This page is dedicated to providing help and support for To Do List Pro. The To Do List developed by XLAutomation is a simple and effective way to make sure you remember those important things in your daily life. If your question is not answered below then please Contact Us and we will include it to this page or the To Do List Pro support forum.

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Overview of "To Do List Pro"

We've listened to our users and have now included the following new features to the updated version of To Do List Pro. Combined with the existing features of this great product it is now an even more useful tool to help you get organised.

1. Configure the Number of Days for Due Date Warnings to be shown
2. Custom Sort Order using any column within the To Do List
3. Configure the Cell Formats for Overdue, Completed and Warning To Do items
4. Add and Update Category descriptions

The existing features have been revised and improved to simplify and optimise the To Do List.

1. Automated reminder notification for Overdue and Upcoming To Do items
2. Delete and Add To Do items with the click of a button
3. Automated format changes based on Status and Due Date, to give clear indication of Overdue or Upcoming items
4. When an item is marked as completed it will be sorted to the bottom of the list and reformatted
5. User defined fields for Categories, Status and Priority 

Use the links below to quickly access the Help section you are after or browse the whole page to review the To Do List support information

Installing To Do List Pro

After the purchase of To Do List Pro you are provided with a "Download" link to download an installation file. You are also provided with a Serial Number to use during the product activation. Ensure that you keep a hard copy of your Serial Number for later use.

After clicking on the "Download Now" link you will be presented with an option to "Open" or "Save" the file "TDL v2.0.0.zip" to your computer. Select "Save" and save the file to your Desktop.

Now double click on the file "TDL v2.0.0.zip" that has been saved to your desktop. This should open the file and present you with a new window showing the following files. If you double click on the downloaded file and no new window is presented Click Here to get help on opening zip files.

Now to install "To Do List Pro", simply double click on the file "To Do List Pro Setup.exe" this will lead you through a step-by-step wizard to install "To Do List Pro" on your computer. The other files are additional documentation to assist during the product installation should any problems occur.

Once the installation is completed a desktop icon will be created on your desktop for "To Do List Pro", double click on this to open the workbook. If you need more instruction or information on the installation process for To Do List Pro then click on the Video below to see a step-by-step guide to installing To Do List Pro. 

Features and Functionality

The following provides a description of the general features and functionality for To Do List Pro. For step-by-step instruction refer to the video on Features and Functionality.

Add & Delete To Do Items

To ensure that the sorting and formatting is maintained in the To Do List you need to Add or Delete Items using the provided Add and Delete functions on the To Do List Menu.

If you choose to Add or Delete Items via a standard Excel insert function some formulas and formatting may not be copied and as a result some of the To Do List functions will no longer work.

When you select Add New Item from the To Do List- Menu, a new Item will be added to the bottom of the existing To Do List items with a new Reference number incremented from the last Reference number. To Add more than one item simply hit Add as many times as required to create the number of items needed.

To delete an existing item or items, simply go to the "To Do List" spreadsheet select a cell or cells for the items that are to be deleted and then select Delete Items. The routine will then determine the rows that have been selected and will display a confirmation message for you to confirm the items that are to be deleted. Once you have confirmed the deletion, the rows will be deleted and the To Do List updated for review

Update To Do List

To update the display and sorting for newly added To Do items, simply click on the To Do List Menu function "Update To Do List". The existing items will then be re-formatted and re-sorted based on the current configuration settings. Each time the To Do List is opened the To Do List will be updated

To change the formatting or sort options that are applied as part of Update To Do List, simply access the "Configuration" function on the To Do List Menu and update the settings as needed.

This function is limited in the Free version to a set number of Updates. Once those Updates are exceeded the Free To Do List will no longer perform Update To Do List.

Configuration

The following provides a description of the configuration functionality for To Do List Pro. For step-by-step instruction refer to the video on Configuration

Change the Default Sort Order

The default Sort Order can be changed in the To Do List Pro version by selecting Configuration from the To Do List Menu.  You can then specify any column for the Sort Key values in any order. You can also specify the direction of the sort to be Ascending or Descending.

Once you have selected the new Sort Order simply select Update the the Sort Order will be applied to the To Do List.

Note: A special sort column is provided with To Do List Pro. This sort column is called "Calculated Sort Value" and is a combination of columns to derive a sort. The calculation determines that a To Do Item will be set with a value depending on its Status and Priority. If the item is completed then it is set to 99 (the bottom of the list). If the item is not completed then it is set to 0, 1, 2 or 3 depending on it's priority. The sort is then applied to ensure that all completed items are moved to the bottom of the list.

Update Due Date Warning Days

The default Number of Days for the Due Date Warning can be changed in the Pro version of To Do List by selecting Configuration from the To Do List Menu.

After selecting the Configuration button on the To Do List Menu. You can then specify the new value for the Number of Days for the Due Date Warning.

Once you have specified the Number of Days for the Due Date Warning select Update. The changes Number of Days will be applied to the To Do List and any change in cell formats applied to the existing items.

Add & Update New Categories

To change or add categories to the list of possible categories for the To Do List select the Configuration button on the To Do List Menu. After selecting the Configuration button on the To Do List Menu. 

