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Tasks & More ​

Bike is an outliner first, but outlines are where most of my todo lists start. So Bike ships with a small set of built-in row attributes for the things a list tends to need: a due date, a priority, an estimate, a flag.

None of this is a separate task manager bolted onto the side. Each one is just an attribute with a badge, so you set it on any row, see it at the end of that row, and filter on it with an outline path. If you never set them, you'll never see them.

Done ​

The hinge for all of it is @done.

Make a row a task by typing [] followed by a space, then check it off. Checking the box sets @done on the row, and the value it stores is the completion time. In block mode you can also press Space to toggle done on every selected row.

@done is what the other features watch. A done row's badges fade back, its due date stops being urgent, and its estimate drops out of the totals below. Finishing something is what makes it quiet down.

By default a checked row also slides to the bottom of its group, so what's left stays together at the top. If you'd rather rows stayed where you put them, turn off Sort completed to end of list in Settings > Extensions > Tasks.

Due Dates ​

@due is a date attribute. It takes a calendar day, a full timestamp, or no value at all, which means "Soon".

The badge shows the date, and its color tells you where you stand:

  • Red once the due date has arrived or passed.
  • Orange when it's due the next day.
  • Plain when it's further out, or when the row is done.

The badge re-checks the time about once a minute, so a row goes red while you're looking at it rather than the next time you open the document.

Priority ​

@priority is a choice of 1, 2, or 3, where 1 is the highest. It shows as a compact P1 badge rather than spelling out the whole attribute.

Three levels is deliberate. I've used systems with ten, and all I ever did was argue with myself about whether something was a 6 or a 7.

Estimates ​

@estimate records the effort you expect a row to take, written as a duration: 30m, 2h, 1d. The badge shows it with a ≈ in front, because an estimate is a guess.

Estimates add up. A row with estimates anywhere beneath it shows a second badge with a Σ and a total, and that total counts only the rows that aren't done yet. So a project row tells you how much work is left under it, and the number falls as you check things off.

Flags ​

@flagged marks a row for attention. It's a choice of seven colors: orange, red, purple, blue, yellow, green, and gray. The badge is a small filled flag in that color, and flagging without picking a color gives you a red one.

A flag doesn't mean anything in particular, which is the point. Use it for "look at this again", or pick a color and give it whatever meaning your outline needs.

Progress ​

Any row with tasks beneath it gets a progress badge, showing how many of those tasks are done. It draws as a fraction like 3/7 by default, or as a small pie if you prefer. Set which in Settings > Extensions > Tasks, where you can also turn the badge off entirely.

Click the badge for a menu that acts on that branch:

  • Filter not @done to see what's left.
  • Filter @done to see what's finished.
  • Mark Branch Tasks Done and Clear Branch Tasks Done to check off or reset every task under the row at once.

Setting Attributes ​

There are a few ways to set any of these, covered in Row Attributes:

  • Right-click a row and pick from the context menu, for example Priority > 1.
  • Click an existing badge to change its value, or right-click the badge to remove the attribute.
  • Open the attribute editor with Format > Row Attributes… (Command-Right at the end of a row).
  • Run a command. Bike has commands for setting and clearing due dates and priorities, and one that filters to everything still due. Find them in the choice box with Shift-Command-P, or give them keys in the Commands Explorer.

Filtering by What Matters ​

Attributes earn their keep when you filter on them. Type these in the filter bar (Command-Shift-F):

  • //task not @done for everything unfinished.
  • //@due <[d] today() for what's overdue.
  • //@priority = 1 for the things you said were most important.
  • //@flagged for whatever you flagged.
  • //task not @done and @due <[d] today() + days(7) for the week ahead.

Save a filter you use often to the sidebar so it's one click away. See Outline Filtering and Creating Outline Paths for the full query language.

The Calendar ​

The Calendar approaches the same problem from the other end. Instead of tagging rows with dates, it generates the rows: pick a day and Bike builds a Calendar → Year → Month → Day structure to hold that day's notes.

The two work well together. Keep the day's notes and tasks under a date row, give the ones that matter a @due or a @priority, and filter across the whole outline when you want to see what's actually pressing.

See also ​