TaskPaper 1.0.3 To-Do List for the Mac, Web, and More

The only web applications that had much traction five or six years ago were email and personal portals with custom news, stock lists, and a few toy applications. Flash forward to the present and we're seeing Linux-based sub-notebooks like the Aus Eee PC gaining marketshare at the low-end. Why? It might be because web-based applications like Google Docs and the Zoho office suite offers significant functionality without needing a lot of power on the client-side computer. It has come to the point where I often start looking for services on the web before looking for software to run on my Mac. When I do look at Mac software, I usually look for how that software exports and imports data to let it work with other software and web services.

Hog Bay Software TaskPaper 1.0.3 ($18.95) caught my attention because it falls in an application category that always interests me: Software and web services that help me get organized.

The application is very simple looking and doesn't require hours of learning. It sort of looked like a blank 4x6 index card (something I'm very comfortable using) and didn't seem to have dozens of things to learn before I could get started.

Typing a line of text with a colon (:) at the end creates a project section. Typing a hyphen (-) in front of a line indicates an item. And, clicking on a line's bullet or typing @done at the end of an item crosses out the item indicating it is complete. This is so simple even I can understand it. There's more to it that this, of course. Tags can be created using the format @label-name. More than one tag can be assigned to any line item by typing it at the end of the line. Each of these tags are hyperlinked items that let you view similarly tagged items. For example, clicking on @done displays a window with all the items tagged as done. A mouse click on a project section title focuses on just that section and hides away other sections. Another click on the title and everything reappears.

This was fine. But, I am not always near a Mac. So, what can I do when I am sitting on a Windows PC or Linux workstation? This is where TaskPaper really distinquishes itself from the pack. It has not one but three non-Mac solutions for working with tasks away from a Mac. TaskPaper.web is provided as Open Source PHP code you can install on your own web server. TaskPaper.vim is a free syntax file for the Open Source Vim text editor. Tasko is a free web version of TaskPaper. There isn't a formal syncrhonization process. But, that is not a problem. I just copied and pasted text between TaskPaper and Tasko while figuring out how it works. You can see in Tasko screencap that I hadn't figured out that I needed use a colon at the end of the line to indicate a major task segment yet.

Back on the Mac... If you like the TaskPaper's concept but would rather use Textmate or BBEdit, there's a link to an end-user contributed Task bundle for TextMate and a free download of a BBEdit module.

TaskPaper's relatively minimalist but powerful approach is a good one. The developer's willingness to help TaskPaper's users to move tasks in and out of various other products shows an uncommon and refreshing appreciation and respect for the customer.