SmartPad 2.0 – Read All About It

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Welcome to SmartPad 2.0

An integrated organizer for the iPad

Now available!

SmartPad is the only organizer you will need for your iPad. It integrates basic Project planning, Task organization, Time management, Recurring lists, Notes and Calendars all in one app. And when we say “integrates”, we mean integrates: each module is connected to the other in a systematic manner that takes advantage of the iPad’s computing power and beautiful graphics so you get more than just a calendar, more than just a list of things to do, more than a note pad…

GTDo’s automate GTD, SmartTime logic integrates your Calendar

Create Projects and fill them with Tasks. Monitor your progress at a glance. The currently active task from each Project automatically flows into the Task folder. We call these GTDo’s because they automate one of the best features of the GTD system for you). When you mark a GTDo as “done”, the next one from that Project flows in automatically! But that’s not all. Now, watch as our patented SmartTime™ logic places the active Tasks directly into the current day calendar, fitting them into the free time in-between your appointments. It even splits tasks to fit!

HyperNotes integrate with your Projects and Calendars

In the Calendar view, make notes next to any day. Then highlight text from your note to automatically create new, linked Tasks or Events. Select any item, then tap on the Timer to keep a precise record of when you performed any task, call or meeting. Pause and resume at will. Even multi-task with multiple timers running. You can then export a record of completed items to an Excel spreadsheet. Great for auditing the time you spend on anything, including clients!

Synchronize Projects, Tasks, Calendars, Events

Stay connected with everyone else by synchronizing your appointments directly with the iPad calendar – and from there to Outlook, Mobile Me, Google, etc. You can also sync your Tasks and Projects to Toodledo, the free online task list.

New in SmartPad 2.0

  • Projects – view all of your Tasks by Project name
  • Track the progress of your Projects as you complete Tasks
  • GTDo’s automatically places the top Task from each Project, directly into the active Tasks folder
  • Pop-up reminders for due Tasks
  • One-tap filters for viewing Tasks: GTDo’s, Starred, Active, Due
  • Improved Calendar view shows multi-day events, options for week start days, supports 24-hour clock
  • Supports multiple fonts for Notes
  • Contextual menu’s for all items
  • Simplified interface, more pleasurable user experience

Navigation

On the outside, SmartPad is just like your old leather-bound agenda. At the top, all of your tools are organized into tabbed Folders. Tap on Day or Month tab to view different calendars (the Month calendar also morphs into a Week calendar with just one tap). When the Day folder is open, you also have access to an entire productivity powerhouse: Tasks (featuring our patented DayManager), Notes (featuring our innovative HyperNotes), Projects (with GTD-friendly GTDo’s), and History.

On the bottom, use our “bouncing ball” slider to navigate between days or months. Tap on the simple “+” button to create a new Task or Event anywhere, at any time.

That’s pretty much it. The rest of this guide is organized just like the tabbed folders that you see at the top of the screen.

Calendars, Projects, Events, Tasks

SmartPad uses a two-level system that supports both multiple Calendars, and multiple Projects. Calendars are made up of Events, and Projects are made up of Tasks. If you create a new Calendar, SmartPad automatically creates a new Project with the same name. And if you create a new Project, SmartPad automatically creates a new Calendar with the same name. Actually Calendars are the same as Projects: they are the top level for grouping items. The only difference is that Calendars hold Events, and Projects hold Tasks.

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Integrated Day Calendar

Tap on the “Day” tab to view the Day calendar.

The summary box shows your All Day Events, New Tasks starting on that day, and Due Tasks that are due on that day. If you have a large number, you can view more by tapping on the down arrow.

The Day Calendar shows Events and, if you are viewing the current day, it also shows Tasks. Events are on the left side, and Tasks are on the right side. Events have fixed start and end times. SmartPad automatically places Tasks directly into the free time between your Events. They follow the same order as the Task list. If you change the order in the Task list, you will see that the order of Tasks in the Day Calendar also changes. Note that Tasks placed in the calendar automatically split in order to fit into smaller spaces of free time.

Quick-Add a New Event

Tap and hold on any time in the calendar’s time-line. The keyboard pops up, and you can write in the name of your Event or Appointment. Tap “Done” on the keyboard when you are finished. That’s it!

Editing an Event

You can change the content of any Event or Task at any time, by selecting it then tapping on the “Edit” icon. Note from this menu, you can also Delete or Duplicate the Event.

