What's new
03 June 2013 Smart paste and profile fixes
14 May 2013 List wide operations
29 April 2013 Repeating tasks and due notifications improvements
You can create any number of lists. All lists are private by default, but you can share them with other people, or even make them public.
To create a new list, click the Lists link in the top navigation, or type ll. In the menu click the Add new list link or simply type the list name in the textfield and press Enter.
You can also extract a group of hierarchical tasks into a separate list.
Archived lists are stored in the Archived section on the homepage. Such lists are not shown under the Lists popup window.
On the list page, click the chevron icon after the list title and select either Archive or Delete. On the homepage, select one or several lists with checkboxes, and then click Archive or Delete in the bottom bar.
You can delete only a list you own, otherwise you can only un-share it.
On the list page, double-click the list name and edit it. Press Save or hit Enter. To cancel editing press ESC.
Tag lists to group them on the lists page, or to filter them via search field or in the Lists menu.
On the list page, double-click the list title and tag it via smart syntax (#tag). On the homepage, select one or several lists with checkboxes, and then click Tag Lists in the bottom bar.
With list permalinks you can save current list view and pass it to other people. Permalinks preserve the state of filter, expand/collapse nodes, other view options. You can get a permalink from the menu after the list title.
Every list item also has a permalink. Type sd to 'show details' of each list item. The date and time of the last update is a permalink. If you navigate that permalink, the list will open in the focused mode.
As a general purpose outliner, Checkvist is designed for fast and convenient data input (e.g. for brainstorming, meetings, planning, etc.) Almost all actions are available from the keyboard, so you can concentrate on your thoughts, not UI controls.
Press Enter to add a list item below, and Alt+Enter - above the selected one. Shift+Enter to add a sub-item.
Delete a list item with the Del key. The list item will be deleted with all its sub-items. One-step UNDO is available.
Navigate the list with arrow keys. ← and → arrows will collapse or expand nodes in hierarchical lists.
Change nesting level with Tab or Shift+Tab.
Move the list items up and down with Ctrl + ↑ and Ctrl + ↓ keys. Drag-n-drop is supported when you hold down the Shift key.
When a list becomes too long, use the Hoist (Focus) feature. Hit the pin icon in the toolbar or type Shift → to focus the selected list item. To un-focus, press Shift ←.
When you "hoist" a list item, only it's direct parents and children are visible. The 'hoisted' (focused) state of the list is preserved when you use a permalink or when you share a list with the Keep the list's current state option selected.
A list item can be open, closed or invalidated. Use Spacebar to toggle open/closed status, and Shift+Spacebar to invalidate.
By default, a parent list item is considered closed when all its sub-items are closed or invalidated. On the Profile → Settings page, there is an option "Close parent task when the last child is closed" which alters this behaviour.
You can hid the closed and ivalidated list items with the hc shortcut see view options.
The full keyboard reference is also available at any page via the ? key.
You can change list item color with 1, 2 or 3 key, and 4, 5, 6 for the background color. Use 0 (zero) to remove any coloring.
Color is a shared property of a task, so anyone working with the list will see it.
You can filter/search list items by color. Use search syntax like color: 1.
Open the View options menu and select the Show as a numbered list to add numeric prefix to list items.
Details are additional information that has every list item: the last modification time and author. The time is also a permalink to that list item.
By default the details are hidden. To toggle details on and off, press sd ('show details') or select the Show details in the View options menu in the toolbar.
Non-Windows users can also view list item details temporarily by holding down Ctrl.
You can print from the Print dialog in your browser or first click the Print icon in the toolbar to preview and modify the list before printing. The lists are optimized for printing to look as true checklists (you can customize the print view with print options).
You can print a part of the list, if you use filter or focus, for instance.
The simplest way to copy list items to another list (or to another node in the same list) is to use usual copy-paste Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V keyboard shortcuts. You can also duplicate one list item or a whole node with Ctrl+D.
To copy or move several list items, or a whole list, click Copy in the toolbar. The dialog options let you include or exclude certain list attributes (like color, status, notes), copy list items to different target lists, etc.
Using the Copy dialog, you can inline your list, i.e. move all items of a list under a single node of another list. For that, use an option As a single node in the dialog.
If you want to move a node from one list to another, select the parent task of that node and press mm (for 'move'). In the dialog window select the target list and press Enter.
When a list becomes too long and complicated you can extract its branch as a separate list. Set selection to the parent of the
node you want to extract and press xx. The node will become a new list, linked to the old one as
List name.
