CheckVist Alpha - Plus-Size Your TODOs ...

There’s no shortage of online TODO list managers: Remember the Milk, Todoist, Toodled, just to name a few. A new offering, CheckVist, brings a second dimension to TODOology: keyboard-friendly outlining.

CheckVist bills itself as an “online collaborative outliner and task list manager”. The bullet points include

• Jot it down fast with keyboard shortcuts to speed data-entry
• Exchange data with other applications through import and export
• Refine tasks with unlimited outline levels and multiple checklists
• Work with others by sharing checklists and enabling change notification
  CheckVist is not as feature-rich as similar products, but for brainstorming and outlining, there’s something to be said for a clutter-free interface. While CheckVist supports the notion of “todo”s, it’s really about organizing chunks of information in to a hierarchical list, often with a group of collaborators, not about personal time and deadline management. As a result, CheckVist a great complement to other, more complicated products.

How fast is data entry?

My favorite CheckVist feature is that it’s intuitive (err, “familiar”) to use. Common outlining keyboard shortcuts, like tab and shift-tab work as expected. Items can be moved up and down with the Ctrl+Arrow keys. The UI is geared to multiple lists, making it easy to get in and out of different lists that you may maintain for different project.

The CheckVist UI doesn’t make you think, making it a great product for brainstorming.

Does CheckVist work with other applications?

My second favorite feature is the easy and elegant way CheckVist imports and exports data. Several convenient formats are supported, including plain test (tabs), Atlassian Confluence format (wiki), OPML format (Mac), and HTML format. When exporting, you can include or exclude notes, status, and change details.

For super-fast data-entry, my favorite approach is to whip up a tab-based outline in a programmer’s editor, and then import it to CheckVist for refinement. If you need to include an outline in a Word document, it’s very easy to export it as plain text, paste it into Word, and convert your outline to a bulleted list with just a click or three.

It’s also easy to copy checklists, either by using the built-in copy feature, or by exporting a checklist and importing it again later. If you have large project checklists that you use over and over again: here’s your sign!

Are large checklists easy to manage?

CheckVist seems geared for larger projects. I’ve several outlines working (in my free account), some of which with well over a hundred items, and it hasn’t skipped a beat. Since, it’s a snap to open and close the outline items, it’s easy to get the big picture, and then drill down to the fine detail.

Can multiple authors edit a checklist?

Since CheckVist is primarily a brainstorming product, collaboration is a key use case. It’s easy to add additional authors to any of your CheckVists. As the original owner, you can always unshare the list with any of the other authors.

To help grease the rails of collaboration, CheckVist tracks of who edited a task, and can alert you whenever an update occurs.

Is “alpha” software safe to use?

Right now, CheckVist is labelled “alpha” software by its authors, and it’s only been in public use since August 2008. CheckVist has a very solid, professional feel to it, and I have no qualms about using it myself. Though, your mileage may vary.

There are some glitches, mainly around latency when editing. Sometimes when I’m rewriting a task, the changes won’t display correctly while I’m making the change. But, as soon as it is saved, the task displays correctly.

The biggest problem I’ve had is with trying use the “undo” feature. Bluntly, CheckVist undo (as of this writing) is not ready for primetime. The feature tends to undo more than you would expect, and if you use it, you’ll probably regret it. Of course, if you’re used to using ctrl-z in other products, undo can be a hard habit to unlearn :(

Overall, I’ve been using it hard, and the only data I’ve lost was due to undo. Everyone has to decide for his or herself how scary is an “alpha” tag.

Who makes CheckVist?

If you are use of any of the fine JetBrains products, like IDEA or Resharper, you would take comfort in the knowledge that CheckVist is brought to us by two TeamCity developers, . According to the website, “”.

Is CheckVist right for me?

If you are looking for a decent online outlining tool, to use for checklists or brainstorming, then definitely take CheckVist for a spin. It may not replace your TODO list manager, but you might also get more done. :)

HTH, Ted.