To Update an existing Category, select it from the list on the left and then modify it in the text box on the right. After the modification is complete select Update and the change will be applied.

To Add a new Category simply type that value into the text box on the right and select Add. If the Category does not exist it will be added to the list of available categories and displayed in an updated list on the left.

Note: To ensure that you can effectively use Category as a sort on the To Do List, we suggest that you include a number before the text of your category. This then allows the To Do List to be sorted in an order based on how you want the Categories to be displayed.

Change To Do List Item Formats

To change the To Do List Item formats for the To Do List select the Configuration button on the To Do List Menu. After selecting the Configuration button on the To Do List Menu.

To update a format simply select the Cell Type format that needs to be updated. The worksheet behind the form will then be changed to show the "Reference" worksheet. The Cell Type will be selected ready for you to change the format. Simply change the background and font color using Excel's built-in Format Cell feature. When you have updated the format click Update and the new format will be applied to the To Do List.

Repeat this process for each of the Cell Types and the formats will be changed.

Note: Do not change any of the values within the cells that are being re-formatted. Changing the values in those cells could result in problems for the processing of the To Do List functions and features.

How to Create a Scheduled Task

To take advantage of the automated reminder notification functionality you need to create a Scheduled Task on your workstation that opens the "To Do List Pro" workbook on a regular basis. When this task is in place you are automatically reminded of any overdue or approaching activities that are included to your list. The steps below will guide you in this process, if you have any problems in setting this up please contact our support team or post details to the support forum.

Find below instructions to create a scheduled in Windows 7 or Windows XP. If you need held with another operating system then please contact our support team for assistance.

Windows 7 Scheduled Task Creation

Important: before attempting to create and test a scheduled task for To Do List Pro you must first have successfully installed the product.

Step 1 - Go to the Start button for Windows and then in the Search Program and Files type "Task Scheduler". This should find the Program "Task Scheduler", Start that program by selecting it from the search results

Step 2 - Select "Create Task"

Step 3 - On the General Tab : Name the new Task "To Do List Pro Automated Reminder"

Step 4 - On the Triggers Tab : Select New, then select the frequency that you want the To Do List to be checked for this example we will set the reminder to happen Daily and start it for 8am each day. You can leave all the other settings as the default. The Click OK.

Step 5 - On the Actions Tab : Select New, then copy the following text into the Program/Script text box

Step 6 : The following warning message will be shown, Click "Yes" to accept the arguments.

Note : If you have installed "To Do List Pro" to another drive location other than the default you will need to change the location in the arguments above.

Step 7 - Now Click OK and the task has been scheduled. Let's test if the scheduled task has been created successfully

Step 8 - Click on the Task Scheduler Library on the Task Scheduler application, this will list all the tasks that are currently available on your workstation.

Step 9 - Now Right Click on the "To Do List Pro Automated Reminder" task and then select "Run". This will start the script and you should see the "To Do List Pro" reminder window displayed.

If the the reminder window is not displayed then please record any error messages or warnings that are displayed and then contact the support team or post that information to the support forum for resolution.

Windows XP Schseduled Task Creation

Important: before attempting to create and test a scheduled task for To Do List Pro you must first have successfully installed the product.

Step 1 - Go to the Start button for Windows and then select All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks. That will then open a window showing the current list of scheduled tasks for your workstation.

Step 2 - Select "Add Scheduled Task" and a wizard should start to lead you through the process

Step 3 - Specify the Program to run, Click Browse and find the file in the following location

C:\WINDOWS\system32\cscript.exe

Step 4 - Change the name of the task to be "To Do List Pro Automated Reminder", and select Daily (note you can change this to your preferred frequency)

Step 5 - Set the start time to be 8:00am and to perform the task every day of the week. Set the start date to be todays date (again you can change these settings to your preferred options)

Step 6 - Select next when presented with the question on User to run the task. If needed include the password for the user

Step 7 - Click Finish to complete the Task creation. You may be presented with the following warning, if you are don't worry we will fix this in the next few steps.

Step 8 - Now go back to the Scheduled Tasks Window. All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks

Step 9 - Right Click on the "To Do List Pro Automated Reminder" and select Properties

Step 10 - Check the box "Run only if logged on" and then select OK

Step 11 - Copy the following text into the Run text box after the existing text of C:\WINDOWS\system32\cscript.exe

"C:\Program Files\XLAutomation\To Do List Pro\ToDoListCheck.vbs" "C:\Program Files\XLAutomation\To Do List Pro\To Do List Pro.xls"

Step 12 - Click Apply and then Click OK to complete the process

Note : If you have installed To Do List Pro into a different location than the one specified above then you will need to modify what is copied into the Run text box.

Step 13 - Now to test that the Scheduled Task is working and created correctly. Right Click on "To Do List Pro Automated Reminder" in the Scheduled Tasks Window. Then select Run and the "To Do List Pro" reminder window should be presented.

If the the reminder window is not displayed then please record any error messages or warnings that are displayed and then contact the support team or post that information to the support forum for resolution.