The recurring tasks are not functioning properly

đź’© Bugs
1

Hi,

In Checkvist, the automated repetition is not functioning properly on the beta website. The software error is as follows: it does not display the recurring event on the Due Now page in Checkvist. The recurring event is set to repeat daily. Even after the completion of the daily event, Checkvist does not show it as a new task the next morning (all settings are configured correctly, and everything has been tested and is functional). The issue is that the software only displays the event for the next day on the Due Now page. Therefore, the daily recurrence is marked as completed on the current day, but Checkvist should show it for tomorrow. However, the software only displays the event for the day after tomorrow on the Due Now page. I cannot capture a screenshot of this. I also cannot record a video of this error because it is not reproducible. I have been observing this error for a week, and today I am certain that it persists because the error recurred. Unfortunately, I cannot provide further assistance with this issue as I am unable to reproduce the error manually.

2

Hi @christianhodek ,

Currently, the UI for repeating due tasks on the beta site is a bit misleading. I mean that it does not work as expected yet, because we haven’t fully updated the whole Checkvist to support this UI version.

I.e. the behaviour on when and how repeating tasks are re-opened matches the old UI version, from the main production site.

We’re going to update the production site with the latest changes later, within a week. And I hope after that, it will work more correctly.

Also, please note, that “Due” page shows only opened tasks with a due date. I.e. if you close a daily task today, it won’t show as “tomorrows” task until it is re-opened. And re-opening will happen either within an hour after closing, or on the next day, depending on the repeating due settings (and this logic will work only after the production server update).

Kind regards,
KIR

3

Hi,

I’m so happy. Thanks for the new UI, dear KIR.

4

Hi,

Same bug on NONE beta site. Checkvist didn’t show me repeating task on due date page.

5

Problems found after testing recurring tasks

I tested a lot of scenarios for recurring tasks.

The tasks seem to update now on the “due” pages, so maybe you’ve updated the production site now?

  • As expected: All of the open repeating tasks are shown on the “Due now” page.
  • As expected: All repeating tasks are shown on the “Repeating tasks” page, including the closed tasks that haven’t been “reopened” yet.

But, when testing this, I found the following problems :beetle: with how the next due dates :date: are being set:

Problem 1 (bug)

  • Scenario: Due 2023-03-04 and repeat weekly from due date.
  • Result: After completion on 2024-03-08, the next due date became 2024-03-15.
  • Expected: The next due date should have been 2024-03-11 (due date + 1 week)

Problem 2 (bug)

  • Scenario: Due 2023-03-04 and repeat weekly from completion date.
  • Result: After completion on 2024-03-08, the next due date became 2024-03-14.
  • Expected: The next due date should have been 2024-03-15 (completion date + 1 week)

Problem 3 (unexpected behavior)

  • Scenario: Due 2023-03-04 and repeat daily from due date.
  • Result: After completion on 2024-03-08, the next due date became 2024-03-09.
  • Expected: The next due should should have been 2024-03-05 (due date + 1d). I.e. when using the option “repeat from due date”, I expect Checkvist to not skip any past due dates.
  • Extra feedback: It could be useful to skip past due dates, but then please add a new option for that in the dr dialog.

Kind regards,
Jonas

6

Good morning,

Checkvist handles recurring events poorly. It provides misleading information and is unreliable. Therefore, recurring events should NOT be used. This bug persists on both the normal and beta site. However, this has not been functioning properly for a long time now. Therefore, I have downgraded Checkvist as an outline manager.

Unfortunately, none of the project management tools handle recurring events well, as far as I have experienced. Of course, this is not a solution in the case of Checkvist. Moreover, it is not even an excuse.

For a long time, I thought I was doing something wrong because recurring events didn’t work properly for me either. Then I realized it’s a bug. Since then, I haven’t been able to use this feature.

KIR informed me that this is not working well. But it hasn’t been fixed. Trust in software is a delicate matter. It can quickly erode, and once it’s gone, there’s no turning back.

However, there are many other software options available, so there is plenty of choice. It’s possible to get frustrated with something else.

Checkvist cannot handle past due dates. This is a huge flaw among many others. It is an outline software, only. It is not more than that. In fact, it’s the best. All other features are just extras. Unfortunately, these extra features don’t work here either. In short: fixing the numerous illogical errors would require a lot of work. And time is ticking, waiting for a miracle is not an option.

