Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Two quick ways to add tasks to Remember The Milk: Unix Command Line + Automator Service in Snow Leopard
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 by Emily Boyd
We have two Tips & Tricks Tuesday winners this week! Both users provide handy tips for adding tasks to Remember The Milk, and with one tip building upon the other, we figured both deserve to be here. :)
Adding tasks from the Unix Command Line
Looking for a speedy, text-based way to add new tasks? Try this tip from manning999:
This probably applies to a very small audience, aka engineers and programmers who work in a Unix terminal (Linux, Solaris).
With Smart Add, you can mail your new task to your inbox email address from a shell, without having to leave the terminal and disrupt your flow. For example, if you are in the flow working and coding, and Bart asks you over the cube wall to test his code changes he just committed, you could enter the following line on the command line:
mail -s "Test code changes committed by Bart. ^tom @ 9a \!1 #Testing #na @Work" homersimpson+abc123@rmilk.com
The properties in the example would cause the task "Test code changes committed by Bart." to be added to homersimpson's RTM account. In addition, the task will have a due date/time of tomorrow at 9:00 a.m., have a high priority, be added to the Testing list (assuming that list exists), be tagged with na (for next action), and be added to the location Work.
Check out the full post from manning999 for more details on how this works.
Adding tasks with the Automator Service in Snow Leopard
Our second winner, eddm, was inspired by manning999's tip to look into Automator actions, and describes how to use the Automator Service for adding tasks:
Expanding on that, it is incredibly easy to turn into a very easy to use Automator Service in Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6).
Using this, you can right click any text and just select "Send to RTM" (or whatever you want to name it) to create it as a task in RTM (probably in your inbox, for you to prioritise and categorise later in a shallow GTD way).
There are a few steps involved in getting this set up, so for all the details, check out the full post from eddm.
Thanks to both manning999 and eddm for sharing your tips!
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: Use Gmail's Canned Responses to quickly add sets of tasks
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 by Emily Boyd
This creative tip from michael.stainthorpe combines the Canned Responses feature in Gmail with email import in Remember The Milk for task adding goodness:
If I decide that I want to cook a meal (which I cook on a regular basis and has a long list of ingredients) I send an e-mail to the RTM Import e-mail address containing the full list of ingredients to be added to my RTM Grocery List.
However, to save typing this e-mail every time I want to cook this dish I've saved the list of ingredients as a 'canned response' in Gmail so, if I want to load this meal into my grocery list I just go to Gmail and select this 'canned response', send it to RTM and within a few seconds the ingredients have loaded into my grocery list.
I can then go to my store cupboard, complete the items which I already have (such as balsamic vinegar, olive oil etc) and I'm left with the list of items which I need to get from the store which I can complete as I put them in my trolley using the RTM iPhone app.
This could be used for any event for which you need a standard set of items. Say you were going camping, you could have a 'canned response' e-mail containing Tent, Mini Cooker, Walking Boots, Mosquito Spray etc.
Thanks for sharing this tip, michael.stainthorpe! 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
Remember The Milk Mobile Survey 2010: The Results
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 by Emily Boyd
Last month we asked you to help Bob prioritize mobile development for 2010 by taking our Mobile Survey. Over 3,300 lovely Remember The Milk users were kind enough to provide their input, and Bob thanks you profusely! Bob's been busy tallying the results and trying to figure out what it all means, and we wanted to share what we've learnt with you.
Mobile devices
First of all, we asked which mobile operating system(s) you use regularly. You could choose more than one option, just in case you use an iPod touch as well as a phone, or enjoy carrying multiple phones around.
The results are obviously a bit skewed towards platforms where we have full native apps: it's no surprise that iPhone OS (used by 45% of you!) and Android (26%) lead the pack.
For the rest, it's tricky to know whether a particular operating system is less popular because we don't have great support for it (thus not as many users of that platform are attracted to Remember The Milk), or maybe because it's just a less popular platform in general… or in some cases, a little from column A, a little from column B. :)
We were also curious to know how you usually use Remember The Milk on your mobile device. The number of folks using the iPhone and Android apps correspond roughly to the number using those devices in the previous question, but the mobile version managed to slip into second place (perhaps not surprisingly, being popular for those platforms without a native Remember The Milk app).
The future
We asked a couple of questions about the devices you plan to purchase; we figured it'd be a good idea to get an indication of which devices we'll need to support in the future!
First up was the Apple iPad: 19% of you were certain you'll be buying one, with a further 25% being undecided. Existing iPhone/iPod touch owners were much more confident there'd be an iPad in their future, with 35% of you being certain, and a further 33% undecided. So, it sounds like Apple will be selling a lot of iPads. :)
Aside from the iPad, we were interested to learn which devices folks were considering purchasing in the future, as 26% of you indicated you're planning to acquire a new phone or mobile device in the next 6 months. We asked you to squint into your crystal ball and tell us which operating system your new device runs.
The biggest surprise here was that the leader was Android (57% considering a purchase), followed by iPhone OS (40%). (Yes, these percentages don't add up; clearly some of you are tossing up between the two, or maybe even planning to buy both.)
