Can't find my calendar in the preference list [A: sync to a local calendar.]
 

I have a few calendars that I subscribe to in iCal. However the one that is my default (we use and exchange server) doesn't appear in the list of calendars to sync in the preference pane? Anyone know how to make it appear so I can sync? Thanks.

Sorry for the confusion, Rob! OmniFocus syncs with local calendars rather than server-based ones. If you open iCal and select
File -> New Calendar -> On My Mac
from the menu bar, you'll be able to sync that way. Hope this helps!

Will OmniFocus support syncing to an iCloud calendar? It seems activating iCloud removes the ability to use local calendars.

OmniFocus not syncing with iCal? [Check "OmniFocus Syncing: iCal Sync" forum.]
 

I just updated the Lion OS X to 10.7.2 and updated my iOS devices with iOS 5 and transitioned everything from MobileME to iCloud. Now, OmniFocus on the Mac cannot sync with iCal. Dis I miss something?

I would love to be able to have OmniFocus use the iCloud calendars and populate the "to do" on them. I know that OmniFocus doesn't replace the calendar (the website even states as much), but I do think most people like to schedule tasks they have created onto a calendar - this ability seems to be missing.

Of course, it could be right in front of my face - so maybe I should say that I have no idea how to make it happen, sync, and update the tasks between OmniFocus and the Apple Calendars.

To make matters worse - I'd like to use my own Calandar App and not iCal.

Sorry for the confusion! Activating iCloud converts all of your existing calendars to server-side ones that OmniFocus can't sync with, but you can open iCal and select
File -> New Calendar -> On my Mac
to create a new local calendar for OmniFocus to sync to.

Going forward, we plan to continue to support exporting information to .ical files as part of the sync process. It's unclear whether the iCloud calendar web app can subscribe to external calendars, but we regard that as something Apple needs to address on their end.

We also plan to add Forecast view to the Mac app and add other features as needed to help folks be productive.

The calendar sync feature will eventually be removed, though, and we don't expect to replace it in a form that looks like it currently exists. It's used by a very small number of people, but it's among the top features that generate confusion among customers. (Measured in terms of the number of emails that get sent in about it.)

Never mind, got it figured out. Created new calendars on my Mac after iCloud messed up the ones that I did have.

[QUOTE=Brian;102830]Sorry for the confusion! Activating iCloud converts all of your existing calendars to server-side ones that OmniFocus can't sync with, but you can open iCal and select
File -> New Calendar -> On my Mac
to create a new local calendar for OmniFocus to sync to.

Going forward, we plan to continue to support exporting information to .ical files as part of the sync process. It's unclear whether the iCloud calendar web app can subscribe to external calendars, but we regard that as something Apple needs to address on their end.

We also plan to add Forecast view to the Mac app and add other features as needed to help folks be productive.

The calendar sync feature will eventually be removed, though, and we don't expect to replace it in a form that looks like it currently exists. It's used by a very small number of people, but it's among the top features that generate confusion among customers. (Measured in terms of the number of emails that get sent in about it.)[/QUOTE]

I tried doing this and it worked until I actually completed one of the tasks and tried to sync again. All of the tasks then disappeared from iCal. I guess now I will just use the Mac like I do the iPhone and iPad and use iCal just for appointments and OmniFocus for the tasks. Although I never marked the tasks completed in iCal or BusyCal, it was nice to see them in the calendar so I knew what was coming up. Hopefully Forecast will be added to the Mac OmniFocus soon. I love using Forecast on the iPad and iPhone. It is the screen I use the most.

Syncing worked until I actually completed a task and then it died again. I guess until they add the forecast module to the Mac Version I will just have to get used to not seeing the tasks in a calendar. I never used iCal or BusyCal to mark the tasks completed, I just used it to see what tasks were coming up on the individual days.

>The calendar sync feature will eventually be removed

Wow - this would rrrrreally make me stop working with OmniFocus, as iCal-integration is absolutely crucial for me, with Omnifocus as well as with OmniPlan.

