Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Agile software development with tags
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 by Andrew Conkling
There's practically a zillion different ways you can use Remember The Milk (admittedly we haven't counted, but we're pretty sure it's close to a zillion). This week's tip is shared by marco.vermeulen, who's come up with an interesting way to use tags for managing Agile software development with Remember The Milk.
As a software development team, we use the Scrum methodology. I recently switched to RTM, and have found it to be an indispensable tool while writing software. Using the tags have proven to be a great way of managing stories and tasks in Agile software development.
Here's how we've gone about doing it:
- We create our Stories first, each Story as a task with a priority.
- We create these Stories in a Shared List, so we all have visibility of them.
- We estimate our complexities with a Fibonacci sequence, and place this in brackets behind the Story name.
- We then create each Story in our bug tracking software (not a necessary step, but gives you a handy reference number to work with), and tag the Story with that reference number.
- We mark the Story with a story tag.
In other words, to create a new Story, we would typically enter:
As a User I want to view the Home page (5) !2 #Shared List #rc-123 #story
Each Story will have multiple Tasks associated with it. Once these Tasks are complete, the Story is done.
The Tasks are linked back to the Story by tagging them individually with the reference number assigned to the Story. They also live in the Shared List we created earlier. They have NO priority, to distinguish them from Stories, and are tagged as task.
Here is how we create a new Task:
Write a new jsp for the home page #Shared List #rc-123 #task
If you start working on a new Story, simply click on it's reference number tag, and voilà, you immediately see the Story on top (because of it's Priority) and all the tasks beneath. You now pick up new Tasks one at a time, marking them complete as you go along. Once you've completed all the Tasks, you can mark the Story as Complete! You can even track your progress in the Story itself.
The PM can go ahead and click on the story tag, and see what the progress of the Stories are at a glance if you're capturing time against the Story.
Well, in a nutshell, that's how we're doing it.
Thanks for sharing this tip, marco.vermeulen! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.
Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we'll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.
Posted in: Tips & Tricks
The humongous Remember The Milk for iPhone update
Monday, May 14, 2012 by Emily Boyd
Bob T. Monkey's busy cooking up some big new things in his lab (he barely comes out, not even for bananas), but we convinced him he could sneak in our biggest iPhone app update ever.
Version 3.0 (codenamed "Insect") has a completely new interface, and a whole bunch of new features and improvements, too. Check out the demo we prepared earlier, or read on for the full scoop…
A whole new interface
Yes, we've completely redesigned the app! For those of you familiar with our iPad app, you'll recognize the card stack for interacting with your tasks and notes. The card stack allows you to swipe your way through your tasks and notes with gestures for a natural, fun way to manage your tasks.
New 'Task' view
The task view now shows not only the task's details, but any notes you have associated with the task, too. You'll also see new icons for quick task actions: complete, postpone, and delete.
'This Week' view
This new view makes it easy to see what's due this week. As with the iPad app, you can also select a specific day to see what's due.
Edit multiple tasks at once
You can now edit multiple tasks quickly and easily: simply select multiple tasks by tapping the 'Edit' button in a list. In addition to complete and postpone, you'll now see options for editing the due date, priority, list, or tags for a bunch of tasks at once.
Tap to get stuff done
As you can now swipe your way through the app, we needed to come up with a new way to quickly complete tasks (we can't use the swipe gesture to reveal the 'Complete' button, as it's used for navigating). From the list, just tap and hold on a task and you'll see the 'Complete' button appear. Bonus! From here, you can slide up to switch to the 'Postpone' button.
Enjoy the new version!
We hope you like this latest app release! Want to learn more about the app in general? Check out the Remember The Milk for iPhone section of the site.
P.S. Remember The Milk for iPad has also been updated to support the new iPad with retina display. Enjoy!
Posted in: New Features & Updates
Android app update: Scrollable, resizable widgets
Thursday, May 10, 2012 by Emily Boyd
Our Android widgets lacked scrollability and resizability, and this made Bob T. Monkey sad. :( We've remedied the situation with version 2.0.9 of Remember The Milk for Android, which includes:
Enhancements:
- Widgets are now both scrollable and resizable (requires Android 3.1+).
