Aesthetics of the New Filter Bar
 

What was wrong with the old Filter Bar (and the old Look in general)? This new one is way too bold, dark and distracting. Very obtrusive. It doesn't look like OS X, and it sure doesn't look like Omni.

Please bring back the old subtle Filter Bar.

I agree. No improvements in the visual department for 1.7. On the contrary. Everything is too dark, the toolbar, the folders and even the due badges--all looks kinda dirty and heavy. (Compare OmniFocus folders with Finder folders and you'll have the urge to wash them.)

The toolbar has not only cosmetic shortcomings, it's also clumsy. Isn't there a [I]defaults[/I] way to get the old one back?

Hmm, most of the feedback we've received has been positive.

The view bar in OmniFocus 1.7 looks a bit different on Tiger (10.4) and Leopard (10.5) (since window toolbars look different on the two operating systems); which are each of you running it on?

I'm running it on 10.5.

Maybe if I had a 24" screen it wouldn't bother me that much (though I still wouldn't like the dark look), but on my 13" screen it takes up too much valuable vertical space (at least it looks as if it would because of the dominant appearance).

I like the new one better. I think it looks more polished.

I second this. Too dominant. Too distracting. -- And too black. ;-)

I have assigned keyboard shortcuts for my most used filters* so I can hide the the Filter Bar and access filters via keyboard. But, of course, that's a bit awkward.

* System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts

PS: I also don't like the new default Style preferences, but I love the fact that they can be changed back to the old (Helvetica) settings.

ricot, why not use perspectives to store these settings? In 1.7 you can set up a perspective to only restore the view bar settings by unchecking all the Restore checkboxes in the Perspectives window. Then you can set up your shortcuts right inside OF.

[QUOTE=ricot;65388]I second this. Too dominant. Too distracting. -- And too black. ;-)
PS: I also don't like the new default Style preferences, but I love the fact that they can be changed back to the old (Helvetica) settings.[/QUOTE]

I triple this. it's way to bold! and not discreet enough!! Any settings to make it blend more in the window? It's not classy at all.

I utterly hate the Lucida Grande font when used in text. it's horrible. Any way to get the old style theme somewhere?

Gam.

[QUOTE=curt.clifton;65391]ricot, why not use perspectives to store these settings? In 1.7 you can set up a perspective to only restore the view bar settings by unchecking all the Restore checkboxes in the Perspectives window. Then you can set up your shortcuts right inside OF.[/QUOTE]

Good point. But most of the time I'm already in a Perspective (that I don't want to leave) when I wish to change filter settings.

Viewed from Leopard, the contrast between lozenges and dark background is gratuitously high.

Anything beyond the minimum effective difference is essentially shouting - distraction that carries no additional information.

The long horizontal high-contrast edges between the filter band and the adjacent grays have a particularly weak signal to noise ratio.

Perhaps it would be helpful for someone in Omni to read a basic text on graphic design - one of the readily available books by[URL="http://www.amazon.com/Envisioning-Information-Edward-R-Tufte/dp/0961392118/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251449577&sr=8-1"] Edward Tufte[/URL], for example.

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[QUOTE=manispace;65314]I'm running it on 10.5.

Maybe if I had a 24" screen it wouldn't bother me that much (though I still wouldn't like the dark look), but on my 13" screen it takes up too much valuable vertical space (at least it looks as if it would because of the dominant appearance).[/QUOTE]

Changing the ToolBar to small size, icon only or text only gives back a bit of space.

Michael

[QUOTE=manispace;65308]What was wrong with the old Filter Bar (and the old Look in general)? This new one is way too bold, dark and distracting. Very obtrusive. It doesn't look like OS X, and it sure doesn't look like Omni.[/QUOTE]

Imagine what it's like using Apple Logic Studio on a 30" screen - the whole screen looks like the new filterbar!

