Comments on: Tasktop how-to: Create tasks with style http://tasktop.com/blog/mylyn/create-tasks Task-focused productivity for Enterprise Agile ALM Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:27:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: David Shepherd http://tasktop.com/blog/mylyn/create-tasks/comment-page-1#comment-32807 David Shepherd Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:33:35 +0000 http://tasktop.com/blog/?p=145#comment-32807 This particular feature has been requested by others [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=165391] and has been considered. I can imagine how it would be useful, but it does add complexity. For example, it would be easy to get into a mode where instead of a simple monocline grouping [http://wiki.eclipse.org/Mylyn/UI_Design#Avoid_Hierarchies] the user has a single task scattered across multiple containers. Between that, and the relatively low interest in this feature the Mylyn committers have decided not to add this feature yet. However, there is a work-around for this that is supported by several repositories. When using Bugzilla, for instance, you can create queries for specific keywords, which allows you to group tasks in the task list just as tagging would. Trac also supports querying by keywords. I would encourage Tasktop and Mylyn users interested in this feature to try using the workaround and comment on the above bug if you find that this feature would significantly improve your workflow. This particular feature has been requested by others [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=165391] and has been considered. I can imagine how it would be useful, but it does add complexity. For example, it would be easy to get into a mode where instead of a simple monocline grouping [http://wiki.eclipse.org/Mylyn/UI_Design#Avoid_Hierarchies] the user has a single task scattered across multiple containers. Between that, and the relatively low interest in this feature the Mylyn committers have decided not to add this feature yet.

However, there is a work-around for this that is supported by several repositories. When using Bugzilla, for instance, you can create queries for specific keywords, which allows you to group tasks in the task list just as tagging would. Trac also supports querying by keywords. I would encourage Tasktop and Mylyn users interested in this feature to try using the workaround and comment on the above bug if you find that this feature would significantly improve your workflow.

]]> By: Eugene Kuleshov http://tasktop.com/blog/mylyn/create-tasks/comment-page-1#comment-32783 Eugene Kuleshov Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:31:27 +0000 http://tasktop.com/blog/?p=145#comment-32783 David, I believe you are missing the point. Server side keywords or Task List categories are perfect example what I was referring too - they bot are too limited. Compare it for example with delicious bookmarks where you can create multi dimensional categories and apply multiple categories or even intersection of categories to individual tasks. This would be a very powerful feature and also very easy to implement. David, I believe you are missing the point. Server side keywords or Task List categories are perfect example what I was referring too – they bot are too limited. Compare it for example with delicious bookmarks where you can create multi dimensional categories and apply multiple categories or even intersection of categories to individual tasks. This would be a very powerful feature and also very easy to implement.

]]> By: David Shepherd http://tasktop.com/blog/mylyn/create-tasks/comment-page-1#comment-32217 David Shepherd Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:31:56 +0000 http://tasktop.com/blog/?p=145#comment-32217 Eugene's comment raises an important point for task management systems. The underlying question being how much of a task should be structured (e.g., the priority, owner, and due date fields) versus how much should be represented in natural language. Our task schema has evolved to be quite generic, and to allow connectors to specify it further (e.g., how Rally adds Agile concepts in its connector). But no matter how that schema evolves, we believe that there will always be a role for natural language in describing tasks and this set of best practices is meant to give you guidance in this unstructured part of the task. For users interested in categorization, your options are currently to use either the task repositories' mechanism and queries (e.g., keywords in Bugzilla) or to use categories, which can be used to tag both local and repository tasks. For users that want to search the task description you can use the "Task Search" dialog and search all tasks on a certain server. Users that wish to find a local task can use the instant summary search that the Task List provides, but note that this searches the summary and not the description. Eugene’s comment raises an important point for task management systems. The underlying question being how much of a task should be structured (e.g., the priority, owner, and due date fields) versus how much should be represented in natural language. Our task schema has evolved to be quite generic, and to allow connectors to specify it further (e.g., how Rally adds Agile concepts in its connector). But no matter how that schema evolves, we believe that there will always be a role for natural language in describing tasks and this set of best practices is meant to give you guidance in this unstructured part of the task.

For users interested in categorization, your options are currently to use either the task repositories’ mechanism and queries (e.g., keywords in Bugzilla) or to use categories, which can be used to tag both local and repository tasks. For users that want to search the task description you can use the “Task Search” dialog and search all tasks on a certain server. Users that wish to find a local task can use the instant summary search that the Task List provides, but note that this searches the summary and not the description.

]]> By: Eugene Kuleshov http://tasktop.com/blog/mylyn/create-tasks/comment-page-1#comment-32205 Eugene Kuleshov Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:14:37 +0000 http://tasktop.com/blog/?p=145#comment-32205 "...If you consistently order these components of the task name then it is easier to scan each name, to search task names, and to categorize tasks..." - this is a direct consequence of the present limitation of Mylyn's Task List view that does not allow custom task categorization, nor allow to search trough the task descriptions. “…If you consistently order these components of the task name then it is easier to scan each name, to search task names, and to categorize tasks…” – this is a direct consequence of the present limitation of Mylyn’s Task List view that does not allow custom task categorization, nor allow to search trough the task descriptions.

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