Sharing information is copied too, so the new list is available to the same people who worked on the original list.
You can import a list from another application in one of the three supported formats: plain text (indented), OPML or Confluence wiki. To invoke the Import dialog window, press im or click the Import link in the toolbar.
Imported tasks will appear below the current selection. If you want to import tasks on the top level, remove current selection with the ESC key.
No data lock-in. Export your lists into four popupar formats. The options allow you to include or omit certain data in the exported list.
The exported list will be opened in a new browser window after you've clicked the desired export format link.
outline XML elements). This lets us export the Checkvist OPML data to other tools,
like OmniOutliner.Most operations are undoable with one step undo. Press Ctrl+Z or uu to undo the last action.
A note is additional information, a comment on a list item. A note is not a sub-item, it can't be completed, invalidated.
Only authors can edit or delete their notes. Use ee ('edit') shortcut or double-click a note to edit it. Information about new notes appears in email notifications.
All list are private by default. To add people, click Share in the toolbar.
To invite new people to a list, click the Add people section in the Share dialog window, and enter emails of your collaborators in the textfield. Separate several emails with commas. Add an optional message, so they understand who's inviting them and where.
If a person doesn't have a Checkvist account, they'll need to create one when they accept your invitation.
If you're sharing a list with someone who's already working with you on other lists, you can add them to this list from the Select existing users dialog window. Such people will be added to the list immediately, no confirmation is needed.
Click the Share list by link in the Share dialog window to get a link which you can send to all your peers. You can also set the "life time" of that link for security reasons.
By default all new people are invited with 'writer's permissions. To change persmissions to 'read-only', you must have a PRO acccount. If you have a free account, you can choose to make a list public to make it avaiilable for larger audience in the "read-only" mode.
You can publish your outline and make it available to anyone on the web. Click the Make public section header in the Share dialog window and press the Publish button, and send the URL to your readers. To make the list private (or privately shared) again, click the Un-publish button.
Only list authors can publish (and un-publish) their lists. Your audience will be able only view, export or copy public lists, but not change them. If you want other people to edit a list, share it with them.
You can embed a public checklist into any web page. Just copy the code snippet from the Make public section into your HTML page. Tweak the width and height as you like. We published the "Checkvist Test Plan" in our blog as an example.
You can share several lists with the same people at once. On the lists home page (click the logo or hh to go to that page) select the lists you want to share and then click the Share button in the bottom bar.
If you have a free account, you can send and receive manual email notifications about changes made in the shared lists.
Click the Notify link in the toolbar. The notification will be sent about the changes you've made during the last session working on this list. You can preview the changes before sending.
If you have a Pro account, you can watch all changes and receive email notifications either as they happen (every 5 min at maximum, changes within the 5 min period are merged), or as a daily digest, sent at your preferred time.
To watch changes from one list, click the email icon in the right side of the toolbar, and select the notification options you want.
To manage notification rules for several lists, click the Profile link in the user menu, and then select the Notifications tab. Here you can set or pause notifications for all lists that are available to you.
An automatic notification is also sent when a task is assigned, or when you subscribe to due task notifications.
If you have a PRO account, you can delegate tasks to other people. Type ae on a selected list item to invoke the dialog window, where you can select one or several assignees. You can also add assignees via smart syntax with @username. Type ca ('clear assignee') to remove all assignees from the selected list item.
All assignees receive email notifications when a list item is assigned or changed (including its sub-items).
If you assign a list item to someone with the read-only access to that list, they can change that task status or add notes and attachments to it.
To see all items assigned to a person, type @username in the search field and pres Search.
If you have a PRO account, you can attach files to the selected list items.
Type at to invoke the Attach dialog window. Use arrow keys to navigate between the attached files and Enter to preview an attached image.
Here is a list that describes the feature, and a 1 min demo
Press tt on a selected list item to invoke the Tags dialog window or double click a list item to edit it and add a tag via smart syntax #. Auto completion will suggest tags that are already used in your lists.
If you want to use multi-word_tags, please put a hyphen or an underscore between the words.
Double click a list name and add a tag with smart syntax #.
If you want to tag several lists at once, select those lists on the home page. In the bottom bar press the Tag Lists button. The rest works the same way.
After you have tagged the lists, you can use tags to filter them in the Lists popup window, or group the lists on the home page.
Click a tag to filter all items tagged with it in the list. If you want to find all items tagged with that tag in all the lists, press the Search button.
Or you can press / to set the focus in the search field and use tags syntax with autocomplition: type # or tag: to invoke the autocompletion menu.
