zim or Tiddlywiki.

Ideally, I would want the Research Notes in Markdown format.

Why do I want to do this? Simply because carrying FH around on a tablet or phone doesn't work, but having editable access to research notes would fill the gap.

Thanks.

[ColeValleyGirl]

It ought to be possible witha plugin but nobody has written one to date.

[ColeValleyGirl]

You could vote for https://www.fhug.org.uk/wishlist/wldisp ... wlwlref=60 which might be a step on the way to what you want.

[laz_gen]

I use a simple approach for a To Do list after trying FH built-in Research Notes and getting frustrated with it all.

I created a custom To Do fact and added it as a custom field on the main property box screen. The field is large enough for quick one-line notes but can be expanded (with a double click) into a full rich text note window if required.

I created a simple query to find and display these To Do note facts.

The query window cog wheel menu has several save options i.e. "Save Result Set As" csv (ANSI) and text (ANSI) that can be directly imported into Joplin using Import > Text Document.

The text when imported into a Joplin note may need a little tidy up, or reformat, to suit your taste, but it does get it there very quickly, and without the use of a plugin.

This method will work for Research Notes as they are no different to standard notes.