[Chandler-dev] Can we change the When column behavior for events with alarms?

[Mimi Yin]

Hi Jeffrey,

I've been mulling over this one too for a while. I think the problem  
I'm blocked on is, if/when we sort the LATER section correctly  
(meaning sub-sorted by Date), how should an event with a custom  
tickler alarm be sorted?

For example, should the July 4th wedding appear after items set for  
July 3rd and before items set for July 5th? Or should it appear  
amongst the late June items?

(I have been assuming that it would appear amongst the late June  
items, the use case being: I'm scanning my LATER section to see  
what's coming up just over the horizon.)

If it appears amongst the late June items, will it look out of place  
if the date that's displayed is July 4th?

June 19th
June 19th
July 4th
June 20th

I wonder if what we're really wanting (again) is the ability to  
create a separate, linked Task item with a Tickler Alarm so that you  
can still see the original event item with the appropriate event date.

Another workaround would be to set an event-date-dependent alarm.  
Those don't change the value of the Date column (thought I can see  
how by my logic above, any alarm that fires before the day of the  
event should affect the Date column).

Mimi

On May 16, 2008, at 12:36 PM, Jeffrey Harris wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> I've heard a lot of people who use Chandler Desktop on a regular  
> basis say they don't like the way adding an alarm changes the list- 
> view "When" field for events.
>
> I'd like to add my voice asking that we change this.  I know the  
> use case for the current behavior is something like:
>
> - I'm going to a wedding on July 4th.  I want to remind myself to  
> buy a present by June 20, so I add a June 15 alarm
>
> I can see that this is useful, but it seems to me in this case,  
> it's enough to just add the alarm, it'll pop to NOW on time.
>
> The cost to the current behavior seems high.  I find I can't scan  
> my events for start times.  In fact, in my personal use of Chandler  
> I've been so consistently confused by the When column that I  
> realized today I've been sub-consciously avoiding creating alarms  
> for the last several months.
>
> So, can we change the design for this?  My proposal would be:
>
> A) Show start time for events (and only show the event icon, not  
> the alarm icon, in the event-stamp column, so events are really  
> distinguished from notes with alarms), UNLESS, optionally
> B) Both the alarm is in the future, and start time is in the past
>
> The second part is optional to me because, personally, an event's  
> very event-ness completely dominates any alarm I've set.  I'm  
> delighted that the alarm will bring the event back to my attention,  
> I don't find that I need to scan for what time I set the alarm for.
>
> Sincerely,
> Jeffrey
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