How to create a project inside another project
 

I run a recording studio, and one of the things I like to use Omnifocus for is planning recording projects. So I enter the artists name as a project, and then I enter the songs we are recording as tasks under that project. However, each one of those songs is a smaller project with many steps - many instruments to add etc. How do I turn those songs (actions) into projects while leaving them where they are, inside the current project? I know I can turn them into a project, but then they are back in a higher hierarchical level, outside the project I'm working on. Or what is a better way to do this?

I have the same problem on the iPhone version, and it makes it so I don't want to use the software. I can do this on the Mac, but I'm often doing this sort of planning on the road when I have some down time, and I don't always have my laptop, or I'd rather not carry it. Thanks - any help would be much appreciated!

You could use folders. Create a folder with the artist's name. Then place multiple projects inside that folder, one project for each song.

I'd probably use folders for this as well, but you can create action groups (project inside a project) on the iPad. First, create an action inside an artist's name project, and give that action the name of a song. Then create an action related to the song, bring up the info panel for it, and select 'Move'. You will then have the option to move the task inside another item. Select your song from the list and you all all set.

Thanks so much, guys - I will experiment!

Action groups are good and I find them useful. You can set up a Project that is Parallel, and set each Action group to be Sequential. That way, you can track the Next Action of several things at once, without have all the Actions of the entire Project show up as Available. So the Available Parallel items are all Next Actions of their respective Action Group.

Use the Move option of each Action to move that Action inside another Action.

The advantage of using a folder is that you can create a template project ("Song Template") that you duplicate and rename each time you have a new song. That template will have all the (supposedly same) steps already created. Also, when your Song project has such tasks as below ...

* laid down melody for TemplateSong
* collect drum beats for TemplateSong
* adjust song fade outs for TemplateSong

... you can select that template project, use the Find command, and replace "TemplateSong" with the song title itself.

Finally in addition, within a folder based on the artist's name, you can also create a project that is "Administration" in scope. That would hold all the tasks that are not based on the songs, rather based on the entire album for that artist.

HTH

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JJW

Good post. I had not tackled templates yet. So you have a folder of template Projects. When you want to use the template, you just copy and paste a Folder and rename it?

[QUOTE=blewis;113926] ... So you have a folder of template Projects. When you want to use the template, you just copy and paste a Folder and rename it?[/QUOTE]

I have a folder of Template projects (called ... Templates). That folder is marked as Dropped, and each Template inside it is also marked as Dropped. This way, neither the folder nor the individual templates show up on my Available lists.

When I want to use a template project, I show all projects, select the template of choice, duplicate it, make the duplicate Active, and move that active Template to the folder where I want to use it. I then use the Find/Replace command to change the TemplateStrings to what I want.

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JJW