You can add and edit the following detail to any Event:

  • Change the duration
  • Make it repeat (daily, weekly, monthly)
  • Assign it to any Calendar/Project
  • Convert it into an All Day Event
  • Create multiple Alerts
  • Add a Note
  • Associate it with any of your Contacts (tap on the blue arrow)
  • Insert an Address for handy reference (manually, or automatically if your Contact has an associated address)
  • Tap on “Task” to convert it into a Task (SmartPad will then place it into your Task list.)

Viewing consecutive days

When you have the “Day” tab selected on the top left, notice that on the right side there are a number of other tabs available: Day, Tasks, Notes, Projects, History. Tap on the “Day” tab to view two consecutive days side by side. This is handy for planning multiple days in detail.

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Month Calendar

Tap on the “Month” tab to view the Month calendar. You can see it in portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal), just flip your iPad sideways.

Our Month calendar is full of features. You can tap on any day to see the full detail in a pop-up day calendar. The Pop-up Day Calendar is completely editable: you can scroll up and down, drag Events up and down, select Events to edit them, etc. If you select the current day, you will also see today’s Tasks integrate into the Day Calendar, as shown below.

In the view above, note the triangles on the left side. Tap on any of these to expand that Week (see detail below).

You can also edit any Event on any day in the calendar, just by tapping it to select:

Week Calendars

You can also view the detail for an entire week! Just tap on any triangle on the left margin of the Month Calendar. To go back, tap on the triangle again.

Week Calendars have the exact same function as the Month Calendar; they just show more detail.

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Tasks

When you have the Day Calendar selected, tap on the “Tasks” tab on the top right side. This is your Tasks folder. Tasks that appear in the Tasks folder will also be shown in the Day Calendar, if they can fit into the free time of your current day.

Note: Not all Tasks appear in the Tasks folder, but all Tasks do appear inside their respective Projects in the Projects folder. For example, you may have some Tasks that are “too far in the future” to bother you, or these might include items from a Check list. For more detail, go to the Projects section.

Creating New Tasks

It’s easy to create a new task. Just tap the “Quick Add New Task” field and start typing. That’s it! You can add detail to any Task by tapping on the blue arrow circle.

Task Detail

You can add detail to Tasks at any time – either by tapping on the blue arrow when you first create it, or by editing it later. This next screen shows the options:

  • Add a location if you wish.
  • Quickly estimate how long the Task will take. We offer three quick-tap buttons, or you can adjust the time more exactly by tapping on the “detail” button.
  • Optionally add Start and Due dates for your Task. Quick-Add buttons make this easy, and you can be more specific by tapping on the “detail” button.
  • Tasks that Start on a specific date, will be shown in the Day Summary box of your Day Calendar. If you mark a task to Start at some point in the future, then it will not show up in your Task list if you have the “Active” filter selected (see below).
  • Tasks that are Due on a specific date, will also be shown as Due in the Day Summary box of your Day Calendar. Additionally, they will have a small colored badge indicating whether the Task is not due yet (green), due (yellow), or overdue (red).
  • You can schedule Pop-up Alert Reminders for all Tasks that have a Due date. Now that’s handy!

Prioritizing Tasks

Prioritizing is easy in SmartPad. Instead of assigning numbers to rank, just drag a task up and down with your fingertip.

Editing Tasks

You can edit any Task by selecting it. The options are:

  • Delete
  • Mark “Done”
    Marking a a Task as “Done” moves it to the History folder. You can Undo this action by going to the History folder, locating the Task, and selecting the “Undo” icon.
  • Duplicate
  • Edit Detail
  • Hide
    Hiding a Task just removes it from the Task list but you can still find it inside the Project that it belongs to, in the Projects folder.

Filtering Tasks

Below the Quick-Add bar are several one-tap filters for quickly and efficiently showing only what you want to see. Your options are:

  • AllThis shows all Tasks
  • StarThis shows only the Tasks that you have marked with a Star. To mark a Task with a Star, tap on the right side of that task. The Star will turn yellow. Tap again to deselect.
  • DueThis shows only Tasks that have a Due Date. You can sort these manually.
  • ActiveThis shows only Tasks that have a Start date and where the Start date has already passed. This is useful if you do not want to see Tasks that are scheduled to start in the future.
  • GTDoThis shows only only GTDo tasks. GTDo tasks are the currently active task from each of your Projects. Go to the Projects section to learn more. They are indicated by the cute little flag.

The Day Manager

This is the heart and soul of SmartPad. Day Manager features our second generation SmartTime technology to place your active tasks into the open space between your appointments in the Calendar. Day Manager takes that technology to another level by giving you full and immediate control over your day. Move the sliders left or right to adjust your working hours. As you do so, watch as the Day Line moves up and down to indicate which Tasks from the list can fit into your working hours. Those that fit above the Day Line, are highlighted. Those that do not fit – below the Day Line – are faded. In the screen shot below, notice how the highlighted tasks in the Task List on the right, are also shown in the Day Calendar on the left.

