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Calendar sync is a killer feature - but it needs some work

PRO

dirkroel 12/04/2015 01:17

Platform:All

When I discovered the GCal sync, this was really the final piece of Doit.im for me that made it perfect. I like to see my tasks on a calendar and lay them out so I know I know there is enough time for all of them.

However doit doesn't seem to synchronize the task start times really well, which is all I'm looking for. I am a developer as well so I understand there are some limitations, and I would like to give you some ideas to help you get around them.

If I add tasks first in Doit.im (which makes sense) then these get synced to GCal under a calendar that is auto-generated by called 'Doit.im'. That is great! However if I then drag the task to start one hour later or ealier, then none of these time changes gets synced back to Doit.im! Can you fix that? Or is there a work around?

I tried another way as well. If I add tasks first in GCal (which is not ideal) then, because I have setup Doit.im to reverse sync a calendar that I created called 'Doit', these tasks then show up in Doit.im. That is great! If I drag the task in Gcal to start 1 hour earlier/later, now the start time gets updated in Doit.im, which is nice.But should I then update the time in Doit.im (lets say by dragging the task to tomorrow), then the time doesn't go back to Gcal. It seems to be one way.

I really like the feature, and wanted to encourage you to work more on it, espeically a two-way sync. It doesn't necessarily have to be a google calendar that you are using.What about using iCal (Apple's calendar. That would work great for me and many users I suspect).

Kind Regards,
Dirk

Folke post on 12/04/2015 03:45#1

PRO

The reverse sync needs even more work. As it is now, if you have reverse synced a shared calendar and decide that you will not attend that meeting and therefore delete it (or complete it) from your own Doit list, then the item will either be erased (or optionally marked with a checkmark which will confuse others) in the shared GCal calendar. A similar problem exists if you want to save your personal appointments in the calendar as a journal (as I do).

The solution I use is to keep all appointments in GCal only, keep the Doit sync turned off, and have GCal automatically send a reminder (forwarded via Google mail) to Doit 15 hours in advance. This is safe and works well. The limitation is that when I review projects I cannot see upcoming project meetings in Doit - I have to check both the Doit list and the calendar (or keep a duplicate entry for the appointment in Doit, which is usually too troublesome). Another weakness is that the email reminders are obviously not pre-marked with an appropriate Doit context and Doit project name, and they initially land in the Doit inbox, where I might miss them. But all that is still manageable.
Linjiani post on 12/04/2015 06:41#2

PRO

@dirkroel Hey there, Thanks for your valuable advice. We will do more work on the calendar sync part.
Linjiani post on 12/04/2015 06:57#3

PRO

@Folke Sorry for the sync part. Your solution via google mail is a good way now. We will work more on the sync part.Thanks.
dirkroel post on 12/10/2015 04:31#4

PRO

Thank you!

I think that it is a great feature, but yes it can get complicated (as per @Folke's post). So I think the solution is to just keep it simple and cater for that case.

I, for one, am not interested in reverse-syncing a shared calendar (that really seems way too complicated!). If I mark the item as completed in Doit.Im I am happy that it deletes the item from GCal (or marks it with a tick). Both are great ideas. I like the tick idea and don't find it confusing at all.

The simple scenario for me would just be able to adjust the start times of tasks in either Gcal or Do.it. I don't mind which calendar I need to do this to (either the automatically created Doit.im calendar or the one I chose to reverse sync). However it would be nice to be able to adjust the time in both GCal or Doit.im application and that it updates the other one.

Many thanks!
Dirk
Linjiani post on 12/10/2015 04:58#5

PRO

@dirkroel Thanks for your advice. We will work more on this feature.
post on 12/15/2015 17:28#6

PRO

In my opinion, sincyng must be a two way feature: gcal plays the role of the month/week/few days planner, a feature that doit is missing, while doit should just work as a task and project manager, receive time related infos from gcal and just prompt them properly. If would like to be able to create a project or a task (recurring ones as well) so that I can set them on gcal week board and THEN move them around my time frame as I wish. Doit should then just work accordingly with those time changes and simply record them, in order to provide me with a properly time planned list. Then I would just tick off tasks as I complete them through Doit, and this should be flagged on gcal, for further review of what I was able to accomplish and what not.

Keep in mind that there's a lot of work to do on recurring tasks, as I just noticed that they are created by Doit in a way that doesn't make any sense: say I plan to workout for 3 days in a row; Doit just places 3 events in the first day, so my schedule on Gcal looks busy as hell on the first day, and completely empty in the other two. So then I move those tasks around, to fit my schedule in the next days, right? Yup, Doit doesn't find them any more, so they are not ticked off as expected. This issue renders either gcal sync or doit project managing useless for a long-period-time-planning purpose.

I realize resolving this issue is a big deal and requires a lot of work, but I guess you need to be clear about what you want to realize. You either drop Gcal or only use sync with it as a way to receive appointments, then you should build an inside calendar working in this fashion, or try to figure out a way a bugless way for both to work properly together. Sorry to tell that, as it is, I have no use for doit, it just doesn't work right for me, which is a shame because I realize is one of or even the best app around the market.
Linjiani post on 12/16/2015 03:50#7

PRO

Hi there, thanks for your advice and support for Doit.im. We will work more to improve the Gcal sync part.
dirkroel post on 03/13/2016 08:56#8

PRO

This is a private comment.
Linjiani post on 03/13/2016 15:36#9

PRO

@dirkroel Thanks for your support. We will send you email if we need your help.
dirkroel post on 04/19/2016 16:26#10

PRO

Hi! As usual I am enjoying using your App. I am still using the doit.im app -> Google calendar feature, and loving it.

Just wondering if any developments have happened in the past year with regards, to calendars since I last emailed?

Many thanks!!
dirkroel
Linjiani post on 04/20/2016 02:58#11

PRO

@dirkroel Hi there, we are developing calendar now. The calendar will be added in the new version of Doit.im.