TaftTasks

Get set up in under 5 minutes

Part 1 — Create Your Account
1

Sign up at TaftTasks

  1. Go to tafttasks.com
  2. Click Sign Up
  3. Enter your Taft email and choose a password
  4. Check your email for a confirmation link and click it
Important: Use your @taftschool.org email. You won't get the confirmation email if you use a personal address.
Part 2 — Install the Extension
2

Download the extension

  1. Go to the TaftTasks download page
  2. Click the big Download Extension button
  3. A file called TaftDashboardImporter.zip will download to your computer
3

Unzip the file

  1. Find the .zip file in your Downloads folder
  2. Double-click it to unzip — a new folder will appear next to it
Don't skip this: Chrome needs the unzipped folder, not the .zip file itself.
4

Add it to Chrome

  1. Open Chrome and type chrome://extensions in the address bar, then press Enter
  2. Turn on Developer mode — it's a toggle switch in the top-right corner of the page
  3. Click the Load unpacked button that appears in the top-left
  4. Navigate to the folder you just unzipped, select it, and click Open
You should see "TaftTasks" appear in your extensions list with no errors.
5

Pin it to your toolbar

  1. Click the puzzle piece icon in Chrome's toolbar (top-right, next to the address bar)
  2. Find TaftTasks in the list
  3. Click the pin icon next to it so it stays visible
The TaftTasks icon (a red checklist) should now be visible in your toolbar at all times.
Part 3 — Import Your Courses
6

Sign in to the extension

  1. Click the TaftTasks icon in your toolbar
  2. Enter the same email and password from Step 1
  3. Click Sign In
One-time only: The extension remembers you after this. You won't need to sign in again.
7

Find your Canvas courses

  1. Make sure you're logged in to Canvas at taftschool.instructure.com
  2. Click the TaftTasks icon and press Find Courses
  3. Wait while it scans your Canvas courses (this takes 10–20 seconds)
  4. A list of your courses will appear — check the ones you want to import
Keep the popup open! The extension needs the popup window to stay open while it works. Don't click anywhere else until it's done.
8

Scrape and import

  1. With your courses checked, click Scrape Selected
  2. The extension will open Canvas pages in the background to read your assignments — this can take 30–60 seconds
  3. When it's done, you'll see a message like "Imported 47 new assignments"
Your assignments are now in TaftTasks. Go to tafttasks.com and refresh the page to see them.
You're all set

Open your dashboard

All your assignments, due dates, and progress in one place. Check off items as you finish them.

Open TaftTasks
Keeping It Updated

Refresh when teachers add new assignments

Click the TaftTasks icon and press Refresh All Courses. The extension will re-scan Canvas and add any new assignments. Existing assignments won't be duplicated.

How often? Once or twice a week is plenty. The extension will show a badge on its icon when it's been more than 24 hours since your last refresh.

It says "Everything is up to date" but I know there are new assignments

Click Clear Cache below the Refresh button, then try refreshing again. This forces the extension to re-read everything from scratch.

The extension isn't detecting a course's assignments

Some courses use non-standard layouts (Google Docs, external links, etc.). The extension does its best to find these, but if something is missing, you can always add assignments manually on the dashboard.

Does this work on Safari / Firefox?

The extension only works in Chromium browsers (Chrome, Edge, Arc, Brave). But the dashboard itself works in any browser — you can import with Chrome once and then use Safari to check your assignments.

Is my data private?

Yes. Your assignments are stored in your personal account only. No one else can see your data. See the privacy policy for details.

Something's not working

Email lascott@taftschool.org and I'll help you out.