Productivity Tip:

Sometimes you may want to schedule a task for a specific time. That’s easy. Referring to the above illustration, in the Calendar View just drag any Task to the time slot that you want to do it in. The Task will automatically be converted into an Event. You can disable this feature in Settings.

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Notes

Tap on the “Notes” tab to bring up the Notes page. We call this feature “HyperNotes” because it’s far more than just a notes page.

  • Each Calendar page has an associated Notes page. Any note that you take next to a particular date, will always be there.
  • Place notes on specific days in the future, for example prep notes for a specific meeting that you are planning for.
  • After you take a note, tap/select any piece of text, then choose “Create” from the pop-up menu to create a new Task or Event for follow-up. The Task or Event is automatically and permanently linked to this Note.
  • Tap on the “Links” button at the top of any note, to see an audit of all Tasks and Events that are associated with that note. Inside the audit window, tap on any item to “jump” directly to that Task or Event. Cool!
  • Any Task or Event that you see in the Calendar or in your Task list, that is linked to a HyperNote, will have a “link” icon next to it. Tap on the item to select it and, from the pop-up menu, select the “link” icon to view a summary of all items in that Note. Tap on any item to “jump” directly to it – even tap on the “Note” icon to jump to the associated Note! That’s what Hyper Notes are all about.

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Projects

Our newest feature is the Projects folder. There’s nothing quite like it. The Projects folder allows you to:

  • Organize your tasks by Project
  • Quick-add multiple tasks to any Project
  • Monitor the progress of each Project as you complete tasks
  • Choose which tasks are shown in your Task list
  • Automatically display the “top” item from each Project, in your Task list (we call this “GTDo’s”)
  • Intuitively move tasks from one Project to the other
  • Create recurring List-type projects such as Shopping List, Packing List, “Movies I want to see” list, etc.

Quick Add multiple Tasks to a Project

Just tap a project to select it, then tap the “++” icon from the pop-up menu…

…then add multiple Tasks, one tap at a time…

GTDo Tasks

You have dozens of Projects and each Project is filled with dozens of tasks. Somehow, you need to focus each day on what you need to get done, without getting overwhelmed by the hundreds of tasks that you have. Our GTDo feature does this for you. It’s all automated – you don’t have to do anything – but here’s how it works to make your day less frenetic, more focused:

  • The top-most task in each of your Projects is flagged as a GTDo task. (We assume that the top-most task is the one that you have to accomplish before any others. That’s kind of how the GTD or “Getting Things Done” philosophy works.)
  • Each flagged GTDo task is automatically placed in the Task folder. You can tell because it has a little red flag.
  • When you mark a GTDo task as “done,” the next task in that Project becomes the GTDo task and will automatically appear in the Task folder.
  • You can mark GTDo tasks (or any tasks, for that matter) as “done” from any view where tasks appear – the Day Calendar, the Tasks folder, or the Projects folder.
  • The Tasks folder has a special filter called “GTDo.” If you select this, it will show only the GTDo’s. If you have 10 different projects, you will always have 10 GTDo’s. Talk about focus!

Projects Folder in Landscape

This is a nifty feature. Flip your iPhone sideways when you are in the Project folder. You will notice that it shows the contents of three folders, not just two: Day Calendar, Task list, and Projects. This is an amazing productivity tool because you can see how your tasks flow from your Projects folder into the Tasks folder and on directly into your Calendar. But you’re not just seeing. You are interacting. You are managing your day effectively, with a whole suite of “Smart” productivity tools.

It’s the ultimate console, everything in one view. You now have total control over your day.

Recurring Lists

You can also create Projects that are made up of recurring lists, such as a shopping list. Here’s an example:

Productivity Tip: Make the top-most item the name of your list. That way, it simply appears in your Task list as a GTDo and you will be reminded that you have a shopping list and should probably check it when you are on your way home from work.

  1. Set up your list of most-needed groceries. If you really want to be efficient, you can create a different “Project” for each section of your grocery store!
  2. As you run out of items in the kitchen, just tap the “Star” button. In the above example, I have just run out of milk.
  3. When you are driving home from work, you see “Groceries” as one of your GTDo’s. You check the list and see that you have a bunch of Starred items. It’s probably a good idea to stop off at the store.
  4. As you go through the aisles, mark each as you drop it into your grocery cart by selecting the “done” icon. When all of the Starred items have been marked “Done”, you can head to check-out.
  5. At the check-out line, you can then “Undo” each item as it comes out of your cart. Or you can wait until you get home and mark them “Undone” as you take each item out of the bag. Be sure to also un-star each item.
  6. Now, your Shopping list is back to “0” but your list is still there, ready for you to Star items as “needed” throughout each day as you run out or run low!

