For those of you that utilize the programs Tasks, and folders, I’d love suggestions on folder types. Right now, I just have few tasks and folders by surname.
I don’t use tasks but if I did, it would depend on what and how I was researching for the info..Going to a local county courthouse/ historical society is different than using a website such as Familysearch/ Ancestry as is mailing off for info.
As I understand, you can list the same task in multiple folders so I think I would do the Surnames, counties/ states, websites such as Ancestry/ Familysearch, Facebook or FindMyPast for my English ancestors–then MIGHT even do ones that are missing birth, death, marriage, census etc…
Reason I don’t use task is because when I am working on a person, I will exhaust all my sources ( almost all on-line) to find everything I can on that person–and believe me on family, I don’t forget that I can’t find gramps in the 1920 census or 2nd g-gramps in the 1870 census but will record in my notes what was not found…
Thank you for the ideas. I confess I’ve never been able to master my impulse to jump around, so I try and take copious notes, and use tasks for when I get back around to that person, I have some idea what I was doing 
I never found Task to work well for my MOO plus outside people can not see them.
For that reason I use RESEARCH NOTE and share between people if/when necessary. This might give people on Ancestry or Family Search more context they would not have otherwise – also might help with reports an searches.
This may not work better for everyone.
Kevin
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I have a variety of folders and don’t mind putting tasks in multiple folders. Once a task is marked completed it shows no matter which folder it’s in. Here are a list of types that I have.
- !What I’m working on - I tend to jump around as the mood hits me. I have tasks in there and where I left off, so I know where to resume.
- (Surname) Family Research
- Cemeteries in New York - I have tasks for each cemetery in my areas of research and were I left off searching in them. I use the WebTags a lot here.
- Correspondences
- Database: Organizing Methods - rules I setup for myself. Assigning color code used to be a big one here. Tips and tricks are also in there.
- Facebook - pages for family members. I don’t like asking living people their birthdates and anniversaries. So I will watch and try to record as things show up. WebTags are helpful.
- General: Personal Library - I plan on putting all my genealogy related books in here, but I haven’t finished that yet.
- Military - I have timeframes of all the wars and what age to look for someone serving. Then the collections to look in. I keep a list of people I need to check too.
- New York Resources - various collections I like to come back to.
- Research Trips - items I wanted to cover on particular trips
- Repositories - either in person or online and what I want to research. For example: some collections on FamilySearch are only available at the FamilySearch Library or Centers.
- Newspapers - ones I often check, lots of WebTags
- Obituaries: Closed - obituaries that have been entered into my database
- Obituaries: Funeral Homes - these are funeral homes I check for obituaries.
- Obituaries: Open - obituaries I’m trying to find
- Obituaries: To Enter - obituaries found and I need to enter them.
All my tasks have two or more Used counts. One is tied to a person and the second is to a folder. It’s important to have a task connected to a person even if its just you. That way if you ever do a drag n drop of your database all the tasks are included. Those not connected to a person, such as what we used to call general to-do items, otherwise are not included.
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If you mean the research note in source/citations, I’ve been using that for transcriptions.
Wow, that’s a lot of useful info, thank you!
no sorry – I was referring to custom facts like this
You can use desc for type of research and info in the note
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Got it, thank you!
I’m really glad for this community since I don’t use FB. You guys are so helpful!
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yes we try to be — it does not mean what any “one” of us suggests is best for you. Personally, I offer what I do with how/why but will usually mention other might do it this way. Hopefully, someone offers something that is best for you.
I always hope for multiple methods, because then I can try them out and either adapt the one that works best, or combine them
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New question about tasks. Say after entering a new census, I have a question that needs further research, so I enter a task for that event. Do you recommend entering the task in that event, or simply add it to the person, or add it to both places?
I understand it’s personal preference, but I’m sure you have a reason for your method that I haven’t yet considered.
In this case I would add the task to the event.
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That’s what I’ve been doing, if it’s event specific. Thanks!
I use the ability to assign a task to one or more repositories. That way when I visit one of those repositories, I can query the uncompleted tasks that are associated with it.
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That’s a great idea too, thanks!!
I don’t know if I’m missing something obvious or not…if I assign a task to an event, such as a person’s death, then that task is not also assigned to the person. Hence, when I am in the Pedigree, Family, Descendant, or People view and click on the 3 vertical dots drop down menu and select “Show tasks for selected person”, the task I have just created for the death event will not be listed. I use this “Show tasks” feature all the time to see what tasks are assigned to a person, but it appears this is not showing all tasks for that person.
I will have to check that out! So far, I have just assigned surname folders in the task view, and look at them from there.
You can add a separate tag to the person and see it on the fact and the person. I prefer to add all my tasks to the person because I review them when I am researching that person. I worked in an insurance agency and we added an activity for everything we did for a client so it is second nature for me to review my tasks to see what I have done and what I need to do. I like that I can add media, sources and repositories to the tasks.
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You have some great ideas here! I will be adding a few new folders!