There's even one more way: press tt on the selected list item to invoke the Tags menu. Arrow-down or hover the Filter by #tagname menu item to see both filtering options.
Clear filter with the cf shortcut.
If you click the Tags link in the top navigation (or press tt when no list item are selected), you will see the all your tags on one page. Click the tag to see all its usages in all lists.
If you have a Pro account Click the little square to the left of the tag name on the Tag map or invoke the Tags menu with the tt shortcut on the selected list item to change tag color, name, make it private, or merge several tags.
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| tt | when a list item is selected, invokes the Tags dialog window (without selection goes to the Tags page) |
| ct | clears tags on the selected list item |
| #word | when editing, set tag with #prefixed word at the end of the list item |
| tag:word | same as #word, but works both at the end and at the beginning of a list item |
| #one, #two | bulk add several tags (comma separated or not) |
| #two_words or #two-words | for two or more word tags, use a hyphen or an underscore between words |
Add a due date via the Due window: type dd on a selected item to invoke it.
Save time and use td and tm shortcuts to set due date for today and tomorrow.
If you don't know the exact due date, but want to mark something as important, set due to ASAP with as shortcut.
Clear due date by pressing cd - or completing the task.
All tasks marked with a due date are listed on the Due screen. Click the Due link in the top navigation or type dd when no list item is selected.
For tasks that happen regularly, you can set a repeating pattern. Click the Repeat... link in the Due dialog window or simply dr on a selected list item. Then set a pattern:
If you select Repeat from → Due date, the task will re-appear on your list even if you didn't complete the previous one (it will just change the due date).
If you select Repeat from → Completion date, the task will be re-generated only once you've completed the previous instance.
Weekly pattern allows to select a day of the week (e.g. every second week, on Mondays and Thursdays). If you select a monthly or yearly pattern, the task will be repeated on the same day as you set in the Start field.
After you've selected a pattern, you can preview the first three times the task is going to appear on your list, and check it'll work as expected.
Generate option lets you set the time when the due date will be renewed. Say, if you have a task which due once a month, you might want to see it only 3 or 5 days before it's due.
To pause a task for some time, just press the Pause button at the bottom of the Repeating dialog window (dr to invoke the window). A paused task is not generated, until you un-pause it. After that it will follow the same pattern, i.e. the next closest due date.
You can also Delete the repeating pattern, by clicking the Delete button in the Repeating
dialog window. In this case, the task will have only the last due date, and will lose it's repeating quality.
If you want to completely delete all kinds of due date, repeating or not, press cd to 'clear due'.
Once a repeating task is set, you can see it in the list with a small icon. All repeating tasks are shown on the Due page, in the Repeating section, at the bottom of the Due list.
All information about repeating due is included when importing/exporting in the OPML format, and sent to the Calendar apps via Calendar apps integration.
Edit a list item and use the ^ shortcut with autocompletion window to select a due date.
| ^asap | ASAP - as soon as possible, with no definite date |
| ^today | Today (tod also works) |
| ^tomorrow | Tomorrow (tom also works) |
| ^friday | Next Friday to occur (fri also works) |
| ^next friday | The second Friday to occur (next fri also works) |
| ^25 Apr | April 25 this year (unless April 25 has passed, in which case it assumes next year) |
| ^Apr 25 | April 25 this year (unless April 25 has passed, in which case it assumes next year) |
| ^04/25/2010 | April 25, 2010 |
| ^01/04/2010 | April 1, 2010 |
| ^2010-04-25 | April 25, 2010 |
Checkvist can recognize due dates automatically, without any prefix at the end of list item text, like "Call John tomorrow". Tomorrow then becomes a due date.
You can enable the automatic due date recognition on the Profile → Settings page.
Subscribe to due date email notification to know what's pending. Click the email icon in the toolbar or select the lists to watch on you Profile → Notifications page.
You will receive a daily email with tasks marked as Overdue, due Today, Tomorrow or ASAP from all checklists you've subscribed to, if you set the due date yourself or if someone has assigned that task to you. If you want to watch all tasks with due dates, select the lists to watch in the table on the profile page.
By default the email is dispatched at midnight, but you can set your preferred time on the profile page.
Checkvist provides an iCalendar link which lets you integrate your calendar app with Checkvist due tasks. This links will work with any calendar application supporting iCalendar feed format: MS Outlook, Google Calendar and iCal among others.