This feature is also helpful if you are packing for a trip – not just to plan for what to bring for a trip, but to also make sure that you remember to bring everything back with you!

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History

The History page shows you a summary of completed tasks, by Date. From this page, you can:

  • View the completion history of individual completed tasks. (For example, if you used the timer to audit your tasks and you paused then resumed the task several times).
  • Export the completion history of individual tasks to Excel (*.csv)
  • Export the completion history of all Tasks.
  • Delete the History and start over (this cannot be undone).

Time Logger

Did you ever wish you had a way to keep track of time you are spending on something? Maybe a phone call, or an exercise routine, or a meeting? And wouldn’t you like to be able to record and log that time, so you have a record? And wouldn’t it be nice if you could export that to a spreadsheet, or email it to someone else? These are all possible with the Time Logger feature of SmartPad.

Select any Task or Event. You will see the Timer button appear in the middle of the top bar:

Tap on the Timer button and you will see the name of the item that you selected, in the section called “Task in queue.” Simply press the Start button:

Additional features of the Timer (as shown above):

  • You can time multiple items, and have multiple items in “pause” state as well.
  • Tap the yellow “pause” button to pause the timer, then
  • Tap the green “start” button to resume.
  • Tap the “done” button when you are finished timing or have completed the Task or Event.
  • Once you have completed a Task or Event, you can see it in the History folder. You can also export a detailed summary of the timed Task or Event. SmartPad appends it to an email that you can send to yourself or to a friend or colleague.
  • Note although Events do not normally appear in the History folder, if you Timed an Event (such as a scheduled phone call with a client), then it WILL appear in the History folder. Handy!
  • The Timer icon will remain visible, and animated, on the top bar while it is timing or while any items are in the paused state.
  • If you close SmartPad while the timer is on, the next time you open SmartPad you will be prompted to either treat the Timer as having been PAUSED while SmartPad was closed, or to have been running Continuously. This is handy if you closed the app in a hurry and forgot to turn off the timer for a few days!

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Integrated Search

The integrated search bar is a powerful tool because it automatically groups items by type: Note, Event, All Day Event, Task. You can tap on any item to jump directly to that item. You can also use Tags to find groups of items quickly.

Actions Bar / Settings

Tap on the Action button on the top left of any screen.

Settings

This is where you choose your settings for SmartPad.

About

Here you will find this Guide, as well as information about other Apps by Left Coast Logic.

Backup

You can backup your database and send it to yourself in an email. This is handy for restoring your data in case you forgot to backup your iPad to iTunes. It is also helpful as a debugging tool.

Sync Events

Tap on this to sync the Events in your SmartPad Calendars to your iPad Calendar. See Synchronization.

Sync Tasks

Tap on this to sync Tasks in your SmartPad Projects to Toodledo. Note you will need to have a free account with Toodledo in order to sync. For more information, see Synchronization.

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Synchronization

Topics:

Syncing Events with iPad Calendar

Adjusting the Sync Window

Checking which calendars are in your iPad Calendar

Add SmartPad calendars to your iPad calendar

Connect SmartPad with other third-party calendars via the iPad Calendar

Connect SmartPad to multiple calendars on your Google account

Remove or Hide calendars from your iPad Calendar

Select which SmartPad calendars to sync with your iPad

Syncing Tasks with Toodledo

Syncing Events with iPad Calendar

By default, SmartPad synchronizes Events with every calendar that you have in your iPad Calendar. All you have to do is tap the “Sync events” button in the Action Menu.

Naturally, if your iPad’s calendar is also set up to sync with Mobile Me, iCal or third party calendars such as Outlook and Google, then those calendars will automatically be created in SmartPad the first time you sync.

Adjusting the Sync Window

By default, SmartPad syncs all Events from the past week to the next three months. You can change this in Settings -> Synchronization:

To check which calendars are in your iPad calendar:

Go to your iPad calendar and tap on the Calendars icon. This will show you a drop-down list of all calendars and their sources. All of these calendars will be sync’d to SmartPad.

To add SmartPad calendars to your iPad calendar:

The iPad calendar does not allow you to create new calendars. It also does not add any new calendars that you may have created in SmartPad. You can however create new calendars in third-party Calendar apps such as Mobile Me, iCal, Google, or Outlook – then connect those calendars to your iPad calendar.

