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Tasks vs. To-Do Items in Outlook 2007
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Posted by Ken
Feb 25, 2010 at 06:14 PM
while we completed our transition to Outlook 2007 at work several months ago, I have been allowed to keep my personal copy of ECCO on my machinefor use. But, I am am slowly trying to more of my data into Outlook because they will probably not allow me to keep Ecco forever. Much of my work revolves aroound specifically assigned projects, and Ecco easily handles my needs related to project-specific tasks. In Outlook 2007, there are Tasks, To-Do’s (and a notebook) that I have minimally used. but, I would now like to starthandling project-specific tasks on Outlook, but am still a bit confused about how Outlook 2007 handles tasks vs. to-do’s. I am reading through as much as I can absorb about this topic, but any helpful hints or advice would also be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
—Ken
Posted by Franz Grieser
Feb 25, 2010 at 07:00 PM
Ken.
I do not have an English Outlook. But in my Outlook 2007 there are tasks and appointments and notes. Appointments have fixed dates, tasks don’t (though a task may have a due date and a reminder).
I think you may be confused by the fact that there is a task pane (don’t know what it’s called in the English Outlook) residing to the right of the calender view. That pane also shows the tasks/to-do’s.
Franz
Posted by Ken
Feb 25, 2010 at 08:11 PM
Franz,
I did find some information that states that “a to-do item is any Outlook item - such as a task, message or contact - that has been flagged for follow-up.” While this is certainly easy to understand, their layout in the various windows is not the easiest to follow. The Calendar has a Task section, while the Mail has a To-Do Bar. Not necessarily a bad concept, but poorly organized and labelled. Its is going to take some time to wrap my mind around “Outlook logic”.
—Ken
Posted by dan7000
Feb 25, 2010 at 08:15 PM
The Outlook 2007 (and 2010) Task vs. To-Do distinction drives me crazy.
In my workflow, if I want to see calendar items or emails, I will look at the calendar tab or the email tab. I don’t want emails in my tasks. But Outlook 2007/10 defaults to displaying the “to do” list every time I go to the task pane. Then I have to click on “Tasks” to see what I really want. I wish they had an option to hide “to do’s” in the UI.
Posted by Franz Grieser
Feb 26, 2010 at 08:32 AM
Ken.
> ?a to-do item is any Outlook item - such as a task, message or contact - that has been flagged for follow-up.?
Ah, I see. Any element that is flagged for follow-up is also added to the task planner in Outlook 2007. So you can flag an e-mail for follow-up (and enter a reminder date or a due date for that). The e-mail remains in the inbox and the “to-do” (i.e. the follow-up) is automatically added to the task planner (including reminder and due date).
BTW: You can only flag messages and contacts for follow-up - not tasks (as the quote you referred to states). Flagging tasks for follow-up wouldn’t make sense.
Speaking of “making sense”: There are a lot of things in Outlook that are illogical and counter-intuitive.
Franz
(editor-in-chief of a German print newsletter on Outlook)