Clearer reasons behind every score, and imports that add instead of replace
The word under a score now names what's really pushing a task up, dates included. Besides "Own impact," "Parent impact" and "Blocking," it can now say "Overdue," "Due today," "Due soon" or "Soft due" when a date is the main reason. The Tasks page now shows the same words as the Dashboard, and hovering a score tells the same story in plain words, main reason first.
Import now adds tasks instead of replacing everything. Importing a file, such as the starter lessons, adds its tasks to what you already have. Tasks you already have are left as they are, and your settings don't change. To go back to a backup, use Restore from a backup, which replaces everything after a warning. A notice afterwards tells you what was added.
Settings → Data is tidier. It's now four cards: Task Data, Backups, Import and Delete all data, with each card's explanation behind a small info button. "Export backup" is now Download a backup, and the file you keep your tasks in is set up under Local File, with Create new or Use existing.
Rename a copy as you duplicate it. The Duplicate popup now opens every time, with the same Title options as Edit tasks: replace text across every task in the copy (say, "Q4" to "Q1"), or add text to the start or end. It starts with "Copy of " filled in, so doing nothing works as before. The copy gets today's created date, and the list jumps to it.
Repeating tasks keep their day and time when the clocks change. A daily or weekly repeat could land a day early, or an hour off, after a daylight-saving change. It now stays on the right day and time.
Smaller fixes
Pressing Tab to reach the Notes field now opens it, so you can type straight away.
The starter lessons on projects, blockers and soft dues are in a new order, and the lesson on keeping your tasks safe uses the new Data card names. If you've already imported the lessons, you keep the old ones.
Fixed a bug where the Duplicate popup's "N days from today" date could land a day early across a daylight-saving change.
Impact, new lessons, and renaming many tasks at once
Priority is now called Impact, and the task form asks in a new order. The rating means how much a task matters to its parent, so the form now asks where a task fits first: Parent, Impact and Blocked by under "Where it fits," then the dates under "Timing," with Tags and Notes below. A small info button beside Impact explains it and names the parent you're rating against. Your ratings, scores and saved filters are unchanged, and the labels under each score now read "Own impact" and "Parent impact."
New lessons to learn TaskBeacon. The starter file on taskbeacon.net has a new set of lessons, shown one at a time, that end with building your own list: a brain dump, then clarifying it, shaping it and opening your Dashboard. Each of those last lessons links to the matching exercise in the guide. Importing the file replaces everything in the app, so import it before you add your own tasks. If you imported the earlier lessons, they stay as ordinary tasks.
The task you're working on stays in view. A card in the bottom-left corner of every page shows the task you've started and since when, and you can check it off, edit it or stop it right there. With several tasks started, arrows move between them. When nothing is started, the card shows your current lesson. Collapse it to a small pill if it's in the way.
Rename several tasks at once. Select some tasks and open Edit tasks (the pencil, or e). The new Title field can replace text in every selected title, or add text to the start or end. A preview shows what will change before you save, and Show all lists every task. Edit tasks also has a cleaner layout, and its Save button stays in view however long the form gets.
Your file is never overwritten behind your back. Before saving to a connected file, TaskBeacon now checks whether the file was changed somewhere else, for example on another computer through a synced folder. If it was, saving pauses and you choose whether to reload from the file or keep your version. Meanwhile your edits keep saving in the browser.
Smaller fixes
When you add the first task under another task, TaskBeacon asks "Complete [task] automatically when you finish its last task?" Choose Enable or Not now.
The edit popup's header now shows a task's parent and the level above it, the way the Dashboard does, so the parent is never cut off. If there are more levels above, hover to see the full path.
The tooltip on a started task now gives the day as well as the time if it was started before today, such as "yesterday, 4:40 PM."
Key hints now say Ctrl and Enter on Windows and Linux, and Cmd and Return on a Mac.
The Inbox no longer appears as a card on the Dashboard while it's empty.
When connecting a file fails because the browser is blocking file access, the message now says how to allow it.
