It really depends which repeat format you have on a task to determine what role the due date will play.

To use the examples from that page, Bob needs to pay his rent every month on the 1st of the month. So the due date is important to make sure the rent is paid on time. That doesn't change, even if he pays it late one month. (Thus the new task's due date is generated from the previous due date and the repeat.)

However, Bob only cleans his fridge every three months. Once he does it, he only needs to do it three months after he did it (not three months from when it was "due"). (Thus the new task's due date is generated from the completed date and the repeat.)

I hope that clarifies the situation for you!

Thanks, but no, that was not my problem. I was curious about a task with repetition (with "every") *without* a due date - what is that?

I tested now: It gets a due date (= start date for the repetition) on the date it is first completed. Then it seems to act the same as a task created with that due date. Is this obvious and what you expect? Maybe, but I think it should be documented!

To me it seems obvious that a repeating task has to start sometime, leaving the due date empty makes no sense.

Otherwise it's like giving driving instructions without specifying the starting point.

The flexibility is there though; it's certainly possible to have a specific instance of a repeating task that you'll set not to have a due date (e.g. I need to clean out my refrigerator, but that can be done today or next week; it's not exactly due specifically today), but I'll want the next task to be set to be due a month from when I complete it. (At that point, I may decide to change/remove the due date from that instance also, but perhaps not.)

hi, i'm a new user, and i'm having difficulty understanding this repeat function also. when i set up a task to repeat with no due date - just like you said about the refrigerator example, in my iCal subscription, nothing shows up. yes, the task is in my list, but I use my iCal to see what I need to do each day. I get no reminders that a certain task is there, showing up every day until it's complete. Is this not a function of RTM?

I also tried to set a task to repeat and put an actual due date, but it only repeats *after* the due date, but I need it to repeat *before* so that I am reminded to complete by the due date. I don't understand the purpose of the "after" format for setting repeats. Can someone please explain?

Also, how do I get a task to repeat/show up in my iCal subscription/remind me via e-mail every day until I complete the task?

thanks!

You normally use "after" for things like cleaning the fridge. If you use the repeat interval "after 1 week" and don't get it done until 5 days too late, it will still repeat after 7 days. Had you used "every week", the next instance would be due in just 2 days.

jeannie.kim, iCalendar subscriptions will only show dated tasks. There's also no way to have it repeat before the due date via iCalendar; it sounds like you may want to set the due date on the first day you want to see it and have the task repeat "every 1 day until…" you want it to stop repeating.

Also, reminders are only sent once, relative to the due date. If you don't complete a repeating task, you won't be reminded again. (You'd be reminded each day for "drink coffee" as long as you mark it complete. :)

As for the "after" repeat setting: "every" repeats as soon as the due date arrives; "after" only repeats when you mark it complete. So if a daily task was due this past Monday, and you mark it complete today, it will repeat tomorrow, not this past Tuesday. (More here.)

Hope this helps!