[QUOTE=gamov;65404]I utterly hate the Lucida Grande font when used in text. it's horrible. Any way to get the old style theme somewhere?[/QUOTE]

Yes, here's a link to the [URL="http://people.omnigroup.com/kc/OmniFocus/OmniFocus-1.6-Defaults-Theme.zip"]OmniFocus 1.6 default theme[/URL].

thanks for the old style, Ken. The new one takes up too much screen real estate for my taste.

I also dislike the new filter bar. Too dark, too jarring. Not sure what was wrong with the old way.

[QUOTE=PellMellow12;65466]
I also dislike the new filter bar. Too dark, too jarring. Not sure what was wrong with the old way.[/QUOTE]

The old view bar had the issue of being hard to understand what was actually being controlled:
[IMG]http://forums.omnigroup.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1043&stc=1&d=1251484399[/IMG]

Completed, Flagged, Completed, Flagged....

The new:
[IMG]http://forums.omnigroup.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1042&stc=1&d=1251484389[/IMG]

Let's you see what each drop down is referring to.

[QUOTE=RobTrew;65411]Viewed from Leopard, the contrast between lozenges and dark background is gratuitously high.[/quote]

WOW. Yes. I just upgraded, and... wow. And I'm a recent *Windows* user, so my standards are low.

That filter bar says "HEY! LOOK AT ME! AROOOOGA!"

I've just downloaded the 1.6 theme, and it didn't change the filter bar, so I'm guessing that isn't themed. Sigh. At least the Lucida's gone now. (And I *like* Lucida. Just not here.)

[quote]Perhaps it would be helpful for someone in Omni to read a basic text on graphic design[/QUOTE]

It's bizarre. Despite the welcome presence of Ken, Tim and others on this forum, and despite the fact that Omni clearly cares about human factors (i.e. they're not game developers, Adobe, or Craigslist), they keep getting simple things wrong, and making right things wronger.

I can't imagine why, but I can't stop rediscovering it, either. OmniFocus and OmniOutliner keep getting in the way, and they keep finding new means to do it.

The new view bar is awful. Please add a way to make it the old style.

-Chris

[QUOTE=manispace;65308]This new one is way too bold, dark and distracting[/QUOTE]

I totally agree as well.

But maybe it looks better in Snow Leopard? (I'm still on Leopard and haven't seen it in SL yet.)

I personally love the new viewbar. I recognize that votes on this forum aren't being counted, but I vote to keep it.

[QUOTE=RobTrew;65411]Perhaps it would be helpful for someone in Omni to read a basic text on graphic design - one of the readily available books by[URL="http://www.amazon.com/Envisioning-Information-Edward-R-Tufte/dp/0961392118/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251449577&sr=8-1"] Edward Tufte[/URL], for example.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Jay Levitt;65479]It's bizarre. Despite the welcome presence of Ken, Tim and others on this forum, and despite the fact that Omni clearly cares about human factors (i.e. they're not game developers, Adobe, or Craigslist), they keep getting simple things wrong, and making right things wronger.[/QUOTE]

What is it about software consumers that makes them think outright insults are okay to level at developers (see the Things forums for more information)? You've both been very rude, and phrasing your feedback constructively might be more useful to all involved.

They've outlined their thoughts on this, and whilst I feel that the contrast is out of whack, the new "label plus dropdown" combination is certainly a lot more usable.

So, a win and a loss—given I'd love for Omni to get (and please) more users I'll go with a preference for new users to understand the gist of the view toolbar faster.

Also, not to wave the pedant flag too much, but Tufte is generally aiming his work at the presentation of information, rather than interface design. They're separate disciplines (and only loosely fall under the "graphic design" banner).

[QUOTE=intranation;65554]You've both been very rude[/QUOTE]

No, it is neither rude nor irrelevant to suggest the reading of something like Tufte.

[QUOTE=intranation;65554] the contrast is out of whack[/QUOTE]

Indeed - shouting lozenges and frame edges, and useful but over-insistent new labels.

