It /does/ go away if I add the headline. So I think you're saying:

1. Plain list checkbox items cannot have a time-estimate associated them.
2. Plain list checkbox items cannot track time.
3. Only headlines/TODO headlines can have these features.

I suppose that a TODO headline is effectively a checkbox; it would be nice, though, to be able to time separate checkboxes (though I suspect that responsibility would lay upon me to edit the appropriate org-mode file <grin>).

Thanks for the clarification Nick.

Avery

On Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 10:14 AM, Nick Dokos wrote:

Avery Chan <avery+gmane@ootbdev.com> wrote:

I have a plain list with checkboxes. I am trying to set a clock in time using
`C-c C-x C-i`. This emits this type of an error:

byte-code: Before first headline at position 30 in buffer TODO.org

Here is the text of my org file:

---START FILE---
- [ ] Clean upstairs windows
- [ ] Lunch with Taylor
---END FILE---

How do I get the clock to start timing?

I get a similar error when I use `C-c C-x e` to set a time estimate.

org-mode version: 7.8.09
emacs version: 24.0.92.1
MacOS X 10.7.4

Does it go away if you add a headline?

---START FILE---
* Tasks for clocking
- [ ] Clean upstairs windows
- [ ] Lunch with Taylor
---END FILE---

Nick