Tracking Tasks with Getting Things Gnome (GTG)
Getting Things Gnome (-GTG for short) is an application for keeping track of your outstanding tasks, deliverables and deadlines: think of it as a basic personal organiser.
Getting Things Gnome is an alternative to using Tomboy. The two applications are very similar to use, but Getting Things Gnome is easier to install under Fedora and other Linux distros, whereas Ubuntu ships with Tomboy pre-installed. As a result, if you run Ubuntu, you will normally stick with Tomboy but if you use other distros, then you will probably plump for GTG.
Getting Things Gnome (GTG) can be easily installed from the command line in Fedora using a single line:
sudo yum install gtg
For example:
$ sudo yum install gtg
Loaded plugins: langpacks, presto, refresh-packagekit
Setting up Install Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package gtg.noarch 0:0.2.4-5.fc15 will be installed
--> Processing Dependency: python-configobj for package: gtg-0.2.4-5.fc15.noarch
--> Running transaction check
---> Package python-configobj.noarch 0:4.7.2-3.fc15 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Dependencies Resolved
================================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
================================================================================
Installing:
gtg noarch 0.2.4-5.fc15 fedora 595 k
Installing for dependencies:
python-configobj noarch 4.7.2-3.fc15 fedora 116 k
Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install 2 Package(s)
Total download size: 712 k
Installed size: 3.0 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
Setting up and reading Presto delta metadata
Processing delta metadata
Package(s) data still to download: 712 k
(1/2): gtg-0.2.4-5.fc15.noarch.rpm | 595 kB 00:00
(2/2): python-configobj-4.7.2-3.fc15.noarch.rpm | 116 kB 00:00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 595 kB/s | 712 kB 00:01
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
Installing : python-configobj-4.7.2-3.fc15.noarch 1/2
Installing : gtg-0.2.4-5.fc15.noarch 2/2
Installed:
gtg.noarch 0:0.2.4-5.fc15
Dependency Installed:
python-configobj.noarch 0:4.7.2-3.fc15
Complete!
$
Note: see the GTG website for details on how to install GTG under other Linux distros
You can invoke GTG in Fedora by searching for the string "gett" in the Activities area:
The main GTG window will open up, displaying an example set of tasks, giving help on various GTG topics:
To create a new task, click on the "New Task" icon. A new dialogue box opens up:
Add in the task details and set any start/due date by clicking on the up arrow to the right of the date field and clicking the desired date in the pop-up calendar that will display:
At this point, you can also insert a tag, to bind tasks of a similar type together, by clicking on the "Insert Tag" icon:
An "@" sign will be inserted in the text in yellow: type in a descriptive name (-here we have used "linuceum") for the tag followed by the ENTER key:
You can also insert sub-tasks (-i.e. components of the main task) by clicking on the "Insert Sub Task" icon:
You can also insert sub-tasks (-i.e. components of the main task) by clicking on the "Insert Sub Task" icon. In the example below, we have inserted four sub-tasks:
When you have set up your task/sub tasks to your liking, simply click on the "x" icon in the top right of the "new task" dialogue to save your changes:
Back in the main window, you can expand the main task to see any sub-tasks underneath it by clicking on the arrow to the left of the task:
If you double-click any of the tasks - or sub tasks - you can update them as desired. In the example below, we are adding some extra comment/description to a sub-task:
If you right-click any of the tasks - or sub tasks - you can choose any action to apply to that task. In the example below, we are marking the sub-task as having been completed:
If you assigned a tag to one or more tasks/sub-tasks, you can display all the active tags by selecting:
View → Tags Sidebar
This will open up a new pane to the left, listing all the available tags. If you click on any of the tag names, the tasks displayed in the right pane will only show those tasks/sub-tasks linked to that tag (-use the "All Tasks" to display all tasks again):
To make sure that you keep track of your dealines, you can enable GTG to auto-start when you logon. You can do this by selecting:
Edit → Preferences → "Plug Ins" tab
When you have finished your updates, you can quit GTG by selecting:
Tasks → Quit