Matt Smith on Jun 18, 2011 - 09:07

Some notes about the differences in some different apps:
- Outlook: http://www.timeatlas.com/email/outlook/recurring_vs_regenerated_tasks
- RememberTheMilk: http://www.rememberthemilk.com/help/answers/basics/repeatformat.rtm
- MyLifeOrganized: http://www.mylifeorganized.net/downloads/files/MyLifeOrganized%20User%27s%20Guide.pdf, Section 5.2.6.2 Recurrence

Julie Wills on Jun 24, 2011 - 22:24

Not necessarily days, of course. Just allow "after" as well as "every" in the repeat syntax, which sets a new due date on completion of the task.

e.g. when I apply flea treatment to my dogs, I wish to re-apply AFTER 6 weeks; when I change the water filter, I want to do it again AFTER 3 months.

Kartik on Jul 28, 2011 - 08:32

*drool* I want this feature..

Olivier F on Aug 05, 2011 - 07:32

I would definitely like this.

Unknown on Aug 06, 2011 - 00:49

This would make Todoist an RTM killer for me.

Randy Strutz on Aug 29, 2011 - 09:20

I just posted a question to the board before seeing this. I think this is what I Am looking for as well.

Dylan Eiler on Oct 03, 2011 - 11:23

This is the one of the biggest reasons that I have been using RTM as my main to do list lately.

Chris G on Oct 12, 2011 - 16:24

This is the best suggestion I have seen so far!

Rindee on Oct 31, 2011 - 07:23

This is exactly what I have been wishing for as well!

Mike Rosenberg on Dec 03, 2011 - 05:23

me too!

Joel Cohen on Dec 04, 2011 - 14:30

Please add me to this want list.

Glenn on Jan 07, 2012 - 07:04

Ditto. I really need an "x days from completed" option for recurring tasks.

Matt Smith on Jan 10, 2012 - 08:25

Hey Todoist - Any feedback on where this item is on your list? It is currently #5 as far as popularity and I am seeing lots of other activity. It would be good to know if there is any kind of timeline that you are thinking of.

Thanks!
Matt

Amir Salihefendic on Mar 06, 2012 - 01:45

Hi everyone

We have evaluated your feature request and made a significant change in how recurring (every X) functionality works to address this issue.

To illustrate it's best to take an example. Let's say we have a task called "Clean fridge" and it occurs "every 3 months". Let's say we have missed this and this task is overdue by some days. Completing this task will result in following dates using the old and new system:

* old system: completing the task would update the due date to "today"
* new system: completing the task will update the due date to 3 months in the future

The reason why we changed this is because it's more natural and we can't find many reasons to keep the old system.

Thanks a lot for providing your amazing feedback, we truly appreciate it and please keep it coming.

As something extra we have also made it possible to write "after 3 months" (it basically means "every 3 months").

Best regards,
Amir

Julie Wills on Mar 06, 2012 - 03:57

No, no, no!

It needs to be an additional option, not a change to the way existing repeating tasks work.

Some things (e.g. Tax returns) have a fixed repeating due date, and if not done on time, the next one shouldn't be late as well, just because I got it wrong once.

Julie

Joel Cohen on Mar 06, 2012 - 05:27

Amir,

There seem to be two camps on this feature:

1. Tasks of the "clean my fridge" type of reminder (same as "change my oil in my car") this camp benefits from the deadline shifting once the task is done.

2. Tasks with set deadlines (the quarterly tax payment type or remind me to pay my rent / credit cards) where the due dates should be locked even if they are late.

Would there be a way to add a phrase such as "fixed due dates" or "sliding due dates" in order to accommodate both kinds of tasks? I certainly have both kinds.

Another way to accomplish this might be a syntax that lets you specify multiple deadlines, such as: "repeat every 31 mar, 30 jun, 30 sep, 31 dec" This would be perfect because I could view specific deadlines and not make a separate tasks for each repeated deadline.

Thanks,

Joel Cohen

Joel Cohen on Mar 06, 2012 - 05:31

Hi Amir,

Another thought:

Add key phrases such as:

"repeat every quarter end"
"repeat every quarter beginning"


Joel

Olivier F on Mar 06, 2012 - 05:39

I agree with Julie and Joel.

There should be two distinct syntax with two distinct behaviors:
- one that sets the next due date based on the previous due date
- one that sets the next due date based on the last completion date.

Thanks.

Amir Salihefendic on Mar 06, 2012 - 08:55

We have revisited this again.

Apart from the fix of "every" we have re-implemented how "after" works.

"every" and "after" work in almost the same way, the difference is how the next date is computed.

An example, let's say we have two tasks:
* "Clean fridge" with due date "every 3 months starting 10 march"
* "Clean fridge" with due date "after 3 months starting 10 march"

Completing "every 3 months starting 10 march" will result in a due date 3 months from 10 march.

Completing "after 3 months starting 10 march" will result in a due date 3 months from completion date.

We hope this resolves any issues that you may have with our change and once again thanks for the feedback.

Best regards,
Amir

Matt Smith on Mar 06, 2012 - 09:01

Hi Amir,

I'm so glad that this suggestion has finally gotten some traction. Sounds like there is a little confusion/misinterpretation about how it may be working but hopefully everyone is saying the same thing.

I'm looking forward to giving it a test. Not having this feature is one reason why I have not used Todoist much lately. Sometimes I can go several days or weeks without using the site and having to work through all of my past due tasks with the 'every' option was tedious and annoying.

Thanks,
Matt

Julie Wills on Mar 06, 2012 - 09:28

Thank you Amir.

The revised method is exactly how it should work.

Julie

Dylan Eiler on Mar 06, 2012 - 09:47

Perfect! Thank you very much.

Matt Smith on Mar 06, 2012 - 09:47

So far, so good.

I haven't used the site in several months and have many overdue tasks. In the previous model, 'every 1 day' was annoying because if I completed a task today (3/6) that was due 10/15/2011, the next instance would be 10/16/2011. I was then having to update the due date to something like 'every 1 day starting 3/7'. I couldn't use 'today' or 'tomorrow' because I needed to make a change so it would register.

Now, when I complete a task that was due on 10/15/2011 and is set to 'every 1 day', the next due date is showing up as tomorrow (3/6). Skipping all of the occurrences that were previously missed is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt

Olivier F on Mar 06, 2012 - 11:53

Sounds like you nailed it. Thank-you Amir!

Diogo Barreto on Mar 15, 2012 - 16:09

this is also fantastic, thanks!

Ken Heaps on May 09, 2013 - 09:17

How do I repeat a task on a specific weekday after completion? I would think "after 7 days on Tuesday", which it accepts but only does 7 days later on completion. I also tried "after Tuesday", but the software kicked that out.