Omni has, alas, a bit of a track record of inadvertent regressions in graphic design. Quite understandable (and helpful) to hear a range of irritated voices whenever this occurs - distracting design (a bad signal-to-noise ratio in the management of contrasting edges) wastes attention, which is a scarce and jealously guarded resource for any professional.

The fact that these regressions continue to occur suggests two things to me:
[LIST=1][*]The company culture has yet to acquire a pervasive awareness of the need to carefully manage levels of visual stimuli (contrast levels at edges), and align them closely with information hierarchies. Visual signal-to-noise ratios do not seem to figure very prominently or explicitly in discussions of software design goals.[*]Project coordination does not seem to explicitly manage the issue of visual contrasts created inadvertently at the borders between sub-projects. For example: edge-detection in the retinal system is particularly sensitive to vertical and horizontal edges, so some of the strongest visual stimuli in the 1.7 default screen are generated at the two high-contrast edges between the filter area and its gray neighbours. Do these very strong visual signals convey correspondingly significant information ? No, they are virtually information-free, (dispensable, in fact), yielding an appalling ratio of cognitive processing cost to cognitive benefit. Did anyone advisedly decide to place strong visual stimuli at these positions ? No, I would guess that they didn't - these look like inadvertent and unmanaged artefacts of adjacent subprojects. Cognitively costly spandrels.[/LIST]
[QUOTE=intranation;65554]not to wave the pedant flag too much, but Tufte is generally aiming his work at the presentation of information, rather than interface design.[/QUOTE]

As for particular reading material, these matters are not discipline-specific: they emerge from the structure of the retinal system, and from the general balance between information acquisition and cognitive processing cost. Tufte happens to have a particular interest in software design, and states the basics of visual communication in good non-technical terms ('minimum effective difference' is a very useful formulation, for example), One could, of course, learn the same lessons from completely general accounts of communication, such as relevance theory.

No need to plumb the depths of communication theory or retinal physiology, however, when the basics of visual signal-to-noise ratios are so easily grasped, and so central to software quality and customer satisfaction.

There is clearly room for them in Omni's design culture, and [URL="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961392118/ref=s9_simz_gw_s1_p14_t1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0JGJCWNQ3VJWW7H43KP0&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938131&pf_rd_i=507846"]Tufte[/URL] is an excellent place to begin.


RobTrew

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[QUOTE=xmas;65474]The old view bar had the issue of being hard to understand what was actually being controlled:
[IMG]http://forums.omnigroup.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1043&stc=1&d=1251484399[/IMG]

I always thought those icons were supposed to indicate what was being controlled. ;-)

[QUOTE=ricot;65591][QUOTE=xmas;65474]The old view bar had the issue of being hard to understand what was actually being controlled:
[IMG]http://forums.omnigroup.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1043&stc=1&d=1251484399[/IMG]

I always thought those icons were supposed to indicate what was being controlled. ;-)[/QUOTE]I agree with ricot. The labels in the new view bar are unnecessary. For example, the simple flag icon was sufficient in the old version. Now we have the redundant label, "Flag Filter," vertical space added for the labels, and the dark background for contrast.

The Sort, Status, and Time choices were also clear enough because of the icons. The Grouping icon is weak and the Project Filter doesn't have an icon, but those functions were clear by simply viewing the selected choice, such as "All Projects" and "Active."

I love many of the improvements in 1.7, but I prefer the previous view bar.

[QUOTE=Ken Case;65425]Yes, here's a link to the [URL="http://people.omnigroup.com/kc/OmniFocus/OmniFocus-1.6-Defaults-Theme.zip"]OmniFocus 1.6 default theme[/URL].[/QUOTE]

Great! Thanks Ken for the theme link!

Hopefully we could have a sytle setting in the next version to have a less shouting view bar!

Cheers,
Gam.

