Docutils TODO lists (original) (raw)

TODO lists allow you to create a list of items with checkboxes. In extended Markdown, they are called task lists.

Checkbox variants

[x] ASCII-art checkbox.

[ ] ASCII space character and NBSP are smaller than the x.

[ ] The "figure space" has the correct width but is not easy to type.

You may define substitutions for ballot box and checked ballot box or other suitable Unicode characters:

☐ U+2610 BALLOT BOX

☑ U+2611 BALLOT BOX WITH CHECK

🗹 U+1F5F9 BALLOT BOX WITH BOLD CHECK

☑ Simple paragraphs are easy for small lists with short values

☐ but not well suited for complex TODO items.

☑ Line blocks are rendered as "unstyled" lists.

🗹 They don't need additional styling.

☐ However, you cannot nest block elements.

☑

A description list works out of the box in HTML5 and XeTeX.

☐

It looks suboptimal in the rST source (definition list with class value "description").

[x]

Lists may use ASCII-art or substitutions.

[ ]

All list markup variants require special styling based on a preceding class directive.

☑ bullet lists (similar to the Markdown for task lists) can be styled accordingly.
☐ They don't look good in the rST source.
[x] Lists may use ASCII-art or substitutions.
[ ] The "figure space" has the correct width.
☑ Another idea: use bullet lists with + and - markers.
- Clean and simple markup in the source.
- A new marker character starts a new list :-(
- Requires change to the writer: Pass the "bullet" attribute to the output document (use HTML5 "data-" attriibutes?).

☑:

Compile this example with rst2html5,

🗹:

compare markup variants,

☐:

select the best.

[x]:

ASCII-art checkbox.

[ ]:

The "figure space" has the correct width.

[ ]:

CSS styling can switch to monospace fonts for the ASCII-art boxes, so an ASCII space character can be used.

ASCII-art checkbox - brackets added by CSS.

Simple rST source, easy typing.

checkbox border added by CSS.

Simple rST source, easy typing.

I recommend a field list with class argument and some CSS styling.