Item Types

Introduction

Colonnes supports six item types. They all live in the same hierarchy, but they do not all behave the same way.

  • Use Tasks for actionable work.
  • Use Folders to group children.
  • Use Headings to label a section.
  • Use Text for notes or context.
  • Use Separators to create a visual break.
  • Use Templates to store reusable task structures inside your document.

Create or Change an Item Type

You can create or change item types from several places in Colonnes.

  • Select one or more items, then click a type in the toolbar Types group to change the selected items when the change is allowed.
  • Right-click an item or selection and use the Type submenu in the context menu.
  • Open the Command Menu and run a Turn into … command for the current selection.

For type-related drag-and-drop actions, see Drag & Drop.

Some type changes are unavailable because they would break the document structure. For example, separators cannot contain children, and container types are not available as scheduled items in Calendar view.

Type: Tasks

Tasks are the default item type.

They are designed for actionable items and are the only type with a completion checkbox. When a task is completed, Colonnes tracks its finished state and uses it in progression calculations.

Use a task when the line represents something you may actually do, review, or mark as done later.

Tasks can also be scheduled in Calendar view, copied as Markdown checkboxes, and printed as actionable lines.

If you create children under a task, Colonnes converts that task into a folder first. In other words, tasks are primarily for execution, not for permanently acting as containers.

Type: Folder

Folders are structural containers.

Use a folder when you want one parent item to contain child items directly. A folder can hold tasks, headings, text items, separators, other folders, and templates.

In the interface, folders show either an icon or a progression indicator. This makes them useful for grouping projects, phases, or areas of responsibility while still showing overall completion at a glance.

Folders are not schedulable in Calendar view. They are meant to organize work rather than represent a dated action.

Type: Heading

Headings are section labels inside a list.

Headings display as bold text and do not show a checkbox.

If a heading later needs children, Colonnes can convert it into a folder so it can become a real container.

Type: Text

Text items are plain notes.

Like headings, text items do not show a checkbox. Unlike headings, they are not visually emphasized as section titles.

If you create children under a text item, Colonnes can convert it into a folder.

Type: Separator

Separators are visual dividers.

They can also be useful when printing tasks on a receipt printer, because you can configure the ticket cutter to cut at separator positions.

Type: Templates

Template items are reusable containers inside your document.

Visually, they behave much like folders: they can contain children and can display an icon or progression indicator. The difference is in how they are used.

When you apply a template, Colonnes duplicates the template’s children into your current target location instead of moving the template itself. This makes template items useful for repeatable structures such as meeting checklists, project kickoffs, or recurring routines.

Template items are not schedulable in Calendar view.

This is different from the built-in file templates described in Working with Documents. Those templates create a new document. Template items are reusable building blocks inside an existing document.

Work with Markdown

Colonnes supports Markdown copy and paste for task structures.

The current conversion is intentionally simple:

  • Tasks are exported as Markdown to-do items such as - [ ] Task or - [x] Done.
  • Headings are exported as Markdown headings such as # Section.
  • Separators are exported as ---.
  • Nested structure is preserved through indentation.

For imported Markdown, Colonnes recognizes headings, separators, and checkbox tasks. Hierarchy is rebuilt from indentation.

There is one important consequence: folder and template items do not have a dedicated Markdown syntax. When copied as Markdown, they are serialized like task lines, with their hierarchy preserved underneath. When pasted back, Colonnes may convert imported items to folders when they need to contain children.

Editor Triggers

Colonnes includes inline editor triggers that work while you type in Edit Mode.

By default:

  • Typing :: opens the inline command menu.
  • Typing # in an otherwise empty item turns it into a heading.
  • Typing --- in an otherwise empty item turns it into a separator.

These triggers are configurable in Application Settings > Editor Triggers. See Application Configuration.

The heading and separator triggers only apply when the whole item matches the trigger text. They are meant to transform an empty line into another item type, not to parse rich Markdown inside normal text.