What is a Task?

A task is a set of actions assigned to a person or a group. A task accomplishes a job, an assignment or a problem. Tasks can be used at a group level or even at a personal level. Here we differentiate tasks into 2 categories:

1. Personal Tasks
2. Group Tasks

Creating a Task

1. Click "Add Task " to create a new task.
2. Add title and set start date and due date.
3. Set status and Priority accordingly.

Creating task based on due date & time

Zoho Tasks lets you to add one day tasks where you can create tasks based on time. You can create one day tasks like your business appointments, meetings, conference calls, product demos, etc,. You can also set reminders through pop-up and mail to notify the subsequent tasks.

To create one day task:

• Click "Add Task" to create a task.
• Enable the check box and set start time and end time.
• Set the status, priority, category and reminder, if needed.

Setting up a Reminder for a Task.

Create a list of tasks and be reminded of them at the right time while you work. Zoho Tasks lets you set a reminder for every task that you create. It is very useful and a user-friendly reminder which is ideal for business use. 

Reminder through Pop-up & Mail:

Create a reminder and get notified through a pop-up message or a mail when the time is due.

Tag your tasks

Tags, yet another useful feature in Zoho Tasks, make it easier for you to organize your list of tasks by category. Zoho Tasks support multiple custom tags. For example, 'Meeting with Manager' task might fit into "Meetings" category and "To do list" category.

Adding new tags & tagging tasks

• To add a new tag, click '+' beside Tags. Special characters like / \ | * ? , : ; " > < % & # are not allowed. You can also add a new tag under 'Tags' which is at the top band.

• To tag tasks, select a task(click in the check box) and assign a tag from the Tags list which is at the top band. You can also add/remove/assign tags directly by clicking on a tag icon which is in the tags list.

• You can attribute multiple tags to a task and vice versa. To do so, select a task and assign tags one by one.
• To assign a common tag to multiple tasks, select multiple tasks and assign a tag all at once.

• You can also view the details of a task like task title, assigned to, tag name, status & percentage by just hovering your mouse pointer over the tool tip of the task.

Drag and drop

Zoho Tasks has been enhanced to give you the ability to tag a task using the drag and drop feature. This is much easier and faster than the other way of tagging tasks. To tag a task, just drag the task and drop it over a tag under the Tags list. You can also select multiple tasks at a time and drop it over a tag.

Color-coding of tags

Color code your tags to give its own color to differentiate it from the rest of the tags. Color coding makes much easier to find tags at a glance instead of having to search one by one. Here's how you can color code your tag.

• Click on the square box of a tag.
• Choose any color from the color palette.

Group Tags

Group Tags is similar to Personal Tags where you can assign a tag to a task which is in Group. You can also assign multiple tags to a task. However there are few things that differ from Personal tags.

• A Group member can assign a tag to a task. But, the Group member cannot edit or delete that particular tag.
• Only the Group Administrator/Moderator has the authority to delete or edit the tag.

Renaming & Deleting Tags.

• You can rename or delete a tag just by right clicking on it and choosing the appropriate option. Deleting a tag will also remove the tag from the task that was associated.

Recurring Tasks

Recurring tasks are repeating series of tasks that occur regularly. If you run a business, you will have a set of tasks which is to be done every week/month/year. So, in that case it is better to have an option which will automatically remind you on the particular task.

The recurring tasks option in Zoho Tasks automatically generates the same task once the task is completed. The task is generated at the same time that was set for the first one. Given below is a typical scenario where the recurring task feature can be used:

In a company, the Accounts department has to update the salaries of employees on the last working day of every month. A task is set for the 31st of August, which is a Monday. The task title is "Salary Update". Select Advanced and repeat the task Monthly on the Last weekday of every month. Once the task is completed, a repeat task is generated for the 30th of September, which is the last working day of the next month. This repeats for consecutive months.

Assigning Tasks

You can assign tasks to any user in your organization. To assign a task to another user, click the ' + ' icon, select users and click OK. Only the task owner can edit or delete the task.

Integration of Tasks with CRM and Projects :

Definitely, this will be an add-on option for Zoho Mail Suite users. Users can just add their CRM and Projects tasks directly under Zoho Mail Suite Task without having logging-into specific application.

Categorization of Tasks :

Users can create different categories and can sort them accordingly. This will help the user to create a task and to have them in a categorized way.

Tasks Status

Rate the progress of your tasks using different task status. Zoho Business lets you define the following kind of status:

1. Needs Action- Ideally, the tasks that are yet to be started are grouped under the 'Needs Action' status.
2. In Process- Tasks that have started and under a continuous flow of action are In Process. These tasks are active and being worked on.
3. Completed- Successfully completed tasks are grouped under the Completed tasks status.
4. Cancelled- In any event if the assignee decides to cancel a task, the task falls under the cancelled tasks option.

The attendee can change the status of the task to canceled if he wishes to do so.

Tasks Priority

There are 5 types of priorities in Task. They are Highest, High, Medium, Lowest, Low. The default priority is Medium. The priority can be set when a task is created and also when a task is edited. Task priority defines how important the task is.

Given below are all the five different types of priority and four kinds of status.

Tasks Views:

Tasks provides users with five different kinds of views. They are:

1. Today's Tasks
2. Delayed Tasks
3. Upcoming Tasks
4. This Week's Tasks
5. This Month's Tasks

Tasks can be viewed according to the status of the tasks. Therefore clicking on the All, Pending, Completed, Canceled will show up the respective tasks in the task pane. Each view displays the tasks in that current view setting along with the complete task details
You can also view tasks according to the status of the tasks. Therefore clicking on the All, Pending, Completed, Canceled will show up the respective tasks in the task pane. Each view displays the tasks in that current view setting along with the complete task details.

Generating Task

Reports are generated for all the tasks that are created. A report is based on the following.

1. Start date and the End date
2. Status of the task- Needs Action, In Process, Completed, Canceled
3. The priority of the task: Highest/High/Medium/Low/Lowest
4. Category of the task.

Reports are generated for all the tasks that are created. A report is based on the following.

Comments

To add a comment to a task, just click on the comment icon which in the tasks list.

Adding a Sub-Task:

To add a sub-task to an existing task, just hover your mouse pointer over the task list and click on the add subtask icon as shown in the image below This is an additional option where users can add number of sub-tasks without creating a new task each time.

Import & Export:

You can easily import your extensive task list into Zoho Tasks from another application that you are currently using.

To Import Tasks:

• Save your tasks file in .ics or .csv format. The encoding format of the exported file should be in UTF-8 format.
• .CSV files must have correctly formatted header. The header must contain at lease subject or title to import tasks into Zoho.
• Click 'Browse' and open the .ics or .csv file.
• Click OK.
• To go back to the main page, click 'Back to Home' which is at the top right corner of the Tasks page.

To Export Tasks:

You can also export tasks from Zoho Tasks.

• Select a task that you would like to export and click on the drop down menu for 'Export'.
• Choose the format [.ICS or .CSV]
• Save the file.

Quick Add:

To make a quick note of a task, just make use of " Quick Add " option and that will be added to your task list. And later you can modify the task as you want it to be.