Type dd on a selected list item to invoke the Due dialog window. Click the Calendar apps integration link to get a window for iCalendar link configuration. The time of the due events can be configured on the Notifications configuration page (it is the same time, when due notification e-mail is sent).
Please note that Google Calendar doesn't recognize TODO items.
Some instructions on integrating with a particular Calendar app can be found here.
Press / or ff to set focus to the Search field. Type in the keywords or other parameters: due period, tags, assignee, color, etc.
Filter will work as you type. To search in all your lists, press the Search button or Ctrl+Enter. To clear filter, press the X icon or type cf ('clear filter').
Press ? on any list page to see the search syntax reference
| / or ff | set focus to the search field |
| Ctrl-Enter | search in all lists |
| cf | clear filter |
| # or tag: | find items tagged with a certain tag |
| @ or assignee: | list items assigned to certain people |
| ^overdue (or due: overdue) | find all overdue tasks |
| ^asap | all tasks marked ASAP |
| ^now | tasks which are overdue, due ASAP and today |
| ^today | tasks which are due today (without overdue and ASAP tasks) |
| ^tomorrow | tasks which are due tomorrow |
| ^week | tasks due this week (from Mon to Sun) |
| ^next week | same, for the next week (from next Mon to next Sun) |
| ^month | tasks due from 1 to 30/31 day of the current month |
| ^next month | same for the next calendar month |
| in: open | search in the open tasks only (default setting if due is specified) |
| in: closed | search in the closed tasks only |
| in: all | search in all your tasks (default if due is not specified) |
| changed: 3h (2d, 1w) | list items changed during last 3 hours (2 days, 1 week) |
| changed: today (yesterday, current week, previous week) | include only tasks last changed today (yesterday, current week, previous week) |
| changed: current month | tasks last changed this month |
| color:1 (2, 3) | task colored red (blue, green) |
| priority: 1 (2, 3) | same as color |
| color: any | tasks with any color/priority |
| has:attachment | only list items with attachments (local filtering) |
| has:note | onlyl list items with notes |
Checkvist has several browser extensions and third-party tools that you can find very useful.
All tools are listed on the Tools tab of your Profile page.
If you are a software developer, you can write an extension or integrate Checkvist with other tools with the Open API. Whatever questions or problems, we'll be very glad to help, just ask.
Keyboard is probably Checkvist's main feature. You create a list with your typing speed, almost any action is available from the keyboard just as you type. No need to reach for a mouse.
We tried to make the shortcuts as easy and memorable as possible, but you can always invoke the keyboard and smart syntax cheatsheet by pressing ? on any page.
| Enter | Add a list item below |
| Alt-Enter | Add a list item above |
| Shift-Enter | Add a sub-item |
| Tab and Shift-Tab | Indent and outdent |
| Ctrl+-C Ctrl+-X Ctrl+-V Ctrl+-D | Copy, cut, paste, duplicate |
| Del or Shift-Backspace | Delete (also see 'wipe') |
| Ctrl+-Z | Undo the last action |
| ↑ ↓ ← → | Navigate up and down the list, collapse and expand nodes |
| Ctrl+ ↑ Ctrl+ ↓ | Move list items up and down |
| Ctrl+-Home Ctrl+-End | Move the list item to the first or the last in the list |
| ESC | Cancels editing, closes any pop-up window |
| Shift → | Hoist (focus) the list item |
| Shift ← | Un-focus |
| Spacebar | Completed |
| Shift-Spacebar | Invalidated |
| aa | Actions menu on the selected list item |
| nn | Note to the selected list item |
| dd | Set due date (go to the Due page when no list item is selected) |
| td tm as | Due today, tomorrow, or ASAP |
| dr | Repeating due settings |
| cd | Clear due date |
| tt | Tag a list item (go to the Tag map page when no list item is selected) |
| ct | Clear tag |
| at | Attach file |
| ae | Assign a user to the selected list item |
| im | Import list items |
| xx | Extract selected branch as a new list |
| mm | Move selected to another list |
| gg | Got to the first hyperlink in the list item's text |
| ff or / | Find and filter |
| cf | Clear filter |
| sd | Show/hide list item details |
| hc | Hide/show compeleted and invalidated list items |
| oo | Options menu |
| ec | Expand/collapse menu |
| hh | Homepage |
| ll | Lists pop-up |
| 1 2 3 | Red, blue, green text color |
| 4 5 6 | Red, blue, green background color |
| 0 | Default colors |
| Hold down Shift | To drag-n-drop list items |
| type 'reset' | To re-open all closed tasks in that list |
| type 'wipe' | To delete all closed tasks in that list |
Smart syntax is similar to keyboard shortcuts - it lets you save time and effort by providing simple code shortcuts for text markup.
