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Braindump

We realize that no "to do" list springs fully-formed from your head, like Athena from Zeus'. We provide the opportunity to spit the things you have to do into Hiveminder quickly and painlessly on pretty much every page. These "braindump" boxes allow you to quickly type out tasks as they occur to you so that you don't forget them, and the tasks are then added to your To Do List. You can always add information to or organize them later, but at least they're out of your head.

Braindump Syntax

Type a task name on a line; one task per line. Create as many tasks as you like by using multiple lines. If the task name contains square brackets [ ] with one or more words inside separated by spaces (eg. '[stuff things]'), those words become its tags. This does not become part of the final task name.

Any line under the task name which begins with a space becomes part of the task description. If the task name or description contains a date, that becomes the task's due date. These do become part of the task's details.

You can give your task a priority by including 'plus' and 'minus' signs at the start of the task title. See below for the key:

++ → highest
+ → high
nothing → normal
- → low
-- → lowest

These priority markings do not become part of the final task name.

If you include exclamation points in the task's title, you can also increase its priority according to the scheme below:

!! → highest
! → high

These priority markings do become part of the final task name.

In addition to tags, square brackets [ ] can be used to add extra information to your task (eg. '[due: friday]'). See below for a list.

[due: thursday] → set 'Date due' to Thursday's date
Set Owner

[owner: steve@example.com] → Assign this task to steve@example.com
[by: steve@example.com] → Assign this task to steve@example.com

Set Group

[group: mygroup] → Put this task in the 'mygroup' group

Set Priority
- [priority: low] → this is a low-priority task
- [prio: low] → this is a low-priority task
Set 'Hide until'

[hide until: friday] → set 'Hide until' to Friday's date
[hide: friday] → set 'Hide until' to Friday's date
[starts: friday] → set 'Hide until' to Friday's date

Set 'Will not complete'

[hide: forever] → set 'Will not complete'
[starts: never] → set 'Will not complete'

Set Repetition

[every: week] → repeat every week
[repeats monthly] → repeat every month

Time Tracking

[time: 2h] → set 'Time left' to 2 hours
[estimate: 30 minutes] → set 'Time left' to 30 minutes
[worked: 30m] → add 30 minutes to 'Time worked'
[spent: 1h] → add 1 hour to 'Time worked'

Dependencies

[but first: #ADE] → depend on task #ADE
[then: #ADE] → task #ADE depends on this

Complete

[complete: 1] → automatically mark the task as complete

This extra information does not become part of the final task name

You can also create new dependent tasks in braindump. Indent the next line, include "but first:" or "and then:" then type the new task summary. You can even specify dependencies for your dependencies, and dependencies for those, ad nauseam (just be sure to have a task you can complete!)

Braindumping to groups can be done from the tasklist braindump if you are currently in the list for that group. You can always change the group within a braindump by using the [group: groupname] syntax.

Examples

get sales figures [ceo cfo]

creates a normal-priority task named '

get
sales figures

', tagged with 'ceo' and 'cfo', with no task description.

-finish TPS report
  get it to Bill

creates a low-priority task named 'finish TPS report', with the description 'get it to Bill'.

plan wedding!! [personal] tomorrow
  fun stuff to figure out
+order flowers [personal "dave and sarah"]

creates two tasks:

a highest-priority task named 'plan wedding!! tomorrow' and tagged with 'personal', with the description 'fun stuff to figure out', due on tomorrow's date.
a high-priority task named 'order flowers' and tagged with 'personal' and 'dave and sarah', with no task description.

Order Bobby's cake [due: friday] [family] [owner: bobby@example.com]

creates a task named 'Order Bobby's cake', due this coming Friday, tagged with 'family' and assigned to 'bobby@example.com'

Buy presents [hide until: dec 24] [priority: highest]

creates a highest-priority task named 'Buy presents', which is hidden until Christmas Eve

+Pay electricity bill [every: month]

creates a high-priority task named 'Pay electricity bill', which automatically repeats every month

document the new feature [worked: 15m] [complete: 1] [group: work]

creates an already-completed task named 'document the new feature', which is useful in conjunction with time-tracking