Re: Documentation wishlist items

[Bernt Hansen <bernt@norang.ca>]

Matt Lundin <mdl@imapmail.org> writes:

> Ethan <ethan.glasser.camp@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> Reading HOWTO's like Bernt Hansen's and Charles Cave's are really
>> interesting to see how people work, but even documents like these don't
>> explain *why* they set things up in this way. For example, Bernt
>> Hansen's document explains that his toplevel headings are "main
>> categories", and shows that they each have a CATEGORY property, but
>> doesn't explain what that buys him, or what problem that solves.
>
> My guess is that this allows him to see what group an item belongs to in
> the agenda view, since categories are listed in the left column.

That's correct.  The category only shows up in my agenda in the left
column and gives me instant access to what this task is related to.  I
usually specify a shorter category name than the filename just to keep
the agenda compact.  My todo.org file has multiple categories since it's
a mishmash of personal stuff.

I use filtering to limit the displayed tasks but the category is a
useful piece of information on the agenda.  I don't use category for
anything else.

I guess the problem it solves is if I have two identical tasks in
separate categories that both show up in the agenda then I can tell
which is which -- but that doesn't happen often.  I clock in tasks from
the agenda so knowing which is which is important.  "Invoicing and
Archive Tasks" is one example since I carry one of those for every
client (which are in separate files and separate categories).

-Bernt