[QUOTE=PatrickH;65601][QUOTE=ricot;65591]I agree with ricot. The labels in the new view bar are unnecessary. For example, the simple flag icon was sufficient in the old version. Now we have the redundant label, "Flag Filter," vertical space added for the labels, and the dark background for contrast.
[/QUOTE]

While I think you are correct in theory, I think several of the icons were weak. And I don't think it's a design issue-- while any of us would select a clock or a flag for Duration or Flagged Status and 94.7% of users would make the connection right away, the others just don't have any intuitive or obvious a priori choice. Quick, what's the universal symbol for Grouping?. Sure, once you *know* what they stand for they make sense but that doesn't help the new user. So, I totally defend the additional labels, despite the fact that they take up real estate.

However, given that normal toolbars can have icons, text, or both, MAYBE a preferences setting that would allow the old icon embedded in the buttons (but not as default) for advanced users?

I do share the opinion that the background of the view bar is WAY too dark. Make it closer to the regular toolbar color and go with black text.

Did anyone comment on the BLUE button text? I find it marginally unreadable. A slightly darker blue would be welcome.

New View Bar
 

Well, I must be an odd-ball, because I love the new view bar! It's easier to understand and, frankly, it looks great on my 24" iMac (running 10.5).

I am, however, a bit less enthused about the giant font used for projects on the left-hand side. That said, it's easily changed in the Preferences, so no problems there. It just seems a bit too big for my taste.

Keep up the good work OmniGroup!

New View Bar (Part 2)
 

I'm not one who often takes back his initial thoughts, but I'm growing more accustomed to the large Lucida Grande font choice. I've been working with it for the last several hours, and it works well, especially on my 24" iMac. I would imagine those with smaller screens would be more upset.

The font choice is super easy to read. I support it now!

Well, after 24 hours, I've stopped noticing the bizarre contrast - because I keep getting distracted by the icon that looks like, yet is not, a checkbox.

Status filter? Yes, please! Oh. I see. Well then.

[QUOTE=xmas;65474]The old view bar had the issue of being hard to understand what was actually being controlled[/quote]

I agree; the old view bar conflated data type and data value. It could cause confusion.

The new one avoids that, with the unfortunate side effect that being smacked in the face with strangely-floating lozenges and (yes) chartjunk ALSO causes confusion.

This is exactly the kind of thing that a human-factors designer is good at fixing.

[QUOTE=intranation;65554]What is it about software consumers that makes them think outright insults are okay to level at developers[/quote]

Because good software developers don't interpret "something is wrong with your software" to mean "something is wrong with you". At my last job, 25 people were paid to do nothing but find bugs in my team's code. And each time they did, we learned something new about the world. How cool is that?

[QUOTE=Jay Levitt;65624]Well, after 24 hours, I've stopped noticing the bizarre contrast [/QUOTE]

As a reference, take a look at the Trash window in Finder... (and a few other places as well, like shared folders, I think)

My vote is for the new View bar (despite my absolute respect for Tufte); but strangely enough, I haven't noticed any change of font (for either tasks or project bar)?

[QUOTE=hypotyposis;65630]My vote is for the new View bar (despite my absolute respect for Tufte); but strangely enough, I haven't noticed any change of font (for either tasks or project bar)?[/QUOTE]
Had you customized any of your fonts previously? If so, you should still have those changes in effect, and wouldn't notice a change in the defaults unless you did a reset.

[QUOTE=xmas;65628]As a reference, take a look at the Trash window in Finder... (and a few other places as well, like shared folders, I think)[/QUOTE]

[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3467/3870358392_46ef9d21c6.jpg[/IMG]


Ah. I begin to see how things went wrong.

The high contrast bar on the Finder Trash window is a loud traffic alert - a warning that this is an exceptional folder. A warning against, for example, trying to open the files that you see.

This illustrates the limitations of simply looking around for precedents, without enough theorization of how graphic design actually functions.

Ironically, even the loud warning bar of the Trash Finder, with its two large parallel high-contrast edges, is nothing like as noisy and distracting as the wild zebra of the current 1.7 filter panel.

