View by Start Date
 

Hi folks,

Although I've had OF for some time, I've been constantly switching between a number of To Do/GTD apps, trying to find one that suits me best.

I finally decided to commit to OF over the weekend and I think I've found something that's almost perfect for me.

What I like to do (and there seem to be an enormous number of ways you can present data), is to see what is due only at the particular time I'm looking at it.

For example, if I have something with a start date of today and a start time of, say, 3pm, and I'm looking at it at 2pm, I don't want to see that 3pm item. The closest I've got to that so far is to Flag everything. If I do that, then, once 3pm comes along, I can see that Flagged item in the Flagged view. This works well. However, it does mean I have to flag literally everything I add with a Start Date for this to work. Whilst achievable, it does mean an extra step each time I add something and it "feels" like something of a fudge.

Does anyone know of a way I could achieve this without having to Flag everything?

In summary, I'd like a view that showed me everything due "now" as well as everything who's Start Date has been reached. Is that possible?

Thanks in advance,

mark

I think you want to use the Availability filter, set to "Available". An action is available unless
1) Its start date is in the future
OR
2) It's in a sequential project and there are preceding actions
OR
3) The project or context it's in is dropped or on hold.

I can't find the relevant documentation at the moment, so that may be a bit imprecise. (Yes, it's due for an update!)

Another important case where an action will not be available: the containing project is contained in a folder which has been dropped.

[QUOTE=Lizard;106763]I think you want to use the Availability filter[/QUOTE]

Hi and thanks for the reply. Where would I apply the filter? I've tried this in a few places but it's not really showing me what I'd like to see.

What I'd really like is a single view containing stuff with a Due Date of Today, and stuff with a Start Date/Time of Now or earlier. I'm almost there if I Flag everything and then use the Forecast view but, as I mentioned earlier, this means I have to Flag every single item I add, which feels counter-intuitive.

Thanks for the suggestion, though :)

OF seems almost TOO flexible sometimes!

Mark

Sorry to bump, but does anyone else have any ideas on this?

I basically want a version of the Flagged view, but for non-flagged items, if that makes sense. This would save me having to flag every item I add.

Cheers,

Mark

Well, if you really want a copy of the flagged view that only shows unflagged actions, rather than flagged actions, that's easy. Open the flagged view. Choose View->Status->Unflagged. Now do Perspectives->Save Window As->New Perspective and choose a suitable name for your new perspective.

If you didn't say quite what you meant, and instead wanted a copy of the flagged view that shows both flagged and unflagged items, the instructions are the same, except you choose View->Status->Any Status.

If you turn on the View Bar via View->Show View Bar, you'll see the Availability filter Lizard referred to in her post.

What I would probably do is use a context mode view, grouped by due date, closing all the groups except those for due today (or earlier), and showing available actions. This will show you only items that have a due date of today (or earlier) which are available (no start date set, or a start date which has passed). Save as a perspective with the Restore Expansion box checked so that it opens/closes the groups to match what you had. If you don't put start dates on everything, and want the items without a start date to be hidden from that view, just close the No Start Date group before saving the perspective.

Many thanks for the quick reply, but I only have the iPhone and iPad versions, so I assume I can't do this?

Oh, that's going to be more difficult...but not impossible. During the week, call up Omni support at 1-800-315-6664 or +1-206-523-4152 and they can help you build the perspective.

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;107016]Oh, that's going to be more difficult...but not impossible. During the week, call up Omni support at 1-800-315-6664 or +1-206-523-4152 and they can help you build the perspective.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think it'll be a little expensive to phone from the UK!