Re: [Evolution] Ideas for Evolution

[Mark Tearle <mtearle tearle com>]

On Sat, 27 May 2000, Tom Musgrove wrote:

> Here is a breif listing of my ideas for extensions to
> Evolution
>
> 1)  Templater
>
> For the sales and techinical support fields, much of the time is spent
> responding to requests that are largely the same.
>
> A templater would have a number of generic paragraphs (probably custom
> paragraphs from previous responses to customers), that could be stringed
> together to flexibly respond to
> questions and inquiries.
>
> One would click on the boxes in the order desired. The name of the person
> being responded to, as well as the product name could be autofilled.
>
> This is done somewhat now by cutting and pasting from old messages.  My
> method however provides a faster and more convenient way to accomplish the
> same ends.
When I was doing lots of email support, TypeIt4Me (a Mac extension) was
a major timesaver.  You basically typed the name of the macro, TI4M deleted
that text and in it's place typed your spiel.

However, click boxes or right click bringing up a menu sounds like a better 
way to to this.

> 2)  Prioritizer
>
> This would be for rapidly scheduling and allocating time to tasks, based on
> their due date, estimated time frame for completion, who will be performing
> the task.
>
> There are five key steps in the scheduling of any task
>
> Delegation - can the task be delegated, and if so to whom
> Due Date - when must the task be completed by
> Estimated time frame - in raw hours how long do you expect the task to take
> Allocation - Alloting blocks of time for the task
> Recall -  If the task has been delegated, follow up on it, or if it's a task
> completed before a deadline, a reminder of when the task needs to be
> submitted, etc.
> Concentration Required/Difficulty - is it a task which requires greater than
> average concentration, which should be allocated your 'optimum thinking'
> time
> Criticality/Priority - What is it's impact on the company's future and
> bottom line

[...]

> Any thoughts, comments?  Is there something like the above already planned,
> or already in existance?
>
> Tom M.

Some of this maps easily onto VTODO in the iCalendar spec.  I've copied
and pasted chunks of RFC2445 here. Most of what Tom needs is there.
I suspect the major problem is user interface.

Who is currently responsible for Evolution's feature list?


BEGIN:VTODO
UID:19970901T130000Z-123404 host com
DTSTAMP:19970901T1300Z
DTSTART:19970415T133000Z
DUE:19970416T045959Z
SUMMARY:1996 Income Tax Preparation
CLASS:CONFIDENTIAL
CATEGORIES:FAMILY,FINANCE
PRIORITY:1
STATUS:NEEDS-ACTION
END:VTODO

partstatparam      /= "PARTSTAT" "="
                         ("NEEDS-ACTION"        ; To-do needs action
                        / "ACCEPTED"            ; To-do accepted
                        / "DECLINED"            ; To-do declined
                        / "TENTATIVE"           ; To-do tentatively
                                                ; accepted
                        / "DELEGATED"           ; To-do delegated
                        / "COMPLETED"           ; To-do completed.
                                                ; COMPLETED property has
                                                ;date/time completed.
                        / "IN-PROCESS"          ; To-do in process of
                                                ; being completed
                        / x-name                ; Experimental status
                        / iana-token)           ; Other IANA registered
                                                ; status
     ; These are the participation statuses for a "VTODO". Default is
     ; NEEDS-ACTION


Yours
Mark
-- 
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you 
 didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away 
 from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. 
 Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain       Mark Tearle - mark tearle com