In most vertical sections, the filter panel now has not 2 but 4 high-contrast horizontal edges to over-stimulate the retina, plus a complexity of bright text edges which do the same.

(Suitable for an exceptional warning against walking over a cliff, when attention really does need to be distracted, but not a helpful signal-to-noise ratio for an ordinary working resource, when users are just trying to concentrate and get things done).

It's not enough to choose a fill - you have to manage the edges which that fill creates. The levels of retinal stimulus created by those edges (the levels of contrast) need to match the urgency of the signal that you wish to convey.

Apple's designers manage contrast quite carefully - that is why they chose strong contrasts to draw attention to the exceptional status of the Trash folder - Omni's designers also need to make the shift from just choosing fills to deploying contrasts judiciously.



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[QUOTE=RobTrew;65644][quote=Xmas]
As a reference, take a look at the Trash window in Finder[/quote]
This illustrates the limitations of simply looking around for precedents[/quote]

@Rob: I think that nails it - and it could explain the mystery, too.

@Xmas: I'm sure there are precedents for every design decision in OmniFocus. But unless you know the context in which they were designed - and unless you have a cohesive design concept for OF itself - you don't know if they fit. Design elements make lousy existence proofs.

As Rob points out, you've taken an element that was explicitly designed to upstage the window and grab our attention, and reused it in a context where it should fade into the background.

If you practice design-by-empirical-example, you'll also run into the combined resource constraints of every Mac development shop. Maybe this checkbox over here was added as a last-minute fix; maybe that graphic was supposed to be temporary but their designer broke his arm. Again: you need context. Why did that designer make that choice in that application?

I'll even walk back from my agreement on the old view bar. Yes, from a programming standpoint, it conflates data type with data value. And for 20 years, I've railed against exactly those category errors. But the iPhone has proven me wrong; there are plenty of Apple-designed controls that don't behave like a database field.

And that turns out to be fine - great, even - because [b]users don't have mental database models[/b] (unless they're programmers). They have mental models, sure. But that model's closer to "when I click 'today', I see today's tasks" than "when I click 'today', OF selects all rows whose date value is within 24 hours".

That's why you rarely see Mac or iPhone apps that display a "list" with only one result. If there's only one result, just take me to the result! It's not what my left brain expects from a database, but it's what my right brain is waiting to see. Behaving like a strongly-typed database IS the category error; it's a layering violation, a leaky abstraction. Your object model and data structures should be completely hidden by the application. If the view bar was confusing, the solution isn't to get analytical, double the size of the view bar, and explain everything in text; the solution is to make it LESS analytical and more intuitive.

Anyway... I'm no designer, but I know it when I see it, and I don't see it. I think what OF lacks is a cohesive design aesthetic and metaphor.

I have less issue with the style than the loss of vertical space.

Hopefully a future update will allow disabling the labels. For now I keep view bar hidden where before I did not.

-P

[QUOTE=xmas;65628]As a reference, take a look at the Trash window in Finder... (and a few other places as well, like shared folders, I think)[/QUOTE]

You bring Trash as a reference? Seriously? -- There isn't any filter bar in the Trash window!

Open a Finder window and press [cmd]-[F] to see a filter bar.

Omni, you gotta do something about this mess. Now. My eyes hurt.

I have to agree on the distracting nature of the darkness of the new filter bar. I like the description but the entire thing needs to be much lighter or give us a way to change it. I tried the 1.6 theme and it didn't fix this at all.

WHy did you make it so darned dark? Couldn't you have just added the description text in a nice light unobtrusive way?

[QUOTE=Oogiem;66205]I have to agree on the distracting nature of the darkness of the new filter bar. I like the description but the entire thing needs to be much lighter or give us a way to change it. I tried the 1.6 theme and it didn't fix this at all.

