Re: [Evolution] Various questions from a new user

[Adam Tauno Williams <awilliam whitemice org>]

On Sun, 2012-11-18 at 12:24 +0100, Francesco Turco wrote:
> I'm a new Evolution 3.4.4 user. I have several questions.
> 1) Is it possible to rename or delete the "Personal" task list? 

In 3.6 you can.  Right click the task list, select properties, change
the name.  I don't know it that works in 3.4.x;  I'd a

> I found the following thread:
> https://mail.gnome.org/archives/evolution-list/2009-December/msg00216.html
> But it seems things changed since 2009 and the mentioned registry key is
> no more there. It seems "Birthdays and anniversaries" cannot be
> deleted/renamed, too.

Beware ancient threads; the Internet is generally a great big pile of
incorrect and out-dated information.  Google is *not* your friend, she
is the mistress of bunny-trails and wasted time.

> 2) In my tasks list view I have three columns: summary, start date and
> due date, in this order from left to right. I'd like to change the width
> of the start date and due date columns independently, but it seems that
> when I change the width of the start date, the width of due date is
> changed, too. Is there a way to avoid this?

It is all normal column width drag and column placement stuff.  The
total width has to equal 100% of the view, so when you change one this
something else has to change.  I haven't noticed that column widths are
in any way locked to other columns.

> 3) Why the tasks list is shown in the calendar view? When I want to view
> tasks I choose the task view, not the calendar view. I know I can set
> the width to zero, but is it possible to close it once and for all?

That is normal PIM stuff,  most people waht it that way.  If you put it
away [collapse it] it should remember that is is collapsed.

> 4) Is it possible to avoid setting a background color for calendars and
> task lists? Certain colors (for example white or black) are bad because
> when I set them the text cannot be read.

You can set all the background colors to white.
 
> 5) I don't understand if I should organize my tasks into different
> categories or different tasks lists. It seems that with lists it is
> easier to choose what to show. I haven't found yet a way to do the same
> with categories. For example, is there a way to show tasks belonging to
> either a category or another one, but nothing else? In the drop down
> list at the top of the screen (the one with "Any category",
> "Unmatched", ...) I can only select one category. Displaying a couple of
> categories at the same time would be useful when moving tasks from one
> category to another one.

That would also result in an even more complicated UI. You can always
filter using any-field-contains.

> 6) Is there a way to only show tasks that can be acted upon, that is,
> tasks with no start date or with a start date in the past or in the
> present? It seems that Show >> Active tasks only show tasks whose due
> date is yet to come. But I have many tasks with a due date far in the
> future and a start date just one month before, and I don't consider them
> to be "active" tasks.

That is generally what the next-7-days select is for.

> Sorry for the long message, but I'd like to understand if Evolution is
> good for my needs or not.