Fixed a bug where "Repeat from" depended on the order you filled in the form. Until you choose, it now counts from the due date or start date if there is one, and from completion if there isn't.
Fixed a bug where pressing S started a blocked or completed task. It now does nothing, like the Start button.
Fixed a bug where reopening a completed task kept its old "in progress" mark. Reopening it now clears the mark, and Undo still restores everything.
Fixed a bug where pressing Down in the search box could jump to a result far down the list. It now goes to the first result.
Fixed a bug where, in search results, the Right arrow didn't show a parent's other tasks. Right now shows them and Left hides them.
Fixed a bug where a task shown in search results only because one of its tasks matched couldn't be selected with a click, and pressing x selected it without showing a tick. It now selects like any other row.
Fixed a bug where Cmd+Return (Ctrl+Enter on Windows) didn't save after you cleared the Parent or removed a blocker with the keyboard. It saves now.
Fixed a bug where the Dashboard kept the browser busy in the background even though nothing changed on screen. It now does that work only when its cards change.
Fixed an issue where the hint after pressing g could overlap a tall notice at the bottom of the page. It now sits above it.
Fixed an issue where Edit tasks said "1 tasks" and similar with one task selected. It now reads correctly for one task or many.
Long task names you can actually read, and fewer interruptions
Deep tasks no longer crowd the row. On the Tasks page and the Dashboard, a task now shows just its parent and the level above it, with "…" if there's more, so long paths can't push the dates and scores off the line. Hover to see the full name and path, or select the row and press i to expand it.
Long task names wrap instead of being cut off. On Dashboard cards and in the notification panel, a long name runs onto a second line before it's shortened.
One notification instead of several. When more than one task needs your attention, you get a single notification that sums them up. A new one replaces any you haven't clicked yet.
A task can no longer repeat inside another repeating task. That combination could leave a stray duplicate behind, so the Repeats option is now unavailable when a task above or below already repeats, with a note saying which one.
You can now support TaskBeacon. A new card in Settings lets you pay any amount you choose. It's entirely optional and doesn't unlock anything. After three weeks of use, a small note on the Tasks page mentions it at the start of each session until you close it or follow the link, then never again.
Smaller fixes
In bulk edit, Cmd+Enter (Ctrl+Enter on Windows) saves your changes.
In bulk edit, adding a blocker now warns you before saving if it will take tasks off the Dashboard, and tells you afterward if any blocker was skipped because a task would have ended up waiting on itself.
In the Tags field, the arrow keys move through suggestions, Tab goes straight to typing, and Backspace removes the last tag.
Overdue times in notifications and filter summaries now read in days, weeks or months, not just hours.
The filter option "Is child of" is now called "Is direct child of," and sits next to the option it's easy to confuse with.
Fixed an issue where tags on a crowded row disappeared. They now collapse into a label like "2 tags."
Fixed an issue where, on narrow windows, a row's edit buttons pushed it wider than the screen on hover. They now appear over the row.
Fixed a bug where deleting a saved filter that was in use left a broken selection. That view now resets to no filter.
Fixed a bug where completing a parent task created a new copy of any repeating task under it.
Fixed a bug where a task due on a date with no time showed "12:00 AM" in the notification panel. It now shows the date.
Fixed an issue where completed tasks sometimes appeared in search results even with "Include completed" turned off.
Filters tell you when something they use is gone. If a filter refers to a tag or task you've since deleted, it shows "Unknown tag" or "Unknown task" with a warning, and you can remove it. Saved filters with this problem are marked in the list.
Backups are clearer. Your Dashboard's Show 5 or 10 choice is now saved with your backups and your connected file, and the Export, Import and Delete all data screens say exactly what they include and what stays in your browser.
Smaller fixes
If your connected file was saved by a newer version of TaskBeacon, Settings now tells you so, and suggests reloading to get the latest version.
Fixed a bug where a repeating task completed before its due time came back with the same due date. It now moves to its next occurrence.