- Updates to localizations for Chinese (Simplified), Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Nynorsk), Portuguese (Brazil) and Russian.
Bug fixes:
- Fix issue with widgets not updating immediately when list sort order was changed.
- Fix issue with tasks duplicating incorrectly in particular (unusual!) circumstances.
Don't have the app yet? Get it on Google Play.
Posted in: New Features & Updates
Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Replacing old batteries
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 by Andrew Conkling
There's nothing worse than having a leaky battery ruin a toy or gadget, and anyone with a lot of batteries around — technophiles, parents, technophile parents? — will understand that it's easy for some to get neglected.
This week's tip, shared by chris.daida, reminds you to check your batteries often.
My daughter has a lot of alkaline battery-operated toys, and she's lost more than I care to remember because of batteries that had begun to leak. The toys are easy to neglect because they all have battery doors secured by a screw making them a hassle to check.
Now, whenever I install a set of batteries in anything, especially my daughter's toys, I make a priority 1 task in RTM with a 1-month reminder to check the batteries. When the task reminder goes off, I know that it's been a month since the batteries were installed, and they need to be checked ASAP.
Thanks to RTM, we've stopped having to throw out any battery-operated gadgets.
Thanks for sharing this tip, chris.daida! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.
Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we'll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.
Posted in: Tips & Tricks
Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Packing for trips by tagging tasks
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 by Andrew Conkling
We've discussed the benefit of having a travel checklist previously. This week's tip, shared by tanis.7x, is similar but comes with a twist — using tags to plan your next trip after a previous trip. If you have a few types of trips planned in the upcoming year — some camping, a few weekends at the beach, etc. — this would be especially handy!
When I travel, I need packing lists to help me remember everything. However, most of the items on my packing list are items that were on my last packing list as well.
To simplify my packing list process and to help ensure that I never forget anything, I tag all my packing lists with where I am going. When I am getting ready for a new trip, I search for tag:[last trip] AND status:completed. Next, I select all of those tasks, and click "Duplicate Task" from the More Actions dropdown to copy all those tasks to my current packing list.
As I am packing, if I think of something not on my list, I add it. The next time I am packing for a trip, that item will be in my new list as well!
Thanks for sharing this tip, tanis.7x! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.
Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we'll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.
Posted in: Tips & Tricks
Welcoming Grant, our new Community Manager (Japanese)
Friday, April 27, 2012 by Emily Boyd
We're excited to welcome Grant Peterson, our new Community Manager (Japanese language). Grant took a one-way flight from the sunny beaches of San Diego to the majestic alps of Nagano in 2007, and has lived there ever since. Grant's been an avid Remember The Milk user for five years, and we're thrilled to have him on the team!
Grant will be blogging over on the Remember The Milk Japan Blog at blog.rememberthemilk.jp, where he'll be sharing all the latest Remember The Milk news, tips, and happenings. You'll also find Remember The Milk in Japanese on Twitter, Facebook, and (new!) Google+, so please follow us — Grant would love to hear from you!
For more on Grant, you can check out his introductory post over on the blog. Welcome to the team, Grant!
And in Japanese:
日本語コミューニティーを担当することになったグラント・ピーターソンを紹介します！2007年にグラントは飛行機の片道きっぷを買って、美しいビーチのあるサンディエゴ市から日本アルプスに囲まれている長野に来ました。それ以来そこで生活しています。5年間Remember The Milkを熱心に利用している彼はRemember The Milkのチームに参加して、私たちみんなワクワクしていすっ！
グラントはblog.rememberthemilk.jpで日本語版のRemember The Milk ブログを更新し、最新のニュースやヒント、そのほかの様々な情報をお届けします。日本語版の Twitter、Facebook、（新たなに） Google+もありますので、ぜひフォローしてください！みなさんの意見・感想を聞きたいので、グラントに気軽に声をかけてね！
グラントをもっと詳しく知りたい方は、自己紹介を読んでください。チームへようこそ、グラント！
Posted in: Behind the Scenes
Join the team: Systems Administrator
Wednesday, April 25, 2012 by Emily Boyd
You might think that with someone as skilled as Bob T. Monkey on the team, we'd have our systems needs covered. Alas, no — we need help! We're looking for a Systems Administrator to join the Remember The Milk team (this is a full-time, "work from anywhere" position).