WHy did you make it so darned dark? Couldn't you have just added the description text in a nice light unobtrusive way?[/QUOTE]


I like it!! But hey if others don't put an option in there to have either one : )

Sorry for the quiet on our end, everyone. We're certainly listening to your feedback on the view bar interface, but since releasing 1.7 we've been more focused on perspective regressions (1.7.1), crash fixes (1.7.2), and sync issues (the upcoming 1.7.3). We plan to do some more interface work soon after that.

[QUOTE=Ken Case;66256]Sorry for the quiet on our end, everyone. We're certainly listening to your feedback on the view bar interface, but since releasing 1.7 we've been more focused on perspective regressions (1.7.1), crash fixes (1.7.2), and sync issues (the upcoming 1.7.3). We plan to do some more interface work soon after that.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Ken!

Love the new view bar, the contrast makes it much easier to know exactly what information I'm viewing.

Apparently Apple loves the new dark bar too, they put one on iTunes (works more like a web page bar though).

Is it me or did the view bar get hit with an ugly stick?
 

I'm just sayin'...

I was never a fan of the old bar; the new one works just fine for me.

[QUOTE=atracht;66403]Love the new view bar, the contrast makes it much easier to know exactly what information I'm viewing.[/QUOTE]

yes, I agree. The contrast makes it more intuitive to focus on what the filter is.

If TPTB change it I will sulk

:-)

peter

PS. I haven't read many books on design so consider me naive.

Good grief was my first thought on the bar and the theme in general. After working on it for a while I still think that someone has made a mistake here. I wouldn't mind the "idiot labels" if I could turn them off, but the contrast is just too awful. Couldn't we just have bubble help instead of the labels?

Thanks a lot for the 1.6 theme though. At least it has improved some of it.

I am still using OF daily so that should put my comments in perspective!

"The Bar"
 

The bar is kinda clunky, I don't think it's ghastly.
I do like the indicators of what the drop downs are controlling.
Given that there is a limited amount of attention, I would generally prefer that it go towards functionality, rather than tweaking visual UI.

[QUOTE=ELP;67776]Given that there is a[B] limited amount of attention[/B], I would generally prefer that it go towards functionality, rather than tweaking visual UI[/QUOTE]

Is there competition for developer resources between visual design and functionality ?

There shouldn't be - developers and visual designers are not the same people - and if their roles are conflated, then [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ricardo#Comparative_Advantage"]basic trade theory[/URL] would suggest scope for fairly urgent review of the division of labour.

There is, however, inescapable competition for the user's finite attention when weak design foregrounds the application rather than the data, and distracts our eyes.


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It has been pointed out to me that in OF 1.7.4 it is now possible to adjust the background color of the filter bar.

I have drafted [URL="http://files.me.com/robinfrancistrew/mag7n3"]an Applescript[/URL], which can be adjusted to suit your taste, and which shows how the filter bar color can be set.

(The script closes OF, if it is running, and the new colors appear when OF is restarted).

Mine currently looks something like this:

[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2587/4005297956_36c1f54ab0.jpg[/IMG]

which I find less distracting than the loud contrasts in:

[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/4004675889_4fa2e70a03.jpg[/IMG]

though I would still like:[LIST][*]the button labels to be grayed except when displaying a non-default value[*]the ribbon labels to be made optional[/LIST]
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Brilliant!!

Thanks a lot.

i agree - too dark, bold, and incongruent - as someone said, neither os x nor omni. urrgli !

[QUOTE=RobTrew;68161]It has been pointed out to me that in OF 1.7.4 it is now possible to adjust the background color of the filter bar.

I have drafted [URL="http://files.me.com/robinfrancistrew/tc8rrx"]an Applescript[/URL], which can be adjusted to suit your taste, and which shows how the filter bar color can be set.

(The script closes OF, if it is running, and the new colors appear when OF is restarted).

