The upper button bar displayed when the Tasks are accessed enables the following options:
- New tasks - creates a new event.
- All tasks - lists all your tasks
- Uncompleted tasks - displays the user's uncompleted tasks
- Completed tasks - displays the user's completed tasks
Creating a New Task
When creating a new task, first type a Subject in the corresponding text field, then set the task's completion deadline using the Due Date selection box. Use the left and right arrows of the selection calendar to switch between months of a certain year and the double left and right arrows to switch between different years.
To successfully define a time frame for the task, also configure its Start date, using the corresponding selection box. Furthermore, you can prioritize tasks using the Priority drop-down menu. Available options are: 'Low', 'Normal' and 'High'. To keep track of the completion process, type a percentage in the %Complete text field.
Should you like to be prompted that a certain event is about to start, check the Reminder box and set your desired time interval. You can also use the available text field to type in any details or explanations regarding your current task.
To save your task, press the Save & Close button. To abort configuring the task, hit Cancel. To define a repeating scenario, hit Recurrence and use the Assign task button to have the respective task assigned to different users.
Existing tasks can be edited at any given later date by double clicking it. After making the needed alterations, hit the Save & Close button. To mark a task as completed, use the corresponding icon placed next to the Assign task button. Should you like to delete the entry, press the Delete icon in the editing window. Additionally, you can use the delete icons appended to each task or check it as completed.
Setting the Recurrence
When hitting the Recurrence button you can set the task to o be repeated on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis or according to a defined Recurrence pattern. Depending on the Recurrence pattern you select you can access more detailed options:-
Daily - have the event repeated every weekday by checking the corresponding option, Every weekday, or you can have it repeated every 2,3, x days by checking the corresponding option.
- Weekly - check a certain day of the week for the recurrence
- Monthly - specify a certain day of every month (e.g. 25th of every month or every 2 months), or select from the other available options: first/second/third/fourth/last - day/weekday/weekend day/Sunday/Monday etc. of every 1/2/etc months. For example, you can set an event that occurs on the first weekday of every other month.
Important! As the number of days differs depending on the month, if you set an event for the 31st, it will be scheduled in the last day of each month with 30 days.
- Yearly - set the event to occur on a certain date of a certain month (e.g. January 25th) or you can select from the other available options: first/second/third/fourth/last - day/weekday/weekend day/Sunday/Monday etc. of every January/February/etc months. For example, you can set a seminar attendance event for each first weekend day of every March.
Then set the Range of recurrence for your task. Click the Start selection box to select a date. The task can be repeated incessantly if you choose the No end date option. Alternately, you can have it ended after a number of instances, by checking the End after x occurrences option and setting the desired number of repeats, or set an End by date and selecting the desired end date by clicking the respective selection box.
When you are done setting the task recurrence, hit OK. To abort the recurrence, hit Cancel. For already defined recurrence details, hit Remove Recurrence to prevent the task from repeating.
Assigning tasks
When hitting the Assign task button, a new text field and a To button are added in the upper side of the event editing window. If you want to abort inviting process, press the Cancel Assignment button that replaces the initial Assign task option.
You can either type the email addresses of the persons you want to assign the task to, or you can access your existing contacts by hitting the To button. When accessing your contacts using the To button, a new pop-up window appears, allowing you to choose which contacts to display in the left hand pane, as shown below. Available options are 'All contacts', 'My contacts', 'Public contacts' and 'Domain contacts'.
Select the email address of the contact you want to have the task assigned to with a mouse click, then press the To button. To select several contacts, press Ctrl on your keyboard. To delete a contact from the list of assignees, click their email address in the right hand pane and press Delete on your keyboard. When you are done selecting assignees, press OK to have the email asignments sent to them. To discard the assigning process, hit Cancel.
Select the email address of the contact you want to have the task assigned to with a mouse click, then press the To button. To select several contacts, press Ctrl on your keyboard. To delete a contact from the list of assignees, click their email address in the right hand pane and press Delete on your keyboard. When you are done selecting assignees, press OK to have the email asignments sent to them. To discard the assigning process, hit Cancel.
Assignees will then receive an assignment email in their Inboxes, prompting them to take action:
To view the details of the event they are invited to attend, users need to click on "open details". The available options are to Accept or Reject the task and the organizer receives a confirmation email.
When assigning tasks to others, the editing window will also be modified. A new tab called Attendees will be added, showing the course of action taken by those you have selected. The available status options are 'accepted', 'declined' and 'need action'.
Reminder options
If you have chosen to be reminded of a certain task, at a specified time, a pop-up will appear at the given time and date. If no action is taken, it will reappear after the starting time each time the WebMail interface is automatically refreshed. Hence, it depends on the refresh settings configured in the WebMail Data page. Alternatively, you can have the reminder postponed using the available snooze options, by choosing a repeat interval in the corresponding drop-down menu and by hitting the Snooze button.Important! If the auto-refresh option is disabled, reminders will not function.
If you want to see the details of an event you are reminded of, press the Open Item button. To dismiss a certain task, click to select it, then press the Dismiss button. When a task is dismissed, it is also removed from the Reminder window. Use the Dismiss All button to discard all pending tasks.
Important! Further settings that determine Tasks behavior need to be set on the WebMail Data page. Each user needs to set the correct Time Zone and the Week start date in order to have their Tasks deadlines and start times displayed correctly.