Filter the task list to show just the work you want to do next. For example, find unfinished tasks, tasks about one ancestor, or tasks for a particular repository. You can search the task's text or choose the people and places it concerns.
Filtering by Task Content
To filter the task list:
1.Select the Tasks page to see the list of tasks
2.Select Filter > Filter Tasks from the menu
The top half of the filter form lets you create a filter based on the contents of the task itself. You can filter by:
•Start date - filter by the start date of the task. Options are:
oDo not filter by start date
oOnly show tasks with no start date
oOnly show tasks with a start date of - Selecting this option will enable the "Date range" field. You can enter a single date, a date range (like "between 1920 and 1930"), or an open range (like "before 1920" or "after 1920").
•End date - filter by the end date of the task. Options are the same as for the Start date
•Edit date - filter by the edit date of the task. Options are the same as for the Start date
•Details - filter by the Details / Goals entered for the task. Options are:
oDo not filter by task details
oShow tasks where details equals - This option will enable the Detail text field, and the filter will match any task with a detail that is exactly the same text as you enter.
oShow tasks where details contains - This option will enable the Detail text field, and the filter will match any task with a detail that contains the same text you enter.
•Results - filter by the Results entered for the task. Options are the same as for the Details
•Reference number - filter by the Reference # entered for the task. Options are the same as for the Details
•Task type - filters by the task type (to-do, research item, or correspondence)
•Priority - filters by the priority of the task. 9 will display all tasks, 1 will display only priority 1 tasks, 2 will display priority 1 and 2 tasks, etc.
•Status - Enter checks for any statuses you want to display. Remove checkboxes from any statuses you want filtered out.
You can use several filters together. A task must meet every filter you choose to appear in the list.
Filtering by Linked Records
In addition to the filters above, you can also add filters based on what the task is linked to. These filters work together with the filters above and can be mixed and matched. Click the + button to add a link filter.
When adding a link filter, you must select:
1.First choose what you want to find tasks for: a person, family, event, place, place detail, name, source, citation, address, repository, media item, or folder.
2.Then use the list on the right to choose the particular person, place, or other item. For example, choose Person first, then select your ancestor's name.
Then just click OK and that item will be added to the filter.
Quick Filtering by Individual Linked Records
Sometimes you may want to just quickly see the records attached to a single person, place, etc. RootsMagic makes this easy from the various pages. For example, if you want to see all the tasks attached to a person, select that person in any of the views of the People page, then click the Tools menu and select "Show tasks for selected person". RootsMagic will switch to the Tasks page and automatically filter the list to only show those tasks attached to that person. If you want to clear that filter just select the Filter menu and select "Clear filter".
You can do the quick filter for:
•People
•Places
•Sources
•Citations
•Media
•Addresses
•Repositories
In addition, you can select the Tasks tab on the Edit Person screen to see all tasks attached to that person.
Clearing a Task Filter
The Filter menu provides an option to Clear Filter, which simply removes any filtering and allows all tasks to be displayed again.
Saving a Task Filter
If there are filters that you use more than once (especially complicated ones), you can click the Filter menu and select "Saved filters" to bring up a list of any filters you have saved, as well as the option to create new saved filters. In addition to the filter settings, you can enter a name for the filter.
To reuse an existing filter just open Saved Filters and select the filter you want to apply.
If a task seems to be missing
Check both the selected folder and the task filter. Selecting All tasks removes the folder restriction, but an active filter can still hide the task. Clear the filter when you want to inspect the complete task list.
Filtering only changes which tasks are shown. It does not delete tasks or change their status. Before using a saved filter for a new research trip, check its dates and status choices.
