Todo.txt – A Nifty ToDo Indicator Applet for Ubuntu

Todo.txt is an extremely simple indicator applet that lets you quickly tick off the tasks contained in your todo.txt file. It lives in the system tray and has options: Edit todo.txt, Clear completed, and refresh.

Ultimately, its job is to help you edit your todo.txt file and mark tasks as completed without needing to open a full-fledged text editing application.

Todo.txt was created for users who appreciate their workflow the most when all they need to keep themselves reminded of pending tasks is a text file that they can mark as checked and move on with their day – some of us don’t need glorified GUI apps for certain tasks like reminders.

Features in Todo.txt

As a minimalist indicator applet, Todo.txt has a small feature set which is its ideal purpose.

• Free, lightweight, and Open Source.
• Easy accessibility from the system’s tray panel.

How to Install Todo-Indicator in Linux

Installing Todo.txt is not particularly a breeze but it’s not as difficult either. All you need is to clone the github repository to your preferred installation folder.

$ git clone git://github.com/keithfancher/Todo-Indicator.git

After that, navigate to the folder into which you cloned the Todo.txt’s files and launch the applet using the command:

$ cd Todo-Indicator/
$ ./todo_indicator.py ~/todo.txt

How Do I Use Todo.txt?

Todo.txt is a very basic plain text file. You list your to-do items using some simple rules:

• (A), (B), (C), etc denote priority from high to low.
• @Phrase denotes context/device.
• +Phrase denotes a project/task/person.

Let’s see an example using the contents of the sample plain text file below.

(A) Pickup recipe for dinner
(B) Draw app documentation scheme @Todo
(A) Dinner at 8 with +Marie
(C) Call press secretary

Using the -f argument will make only specific projects or context items display in the indicator applet’s list.

For example, display all +marie items present in my todo.txt, run:

$ ./todo_indicator.py -f +marie ~/todo.txt

How many of you use Todo.txt or at something similar? How much of a ToDo person are and how much of a good idea do you think this project is? The comments section is below.

Don’t forget to recommend and share this article among friends, and feel free to submit your app suggestions anytime.