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-   -   Feature Request - Delete Project Protection (http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=8213)

PattiBarcroft 2008-06-18 09:34 AM

Feature Request - Delete Project Protection
 
I would love to see a little more protection on the delete process, such as a confirming dialog box, on things that are not simply aliases.

I am very new to using OF but feel a bit concerned about how easy it is to delete a significant amount of work, specifically under the InBox / Library Pane, with one errant delete. There is always UnDo if you catch what just happened, but it appears that if you don't catch it immediately, the work is simply gone.

Thanks.

Toadling 2008-06-18 10:56 AM

Isn't this the case for many (most?) applications available on the Mac? What do you do in those apps? Wouldn't it feel strange to have Word or Keynote pop up a warning every time you deleted a line or an object?

I'm being a bit facetious, but it's something to think about. In many ways, OmniFocus behaves more like a document-based app than a database, perhaps revealing its OmniOutliner heritage. I personally like this aspect; it's one of things that makes OmniFocus easier to work with and quicker to edit than many competitors.

But I wouldn't be against the addition of a Trash container that would collected deleted items. However, I don't like the idea of a dialog popping up every time you hit the delete key. That would be more than a little annoying.

Incidentally, I think this topic has been discussed before on this forum. I don't remember what the final conclusion was, but it might be interesting to look up the old thread.

-Dennis

PattiBarcroft 2008-06-18 11:12 AM

Dennis,

While I cannot say I did an extensive search of all of the forum entries I did attempt to locate prior discussions. Should you have a better handle on the possible location, I would welcome a direction to that discussion.

To me the left panel of OF is much like the left panel of Mail, not Finder. In Finder the icon is an alias. In Mail it is a true library item and gives you a dialog box to confirm. I don't want Mail to ask me if I want to delete something every time I delete an message, just when I'm about to trash a major component. The same holds true, for me, regarding OF.

smiggles 2008-06-18 11:17 AM

I can see the point, but I think having a dialog box appear every time I want to delete something would be incredibly irritating. Nonetheless, if it is valuable to enough people, maybe they should offer the option, and allow you to turn it off and on in Preferences.

Lucas 2008-06-18 12:20 PM

As long as the project survived for a whole day, you could grab it back from the backups.

Brian 2008-06-18 02:45 PM

We've got a feature request on something that would cover this. I'm linking this thread to that item in the database. Thanks, all.

whpalmer4 2008-06-18 02:45 PM

[QUOTE=Lucas;38269]As long as the project survived for a whole day, you could grab it back from the backups.[/QUOTE]

The approach I take is to pay attention when I use the delete key, and in general, immediately check that I've gotten the desired result whenever I do some manipulation of the projects or contexts panels. If not, Undo and try again! I also cranked up the backup frequency to twice a day, plus on quit.

I've got enough projects that I could easily miss the absence of one until the next time something happened that made me think of it, which could be weeks or months. Reviews will catch a project I have been ignoring, but only if the project is still there to be reviewed! It would be tedious to search through a few months of backups to find the only appearance of a deleted project, though less so if the project had been around for a while (you could do a binary search for the latter). I wonder how many new users are even aware of the backup scheme, and comfortable using it to restore something?

There IS some precedent for a warning on deletion of a project. If you delete a folder containing hidden projects (because you're viewing Active Projects and there's a project On Hold, for example) you'll get a popup that cautions you about the unseen potential consequences. That's a pretty uncommon case, I think, and I welcome the warning there. A warning about the deletion of a project in the usual fashion should be optional, though personally I'd probably leave it on.

Toadling 2008-06-18 02:57 PM

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;38278]A warning about the deletion of a project in the usual fashion should be optional, though personally I'd probably leave it on.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, the more I think about it, I'd probably leave such an option on as well. It might be annoying, but I delete things infrequently enough that it probably wouldn't be much of a problem. And the added safety net outweighs any minor annoyance.

But I agree, it should be optional.

-Dennis


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