Notification Button

The Notification Button provides at-a-glance awareness of pending and overdue tasks. Located in the toolbar, it displays a badge count and offers quick access to time-sensitive tasks that need your attention.

Overview

The Notification Button is a persistent global indicator that helps you stay on top of your task deadlines. It monitors all tasks across your vault and alerts you to:

• Overdue tasks: Tasks past their due date
• Upcoming tasks: Tasks due within the next week

Key Features:

• Global monitoring across all tasks (not workspace-specific)
• Real-time badge count updates
• Quick access dropdown menu
• Always visible in the toolbar

Location

The Notification Button is located at the far right of the toolbar in the Task Genius main view.

It appears as a bell icon () with a red badge in the top-right corner displaying the count of tasks requiring attention.

Badge Count

What the Badge Shows

The red badge displays the total number of incomplete tasks that are either:

1. Already overdue (past their due date)
2. Due within the next 7 days

Example Counts:

• Badge shows 5: You have 5 incomplete tasks that are overdue or due within a week
• Badge shows 0 or is hidden: No urgent or upcoming tasks
• Badge updates immediately when you complete or modify tasks

Real-Time Updates

The badge count is dynamic and updates automatically when:

• You complete a task (count decreases)
• You add a new task with an upcoming due date (count increases)
• A task becomes overdue as time passes (count increases)
• You change a task's due date (count may increase or decrease)

Dropdown Menu

Opening the Menu

Click the Notification Button () to open a dropdown menu showing all time-sensitive tasks.

Menu Structure

The dropdown is organized into two sections:

1. Overdue Tasks

Tasks that are past their due date and still incomplete.

• Sorted by how overdue they are (most overdue first)
• Displays task content, due date, and priority
• Visual indicator showing how many days overdue

Example:

Overdue Tasks (3)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
☐ Submit quarterly report
   Due: 3 days ago | Priority: High

☐ Review project proposal
   Due: 1 day ago | Priority: Medium

☐ Update documentation
   Due: Today | Priority: Low

2. Upcoming Tasks (Next 7 Days)

Tasks due within the next week (from today through 7 days from now).

• Sorted by due date (earliest first)
• Displays task content, due date, and priority
• Shows relative time (e.g., "Tomorrow", "In 3 days")

Example:

Upcoming (Next 7 Days) (4)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
☐ Team meeting preparation
   Due: Tomorrow | Priority: High

☐ Code review for PR #123
   Due: In 2 days | Priority: Medium

☐ Monthly planning session
   Due: In 5 days | Priority: Medium

☐ Backup project files
   Due: In 6 days | Priority: Low

Menu Interactions

Within the dropdown menu, you can:

• Click a task to jump to its location in your vault
• Check the checkbox to mark a task as complete (removes it from the list)
• Right-click a task to open the context menu for additional actions
• Scroll through the list if you have many time-sensitive tasks

Note: The menu closes automatically when you click outside of it or when you select a task.

Task Criteria

What Tasks Appear

The Notification Button monitors tasks based on the following criteria:

Included:

• Tasks with a Due Date set
• Tasks that are incomplete (not marked as done)
• Tasks where the due date is:
  • In the past (overdue), OR
  • Within the next 7 days (upcoming)

Excluded:

• Completed tasks (marked as done with x)
• Tasks without a due date
• Tasks due more than 7 days in the future
• Tasks with only Scheduled or Start dates (no Due date)

Time Window

The time window is fixed and cannot be customized:

• Overdue: From the beginning of time to yesterday
• Upcoming: From today to 7 days from now

Timeline Example (Today is Jan 15):

Jan 1  ─────────┬───────── Jan 14 ─┬─ Jan 15 ─┬───────── Jan 22 ─┬─────────> Future
                │                   │           │                  │
           [Overdue Tasks]    [Due Today]  [Upcoming Tasks]   [Not Shown]
                                                (Next 7 Days)

Global Scope

The Notification Button operates globally across your entire vault:

• Not workspace-specific: Monitors all tasks regardless of the current Workspace
• All views included: Checks tasks from Inbox, Today, Upcoming, Flagged, and custom views
• Vault-wide coverage: Scans all files in your vault that contain tasks

Implication: Even if you switch workspaces or change views, the notification count remains consistent, reflecting all time-sensitive tasks in your vault.