Perhaps indicating how quickly things can change in mobile land, in the time since our survey, one mobile operating system listed in the survey merged with another (Maemo > MeeGo), and Windows Phone 7 was revealed, so the results might be different if we ran the survey again today. Despite that, the results seem to give a fair indication of which platforms Remember The Milk users are thinking about.
What should we work on?
The big question! We gave you a lot of options, and asked you to choose which mobile stuff you think we should focus on (keeping in mind that we're a small team here, so hopefully you each didn't select too much stuff!).
The clear leaders were improve the iPhone app (requested by 41% of you) and improve the Android app (33%). It's not terribly surprising that folks requested we work on the platforms that they use (and why wouldn't you? :), though the number who selected the Android app option was actually higher than the number of people who indicated they use an Android device, suggesting people requested this ahead of a planned Android purchase.
Third place was development of a new iPad app (17%, very close to the percentage of you who said you'd definitely be buying one). I'll take a guess that this percentage might change if we asked this question again after the iPad comes out. :)
Next up were requests for improvements to the mobile version and the main web app for mobile use, followed by requests for standalone apps and syncing for specific platforms (in order of requests: BlackBerry, Palm webOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Maemo, Palm OS). There was some slight skewing of results for specific platforms by users encouraging other device owners in online forums and on Twitter to come and take our survey, but hopefully it didn't affect things too dramatically; we definitely admire the passion shown!
How we'll use these results
This survey has provided us with some fantastic information that Bob will be using when making decisions about mobile development for 2010, and we thank everyone who took the time to share their thoughts with us!
As always, we continue to welcome feedback on Remember The Milk for mobile (and in general!) and we use this to improve our service. If you missed the survey or haven't already shared what you'd like to see, we'd love to hear from you! You can send a suggestion to us directly, post on the Ideas forum, or share your feedback in the dedicated iPhone and Android forums for those apps.
Posted in: New Features & Updates
Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Living with eleven other guys and a dog
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 by Emily Boyd
While RTM user rotocastro might have a bit of an unusual living situation, his Tips & Tricks Tuesday winning tip is helpful for anyone sharing a household and attempting to get everyone to pull their weight:
I use RTM to manage my fraternity. I live in a house with eleven other guys and a dog. We used to have a lot of problems to memorize and organize our "To-do's", and almost every Monday night meeting someone would come along with that old excuse: "Oh… I forgot, I will do it for next week for sure".
And the other 11 would wait for the rest of their academic lives to see it. Fortunately I found RTM searching for Task Managers.
So, this is how we (because I've created an account for the fraternity) do it.
At first we've created 12 folders named after our names (heheh). Then at the beginning of which meeting someone is responsible to write down the obligations and transfer them to RTM. We allocate each task to someone's folder name and we have all registered our e-mail so that RTM can alert us!
I am not saying that everyone fills their obligations, but we've increased from 0% of efficiency to 70%. Thank you RTM!
Thanks for sharing this tip, rotocastro, and good luck getting the rest of the guys to complete their tasks!
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: Tracking tax paperwork
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 by Emily Boyd
Doing your taxes is never fun (unless, you know, you're one of those people who're into that sort of thing). That's why erikdw's tip is great — it takes away some of the stress when tax time comes around:
When I do my taxes each year I have to gather together a copious amount of paperwork (ESPP, mortgage, property taxes, W2s, many 1099s, cost basis for various things, etc.).
In the past I have just used a plain text document to track the gathering of the various paperwork.
However, this year I am using RTM to track this. I created a "Taxes" list, and I have just added items for all the forms I have needed in the past (by harvesting that info out of an old text document), and when I remember another form then I add it to the list. If I receive a form in the mail then I check off the entry. Some of the paperwork I need never arrives though, so instead of needing to remember to print it out myself, I can look at my Taxes list and see that I still have not received it and probably need to print it out. Once I have completed all my items, I know I am ready to do my taxes.
Then next year I can just "uncomplete" all of the items from this list and start the cycle again.
An added benefit is that this is a central place for me to note any new taxable events/account openings that occur during this year, so that I will remember to gather paperwork for those items when tax season rolls around again.
Obviously, you should not put account numbers or any super sensitive info like that into your TODO lists. e.g., for investment accounts, I just put a bank/brokerage name, account type, and form needed (e.g., BofA savings 1099-INT).
Thanks for sharing this tip, erikdw! 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: Tracking your online orders
Tuesday, March 2, 2010 by Emily Boyd
Bob hates going to the mall — all those awkward stares from other shoppers. Perhaps not surprisingly, he's a fanatical online shopper, which is why he loves this tip from RTM user gutzanu:
I usually order a lot of stuff online from different websites. It happened a while ago that I got things delivered to my house about which I completely forgot that I ordered them. :-)
To get over this inconvenience I made a list in RTM called "Orders". I enter the things that I order separately as tasks (for example "Alice in Wonderland") and in the URL field I enter the website from where I have ordered the thing.
To keep track of them I created a tag called "shipped" for all orders that are shipped and in the Notes field I enter their respective tracking numbers, if available.
As due date I enter either an ETA provided in the shipping confirmation, or just an approximate date when to check the status of the order.
This helps a lot! :-)
Thanks for sharing this tip, gutzanu! 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
