Tasks Overview
SmarterMail's robust task system is designed to help users keep track of the things they
need to do. From shopping lists to long-term tasks, users can create lists of items, set due dates, update status and completion percentage, and even prioritize tasks. And, as there are times when an email exchange leads to a task needing to be done, email messages can be the starting point for, or linked to, tasks so that all communication surrounding the task is kept organized.
By default, the Tasks source is displayed. If other task sources are being shared with you, they will appear beneath My Tasks once they've been mapped. (see Mapped Resources for more information on sharing resources.) Making multiple task sources visible will display all of the tasks, from each source, together in the All Tasks view.
Navigating Your Tasks
When you view your SmarterMail tasks for the first time, chances are they'll be empty: you won't have any tasks to display. This may not be true if you've migrated to SmarterMail from another email platform or service. Regardless, the layout of SmarterMail tasks is the same whether you have migrated existing tasks or not. To view or hide different task folders, such as shared tasks, or mapped resources, simply click the eye icon to the right of the resource name.
In general, the Tasks page is divided into two sections:
- The folders view displays all of your task folders. These are how your tasks are organized. These folders include the default "Tasks" folder, which are tasks you add or migrate over to SmarterMail, and any folders that contain shared tasks, if there are any.
- The content pane. Here you'll see individual cards that represent every contact and Contact Group you have displayed or, when in grid view, a list of your contacts and their details displayed as rows and columns.
3 Bar Icon
At the top of the folders view you'll see the 3 Bar icon. This allows you to hide or show the tree view, which is extremely beneficial when viewing your inbox on smaller devices.
Task Views
There are two ways to view contacts:
- Card View - This displays each task as its own card, and displays details about the task like its name/title, start and due dates, priority, status, etc.
- Grid View - This displays each task in a text grid and displays details as columns, such as Subject, Start and Due dates, Priority, Percent Complete, etc.
Viewing Tasks
When you view your tasks in Card View, each task you have created or that's being shared with you will be listed on a separate card. Each card lists the following information, which is described in detail further down this page:
- Select - Clicking select gives you the following options:
- Select All - Selects all tasks in the list you are viewing.
- Deselect All - Deselects the selected task(s).
- Enable Select Mode - This allows users to select multiple different tasks, individually, one at a time. Use this method for selecting different tasks that are separated or scatterd throughout your list so they can be deleted, or otherwise handled the same.
- Sort - Sorts contacts by Subject, Due Date, % Complete, or Priority in ascending or
descending order.
- Filter - This gives you the ability to display contacts based on Status and/or on assigned category(-ies).
- Actions (⋮)
- Add to Outlook - Connects SmarterMail to Microsoft Outlook and synchronizes tasks. Note: This feature is only available in SmarterMail Enterprise.
- Delete - Deletes the selected task(s).
In general, the following options are available when viewing your tasks in Grid View:
- Delete - Deletes the selected task(s).
- Filter - This gives you the ability to display contacts based on Status and/or on assigned category(-ies).
- Actions (⋮)
- Add to Outlook - Connects SmarterMail to Microsoft Outlook and synchronizes tasks. Note: This feature is only available in SmarterMail Enterprise.
Viewing Individual Tasks
It's also possible to view tasks individually. Simply clicking on a task, either in Card or Grid View, will open the task in its own window. Opening a task gives you the ability to update or edit its information. You can also delete the task or Mark it by assigning it one or more Categories. Tasks have their own cards, which break down as follows:
- Task Subject - This is the descriptive title of the task, such as "Fill out mortgage paperwork" or "Review New Website Content"
- Description - These are the details of the task. Using the HTML editor, a task's details can include bold text, lists, different fonts or fonts with different colors, pictures, links to websites or videos and more. You can as creative as you like
- Source - This tells you where the task came from> E.g., Tasks or a shared task list.
- Start and due times - The date and time the task is set to begin, and when it's due.
- Reminder - If you want a reminder when a task is coming due, use this toggle and set its date and time.
- Priority - This allows you to set a level of importance for each task. A priority makes it much easier to sort tasks based on how important it is to compelete those tasks.
- Status - Generally, these are:
- Canceled - The task was created, but it was eventually decided it wasn't necessary.
- Not Started - The task was created -- perhaps more information is needed or it's dependent on a task from another user -- so it hasn't been started yet.
- Completed - The task is finished.
- In Progress - The task is currently being worked on.
- % Complete - This allows you to periodically update where you are in terms of completing the task. This is especially helpful if the task is being shared with others within your organization. As an aside, once a task hits 100%, it's "Status" will automatically change to "Completed". Conversely, if a task was set to 100% and, therefore, Completed, if the Completion Percentage changes to less than 100%, the Status of the task automatically changes to "In Progress".
- Attachments:
- When available, if any attachments were added to a task, they'll be listed here. Each attachment can then be downloaded and viewed/used as needed.
Tasks and Calendars
As tasks generally have a timeframe associated with them, you can choose to have your tasks displayed in your calendar, just as you do other events. You can opt to have the start time and/or the end times displayed. You can also hide Tasks from your calendar that have been marked as "Completed". To manage all this, go to your User Settings and open up Calendar Settings. On the Options card, you can enable or disable "Display task start times in the calendar view", "Display task due times in the calendar view" and "Hide completed tasks". As with any other calendar event, task start times and end times both trigger any notification you have set for the task.
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