Use Cases

Morning Review

Start your day by clicking the Notification Button to:

1. See what's overdue and needs immediate attention
2. Review what's coming up in the next week
3. Prioritize tasks based on urgency

Quick Task Completion

Use the dropdown as a focused task list:

1. Complete overdue tasks directly from the menu
2. Clear your notification badge throughout the day
3. Maintain momentum by tackling time-sensitive items

Deadline Awareness

Keep the badge count in your peripheral vision:

• Red badge with high count → Prioritize clearing overdue tasks
• Badge count decreasing → Progress feedback
• Badge at zero → All caught up on time-sensitive work

Weekly Planning

At the start of the week:

1. Review the "Upcoming (Next 7 Days)" section
2. Identify tasks that need preparation or delegation
3. Adjust priorities or deadlines as needed

Best Practices

1. Set Due Dates Intentionally

The Notification Button only tracks tasks with due dates:

• Use Due Dates for time-sensitive tasks with hard deadlines
• Use Scheduled Dates for planning without urgency
• Leave dates empty for backlog items

2. Aim for Zero Overdue

Make it a habit to clear overdue tasks:

• Review the "Overdue" section daily
• Complete, reschedule, or delegate overdue items
• Maintain a badge count focused on upcoming work

3. Use the 7-Day Window for Planning

The one-week window is designed for tactical planning:

• Check upcoming tasks at the start of each week
• Distribute work evenly across the next 7 days
• Adjust task scheduling if the upcoming list is overwhelming

4. Combine with Other Views

The Notification Button complements other features:

• Use Calendar View (View Modes) for visual timeline planning
• Use Today View for daily focus
• Use Notification Button for urgent items across all contexts

5. Treat the Badge as a Signal

Let the badge count guide your workflow:

• 0-3: Manageable, stay on track
• 4-10: Moderate load, may need prioritization
• 10+: High load, consider rescheduling or delegating

Limitations

The Notification Button has the following limitations:

1. No Customization Options

• Cannot disable: The button is always visible in the toolbar
• Cannot change time window: Fixed at 7 days for upcoming tasks
• Cannot add filters: Shows all tasks meeting the criteria (cannot filter by priority, tag, etc.)

2. Due Date Dependency

• Only tracks tasks with Due Dates explicitly set
• Tasks with only Scheduled or Start dates are not included
• No fallback to other date fields

3. Global Scope Only

• Does not filter by current workspace
• Cannot scope to a specific project or tag
• Shows all qualifying tasks from the entire vault

4. No Notification System

• The button is a passive indicator, not an active notification system
• No alerts, sounds, or desktop notifications
• Requires manual checking by clicking the button

Workarounds for Limitations

While the Notification Button cannot be customized, you can achieve similar functionality through other features:

Custom Filtered Views

Create custom views (Custom Views) with specific filters:

• High Priority Overdue: Filter by priority and overdue status
• Work Tasks Due Soon: Filter by tag/project and due date range
• Personal Deadlines: Filter by context or specific tags

Combine with Workspace Strategy

Use Workspaces to mentally segment tasks:

• Check Notification Button for global awareness
• Switch to relevant workspace to focus on specific task sets
• Use workspace-specific views for detailed work

Leverage View Modes

Use View Modes for different perspectives:

• Calendar View to see the broader timeline (beyond 7 days)
• Kanban View to track task status and progress
• List View for comprehensive task details

Troubleshooting

Badge Count Seems Incorrect

Issue: The badge shows a different number than expected.

Solution:

• Verify task due dates (use List View to see all dates)
• Check if tasks are marked as complete
• Confirm tasks have Due Dates (not just Scheduled or Start dates)
• Refresh the Task Genius view (close and reopen)

Tasks Not Appearing in Dropdown

Issue: Expected tasks are missing from the dropdown menu.

Solution:

• Ensure tasks have a Due Date field
• Verify tasks are incomplete (not marked with x)
• Check if the due date falls within the criteria:
  • Overdue: Past due date
  • Upcoming: Within next 7 days
• Tasks due 8+ days in the future will not appear

Badge Not Updating After Task Completion

Issue: Completed a task but the badge count hasn't decreased.

Solution:

• Ensure the task was marked as complete (checkbox checked)
• Wait a moment for the UI to refresh
• Click the Notification Button to refresh the dropdown
• Restart Obsidian if the issue persists

Dropdown Menu Empty Despite Badge Count

Issue: Badge shows a count, but the dropdown is empty.

Solution:

• Check the console for errors (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + I)
• Verify Task Genius has properly indexed your vault
• Try reloading the plugin (Settings → Community Plugins → Reload)
• Check for file permission issues

Related Features

• Workspace: Understand how workspaces interact with global notifications
• View Modes: Use Calendar View for extended timeline visualization
• Task View: Explore view-specific task management
• Date & Priority: Learn about setting due dates and priorities
• Filtering: Create custom filters for specific task subsets