Google just can’t seem to stop themselves from adding more and more features to Gmail as of late.
The newest feature this time is a to-do list called “Tasks”. While it certainly won’t change the world, it does bring Gmail one step closer to being a personal digital assistant (PDA) on the Web. If they add syncing to mobile devices for the tasks, as they have with their other features.
The official Gmail Blog does a good job of describing what exactly this new feature can do for you.
- Manage your email workflow better by converting emails into tasks: “More Actions > Add to Tasks”
- ENTER creates a new task, TAB and SHIFT-TAB indent and un-indent, CTRL-UP and CTRL-DOWN let you reorder from the keyboard, and SHIFT-ENTER toggles back and forth between the detailed view for a task and the main view
- After turning Tasks on, turn on Keyboard shortcuts in “Settings > General” and then use “SHIFT-T” to create tasks from your emails – even faster than using the More Actions menu
While there have been several to-do list applications out there in the marketplace, most notably Remember The Milk, the continuing expansion of Gmail as a catch-all for all of your daily needs is amazing. To-Do lists, contacts, calender, who knows what’s next for the popular mail application. Tasks does have a ways to go to catch up with the stand-alone applications, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see it happen.
For now the Tasks are only available as part of the Labs portion of Gmail. To access this new feature you just need to follow
To enable Tasks, go to Settings, click the Labs tab. Select “Enable” next to “Tasks” and then click “Save Changes” at the bottom. Then, after Gmail refreshes, on the left under the “Contacts” link, you’ll see a “Tasks” link. Just click it to get started.
Go and activate it, and give it a try.