| lnk: | embed a link into the list item (see blog post) |
| lst: | create a link to another list (see blog post) |
| [link: text|URL] | a link to any other web-page |
| [list: text|listID] | A link to another list; use lnk: to get a completion window to select target list |
| [jira: issue-ID|URL] [youtrack: issue-ID|URL] |
Issue tracker integration - use these link if you want to list an issue from the two supported issue tracking systems - Jira and YouTrack . |
| <a href="URL">text</a> | You can also use HTML mark-up for hyperlinks and more |
| URL | Writing text like http://google.com will automatically transform it into a hyperlink, too. |
| <b>text</b> | bold text |
| <i>text</i> | italic |
| <img src=""/> | inserts an image stored online at your location |
| <a href="URL">text</a> | HTML mark-up for hyperlinks |
| ---- | List separator. If a task consists only of 4 or more hyphen marks (without any text), it will automatically be transformed into a list separator. |
| img: | Upload an image and embed it directly into the text details and examples |
All Checkvist users use secure SSL channels to create accounts, sign in, and change profile settings. With the Pro account, HTTPS shields all other operations, i.e. viewing lists, editing, import, export and so on.
With the automatic 10-day backup in the "Cloud" and manual backup of all your lists in OPML format (.zipped) you can be sure your data is safe and is not locked in our service. See backup options on the Backup tab of your profile page. Here's also a blog post.
With a free account, you share your lists with people who'll be able to edit your lists. With a Pro account, you can share in the
read-only mode. People can read but not edit your lists.
The only case when some editing is allowed for a 'reader' is when you assign something to them. In this case even a 'reader' can
add a note or attachemnt, but to 'his' task only (see blog post).
The option is really handy when working with many contractors, students, etc.
Look into the Share dialog options to share the list in the 'read-only' mode, or change permissions of your current team.
Assign tasks to other people with the ae shortcut or @ prefix when editing a list item.
The assignees receive email notifications right after a task has been assigned to them, and each time that list item or its sub-items are changed. Search all lists by the assignee's name to see what's been assigned to that person.
Change tag color, make tags private (visible only to you), rename or merge current tags, bulk delete a tag (all its usages in all your lists).
All these actions are available in the Manage tags dialog window
Press the Repeat... button in the Due dialog window or type dr to set a repeating due pattern:
You can pause or delete a repeating task, import and export them, etc. More about repeating tasks »
Checkvist provides an iCalendar link which lets you integrate your calendar app with Checkvist due tasks. This links will work with any calendar application supporting iCalendar feed format: MS Outlook, Google Calendar and iCal among others.
Type dd on a selected list item to invoke the Due dialog window. Click the Calendar apps integration link to get a window for iCalendar link configuration. The time of the due events can be configured on the Notifications configuration page (it is the same time, when due notification e-mail is sent).
Please note that Google Calendar doesn't recognize TODO items.
Some instructions on integrating with a particular Calendar app can be found here.
Configure due date alerts and receive daily due dates email notifications. The notification will include only tasks which are overdue, due today, tomorrow or "asap". You can send yourself a sample notification from the profile page.
Watch a list and track all changes made by others. Click the "email" icon in the toolbar of a list or select the lists you want to watch on the Profile → Notifications. After that you'll receive an email listing all changes made in the "watched" checklists, so you always know what's happening. It doesn't matter whether you are the author, a writer or a reader of that checklist — you can use this feature even on public checklists.
Go to the notifications page to set such options as email dispatch time, select whether or not to receive notifications from the archieved lists, temporarily pause all notifications, etc.
Attach files and embed images with a couple of keystrokes: at on the selected task, or type img: when adding/editing a task to embed an image into the text. One user can upload up to 500MB of files. More details in a 1 min demo:
Though Checkvist's UI is rather minimalistic, you still might want to change the logo, text or navigation colors. You can do all that on the profile page.
Those who are sure of their web design skills, can use the Advanced option, and re-write any part of the application's CSS.
Plus, you get all features that we implement and add to the tool in the meantime.
Subscribe or start an extendable free 14 day trial on your profile page. We'll be glad to hear your comments and help with any problems or questions, just talk to us :)
03 June 2013 Smart paste and profile fixes
14 May 2013 List wide operations
29 April 2013 Repeating tasks and due notifications improvements