How to Choose an Online To-Do List Organizer

Recently I found the need for a free online task list that will allow me to keep track of my many projects, articles and deadlines. I want to be able to access it from work and from home, and it has to be reliable and safe.

I tried a couple different services and finally found one that suits my needs perfectly. Here's a basic comparison of four to-do list online services:

• Ta-da Lists offers the ability to create very simple Web-based lists of things to do, which can be shared with other people or kept private. Lists can also be subscribed to via RSS. There are some drawbacks though. For instance, Ta-Da doesn't work with Internet Exporer 5.x. It requires 6.0 or higher, Safari or Firefox. Also, the lists lack dynamics such as the ability to create due dates, attach notes or send reminders.
• WebToDo lets users maintain basic to-do lists that can be categorized into things that need to be done today, near-term goals, long-term goals and the like. It's simple functionality might be useful to some, but I needed something more robust.
• My Eventsoffers a lot of great features besides a task list, such as a calendar, contact manager, bookmark manager, and file storage and sharing capabilities. The calendar, task list and contacts can be accessed via wireless devices and can even be synchronized with Palm Desktop, Outlook and Lotus Organizer. The service costs $4 a month and in my opinion is well worth the money if you're the type who would use all the functionality they offer. It's definitely worth taking a look into.
• I ended up choosing Voo2Do, because it is free and it offers just the right amount of features for my personal needs. For those familiar with Microsoft's Project, it has some of the same basic functionality. Tasks can be prioritized and categorized. Users can attach notes, create deadlines and keep track of the time spent on each task. The best part is that the data can be backed up locally and restored if needed. It would be really cool if Voo2Do had some of the same sharing capabilities as Ta-Da List, and it would be near perfect if I could synchronize my tasks with my Palm, but I'm pretty pleased with the site overall.

There's an online task list service to suit just about anyone's organization needs. If you have a hectic schedule, you might appreciate an online to-do list you can keep up with at work, at home or from any computer that has Internet access. Which one is right for you?