Lion mail To Do?

You can restore this functionality pretty easily by using Automator to create a service for turning any highlighted text (whether in Mail.app or in most other applications) into a new Reminder in iCal. Because it's a Service, you should be able to assign a keystroke to it, making it even more efficient.

I have almost no experience with Automator, and I was able to do it in a few minutes. I posted how I did it on StackExchange. Here's the link: http://is.gd/9K3ggn

Again, using Automator, AppleScript, drag-and-drop, or simply copy-and-paste to create to-do items in iCal is not restoring the functionality. There is no back link, it's not in the menus, there's no special graphical treatment, there's no "done" checkbox in the original message ... it's not integrated support. Those techniques, while very useful and helpful, are available in all applications for using snippets of data from one application in another: they're not the same thing as an integrated feature supporting linked data in two specific applications.

It's a Reminder Gate, ToDo Gate, or Mail Gate?

I just got around to looking for To-Do's in Lion Mail thinking that Apple would have a slick, new set-up for them. Fortunately for me, when I finally tried ctrl-clicking my mail item, it gave me the option to send the item to my OmniFocus InBox! There is apparently still room for developers in this OS X world when Apple drops the ball on something like this.

I had the same issue. Thanks to Chuck Kalish, I was able to use Automator to run an Applescript as a service. I can now create a reminder in iCal from Lion Mail using an control click option. The iCal reminder has a url that open's up the message from where it was created. And it has the body of the message in the reminder notes.

More about how to do this here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3435695?answerId=16569500022#16569500022

I'm in the same boat... thought the ToDo list would only get better with Lion and iOS5 only to discover it gone from Mail which is where I use it most!

I'm ok with having my list stored outside of Mail (I guess I have to be), but stopping to open iCal to create a reminder not linked to the email I'm reading at all is impossible.

I tried the Automator thing by Chuck above... I got it working in the end, but it means some editing in iCal to get the reminder like I want (often the email subject line has nothing to do with what I need to remember).

So I tried MailHub that someone suggested and so far it's working pretty good. You can create a reminder from an email (not specific text in the email unfortunately, but at least there's a link back to the message from the reminder). And a pop-up box opens before the reminder is created so you can edit the subject, when you'd like to be reminded, priority, etc.

MailHub has a first month trial... I have 25 days left...

I don't believe Apple has no technical compentency to keep To-Do in Mail. I don't believe Apple has no business sense. I do believe Apple is disregarding its customers' need of continuity. We know Business Continuity has been very important to "businesses", and there is nothing called "Consumer Continuity". In this context, Apple would like its products stay with "consumers" and not interested in "business customers".

I too, would like to voice my intense displeasure with the loss of ToDo functionality in Mail. I thought for sure that the advent of Reminders was going to increase my productivity by negating the need for a third party solution (in my case OmniFocus, which is a fantastic app, but I want my mail and todos in the same UI). I agree with other comments above, this is all about a dumbing-down in an effort to expand the user base and subsequent revenues. Absolutely shameful. I use Mail & iCal for business AND personal use, or at least I used to. Multiple accounts that I could easy navigate between. I would switch to Outlook 2011 in a second if it weren't for the fact that they don't support other accounts in calendar other than Exchange. It's really too bad because Apple got so many other things right. Oh, and by the way, Reminders is so minimalistic as to be almost useless. APPLE, PLEASE CONSIDER POWER & BUSINESS USERS!!!!!!!!!

Whoa!!!! I've just discovered this too. I had a ton of tasks in iCal all integrated beautifully with Bento with Portal links between the contacts and the tasks and independent Bento collections. Now they are all gone and I can only see the Reminders on my iPhone and iPad and the Bento integratioin is dead!!!

Is that what Apple calls upgrade???????

To whom it may concern:

If you're upset for losing the ToDo/Reminder features from Mail, please feed back to Apple. http://www.apple.com/feedback/mail_thankyou.html

Any better idea to draw Apple's attention?

Check out MailTags at http://indev.ca/MailTags.html. It's pretty awesome for creating to-do's (or appointments/events) in iCal from emails in Apple Mail.

I don't want to manage one more app, first of all. I need a tidy and seamless integration of my workflow without involving endless additional steps and uncertainty. The distortion to me, thanks to OS X Lion's email, can be seen by the stacking up over 1,000 unseen emails.

The old saying "Do the Right Thing at the Right Time". That's what the solid functionality of giving a reminder for those emails I received. Now, I need to "find" out what I need to do all by myself. This is "de-automation".

Just upgraded to Lion after a visit to an Apple Genius to make sure that I wouldn't loose functionality.

Well, I too really miss having reminders in Mail. Plus, odd, old reminders from my iPhone now appear in iCal.

However, this isn't my biggest disappointment with my Lion upgrade. Looks like I have lost the ability to use my iMac for Internet Sharing to support the family iPad via WiFi.

Hi Dennis,

Internet sharing still very much a part of Lion. Go to System Preferences, Sharing, check off Internet Sharing on the left, & you can "share your connection from" ethernet (looks like your iMac is wired) "to computers using" wifit on the right. Look for "Computer Name" on your iPad or iPhone with wifi enabled. Working well for me. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply, but I still can't receive a WiFi signal on our iPad from my Mac. The iPad doesn't detect any wifi coming from the Mac.

My setup in preferences matches your screen shot (although the "computer name" field is blank on mine).

The wifi icon at the top of my Mac looks like a stripped fan, instead of having the arrow when the Mac is broadcasting a wifi signal. Thus, my Mac is looking for wifi signals instead of broadcasting one.

Anyone have suggestions?

Thanks!