academic_project_tracker

📖 User Guide

Complete guide to using Research Project Tracker effectively.

Table of Contents

  1. Getting Started
  2. Core Concepts
  3. Projects Management
  4. Task Management
  5. Deadlines & Goals
  6. Whiteboard
  7. Tags & Filtering
  8. Best Practices
  9. Tips & Tricks

Getting Started

First Launch

After installing and starting the app (npm run dev), you’ll see an empty dashboard. You have two options:

Option 1: Start Fresh

Option 2: Use Student Template

npm run setup:student

This creates sample projects, tasks, tags, and goals to help you get started.

Quick Tour

The app has four main views accessible from the navigation bar:

  1. Projects (📊) - High-level project overview
  2. Deadlines (📅) - Track all deadlines and conferences
  3. Kanban (✅) - Day-to-day task management
  4. Whiteboard (🎨) - Brainstorming and notes

Core Concepts

Projects vs Tasks

Projects are large research initiatives:

Tasks are specific, actionable items within projects:

Relationship: One project contains many tasks. Think of projects as folders and tasks as files.

The Four Views

Each view serves a different purpose in your research workflow:

View Purpose When to Use
Projects High-level planning Weekly review, project planning
Deadlines Time-sensitive items Daily check, planning ahead
Kanban Daily task execution Every work session
Whiteboard Capturing ideas Meetings, brainstorming, notes

Projects Management

Creating a Project

  1. Click Projects in the navigation
  2. Click ”+ New Project”
  3. Fill in:
    • Name: Brief, descriptive title
    • Description: Goals, scope, background
    • Status: Planning, Active, On Hold, or Completed
    • Priority: Critical, High, Medium, or Low
    • Start/End Dates: Optional timeline

Example Project:

Name: NeurIPS 2026 Paper
Description: Submit paper on reinforcement learning approach to protein folding
Status: Active
Priority: High
Start: January 1, 2026
End: May 15, 2026 (deadline)

Project Statuses

Viewing Project Details

Click any project card to see:

Editing Projects

  1. Click the project card
  2. Click Edit icon (✏️)
  3. Update any fields
  4. Click Save

Archiving Projects

Keep your workspace clean by archiving completed projects:

  1. Click project card
  2. Click Archive (📦)
  3. Archived projects are hidden but accessible via “Show Archived”

Tip: Archive rather than delete to preserve your work history.

Task Management

Creating Tasks

Method 1: From Kanban Board

  1. Go to Kanban view
  2. Click ”+ Add Task” in any column
  3. Fill in details

Method 2: From Project View

  1. Open a project
  2. Click ”+ Add Task”
  3. Task is automatically linked to the project

Task Properties

Essential Fields:

Optional Fields:

Example Task:

Title: Write literature review section
Description: Review 20 papers on RL methods, synthesize findings
Status: In Progress
Priority: High
Due: January 20, 2026
Tags: #writing, #literature-review
Checklist:
  ☐ Read papers 1-10
  ☐ Read papers 11-20
  ☐ Create synthesis document
  ☐ Write draft (2000 words)
  ☐ Revise based on advisor feedback
Links:
  - Google Doc: [Literature Notes](https://docs.google.com/...)
  - Papers folder: [Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/...)

Using the Kanban Board

Columns (left to right):

  1. To Do - Tasks not yet started
  2. In Progress - What you’re working on now
  3. Review - Awaiting feedback or review
  4. Done - Completed tasks

Moving Tasks:

Best Practice: Limit “In Progress” to 2-3 tasks to maintain focus.

Task Checklists

Break complex tasks into manageable steps:

Adding a Checklist:

  1. Open task details
  2. Click ”+ Add Checklist Item”
  3. Enter step description
  4. Repeat for all steps

Using Checklists:

Example Checklist for “Write Chapter 3”:

☐ Outline chapter structure
☐ Write section 3.1 (1000 words)
☐ Write section 3.2 (1500 words)
☐ Write section 3.3 (1200 words)
☐ Create figures and tables
☐ Write conclusion
☐ Self-edit for clarity
☐ Send to advisor for feedback
☐ Incorporate feedback
☐ Final proofread

Attach relevant resources directly to tasks:

Supported Link Types:

Adding Links:

  1. Open task details
  2. Paste URL in description or notes
  3. App automatically detects and creates link badge

Deadlines & Goals

Managing Deadlines

Types of Deadlines:

  1. Task Deadlines - Individual task due dates
  2. Project Deadlines - Overall project completion dates
  3. Conference Deadlines - Paper submission deadlines
  4. Custom Milestones - Any important date

Viewing Deadlines:

Conference Deadline Tracker

Track academic conference submissions:

Adding a Conference:

  1. Go to Deadlines view
  2. Click ”+ Add Conference”
  3. Enter:
    • Conference name
    • Submission deadline
    • Notification date
    • Website URL

Pre-loaded Conferences: The app includes major conferences in CS, engineering, and sciences. Customize the list for your field (see CUSTOMIZATION.md).

Standalone Tracker: For a full-screen conference tracker, open /deadlines/index.html in your browser.

Setting Goals

Goal Types:

Creating a Goal:

  1. Navigate to Goals section (in Projects or Dashboard)
  2. Click ”+ New Goal”
  3. Enter:
    • Goal description
    • Timeframe
    • Success criteria (optional)
    • Related projects (optional)

Example Goals:

Monthly Goal:

Complete literature review for Chapter 2
- Read 20 papers
- Write synthesis document (3000 words)
- Meet with advisor for feedback

Semester Goal:

Submit two conference papers
- Paper 1: NeurIPS (due May 15)
- Paper 2: ICML (due February 1)
- Both with complete experimental results

Tracking Progress:

Whiteboard

The whiteboard is your digital notebook for unstructured thinking.

