You cannot do this directly, and RTM officially said (by Emilie, in Nov-05) that have no plans to implement the sub-task features.

You have to create a workaround with tags or a Grease Monkey script (Firefox/Opera only -- check the one by masnare).

Ahhh, Ok then :(

How exactly would you create a workaround with tags? Sorry, I'm a noob.

Unless you create a new project (ie, list/smart list) for each high-level task, you would only be able to approximate sub-tasks visually. There have been a few posts on the subject, one of which suggests using numbers to order your tasks, which you can find here (by dan.julian):

http://www.rememberthemilk.com/forums/tips/6773/

Here's an excerpt:

1. Decide length of story.
2. Develop resource list.
2.1. Read resources.
2.1.1.1. Eat a chocolate cake.
3. Create character sketches.
4. Etc....

--------------------

Since I personally don't need to order my tasks to such a detailed level, I might suggest the following:

.Main Task is typed with single period to denote highest level
_Subtask is next with a single underscore to denote subtask
_Next subtask
_Again a subtask

----------------------------------------------

Perfect? No. Cumbersome? Yes. But right now (unless there's a clever implementation of RTM I haven't thought about yet,) it is the only option.

----------------------------------------------

To implement with tags you would simply assign a tag to each subtask. This tag would represent the overall task. You could then create a smartlist (tab) to see all "subtasks" within that "task". Such as below.

MT_RepairFence (this would be your tag, MT being "main task" representing you needing to "repair your fence")

So then you would enter tasks (these would be subtasks of "repairing the fence") as below with the tags in parentheses:

Buy Wood (MT_RepairFence)
Borrow Hammer (MT_RepairFence)
Borrow Level (MT_RepairFence)
Call brother-in-law for help (MT_RepairFence)

The competitor Todoist has a VERY nice interface for tasks and sub-task. You can also re-order the tasks very easily.

However, it does not work offline (through Gears) not can you send emails to your to-do list. Those two limitations are why I am still on RTM and not on Todoist.

stan.belot

Do you know if Todoist is able to sync with iPhone apps like ToDO or other?

Never mind. I love the idea behind Todoist. A few considerations though:

If RTM with a team of people can't keep up with the demands, Todoist's one man team is absolutely limited, by his own admission. He is a very bright kid but I will not place my projects in a site that could be here today and gone tomorrow. If he truns to be the next Bill Gates, I hope he doesn't take it against me.

Folks - try Toodledo for subtasks and for syncing, either with Appigo's ToDo, or with Toodledo's own iPhone app. Much more functional than RTM, and they actually listen to their customers and enhance their product according to demand.

Never really tried Toodledo. Thanks amswitzer, I'll give them a look.

I tried Toodledo, and I can say it's not bad at all. I'm just less keen on their interface.

Also...@jeff.rhine - Thanks for the mention!

At first, I didn't like Toodledo's interface. I'm an iPhone user, so here's what I did:

Worked with both RTM and the RTM iphone interface, and Toodledo and Toodledo's iPhone application for one week. That took a bit of effort because I was duplicating efforts, but I wanted to give Toodledo a fair trial while not falling behind in RTM either.

Setting up Toodledo was a bit easier because they do a pretty good iCal import from RTM. (http://www.toodledo.com/info/help_rtm.php)

But you have to give it time, because you're overhauling how you work. But the features are much richer in my opinion and it has all the bells and whistles most people need, plus more, like subtasks, a true status field so you can use GTD style task management if you wish, a really, really good iPhone app, a mobile phone interface, support for Jott, a Firefox sidebar, and in fact, the Firefox sidebar also comes with other "right-click" options, like the ability to "Toodledo" a web page, which creates a Todo and includes the URL in the task note.

The developer is in their forums CONSTANTLY providing answers and responder to feature suggestions. That is very important to me as a paid Toodledo user.

Check out a feature list/comparison here: http://www.toodledo.com/info/compare.php

I'm an RTM Pro account user as you can see, but I've been going through the RTM forums and am stunned at how many enhancements - most of which are reasonable - have just been ignored by RTM, with absolutely no acknowledgement. The iPhone RTM app just sucks and again, when well-intentioned paid users make suggestions, they are simply ignored.

Anyway, my intention here is just to recommend Toodledo to those RTM users who are beginning to gete disgruntled because RTM seems to be stuck in a silo, completely isolated from its customers. Check out the URL for the feature comparison, set up a free account and check it out for yourself, but GIVE IT A CHANCE BY USING IT FOR A WHILE. My first attempt to work with it was short-lived because I did not give it a fair trial. I've since come back to it and I absolutely love it now, because it is so feature rich.

amswitzer Pro

Since I will be withdrawing from this forum more and more, let's not lose touch. Look me up in the Toodledo forum under Gui or email me at favabeans@yahoo.com I'd really like to exchange opinions on how it's working our for you. This invite is open to all interested as well.