Removing the iCal-Sync would very probably make me switch to Reminders or some other ToDo-Tool. And, boy, I use OmniFocus on every device I have - but in the end we need iCal as a link to the rest of my team.

The lack of iCloud-calendar-integration is already, after just two days, proving to be a problem in our workflow.

(especially as Things, e.g., syncs without problems to any iCloud-ToDo-List). It's just not as good a task manager :-D

I was looking at iCal syncing now that I have Reminders on my iPhone as a way to share some tasks with others so removing instead of expanding/developing this feature is bad news.

I have the same problem. Is there a solution?

I can't even set up ical sync because no calendars are shown in OF. :-(

Help with ical sync
 

Hello: I am using Omnifocus (version 1.93) on OSX 10.72. I am unable to drag my unsynchronized contexts to ical calendars. I do not see any of my ical calendars in the left pane (see screen grab attached).

Welcome to the forums, ger23! I'll move this post to a previous thread which I believe has the info you're looking for. If the info in the new location doesn't get you up and running, contact our support ninjas (800.315.6664 or [EMAIL="omnifocus@omnigroup.com"]omnifocus@omnigroup.com[/EMAIL]) and we'll be happy to assist. Hope this helps!

Moving these posts to a thread in the iCal Syncing forum which includes the answers people are looking for.

[QUOTE=pjb;103020]I was looking at iCal syncing now that I have Reminders on my iPhone as a way to share some tasks with others so removing instead of expanding/developing this feature is bad news.[/QUOTE]

I'd encourage folks that feel strongly about this feature to read [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=18570"]Ken's post at the start of this thread[/URL] and then contribute information about their workflows there.

No one disputes the value of the existing feature to some workflows and customers - the difficulty arises from the fact that the feature is being used in a variety of ways it wasn't originally designed for, and consequently provides a sub-par experience. The way to address that isn't to keep the current feature limping along, though.

One example of the way to address a situation like this: once Forecast view comes to the Mac app, the "I want to see all my stuff in one place" folks will get a better experience for less effort. The same seems likely to be true for other workflows, as well. ("I want to share with other people" workflows, for example, might benefit from OmniFocus/OmniPlan syncing, or multiuser-aware OmniFocus/OmniFocus syncing.)

This is unacceptable!
 

[B]And bordering on the ridiculous.[/B] Come on, we have been using OmniFocus not just because it is a great time and project management tool, but because it is one that integrated with "tools" that we use every day - LIKE OUR CALENDAR!
The OmniGroup knew that iCloud was coming. You knew what the synchronization to the cloud would look like. You have support for "WebDav", but rather than support the environment that Apple is driving everyone to you decide to just put up your own "OmniCloud" that doesn't provide the same level of integration that we have come to expect and use?!
As an IT Executive I can only wonder what your management team was thinking. I hope this gets rectified soon, otherwise I won't be able to use this product, nor will I support it in my organizations.
Regards

I know there are IT executives who make decisions based on what their users want...do you consider yourself one of them?

Omni's sync server was up and running over a year before iCloud was publicly announced, much less deployed.

[B]Rather wish I'd seen this before buying yesterday.[/B]

I assumed that sync to server-based calendars would be added, especially when MobileMe expires. Instead I read that OF doesn't seem to want to play with iCloud users, that it has some other plan for iCal sync.

Um, I don't understand the logic here. There's a big plus for easy sync to iCal's ToDo lists, even if they are primitive. For example, other family members or colleagues who don't need OF-type programs (e.g., children) can see them.

No need for regrets, Omni offers a 30-day money back guarantee on their products.

[QUOTE=Brian;102830]
We also plan to add Forecast view to the Mac app and add other features as needed to help folks be productive.

The calendar sync feature will eventually be removed, though, and we don't expect to replace it in a form that looks like it currently exists. It's used by a very small number of people, but it's among the top features that generate confusion among customers. (Measured in terms of the number of emails that get sent in about it.)[/QUOTE]

Well Brian, this is really discouraging news.

