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-   -   More options for repeating actions (http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=4936)

Chris 2007-09-20 08:12 AM

More options for repeating actions
 
Does anyone know if we'll be getting more options for repeating actions? At a minimum, I would like:

every weekday
every MWF
every TuTh

Nice, but not as necessary would be things like "First Tuesday of every month".

I suppose that "every MWF" and "every TuTh" could be hacked by using multiple actions repeating weekly, but that would be Wrong.

tonyedgecombe 2007-09-21 01:57 AM

First / Last working day of the month would be nice as well.

ksrhee 2007-09-21 02:13 AM

[QUOTE=tonyedgecombe;21597]First / Last working day of the month would be nice as well.[/QUOTE]

I would second this. Sometimes I need mail things out, and having something due on either first weekday or last weekday would be great.

steve 2007-09-21 02:56 AM

I would also find this helpful. For example, there are some things that I only want to repeat on working days. . .

Hope 2007-09-26 05:51 PM

This is a great idea. It would be important to be able to allow people to define what days are working days...

smithsamuel 2007-11-20 01:35 PM

I just don't get it. Why is it so hard to get such basic functionality as repeating tasks. Now up to date has great repeating todos. Any calendar of merit has flexible repeating options for events, so the logic can't be that hard, just apply it to the tasks. So far none of the GTD software packages have anything more than rudimentary support for repeating tasks. I know software programmers have no life and little structure in what life they do have but pleeease, the rest of the world has structure and things like the first tuesday of the month or the 5th Sunday are part of real repeating tasks. Stop adding bells and whistles until you have covered the basics like rich repeating tasks.

smithsamuel 2007-11-20 01:56 PM

For those who don't understand calendars. Here is a quick clue. Months are not integer multiples of weeks. That means that any repeating event system that is so simplistic, that the only repetition is an integer number of weeks is next to worthless. (that is not worthless but almost).
Second events have associated tasks that are usually preparatory to the event but not coincident with the event. Third events are largely attached to a day of the week but synchronized relative to the month start. Therefore repeating tasks are needed to support tasks that are associated with events that are synchronized to the day of the week of the month. Repeating an event every week or every month doesn't handle the fact that there are slop days at the start of and of each month.

Simple real world example to prove the point. (this is so basic I can't believe it has so far escaped the omni-focus developers)

Organization holds weekly meetings (pick a day of the week) say tuesday. The agenda for each meeting differs based on which week of the month it is. As a result the prepatory tasks like reports etc change based on which tuesday (first , second , third, or fourth) it is. Finally about once a quarter a month with have 5 tuesdays. Because of this , fifth tuesdays are special and are set aside for long term planning and goal type activities. There is no good way in Omnifocus to schedule support tasks for this weekly event. There are lots of related examples like the last friday of the quarter. Every Tuesday and Thursday (not an integer number of days) or every MWF. Do any other users of omnifocus have real schedules where they have tasks scheduled weeks and months in advance? If you do then speak up. Or once again we will get (in January) a non functional repeating task capability.


An exampl

smithsamuel 2007-11-20 02:42 PM

Feature request.

Since tasks that are associated with events usually must be completed BEFORE the event, a repeating task that can be scheduled so many days before and event would be killer. For example, 3 working days before the first tuesday of the month (which by the way may be in the previous month)

Now the whole point of GTD is to automate stuff to get it out of your mind. So lets take advantage of the power of the computer to figure out the date math to schedule the task. Instead of merely using the computer to make my schedule look pretty.

curt.clifton 2007-11-20 04:09 PM

Post deleted.

Shotster 2007-11-26 11:51 AM

[QUOTE=smithsamuel;25382]I just don't get it. Why is it so hard to get such basic functionality as repeating tasks. Now up to date has great repeating todos...[/QUOTE]

I agree. The "repeat" functionality in OF is somewhat lacking. As I recall (from many years ago when I used MS software on my Mac), even Entourage had better repeating reminders, and the interface for specifying the repeat didn't get in your way. I could specify a repeat [B]as[/B] a task was being added. It seems I can't even do that in OF. Or maybe I'm missing something? If I [B]can[/B] specify a repeating action without having to first add a task and then go to the inspector, someone please let me know. It'd be nice to be able to specify a repeat during quick entry.

-Steve


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