How to use Twitter with Toodledo

Twitter is a service that can be used to add and retrieve tasks remotely (via SMS, IM or from 3rd party Twitter apps). You can also receive alarms for tasks that are due soon. These reminders will be sent to you via Twitter according to your Twitter account settings.

Setting Up Your Twitter Account

First, select "Social Networks" from our "Tools" menu and select "Twitter". From this page you can authorize Toodledo to be able to access your Twitter account. If you do not have a Twitter account, you will have the opportunity to create one.

If you want to link Twitter up to your IM client or mobile phone, you can do this via Twitter's "Settings" page. Keep in mind that your mobile phone company may charge you to receive SMS text messages and you will be fully responsible for these charges. Neither Twitter nor Toodledo charge for sending text messages.

Adding Tasks Via Twitter

To add a task via Twitter, send a direct message to Toodledo with the name of your task. Via IM or SMS you would type something like this, "d toodledo Call Jim". The 'd' at the beginning tells Twitter that this is a direct message to toodledo, and not a public message to be posted to your Twitter profile.

In addition to the name of the task, you can also set the priority, due-date, folder, and context using a special syntax.

Priority - The default priority is "0 - Low". To set a higher priority use the ! character as many times as necessary. Typing !! would give your task a priority of "2-High".
Due-Date - To set a due-date, use the # symbol and then type the due-date. For example: "#today" or "#Next thursday" or "#5/12/08".
Start Date - To set the start date, use the > symbol and then the date. For example: ">tomorrow".
Star - To star a task use the * symbol by itself. For example: "My Task *".
Folder - To set the folder use the * symbol and then type the name of your folder. For example: "*ProjectA".
Context - To set the context use the @ symbol and then type the name of your context. For example: "@home". Remember that the @ symbol is a special instruction to Toodledo and is not part of your context name. If your context is actually named "@home" then you would need to type "@@home" to set the context, since the first @ is the symbol and the second @ is part of your context.
Goal - To set the goal use the + symbol and then type the name of your goal. For example: "+Exercise More".
Status - To set the status use the $ symbol and then the status. For example: "$Next Action".
Tag - To set the tag use the % symbol followed by the tag or tags that you want to add. For example: "%tag1, tag2".
Due Time - To set the due time for a task, use the = symbol followed by the time. For example: "=3:45pm".
Start Time - To set the start time for a task, use the ^ symbol followed by the time. For example: "^3:45pm".
Length - To set the length that you think a task will take, use the ~ symbol followed by the length. For example: "~4hours".
Repeat - To set how a task repeats, use the & symbol followed by how you want it to repeat. For example: "&Every Week". Here is a list of phrases that work.
Reminder - To set a reminder, use the : symbol followed by the lead-time. For example: ":5 hours"
Location - To set a location, use the - symbol followed by the location name. For example: "-home"

Putting it all together, here are some examples of SMS or IM messages that you could send to add a task:

d toodledo Call Jim !! @phone #today
d toodledo Finish the Report ! #next friday *ProjectA @work
d toodledo Mow the lawn *Chores @home

Retrieving Tasks Via Twitter

To retrieve a task via twitter, send Toodledo a message that starts with a question mark (?) followed by what tasks you want to retrieve. You can retrieve tasks based on due-date, priority, folder or context.

Priority - Type from one to three exclamation points (!). For example: "!!!". This will return all tasks with a priority of "3 Top".
Due-Date - Type a # and then follow it with: overdue, today, tomorrow, this week, next week, or this month. For example: "#today". This will return all tasks that are due today. "#this week" would return all tasks with a due-date in the next 7 days.
Start-Date - Type a > and then follow it with: started, today, tomorrow, next week, or next month. For example: ">started". This will return all tasks that have started. ">next week" would return all tasks that don't start until next week.
Folder - To fetch all tasks in a particular folder use the * symbol followed by your folder name. For example: "*Chores".
Context - To fetch all tasks in a particular context use the @ symbol followed by your context name. For example: "@phone".
Goal - To fetch all tasks in a particular goal use the + symbol followed by your goal name. For example: "+Exercise More".
Status - To fetch all tasks in a particular status use the $ symbol followed by the status. For example: "$Planning".
Tag - To fetch all tasks with a particular tag use the % symbol followed by your tag name. For example: "%tag1".
Star - To fetch all tasks with a star use the * symbol with nothing following it. For example: "*".
Location - To fetch all tasks in a particular location, use the - symbol followed by the location name. For example: "-home"

Putting it all together, here are some examples of SMS or IM messages that you could send to fetch some tasks:

d toodledo ?!! #this week
d toodledo ?*ProjectA @work *
d toodledo ?@phone !!! #today

Text messages are limited to 140 characters. If the number of tasks returned would exceed this limit, we will order the tasks by importance and then send you as many as we can, along with a note about how many we couldn't send you.

It may take 1-2 minutes for your query to reach our server, get processed and then get returned to you.

Reminders Via Twitter

If you have turned on reminders, we will send a direct message to your Twitter account for any task that has a reminder set.

You can turn reminders on and off from the Alarms page, which is located in the Tools menu at the top of the page.