OmniFocus has been in my top 4 most used apps for a long long time (together with iCal, Mail and Skype), and it's a wonderful piece of software. However, syncing with iCal is and will always be crucial for me, and my folks. When iCal moved to MobileMe based calendars, I posted on Ken's thread and followed your suggestion on keeping a local calendar to keep on syncing to. This solution is by far not as time efficient and productive as the previous one, and I only coped with it in the hope that OmniFocus will eventually work out a better solution.

Now iCloud comes along and I haven't made the transition from MobileMe only because of OmniFocus, just to learn that Omni will not integrate with it.

If Omni's goal is indeed making software to improve its customers productiveness, and given it makes software only for Apple users, moving away from the path of total integration with Apple's OS, software and services doesn't seems to me like a winner strategy. Then again, I don't run your company.

I do run my companies though, and they're all set up with Apple hardware and software. So if the syncing issue between OmniFocus and Apple will only get worse, I'm afraid I'll unwillingly have to look for an alternative solution for project and task-management.

I sincerely hope you at Omni give a second thoght on this matter, because I am indeed an Omnifan and would like to keep being it.

Best regards,
Gianpiero

Gianpiero,

Brian didn't say they weren't going to integrate with iCloud; he said that the replacement feature would not resemble the current calendar sync. Many people would agree that that's a good thing! :-)

How on earth do you manage your calendar if you have your entire OmniFocus database dumped in there? How much time do you spend plugging tasks into spots in the calendar instead of just doing them? Such a workflow would be completely unworkable for me, but I'm always curious about workflows different from my own!

And do I understand correctly that you use this as some sort of groupware? It sounds like you might be well-served if you could get a fire lit under Omni to finish up the OmniPlan 2<->OmniFocus sync conduit.

Well, if a 'different' sync with iCloud is available, let's hear the details.

As an example of why you can do with syncing OF and a calendar, take my son's college application due dates. I have enough trouble getting him to look at a calendar. I'm not going to set up a multi-user Omni database to share with him, but I can sync some ToDos to his calendar and there we are.

Just as another point, using iCal would guarantee cooperation with the Reminders app, which I am told has no 3rd-party API.

I'm having the same problem as other posters understanding why an Apple software shop would diverge from Apple APIs in this.

No offense intended, but if he isn't willing to look at a calendar, as you say, syncing a few todos there is wasting your time. If it is important to you that those applications get done, you need to be talking about it every day until it is done. Just putting it on a calendar means it either gets blown off until the last minute or blown off entirely — don't you remember being a teenage boy?

There are no details because there is no replacement to deploy right now (or they would be telling us about it). They aren't wandering away from Apple APIs, either — they just aren't choosing to code against every possible Apple feature, just like they don't have any integration with the Address Book or the camera in the Mac software. Apple is the one that is moving to different software, and Omni is choosing not to replicate the old snarl of baling wire and chewing gum in the new technology because it just doesn't work well for most customers, and porting it to iCloud won't change that. Apple has been jettisoning support for syncing calendar data to 3rd party devices, which was the original reason this feature existed.

whpalmer4

You must really be a lucky man, if you can manage your workflow with just a few calendars and OmniFocus projects.

Instead, I have a quite busy and complicated life: I run 4 different companies in 4 different countries. In my iCal I have more than a dozen different calendars and in OmniFocus I have more than 30 different projects going on at the moment. So, being able to quickly set time allocations for all my tasks is simply crucial! And all of this is just me.

As for workgroup management, I tried OmniPlan but I had to discard it because it doesn't support budget and cost management. We use Merlin instead, which is not as easy to use but is much more complete and it integrates with iCal.

If the people at Omni have a better way to integrate all that stuff, and allow me to save time at organizing my tasks, I would love to learn about it. So far it has gotten worse.

Hope this answers your questions.

Best regards.