Do you spend your days thinking of the perfect way to automate deployment and monitoring of systems? Do thoughts of unpackaged files send shivers down your spine? Do you know your puppets from your chefs? If this sounds like you, and you'd like to join us in our quest to make the world more organized and productive, head on over to the jobs page and get in touch!
(We have other positions available, too.)
Posted in: Behind the Scenes
Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Should, Could, and Would lists
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 by Andrew Conkling
This week's tip comes from thorstenvpk, who suggests simplifying to a few lists. Without further ado:
I am overwhelmed with tagging, contexting and all that prioritization stuff.
Only 4 lists are in my RTM setup:
The main list: collecting all the stuff.
These 3: 'Should', 'Could', and 'Would' are Smart Lists with the criteria of priority 1, 2, and 3.
- Should: these tasks have to be done by due (or hell freezes) – the must do
- Could: these tasks have to be done – if time is given for them
- Would: these things are on my wish-list, hope to get to them
Life could be so easy without the traditional to-do lists.
Thanks for sharing this tip, thorstenvpk! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.
Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we'll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.
Posted in: Tips & Tricks
Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Where did I put that?
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 by Andrew Conkling
It's not uncommon to misplace something. (Don't ask us how Bob can forget where he put a banana!) This week's tip, shared by pdkres, suggests keeping track of those extra-special, never-forget places where you put things so they'll be easy to find later.
I've wasted more time looking for things I put in a special place that I'm sure I'd remember. Of course I totally forget when it comes time to find them. It's frustrating and counter productive so I now use RTM to help me easily find everything I need, when I need it.
I created a tag called "where" that I use to label the items I need to find later. This works great for keys, papers, or anything you need to get your hands on without the hassle of trying to remember where you placed it. It's also really helpful if you need to retrieve something well into the future, as you can set a date to remind you, and never give it a second thought until then.
P.S. In case you haven't tried it and have an iPhone, I highly recommend setting up Siri to seamlessly enter your information into RTM.
Thanks for sharing this tip, pdkres! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.
Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we'll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.
Posted in: Tips & Tricks
Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Get creative with Emoji for Smart Lists
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 by Andrew Conkling
This week's tip comes from mstackhouse1, who has a neat suggestion to add a bit of color to your lists — perfect if you have a bunch!
Sometimes when you open your todo lists you are assaulted by a wall of plain text. Maybe a few colors, if you are using priorities. What if you could bring in some right-brained creativity to your left-brained lists?
For those of you using iOS devices and/or Mac OSX Lion, try naming your Smart Lists symbolically using Emoji–colorful icons–instead of words. In case you aren't aware, Emoji can be accessed via the Settings>General>Keyboard>International Keyboards page on your iOS 5.x device.
For example, many people have a "hot list" of items that is created via a Smart List saved search. Why not represent that with flames or rockets instead of words? Or a grocery list as an assortment of food icons? The possibilities are endless, and you are free to make a fresh change at any time.
Now, I don't personally use Emoji for regular lists or tags, because I want to be able to add items very quickly via twitter on the mac, and adding Emoji is a slower process there. But feel free to do that if it works for you. You can add them to your task titles too.
The Emoji sync and display just fine among iOS and Mac Lion computers, and are fully searchable just like text.
You will be amazed how much lighter and friendlier your Smart Lists and other items seem. Even better, you'll be able to see at a glance exactly what list is what without even thinking about it.
Thanks for sharing this tip, mstackhouse1! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.
Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we'll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.
Posted in: Tips & Tricks
