Display mode
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Display mode shows one view full screen, in large type, with a clock and nothing else: no sidebar, menus, quick add or task panel. It is made for a tablet on the fridge or an e-ink panel by the door, readable from across the room.
Open a display#
Choose Display mode in the header of Today or Upcoming, in a project's menu, or in a saved view's menu. Each opens its own address, which you can bookmark:
/display/today(or just/display): the clock and date, overdue and today's tasks, what was done today ticked below them, and the next three days as columns./display/upcoming: the next seven days as columns./display/project/<id>: the project's open tasks by section./display/view/<id>: a saved view with its own grouping and sort.
Exit, in the bottom corner, or Esc returns to the same view in the app. The menu next to it makes this display the start view on this device, so a tablet opens straight into it after a restart.
Make it readable#
Options go in the address, so a bookmark keeps them:
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
size=m, size=l, size=xl |
text of about 20, 24 (the default) or 32 px |
contrast=high |
black on white (white on black in dark mode), no soft tints |
motion=none |
nothing animates or fades |
days=1 … days=7 |
how many day columns |
eink=1 |
high contrast, no motion and a clock without seconds, for e-ink |
For example, /display/today?eink=1&size=xl. The options apply only to the display; your theme and preferences stay as they are.
Live and offline#
The display reads the copy of your tasks on the device, so a task added or completed on a phone appears within seconds, and the list stays on screen when the network drops. A line at the bottom says when the device last synced.
A task can be completed or reopened with its checkbox or, on a keyboard, with Space or Enter on the focused row (arrows or j and k move). Only tasks you may edit have a checkbox: on a project you only view, nothing can be changed. The keys are in Keyboard shortcuts.
Set up a shared screen#
- Use a viewer account. A display is signed in like any device. For a screen others walk past, create an account for it ("Fridge") and share the household project with it as a viewer: the server refuses every change from that account. A display signed in as you can tick your tasks, and the rest of the app is one address away.
- Lock the device. The display hides the menus but is not a lock: turn on the tablet's kiosk, screen pinning or guided-access mode, and keep the screen awake in its settings (the display also asks the browser to).
- Sign in again now and then. Sessions last 90 days by default; whoever runs the server can change that with
OPENTODO_SESSION_DAYS. - Browsers. Android tablets and e-ink tablets with Chrome or another Chromium browser work; the Kindle browser does not.
To show a list with no account on the device at all, use a public link on a display.