Brian, I have to provide another voice (of a user of your mac, iPad and iPhone OF product) to say that inability to sync easily with iCloud is a "breaking" of the experience (and trust in the application support). As the producer of the product, you "may" ask the user to just try to alter workflow or habits some (Apple does it all the time) but this was something that was working and now is broken. The Forecast views "were" awesome and I was looking forward to the mac version of it, but it was only awesome because I could see a forecast of my upcoming actions due AND my hard scheduled time SIMULTANEOUSLY. The former being mostly produced in OF, and the latter being mostly scheduled in iCal. Everything has moved to the cloud, and SIRI is a huge leap-it is significant. If I can't begin to integrate SIRI additions to my hard schedule and to do's I have to choose between the big APPLE, Siri, iCal, Reminders, iCloud and all of that integration....or just OF and building projects.

In the end, we should be DOING stuff, not spending all of our time and energy "planning and scheduling" to do stuff. To that need we have to find a "home" environment to work in, and OF's inability (and no promise to fix) to sync with iCloud is a full stop wall that has gone up between the environments.
I do not think it is a feature that "only a few people use" but most complaints or problems come from.

PLEASE consider fixing OF to sync with iCloud, and letting loyal users know there is a plan.

R,

I use OF on my laptop and on my iPhone all the time every day but if I'd bought OF from the App Store I'd be leaving a miserable 1 star for an expensive program that does not sync with whatever Apple is offering for reminders and calendars. Free programs do it. It might be mess, it might not be ideal, but users would have some hooks to grapple with when creating sharing and exporting options.

Seconding all the others. Just bought OF for Mac and iPad. Would be really disappointed if you fail to integrate iCloud -- Omni is an age-old Mac developer, shouldn't you be supporting it as a matter of principle? I will not be using your OmniSync solution, sorry.

OF + iCal Sync: No Calendars Availible
 

I'm trying to sync OF with iCal. When I go to the Preferences to set that up, I don't have any calendars listed, even though I do have several in iCal.

On the left side of the Preferences under Calendars, I have
(Unsynchronized)
No Category

That's it. I know I have synced iCal and OF before on a different Mac without problems, but that was under Snow Leopard.

I'm running Lion (10.7.2) and do have iCloud set up. Maybe my calendars are now in the cloud and OF can't see them.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you.

Moving your post to a thread in the iCal Syncing forum which has the information you're looking for, orangebird. Hope this helps!

Brian, thanks for the help. Am I correct in reading that this feature has been abandoned?

so the questions roll in because the directions DO NOT MENTION IT HAS TO BE A LOCAL CALENDAR. All it says is "Drag context names into the calendar name you’d like to synchronize them with. " so since there are no calendars visible people get confused.

Hi, I have followed these instruction explicitly, however the <On My Mac> calendar still does not appear in the OmniFocus Preference panel?? Any ideas?

Sorry for the trouble, onthewire!

Off the top of my head, I can't remember what causes that, but I know we've helped customers having that happen before - if you give our support ninjas a call at 800.315.6664 or [EMAIL="omnifocus@omnigroup.com"]email us[/EMAIL], we'll get it sorted out.

Ugh. Discontinued? I'm a longtime user of OmniFocus and just discovered the feature. I've been trying for years to replicate the old "rollover to-dos" functionality we had on the [I]Newton[/I]. You could check a box on the to-do and if you didn't finish it on the current day it would appear on the next. While OmniFocus doesn't do that per se, it gets close.

I rely heavily on iCal on my iPhone, iPad and Mac, so being able to get at least some of my OmniFocus tasks into iCal would be much better than having to use OmniFocus exclusively. There are some personal to-dos, like shopping items and errands, that would be useful to roll over. If I didn't get the car washed on Wednesday, I'd like to see it on my calendar list for Thursday at the same time. Having to deal with multiple apps for my calendar and [B]time-based to-dos[/B] is annoying.

Maybe I'm asking to much of OmniFocus and iCal? Or is there a way to do this that I've missed?

PS This controversy reminds me of how Office for Mac doesn't support .ics, Google Calendar etc. Tons of users wondering how a company could behave so irrationally.

I really hope OF integrates with iCloud, especially in light of the announcement of Mountain Lion.

Osric, you don't mention which editions of OmniFocus you have, but the Forecast view in the iPhone and iPad editions may be helpful. That feature will come to the Mac eventually but isn't there yet.

