Write on the pad
How the Diurnal pad turns what you write into tasks, and how to add notes, format text, change status, move, delete and undo.
The pad is where you write. Every paragraph you write becomes a task, so there's no form to fill in and no button to press.
Write a task
- The first line of a paragraph is the task.
- Lines under it are its notes.
- A blank line ends the task and starts the next one, so press ⏎ twice between tasks.
Press ⇧⏎ for a line break inside a task. To split a task in two, put the cursor at the start of one of its later lines and press ⏎.
Only the first line is read for dates, times, tags and projects; notes are left exactly as you typed them. See What you can type.
Format your notes
Select text to show the format bar, or use the keys:
- ⌘B bold, ⌘I italic, ⌘U underline, ⌘K link, ⌘E code.
- Start a notes line with
-or*for a bullet,1.for a numbered list, or[]for a checklist. Press ⇥ to indent a list item.
The first line of a task takes bold, italic and underline only.
Status
A task is Open, In Progress or Completed. Click the ring beside a task to move it along, or press ⌘⏎. The right-click menu's Mark as jumps straight to a status.
When you complete a task, you have a moment and a half to click again and take it back. Then it moves to Done.
Coming up and Done
- Coming up lists what's dated after today, soonest first, then week tasks, then All Time. Click a row to edit it in place, or drag it to another day.
- Done lists what you finished, grouped by the day you finished it. It shows the last 14 days; scroll down for older ones. Click a task's check to reopen it.
Writing a later date on a task moves it from the pad to Coming up, with a note saying where it went.
Move a task
Press ⌘M, or right-click and choose Move to, then pick a place or press its letter:
| Key | Place |
|---|---|
| s | Scratchpad: no date, on the pad |
| t | Tomorrow |
| w | This week: in the week, on no particular day |
| n | Next week |
| m | Next month: the 1st of next month |
| a | All Time: no date, kept for someday |
| d | Pick a date… |
To move a completed task, reopen it first. Drag the handle beside a task, or press ⌥↑ and ⌥↓, to change its order.
Delete and undo
- Press ⌘⌫, or right-click and choose Delete. Clearing a task's whole title deletes it too.
- Press ⌘Z within 3 seconds, or click Undo on the message, to bring back a deleted or moved task.
History
Right-click a task and choose History… to see what happened to it: when it was created, renamed, moved, tagged and completed, and whether you, Diurnal or an AI assistant did it.
Filter
Click Filter to show only tasks with a status or tag. Filtering hides tasks but never removes them; click Clear filter to see everything again.