Info Catalog org: Closing items org: Progress logging org: Tracking your habits

org: Tracking TODO state changes

 
 5.3.2 Tracking TODO state changes
 ---------------------------------
 
 When TODO keywords are used as workflow states (Workflow
 states), you might want to keep track of when a state change occurred
 and maybe take a note about this change.  You can either record just a
 timestamp, or a time-stamped note for a change.  These records will be
 inserted after the headline as an itemized list, newest first(1).  When
 taking a lot of notes, you might want to get the notes out of the way
 into a drawer (Drawers).  Customize ‘org-log-into-drawer’ to get
 this behavior—the recommended drawer for this is called ‘LOGBOOK’(2).
 You can also overrule the setting of this variable for a subtree by
 setting a ‘LOG_INTO_DRAWER’ property.
 
    Since it is normally too much to record a note for every state, Org
 mode expects configuration on a per-keyword basis for this.  This is
 achieved by adding special markers ‘!’ (for a timestamp) or ‘@’ (for a
 note with timestamp) in parentheses after each keyword.  For example,
 with the setting
 
      (setq org-todo-keywords
        '((sequence "TODO(t)" "WAIT(w@/!)" "|" "DONE(d!)" "CANCELED(c@)")))
 
    To record a timestamp without a note for TODO keywords configured
 with ‘@’, just type ‘C-c C-c’ to enter a blank note when prompted.
 
 You not only define global TODO keywords and fast access keys, but also
 request that a time is recorded when the entry is set to DONE(3), and
 that a note is recorded when switching to WAIT or CANCELED.  The setting
 for WAIT is even more special: the ‘!’ after the slash means that in
 addition to the note taken when entering the state, a timestamp should
 be recorded when leaving the WAIT state, if and only if the target state
 does not configure logging for entering it.  So it has no effect when
 switching from WAIT to DONE, because DONE is configured to record a
 timestamp only.  But when switching from WAIT back to TODO, the ‘/!’ in
 the WAIT setting now triggers a timestamp even though TODO has no
 logging configured.
 
    You can use the exact same syntax for setting logging preferences
 local to a buffer:
      #+TODO: TODO(t) WAIT(w@/!) | DONE(d!) CANCELED(c@)
 
    In order to define logging settings that are local to a subtree or a
 single item, define a LOGGING property in this entry.  Any non-empty
 LOGGING property resets all logging settings to ‘nil’.  You may then
 turn on logging for this specific tree using STARTUP keywords like
 ‘lognotedone’ or ‘logrepeat’, as well as adding state specific settings
 like ‘TODO(!)’.  For example
 
      * TODO Log each state with only a time
        :PROPERTIES:
        :LOGGING: TODO(!) WAIT(!) DONE(!) CANCELED(!)
        :END:
      * TODO Only log when switching to WAIT, and when repeating
        :PROPERTIES:
        :LOGGING: WAIT(@) logrepeat
        :END:
      * TODO No logging at all
        :PROPERTIES:
        :LOGGING: nil
        :END:
 
    ---------- Footnotes ----------
 
    (1) See the option ‘org-log-states-order-reversed’
 
    (2) Note that the ‘LOGBOOK’ drawer is unfolded when pressing <SPC> in
 the agenda to show an entry—use <C-u SPC> to keep it folded here
 
    (3) It is possible that Org mode will record two timestamps when you
 are using both ‘org-log-done’ and state change logging.  However, it
 will never prompt for two notes—if you have configured both, the state
 change recording note will take precedence and cancel the ‘Closing
 Note’.
 

Info Catalog org: Closing items org: Progress logging org: Tracking your habits