Things
Anatomy of a thing
A thing is one line of text, plus everything you can attach to that line.
Why you'd care
Almost every question that starts "can I add a…" has the same answer: yes, to the thing itself. There is no separate task object with different fields. Understanding what one thing can hold explains most of the product at once.
Where you attach all of it
Two places, and between them they cover every row below.
The edit bar, above the keyboard on mobile and under the thing on desktop, is where you add a note, a reminder, a tag, a photo, formatting or a sublist while you are writing. See swipes and the three bars.
Thing info shows what a thing already carries, plus its dates and history, and is where the less-common actions live.
What a thing can carry
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Text | The line itself, with bold, italic, underline and links |
| Type | Note, to-do, dash, bullet, number or divider. See thing types |
| Completion | Checked, canceled, or neither |
| Star | A favourite, collected in the Stars view |
| Tags | #hashtags for cross-cutting grouping |
| Reminder | A date and time, optionally repeating |
| Note | A longer body underneath the line. See notes |
| Photos | One or more images |
| Link preview | A rich card for a URL in the text |
| Indent | Its position under the thing above it |
| History | When it was created, completed or canceled |
Going further
Nothing is required. A thing with only text is a complete, normal thing. Every other field is optional, and most things never get one.
It stays the same thing as it changes. Adding a checkbox, moving it to another list, or letting it carry to tomorrow does not create a copy. Its tags, note and history come with it, which is why a to-do you finish three weeks later still records the day you actually finished it.
A thing can become a list. Promoting it to a sublist keeps its text as the name. See sublists.
Tips
- Resist filling in fields. A thing with five attributes is rarely more useful than one with a clear sentence.
- If you find yourself wanting more structure than this, you probably want a list, not a bigger thing.