Mine currently looks something like this:

[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2587/4005297956_36c1f54ab0.jpg[/IMG]

which I find less distracting than the loud contrasts in:

[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/4004675889_4fa2e70a03.jpg[/IMG]

though I would still like:[LIST][*]the button labels to be grayed except when displaying a non-default value[*]the ribbon labels to be made optional[/LIST]
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i get an applescript error when i try to run this:

2009-10-12 19:54:03.777 defaults[4248:60f] CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary.
2009-10-12 19:54:03.779 defaults[4248:60f] CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary.
2009-10-12 19:54:03.779 defaults[4248:60f] Could not parse: {r=0,588235294118; g=0,588235294118; b=0,617647058824; a=1.0;}. Try single-quoting it.

Personally, I still prefer the default view bar over RobTrew's change -- to my tired eyes, the lighter background makes the bar much more difficult to read, bordering on annoying. But hey, too each his own.

Anyway, thanks for the hint, RobTrew! This is a good thing to know.

-Dennis

[QUOTE=elektroglide;68165]i get an applescript error when i try to run this:[/QUOTE]

Are you running OF 1.7.4 ?
An earlier OS X ?
Have you edited the script ?

It might be worth downloading it again in text format from [URL="http://files.me.com/robinfrancistrew/mag7n3"]here[/URL].

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[QUOTE=Toadling;68166]to my tired eyes, the lighter background makes the bar much more difficult to read[/QUOTE]

If you want brighter label text you can edit [URL="http://files.me.com/robinfrancistrew/mag7n3"]the script[/URL] to read:

-- Transparency of ribbon labels
property alphaLabels : 1.0

[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2459/4005072991_bafbf2dcc0.jpg[/IMG]

(By now I know what the text says, so I personally prefer it rather muted,

or even switched off :-)

property alphaLabels : 0.0

[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2530/4005850994_4f96a75bf4.jpg[/IMG]

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(Something of a relief after the urgent high-contrast chatter)

[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/4004675889_4fa2e70a03.jpg[/IMG]
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[QUOTE=RobTrew;68169]Are you running OF 1.7.4 ?
An earlier OS X ?
Have you edited the script ?

It might be worth downloading it again in text format from [URL="http://files.me.com/robinfrancistrew/n86ljy"]here[/URL].

[COLOR="White"]--[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

thanks for getting back to me.

i'm running latest versions of omnifocus and os x, no script editing.

i just click on either the original link, or the text version, and i get the same error when i try to run the script...

[QUOTE=elektroglide;68183]i'm running latest versions of omnifocus and os x, no script editing.[/QUOTE]

A Snow Leopard change in applescript or Bash ? (I'm still running Leopard).

When you run the script it places the shell commands in the clipboard. Perhaps you could paste what you are getting into a private message on this board and send it to me.

[QUOTE=elektroglide;68165]i get an applescript error when i try to run this:

2009-10-12 19:54:03.779 defaults[4248:60f] Could not parse: {r=0,588235294118; g=0,588235294118; b=0,617647058824; a=1.0;}. Try single-quoting it.[/QUOTE]

The problem is that the floating point numbers for the r, g, and b values are using comma as the decimal number separator (e.g. "0,58", a common formatting convention outside the U.S. for expressing decimal fractions), but the defaults command expects a period (e.g. "0.58", the convention in the U.S.).

Presumably AppleScript is formatting those numbers with commas based on your Language & Text locale settings in System Preferences. I'm not sure off-hand how to convince AppleScript to use the U.S. format other than to temporarily change your number format settings in System Preferences.

[QUOTE=Ken Case;68187]The problem is that the floating point numbers for the r, g, and b values are using comma as the decimal number separator (e.g. "0,58", a common formatting convention outside the U.S. for expressing decimal fractions), but the defaults command expects a period (e.g. "0.58", the convention in the U.S.)[/QUOTE]

Thanks for spotting that Ken.

This [URL="http://files.me.com/robinfrancistrew/mag7n3"]redraft[/URL] allows for regional variation in number formats.
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