Hi amswitzer, gui.azurdia and everyone else :)

Just wanted to pop in here and let you know that the RTM team do listen and appreciate every one of your comments. In the past they weren't able to actively engage in the forum as much as they wanted - that's why they hired me! :)

While I can't offer any commitments or comment on any features being developed at the moment, please know that the team are always working on ways to make the product better. We do read every one of the comments posted on the forums and we've made a note of every single feature request. As soon as I know of a concrete release date for new features you'll be the first to know!

Cheers,

Hi Krissy

It's very nice of you to take time to write. I know you have a handful! Moderating a forum this size is an amazing feat.

I must say this: I love RTM. I do not expect the team to fulfill everyone's desires. That would be impossible. I personally do not need much. In my previous posts in various subjects I've insisted on the fact that the landscape option more than makes up for the taps and swipes. Things could be improved obviously but that isn't always feasible.

My biggest concern is feeling absolutely left in the cold. I do not expect an answer to every post nor would I be posting in that manner. It is when I see relevant points being brought up and nothing being done. Take that spammer offering Wii. He was up for days. I have mentioned an app for Palm that was absolutely brilliant. The name is Notestudio. They discontinued it when so many uses were really excited about it. I would hate to see RTM go that way.

I really like this app and I feel if the team becomes a little more materialistic, it will be better. I feel fewer users paying more would allow more time and resources to further upgrade this excellent app. But that is only my opinion. For now, just like other here, I use RTM along withanother app

Thanks Krissy

Hi gui.azurdia,

Definitely understand your frustration and I hope I can do my part to ease the concerns of our users. I'll be spending my time between support requests (which are my top priority) and the forums - as well as Twitter, Facebook, the blog etc - listening to our customers and passing on whatever I can to the team. We don't want anyone to feel left out in the cold so bear with me as I learn the ropes!

Thanks!

Hi Krissy and thanks for posting.

I think if you go through the forums (which obviously, you are) you will note a certain sense of disappointment that while other developers are pumping out updates regularly, RTM does seem to do so. More importantly, legitimate requests from Pro (and other) users appear to be met with pure silence.

This is creating a bit of uncertainty and resentment by those of us who like the product and are attempting to support and improve it.

Hey amswitzer,

As I mentioned somewhere else RTM's forum policy is changing now that I'm here and can help out. You'll see more input from me on behalf of RTM where there is news to share and I'll be relaying the general mood of the users to the team. It's not going to be perfect straight away, but I believe it's a good start!

Thanks - this is encouraging. Let's hope we soon see updates to the web and iPhone interfaces too!

As of now, I am a lot more confident about RTM. I was thinking that maybe RTM staff didn't care about the app anymore and was planning a subtle exit. What a difference a Krissy makes!

Upgrades are still away but at least communication is improving. Thanks

dannysmith,
your question was "how do I make subtasks" such as

An example for me being:
- Create a FAQ
Then, inside this have:
- How to contact Us
- Etc

I can recommend 2 ways:
1. Create a list called FAQ. Put your tasks in the list.
2. Tag your tasks with "FAQ".

RTM has great ways to group tasks and create one level of subtasks (via lists), just no way to create ordered lists (other than by time, priority or task name prefix).

Thanks gui,azurdia :)

Dear RTM

I recently became a Pro user with the full intention of dropping Outlook Tasks and making RTM my primary task manager. There were several others here in my office who were thinking of doing the same so we could all share tasks and dump Outlook entirely.

I was voted by the others here in our office to test the waters by signing up as Pro user. However, I encountered a problem immediately when I attempted a one way sync from my device to RTM.

I emailed Pro priority support Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:51 and received a reply more than 24hrs later from Omar at RTM at Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 6:10 PM. Omar’s email required a response from me which I sent back a few minutes later (Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 6:29 PM). It is now four days later (Sat Feb 27, 2009 3.22PM) and I am still awaiting a reply.

I understand RTM is only a small team and doesn’t have the resources of larger organisations but I really think as a Pro user I deserve a little better service than this given RTM says; “we love all you Pro users to bits”

As a result of no further response my RTM my account remains empty of tasks because I am fearful to use it or attempt another sync in case RTM clear my sync history and delete all my tasks as Omar suggested might have to be done in order to fix the problem.

In less than a week I have gone from that feeling of ‘excited expectation’ at using RTM to a feeling of disillusionment and disappointed brought about entirely by the lack of support.

As gui.azurdia quite nicely put it in his/her post dated 12:45pm on February 24, 2009 “my biggest concern is feeling absolutely left in the cold” …So I am obviously not the only Pro user who complains about slow response or no response.

I am still keen to use RTM but I have lost confidence. To regain my confidence all it would take is a response and a couple of questions answered which I wrote in my reply to Omar (Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 6:29 PM)

I really hope I hear from someone soon. I will send a copy of this post to priority support and will keep my fingers crossed that I hear from someone soon.

Kind regards
Trevor

Agreed Trevor.

I've switched to a combination of Evernote and a Moleskine notebook to manage my GTD process, both work and personal.

I too went from SUPER excited (even immediately buying a Pro Accont) at what appeared to be an amazing service... to despair.

I'm sorry you had to join this unfortunate club.

- Jeff