If you want to create a new calendar for SmartPad that synchronizes with your iPad calendar, first create that calendar in a third party app that connects to the iPad calendar. You will then see that calendar appear in SmartPad the next time you sync. For more detail, see the next section.

To connect SmartPad with other third-party calendars via the iPad Calendar:

Go to your iPad Settings and select Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Then select Add Account.

Follow the instructions to add your Microsoft Exchange, MobileMe, Google, Yahoo, AOL, or other CalDav account.

Example: Connect SmartPad to multiple calendars on your Google account.

This is a handy solution if you already have a Google account or if you don’t have another third-party account but want to have access to your SmartPad calendars on your computer or on any browser. We recommend this solution because it is free and it works very well. You can also use it to quickly create new calendars in your iPad calendar.

Just follow these steps:

  1. If you do not already have one, set up a free account with Google.
  2. Go to Mail, Contacts, Calendars then tap on Add Account.
  3. Select Microsoft Exchange.
  4. Fill in the blanks.- Email is your Google Account email- Domain: leave blank- Username: your Google Account email- Password: your Google Account password
  5. Tap “Next” to Verify.
  6. A new field will be created for “Server.”- Enter m.google.com

To choose which calendars you want to sync between Google and your iPad Calendar, go to http://m.google.com/sync. Be sure to save this to your iPad’s Desktop as it is a handy way to update your calendars.

For more information, see this Blog post on our web site: http://www.leftcoastlogic.com/blog/productivity-tip-101-staying-connected-via-exchange/

Productivity Tip:

You cannot choose colors for iPad calendars. But you can select colors for both SmartPad and for your Google calendars. That way, you can match colors between your Google account and SmartPad.

To Remove or Hide calendars from your iPad calendar

In your iPad Calendar, you can select which calendars you wish to view. However, SmartPad will synchronize with all of the calendars that are shown in the drop-down list. If you do not wish to sync certain calendars from your third-party accounts, there are two ways to do this:

  1. In your iPad Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> Accounts, turn off all calendars from a specific account. Or…
  2. In your connection settings, such as in the Google example above, simply select which Google calendars are sync’d to your iPad calendar.

Productivity Tip:

After you remove third-party calendars from your iPad Calendar, be sure to uncheck them from your SmartPad calendars, otherwise your calendars will be deleted and your data will be lost. To do this, follow the steps in the next section.

To select which SmartPad calendars to sync with your iPad

Although SmartPad automatically maps with all of your iPad calendars, you can select which of your SmartPad calendars to include when you synchronize.

On the Action/Settings bar in SmartPad, go to Settings -> Calendars -> Setup, then select or deselect the calendar name. Note this also applies to selecting which Projects you will sync with Toodledo.

Syncing Events with Google Calendar

You can also synchronize your events with Google Calendaer over the internet. This is a legacy feature provided for users upgrading from the 1.0 version of SmartPad. We do not recommend this solution.

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Syncing Tasks with Toodledo

Toodledo sync works differently than iPad Calendar sync. The main difference is that with Toodledo sync, you can create new Projects in SmartPad and if those are selected in your Calendar settings, SmartPad will create corresponding Folders in Toodledo. The Tasks inside your SmartPad Projects will then be synchronized with Toodledo. Note: Toodledo calls top-level items “Folders” while we call them “Projects.”

In the Actions/Settings box, tap on Settings -> Synchronization -> Tasks sync to set up your Toodledo account.

If you do not already have an account, you can set one up here: http://www.toodledo.com/signup.php

Then, tap on the “Check Validity” button to test your account settings.

Tip: Before you synchronize with Toodledo, you may wish to delete the sample data that came with SmartPad.

In the Actions/Settings box, tap on “Sync tasks.”

This will sync all existing SmartTime Projects – and all of the Tasks contained inside – to Toodledo. It will create new Folders in Toodledo if those did not already exist.

This will also sync all existing Toodledo Folders – and all of the Tasks contained inside – to SmartPad. It will create new Projects in SmartPad if those did not already exist.

Productivity Tip #1:

SmartPad supports “Starred” items, just as Toodledo does. That means you can “Star” items in Toodledo, and they will also be Starred in SmartPad.

Productivity Tip #2

Toodledo makes a great little drop-down menu for your Firefox Mozilla browser. With it you can quickly add tasks just by hitting Option+Command+A on your keyboard. You can read more about this feature here:

http://www.leftcoastlogic.com/blog/toodledo-ti/

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