I resolved this issue by compiling everything in a spreadsheet. This meant many extra hours of work. But I’m not doing that anymore. It’s not worth it to me. We shouldn’t have to bear the burden of Checkvist’s flaws. We use software to help us, not to work around its flaws.

The solution: accept what is or switch to something else. And there, we can continue to be frustrated with another flaw.

Despite this, Checkvist is the best outline software. But it’s unsuitable for anything else.

KIR, what’s going on with you?

7

Hello Jonas,

Thank you very much for the detailed feedback.

We’ve just updated the production site with some new fixes for the repeating due.
I believe the Problem 1 should be fixed now, at least I could not reproduce it now.

I’ve managed to reproduce the Problem 2, and I will take a look - it is indeed unexpected to have this 1 day difference.

As for problem 3, could you please explain why you need repeating due tasks to set due dates in the past, when it is definitely overdue?

Thank you,
KIR

8

Hello @christianhodek ,

We’ve updated the production site with the recent fixes for repeating due tasks. I’m not sure if our model of repeating tasks will work for you, as we don’t have a history of past instances of repeating tasks. But you may give it another try.

Please keep in mind, that in Checkvist you have one task, and if it is a repeating one, it defines a schedule when this task becomes open next time after the completion. When task is not completed, and has the next due date, it is shown on the Due page. If a repeating task is completed, you can see it in the completed state on the “Repeating tasks” tab of the Due page.

Kind regards,
KIR

9

Hello Kir,

The thing is, this feature has been faulty for a long time. I’ve tested it multiple times, and it’s not me doing something wrong. I did report this issue to you, but there was no solution for a long time.

I appreciate it when a software developer explains the error. It’s like treating the user as dumb. It’s an old trick, but users aren’t dumb either.

So, to be clear: it’s not that I don’t understand how recurring events work, it’s that your software couldn’t do what it was supposed to do. It would be much simpler if you owned up to it because that’s fair.

I’m not going to try anymore because I’ve tried for a long time in many places and that’s it. I’m not a guinea pig. This feature didn’t work, and this software has many other weaknesses too. Since you didn’t fix the issue, I won’t be using it anymore, it’s that simple. I’ll use something else instead.

From now on, Checkvist is just an outlining application. It excels at that, but it’s useless for anything else.

If you want to remain the best, you have to work on it and pay attention to the errors.

Since this topic, the current situation, and the tone of the conversation are not good for me, I prefer not to discuss this further. All the best.

10

I don’t have any good examples for Problem 3. I think it’s fine to skip past due dates, but please add a sentence about that to the Repeat from → Due date in the documentation https://checkvist.com/help#dueDates.

In the docs, please also change the sentence" All tasks with a due date appear on the Due screen." to “All open tasks…”.

PS. When thinking about problem 3, I realised that what I actually need/want is a history of closed tasks. This would be nice to have when looking back at closed tasks. In some other app I used, the repeating task was duplicated when it was closed, and the “repeating-pattern” was removed from the copy. It was/is a simple but effective solution to create a history.

11

@christianhodek : I agree that there’s been many problems with the repeating feature, but everything seems to be working okay for me now, except for my “Problem 2” which Kir is still working on. What remaining problems or missing functionality/behavior are you still experiencing?

12

The recurring tasks I want to establish, have a couple of possible underlying behaviors:

  • some tasks accumulate effort as time passes - a requirement of my job is to update certain sites with daily information. Once a day’s details are entered, and I complete the checkvist item, I need it to move to the next due date, past or not, which will be on a every weekday repeat.

  • others, when worked on, inherently catch up all prior instances - collecting snail mail, for example.

That first case is what Jonas, and definitely I, want to see supported.

Without this behavior, recurring tasks are MUCH less useful, as I am forced to look at overdue tasks as “have to do all of this right now before I can check this off, or intermediate steps will be skipped”.

13

@zentiggr thank you for describing your case. Unfortunately, the current model of recurring tasks does not support multiple instances of the same task - Checkvist always re-opens the existing one.

Honestly, I would not promise changing the Checkvist model with this regard in the near time.

I’ve created an official feature request for it in the nearby forum: Allow multiple instances of repeating tasks, please vote for it.