Use Cases

1. Brainstorming Capture research ideas as they come:

💡 Research Ideas
- What if we combined technique X with Y?
- Could this work for climate modeling?
- Potential collaboration with Dr. Smith's lab

2. Meeting Notes Document advisor meetings, lab meetings, or collaborations:

Meeting with Dr. Jones - Jan 7, 2026
---
Discussed:
- Chapter 3 outline looks good
- Need more experiments for Table 2
- Revise introduction section

Action Items:
- Run 5 more experimental trials
- Rewrite intro paragraphs 1-3
- Schedule follow-up in 2 weeks

Next Meeting: Jan 21, 2026

3. Parking Lot Store ideas that aren’t ready to become tasks yet:

Future Projects
- Extend method to multi-agent scenarios
- Apply to robotics domain
- Collaboration with industry partner?

Technical Debt
- Refactor analysis pipeline
- Update documentation
- Optimize slow queries

Creating Whiteboard Notes

  1. Go to Whiteboard view
  2. Click ”+ New Note”
  3. Type freely - use markdown formatting
  4. Organize with headers, lists, and formatting

Converting Ideas to Tasks

When an idea is ready to become actionable:

  1. Select the note or text
  2. Click “Convert to Task”
  3. Choose destination project
  4. Edit task details
  5. The note remains, and a new task is created

Organizing the Whiteboard

Multiple Boards: Create separate boards for different purposes:

Tags and Colors: Color-code notes by category:

Search: Use the search bar to find notes by keyword.

Tags & Filtering

Using Tags

Tags help categorize and filter tasks.

Common Tag Strategies:

By Task Type:

By Status:

By Context:

Creating Tags

  1. Go to Kanban board
  2. Click “Manage Tags” in filter menu
  3. Click ”+ Add Tag”
  4. Choose name and color
  5. Save

Tag Naming Tips:

Filtering Tasks

Filter Options:

Using Filters:

  1. Click Filter icon in Kanban view
  2. Select criteria
  3. View filtered results
  4. Clear filters to see all tasks

Saved Filters (coming in v1.1): Save commonly used filter combinations:

Best Practices

Daily Workflow

Morning (5 minutes):

  1. Check Deadlines view for today’s due dates
  2. Review Kanban “In Progress” column
  3. Move 2-3 tasks from “To Do” to “In Progress”
  4. Quick brain dump in Whiteboard

During the Day:

  1. Work through “In Progress” tasks
  2. Check off checklist items as you complete them
  3. Move completed tasks to “Done”
  4. Add new tasks as they come up

Evening (5 minutes):

  1. Move completed tasks to “Done” column
  2. Update task progress and notes
  3. Plan tomorrow’s priorities
  4. Quick review of upcoming deadlines

Weekly Workflow

Weekly Review (30 minutes):

  1. Projects View: Review all active projects
    • Are they on track?
    • Any blockers?
    • Adjust priorities
  2. Deadlines View: Check next 2 weeks
    • Any deadlines approaching?
    • Need to adjust timeline?
  3. Kanban Board: Clean up
    • Archive completed tasks
    • Break down any large tasks
    • Update task priorities
  4. Whiteboard: Process ideas
    • Convert ready ideas to tasks
    • Archive old meeting notes
    • Capture next week’s goals
  5. Goals: Update progress
    • How are monthly/semester goals tracking?
    • Adjust if needed

Monthly Workflow

Monthly Planning (1 hour):

  1. Review last month’s accomplishments
  2. Archive completed projects
  3. Set new monthly goals
  4. Plan conference submissions
  5. Update project timelines

Task Writing Best Practices

Good Task Names (specific, actionable):

Poor Task Names (vague, not actionable):

Task Size:

Break Down Large Tasks:

❌ Bad: "Complete dissertation"

✅ Good:
- Outline Chapter 1
- Write Chapter 1 Section 1.1 (1000 words)
- Write Chapter 1 Section 1.2 (1500 words)
- Create figures for Chapter 1
- Edit and revise Chapter 1

Tips & Tricks

Productivity Tips

1. The Two-Minute Rule If a task takes less than 2 minutes, just do it. Don’t add it to your tracker.

2. Time Blocking Link tasks to time blocks in your calendar:

3. Eat the Frog Do your hardest task first thing in the morning.

4. Batch Similar Tasks Group similar tasks together:

5. Weekly Themes Dedicate each day to a specific type of work:

Keyboard Shortcuts

Integration Tips

Link Tasks to External Tools:

Use Descriptive Links:

❌ Bad: https://docs.google.com/document/d/abc123...

✅ Good: [Chapter 3 Draft](https://docs.google.com/document/d/abc123...)

Advisor Management

Share Progress:

Prepare for Meetings:

  1. Review all “Review” column tasks
  2. Check Whiteboard for questions
  3. Update project progress
  4. Create meeting notes in Whiteboard

Follow-up:

Collaboration (Single-User)

While multi-user isn’t supported yet, you can collaborate by:

Sharing Views:

Coordination:

Troubleshooting

For technical issues, see TROUBLESHOOTING.md.

For questions, check FAQ.md.

Next Steps

Happy tracking! 🚀 Now go make progress on your research!

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