155875 - ToDo - Color Code Tasks According to Start & Due Dates (and add a Start Date to the UI)

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Calendar :: Sunbird Only, enhancement)

Description

[Peter Lairo]

ToDo - Color Code Tasks According to Start & Due Dates (and add a Start Date to
the UI)

This bug is a result of discussion in the calendar NG over removing the "due
date" collumn from the ToDo sidebar, because it takes up too much horizontal
space and makes the "Description" unusably short.

By adding a _Start Date_ (in addition to the Due Date) of when the ToDo should
"start" appearing in the list, there would be no need for the due date collumn.
Also, the user would not be annoyed by seeing a long list of irrelevant ToDo
tasks (e.g., "Pay loan" - due in November, when now is only July. The start date
could be October).

Tasks should be color coded (see screenshots):
BLUE  - Task has *not* started yet
        (only visible when a future date is selected or
         set to display in preferences)
GREEN - Task *has* started ("current" task)
RED   - Task is past the To Do Date (overdue)
BLACK - completed task

Tasks that have not yet "started" would not be displayed. Perhaps if the user
pages to (selects) a date in the calendar where a task _is_ past the start date,
then it could appear on the left.

- The "start" date must always be *on-or-before* the "due" date.

- Completed tasks should move to the bottom of the list.

- Display completed tasks only when the completion date is the same as the
currently selected date?

RELATED NOTE:
I think the ToDo tasks (and later calls & multi-day "events") should appear
_inside_ the calendar (at least in "Week" view), so paging through the calendar
will show what Task, calls, etc where completed on that day.

The week view really shouldn't be a timeline. That just wastes a lot of vertical
space and severly limits the horizontal space. Better would be to just list the
Appointments, Events, Anniversaries, Tasks and Calls (in that order - perhaps
the user could set a preference whether he wants appointsments to be above or
below the other items).

MONDAY                        <or> MONDAY
------------------------------     -------------------------------
Appointments    14:30 Dentist      Events          Vacation
                19:00 Party        Anniversaries   Mom's Birthday
Events          Vacation           Tasks           Buy Flowers
Anniversaries   Mom's Birthday                     Get Haircut
Tasks           Buy Flowers        Calls           Call Mom
                Get Haircut        Appointments    14:30 Dentist
Calls           Call Mom                           19:00 Party

Comment 1

[Peter Lairo]

Attachment: Example of ToDo Colors in week view of Lotus Organizer

Notice the BLUE ToDo task on the following day. Here the Start Date is the
"5th" (today in the "4th").

Comment 2

[Peter Lairo]

Attachment: Example of ToDo Colors in DAILY view Sidebar of Lotus Organizer

Note that the blue ToDo task with Stat Date on the following day(see previous
screenshot) is NOT visible yet.

Note that there is a collumn for the user to place (and see) the "completed"
checkmark.

Note that there is a collumn showing the "Priority" of the task.

Note that there is another sidebar panel showing the "Calls" made (or planned
for) that day. :)

Comment 3

[Mike Potter]

I can confirm most of this as an ehancement.

Comment 4

[Mike Potter]

This should be fixed in cvs now, please open up other specific bugs.

Comment 5

[Peter Lairo]

in Mozilla Calendar 2002081513-cal:
Overdue (and current) tasks are shown GREEN (future tasks are BLACK). GREEN
seems the most counterintuitive color to use for overdue tasks. I think it would
make infinitely more sense to color them as outlined above.

BLUE    - Task has not started yet     (Start Date is in the future)
GREEN   - Task has started             (Start Date is today or before)
MAGENTA - Task is DUE TODAY          <-- this would be excellent! :)
RED     - Task is past the Due Date
BLACK   - Completed Task

In light of the incomplete and partially incorrect implementation, reopening...

PS. Today's build doesn't load: 
XML parsing error in calendar.xul, line 194, column 21

Comment 6

[Mike Potter]

As I said, this bug is fixed in CVS. It is not yet in any builds.
Open up specific bugs *after* you get the build it was fixed in.
I'll fix that problem with the build very soon.

Comment 7

[Peter Lairo]

OK,  I filed a new bug to improve the color coding of ToDo tasks: bug 164598
"Better Colors for ToDo Task (completed, overdue, current, due today, and future)"
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=164598

Comment 8

[Reed Loden [:reed]]

The bugspam monkeys have been set free and are feeding on Calendar :: Sunbird Only. Be afraid for your sanity!