Introduction

Sometimes the Research Planning Facilities within ƒh just don’t quite “do it”; this leads to an examination of external applications. Ideally any external application will somehow integrate with ƒh; unfortunately we don’t see any such applications. (There are a fair number of “To Do” List or Task Management options that will integrate into other applications – usually email applications.)

This section is not intended to provide a list of “To Do List” or “Task Management” programs – that is what internet search is for! Rather it intends to highlight applications that may be of particular help to genealogists and which go beyond the task list features of many email systems.

As applications come to our notice the list below will be curated to try and include those of the most interest. To Do Lists / Work Management: What External Apps may people use?

To Do List Applications

• • The todo.txt family of todo list applications is worth examination if looking for a basic todo list. They all rely on a standard “one line per task” format and handle Priorities, Projects, and Contexts as well as a variety of datesWhen an Event happened, or an Attrribute was true.. Any text editor (on any platform) which can sort lines is suitable, but there are a large number of applications or pluginsPlugins are small programs that allow new features to be added without upgrading Family Historian itself; some plugins are written by Calico Pie and others are written by users. that are designed especially to handle the todo.txt format.
  • Simplenote is a cloud based note taking freemium application (available from the makers of WordPress for Windows, Linux, Android, MacOS and iOS – and via web interface) which if you follow the todo.txt format enables you to have one line tasks – with attached narrative

Other applications

• • Zim a wiki type application (for Linux and Windows) with a tasklist addin. The prime use for this application is probably note taking with separate pages per projectA Project is a Windows folder, created by Family Historian, which contains all your Family Tree information recorded in Family Historian. Normally located in the Documents\Family Historian Projects folder.. To do tasks are inserted in the text (as they arise).
  • Zotero A bibliographic tool (for Linux, Windows and Mac) to help collect, organize, cite, and share research. It majors on Sources, and can hold notesFamily Historian version 6 and below supports two types of Notes: Local notes (associated with a single person, record, or fact); and Note Records (sometimes called Shared Notes), that can be linked to multiple records and/or facts. Version 7 introduced which through being searchable can act as a todo list for sourceSource: "where information was found". This could be anything from an archive in a county records office, a book, or even a relative's recorded recollection. Citing your Sources helps to show how you reached a particular conclusion about an Individual. focused research.
  • OneNote A note taking application from Microsoft (for Windows and Android)
  • Evernote A note taking application