Task management without the cloud

January 19, 2009 6:41 AM

Oh no not another task management question! I'm looking for a web-based task manager that lets me sub-divide tasks.

I'd like to manage my day better. I read The Zen of Todoist, and I like their web app. The Windows-only ToDoList app looks good too, but I'm on Windows and Linux. Something java based like jtodolist would almost do, but the interface needs lots of work.

I'd like something similar to all of these, something that lets me sub-divide a task into lots of smaller tasks.

I can't use something in the cloud because of confidentiality reasons.
Ideally an app that lets me sync between Linux and Windows computers, or a web based app.

TaskFreak! looks promising but doesn't support sub tasks.

If it supports keyboard shortcuts a-la-gmail or vim, that would probably swing it for me.

Any ideas?

posted by devnull to Work & Money (10 answers total)

Best answer: Sorry I can't give you anything specific right off --but check out the website lifehacker.com They've dealt with tons of items like this. Also, what you may be looking for is more like a GANT chart? The recent acronym to describe this sort of thing is GTD (get things done).
posted by ezekieldas at 7:02 AM on January 19, 2009

Response by poster: Through lifehacker I found both ThinkingRock and GTD-PHP which look interesting. I will try them out.

Still open to suggestions and experience though :)
posted by devnull at 7:39 AM on January 19, 2009

ToDoList (Windows)
posted by tom_g at 7:46 AM on January 19, 2009

Toodledo lets you create sub-tasks, which breaks down big tasks into smaller steps.
posted by PatoPata at 8:20 AM on January 19, 2009

Response by poster: I'm looking for something not hosted by someone else - I can't do that for confidentiality reasons.

So an open source app I can use on my own server, or a local app (but must be cross platform).
posted by devnull at 11:00 AM on January 19, 2009

Check out Taskwriter. Found via lifehacker. I like its simplicity and single screen input. You do not have to navigate through multiple screens. Pretty fast too. It is in beta but looks pretty polished.
posted by shr1n1 at 12:24 PM on January 19, 2009

You can use Emacs' wonderful org-mode (screencast) for this easily. Here's an article about using org-mode for GTD.
posted by harmfulray at 12:37 PM on January 19, 2009

Best answer: Tracks is great to use if you are good at getting a Rails site up and running.
posted by tayknight at 8:08 PM on January 19, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for the answers. I've marked the two non-hosted solutions as best answers.

@harmfulray: I can't bring myself to use emacs :)
posted by devnull at 4:53 AM on January 20, 2009

Also, do a Google search for GTD Tiddly Wiki (I liked MonkeyGTD when I was playing with these). Tiddly Wikis are really cool, self-contained wikis. They can be stored locally or run off a server.
posted by tayknight at 9:49 PM on January 21, 2009