A screenshot of the iPhone version can be found [URL="http://www.omnigroup.com/images/product_features_images/Forecast-feature.jpg"]here[/URL]; the iPad edition's version looks like [URL="http://www.omnigroup.com/images/product_features_images/OmniFocus-for-iPad-forecast.png"]this[/URL].

If it would be helpful to have a view like that in the Mac app, let us know and we can attach you to that feature request. Request frequency is one of the metrics we use when planning the work on our apps.

For what it's worth, Apple itself is moving away from shoving ToDos into iCal and Mail; OS 10.8 is going to have a "Reminders" app that handles them separately. Screenshots and info [URL="http://gigaom.com/apple/os-x-mountain-lion-hands-on-with-notes-reminders-and-notifications/"]available here[/URL].

Hi Brian and Omni.

I've read through this thread, and I'd love you to work on a link specifically between OmniFocus and Reminders (for OS 10.8+ / iOS 5.x+).

Also, I would absolutely love it to be based on a single tag or check box available for every task and repeating task in my OF database; not as a specific synced context (though that would be a workable alternative).

Why?

1. My preferred task management system is, unsurprisingly, OF. My workflow is a combination of long term (yearly, bimonthly) reviews and weekly reviews on my iMac, coupled with InBox task entry on iPhone and iPad. I'll often check projects and look at different perspectives - including the wonderful Forecast - on the iPhone and iPad, and do quite a bit of checking off tasks as I go. But the bulk of the heavy organisational work is done on the desktop.

2. The Reminders app is so elegant on the phone in particular. I've split my database of recurring tasks a little bit, so that some just pop up as reminders on my phone, including a piece of music that catches my attention and tells me to stop what I'm doing and get focused. I also use Siri sometimes to enter data quickly into Reminders. So I'm using both OmniFocus and Reminders (and of course iCal) with success, but it could be better and more seamless.

My preferred, ideal future set up would allow me to do all of my weekly workflow management on my iMac in OmniFocus, including maintaining all my routine / repeating tasks there, and allowing me to simply check the tasks that I'd like to appear in Reminders (not have to make them all a particular context), and that would be it; everything else would happen in the background. (Anything that I'd checked would simply alert me at its start time in Reminders in my phone, and when I'd done it, I'd check it, and it would be checked off automatically in OF too.)

I'm not sure it can be done of course, but I'd love it if you could...

That's my preference / request, and thanks for your consideration.

A Ghetto Solution to calendar synching
 

Hello all.

Our team LOVES OmniFocus and it's ability to manage our life, todos, projects.

This synching issue has been complex and an obstacle for sure...we have a ghetto solution in the meantime. This solution is not free (we pay for the third party sync), but utilizes a project manager, and a third party sync between omni focus and basecamp.

[B]Please read below to see what we're doing:[/B]
I'm unable to post direct URLS here because I'm new to the forum, if you want the direct address (since the basecamp free page is hard to find), shoot me an email at 'meyer (at) threedotinc (dot) com'.
[LIST=1][*]Sign up with a free 37Signals Classic Basecamp account (to manage mulitple todo lists or projects) [*]Sign up for a spootnik account (for $12/mo) [*]Follow the Spootnik instructions to sync with basecamp and omnifocus[*]Put your Spootnik or Basecamp ".ics" feed into ical[*]Done.[/LIST]
As I said above, it's a little ghetto...But, if you use Basecamp anyway, or want to use it to manage projects, it's a beautiful integration!

Chais

Alarms / Reminders
 

I would not need an iCal sync if there were flexible alarms / reminders in OmniFocus syncing with the iPhone app.

So pleeeeease include alarms / reminders!

Need my hard calendar
 

Need to have a monthly look at what I am doing.

I doubt Omni’s forecast will give me such a thing. On my phone it peters of after 5 days.

If I am busy on a date, it’s easier to look up ical...

And if ical syncs across it’s easier to look up stuff on any device I have.

So please let Omnifocus sync to icloud calendars.