Feature request: sub-tasks

[clawoflight]

It would be nice to be able to mark sub-tasks as completed.
There is some level of them already since we can have several categories for a task, but I would like to be able to mark these categories as completed independently of each other.

I assume that this would require a good piece of work, so it would probably be better after the first refactoring.

[pedrokost]

Hi @clawoflight

I have thought about this feature previously, but I haven't decided whether it is worth implementing yet.

In the case it becomes worthwhile to add it, what would the format for the metadata look like for a completed category? It should be something that is easily written, and easily recognizable...

[clawoflight]

I would not write that into the metadata of a task, but rather split the task into a nested list (1 level).

Then, when having sub tasks, I guess that the primary task should not have any manual metadata and instead get updated like the metadata of a section right now.

You could then treat a completed category in a task just like you do that of a completed category in a section.

[pedrokost]

This use case is taken into consideration with the Trello integration. The workflow I use is to have copies of the tasks in Trello, and in each card I have a checklist with subtasks which also have metadata.

Then, the plugin is able to read the entire Trello board, aggregate the duration of the subtasks and place that in the project plan file. When a subtasks in Trello is checked, it's duration is no longer aggregated.

Forgetting for awhile that the Trello synchronization is currently quite slow (locks Sublime Text until dozens of http requests are completed), that some requests are cached until you restart ST and that not all the options are documented in the README.md file, do you think this would satisfy your needs?

I understand that if you don't use Trello you would prefer to have subtasks in the planning file and I see this as a valuable addition to the plugin. However, first I should refactor it to make it easier to extend...

A few drawbacks of having subtasks are:

• when the markdown file is build to HTML, it will be much longer (harder to see the big picture)
• increased complexity of the code
• harder to integrate with third party tools such as Trello
• once we have subtasks it become very easy to request any depth of tasks

[clawoflight]

Well, there are 2 obvious drawbacks to using Trello:

• Information is split between locations, making it harder to find what you want
• That only works online. I do not tend to work with a constant network connection, I am often on the go.

To address your points:

• The second point is very valid, I understand that.
• Trello has an API for checklists, doesn't it?

The first and last point could be remedied by marking categories as completed directly in the metadata, as you originally understood my request. Would you prefer that?
That would cover my use-case while minimising the amount of micro-management people can do with it.
Maybe using +, or a C in front of a category similarly to the current M...