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Subtasks

A job usually has parts. A subtask is one of those parts, kept under the task it belongs to.

A subtask is a full task. It can have its own due date, its own person, its own labels and its own logged hours, and it turns up in Calendar and on the Dashboard like any other task. The only thing that makes it a subtask is which task it hangs under.

Subtask or checklist?​

The description field has checklists too, so there are two ways to break something down. The rule:

Does the step need its own date, its own person, or its own hours? Make it a subtask. Otherwise, use a checklist in the description.

A checklist item is a note to yourself. A subtask is work you can put a deadline on, hand to somebody, and track time against.

Adding subtasks​

Open a task and use the Subtasks box in the panel. Type a title, press Enter, and keep going. The field stays put so you can write out the parts in one run. Each one opens like any other task when you click it.

Have the list somewhere already? Paste it into that field and Nydli asks whether to make one subtask per line. Nydli takes the bullets, numbers and checkboxes off and skips blank lines. It's the quickest way to get a checklist out of a document and into the task it belongs to.

To file a task you already have under another one, open it and use the Make this a subtask button in that same box, then search for the task it belongs under.

Lifting one back out​

Lift out turns a subtask back into a task of its own, and its hours, labels, attachments and history all stay with it. You'll find the button in the Part of box when the subtask is open, and on hover on each row in the parent's list.

Subtasks and categories​

A subtask stays in the same category as the task above it, and that field is read-only while it's a subtask. This keeps one job's hours rolling up in one place. The subtasks come along when you move the parent. Lift a subtask out and it stays where it is, free to move on its own.

That also means filing a task under a parent in another category moves it there. The picker says so before you pick.

In List​

Subtasks show indented under their parent. The number after the parent's title folds them into the row and back out again, and Subtasks in the list's settings menu (top right) turns the indented rows off altogether. The number stays, so you can always see there's something in there.

Two things stay true whatever you set:

  • A search or filter always shows a subtask that matches, even with subtasks switched off. We never hide something you went looking for.
  • If the parent isn't in view, whether filtered out, done or archived, the subtask shows on its own with the parent's name in front of it.

Hours​

Each task's hours are its own, and that's what every list shows you. A List row's Time tracked column is the time logged on that task and nothing else. List isn't a timesheet, and a second, larger number beside the first only raises the question of which one you're looking at.

The roll-up has a home: the Subtasks box in the editor totals the parts, and the Timesheet is where hours add up properly. There every row is one task's own hours, so a category's total is always the sum of the rows under it, and a subtask's row carries its parent's name in front of the title.

Marking things done​

Finishing a parent doesn't finish its subtasks, and finishing the last subtask doesn't finish the parent. The count on the row and the 3/5 done in the panel tell you where things stand, and you decide. Mark all as not done in the Subtasks box reopens every one of them, for when a whole job comes back.

Deleting and archiving​

Subtasks follow their parent into the archive or the bin, and come back with it. A subtask you archived or binned on its own earlier keeps its own clock and stays put.

Two exceptions worth knowing:

  • You can't delete a task with an archived subtask. Unarchive it first, because deleting never reaches into the archive.
  • Restoring a subtask while its parent is still in the bin lifts it out into a task of its own, so it comes back somewhere you can actually see it.

One level​

Subtasks don't have subtasks. One level is a deliberate limit: any deeper and a task list turns into a project plan, which isn't what Nydli is for. If a piece of work has grown enough to need its own parts, it's probably earned a category of its own.