checklist template status feature

[elektroglide]

(i'll be sending this in as a feature request as well as posting here)

in the latest omniblog post, there is the suggestion to have a templates folder with action lists for recurring projects.

i have recently begun to use such checklist templates, copying and pasting each time i want to execute a checklist, say for weekly/monthly/quarterly bookkeeping, or an

in the blog, curt clifton suggests setting the status of the templates folder to dropped so that it is not visible in normal daily usage of omnifocus.

how useful would it be for you to have a separately assignable status for a project as a template, such that checklist/process template lists could not be deleted or overwritten in the same way as other OF projects?

i would like to have a distinct section or status for templates/checklists which could be called up separately for copying to the main project list or to an existing folder or project in the project list. especially i would like to avoid accidentally deleting or overwriting my checklists!

[abishepherd]

Very useful. I'd love that kind of functionality!!!

[wilsonng]

I would love this feature.

MarketCircle Daylite has something similar called a pipeline. It is basically a workflow with due dates set at different intervals.

A Next Action can be set to due X days after the start of the project.

For example, a "call prospects" project can have

1. R&D prospect background info and company needs
2. Make cold call to prospect
3. Schedule meeting with prospect
4. R&D meeting notes and create next action
5. Follow up phone call to prospect to verify meeting notes
6. Create proposal for prospect
7. Present proposal to prospect for signature


Certain next actions can have a due date based on the starting date of the previous action.



Maybe this would be something that OmniFocus 2 can handle?

[Lizard]

We certainly think templates could be an actual feature, instead of the current set of tricks. I can't commit to a particular timeline or release though.

[wilsonng]

Thanks Lizard... Now that I think about it, this might be something that is possible to do in OmniPlan.

I haven't tried OmniPlan yet but I'm guessing there might be a way to do a checklist template in OmniPlan.

Oh well, I'm hitting the download page now! :-)

[elektroglide]

I would love this feature.
MarketCircle Daylite has something similar called a pipeline. It is basically a workflow with due dates set at different intervals.


very cool feature - that would work nicely in OF and OP...

[gtcaz]

I'd love support for this as well: checklists and templates. I was already doing this for packing before trips, but reading The Checklist Manifesto has got me looking for more places to apply checklists in my work and life. OF support for this would be fantastic.

[elektroglide]

hmmm - i'm increasingly relying on checklists. any progress with omnifocus checklists?

i think a checklist subsystem would need to be built into OF to be able to:

• reliably lock a critical checklist sequence in place
• store the checklist as a template in a protected area which doesn't get archived
• specify triggers and repeats for when a checklist should appear in a project

is there an elegant way to do this that i'm missing?

[kingsinger]

Have you looked at the Better Templates applescript? Might get you some of what you want.

[elektroglide]

Have you looked at the Better Templates applescript? Might get you some of what you want.

great! thanks for the recommendation. seems to be in the right general direction - i'll try it out for a while. is that the best one you've found? i saw you have used something else previously - are you now on Better Templates instead?

[kingsinger]

Yes, Better Templates builds off of Curt Clifton's Template solution and so far has proven to be both more elegant and more feature-packed.