Sync Multiple accounts over multiple computers
 

Can you have two people using Omnifocus, such that they share the same database?

Can Omnifocus be networked so that another individual could work on it, too?

Is this the only way to have two people using Omnifocus on two Macs at the same time? Is there another way?

Yes, you just set up syncing in the normal fashion. Everyone shares the same database (and all of it, not just a subset). OmniFocus doesn't have any way to tell if it is the same person using it, once everything has been configured.

OF 1.x isn't built to be groupware, so you're on thin ice trying to use it as such. Two users editing the same project simultaneously will probably encounter problems, as the sync code just keeps the most recent change, and it is done on a per-action basis. If you change the due date and your assistant changes the note, when those two changes get synced together, one of them will be lost.

You don't have to do the sync by networking, you could also use the disk sync option, so long as you're willing to move it back and forth often enough.

Remember that two different users of OmniFocus (on the desktop) should have two separate licenses, even though the program will allow you to get by with just one.

Sync Multiple accounts over multiple computers
 

Is it possible to have two separate databases, one for work and one for home in my case, and sync both via MobileMe to two computers?

I tried creating two folders inside the Library>>ApplicationSupport>>OmniFocus folder called "Home" and "Work" . Each folder containing a file named OmniFocus.ofocus and then simply launch whichever I want to work in but then the Sync pane of the preferences is grayed out and syncing does not happen.

I found that by manually moving OmniFocus.ofocus file in and out of the main Library>>ApplicationSupport>>OmniFocus folder I was able to accomplish a sync but thats manual and leaves lots of chances to overwrite the wrong file.

thanks,
Pete

I don't have an answer for you, but I would like to weigh in on the question. I would love to have a way to manage my work related tasks on my company issued notebook, but I'm really sticky about keeping my personal stuff as far from my work machines as I can. I would be keen on finding a way to have one "complete" instance on my home machine, and have my work machine only sync with the tasks in the Office tree of contexts.

I do pretty well just using the iPhone app to track them, though, since it's always with me anyway, but when it's time to do a lot of planning and typing I go for the bigger machine. It means that I generally drag my home and office notebooks around with me every day.

OmniFocus will sync the entire contents of your database to all the machines, but that doesn't mean that you have to look at all of them in both places. :-)

The way I keep work and home tasks separate is through perspectives; on my work machine, my perspectives are all focused on my "Omni" folder and the projects it contains. Similarly, at home, they're all focused on the "Personal" folder/projects.

To focus on a set of projects, select them in the sidebar, then choose Focus On from the View menu. Context view in that window will now only show actions from those projects.

The Perspectives thing wont work for me for two reasons. 1. the iPhone app doesnt have perspectives and i use the iPhone app alot and 2. I really want total seperation of work and home stuff.

However, I have found a solution that works for me. I sync my home mac and my iPhone via MobileMe and I keep the database for my work stuff in my "DropBox" - [url]http://www.getdropbox.com/[/url] This solution works for me because i dont need to see my work stuff on my iphone.

A bit of a hack but good enough untill OF lets you switch from one db to another (hint, hint)

I have a related question.

But is it possible to only sync a subset to iPhone?

How is this related?

e.g.

I've got lots of Work tasks in a folder that I don't want to waste time syncing when I can only do them @office.

I want to log in as user 'work' and see everything.
I want to log in as user 'home' and see only non-work items, and I only want to sync that database wih my iPhone.

Can I sync a subset?
Or, failing that, can I have two databases running on the same machine in differnet profiles?

No support for only syncing part of your database. You can work around this by having 2 databases, kept in separate user accounts on your Mac. As long as you are the user of both accounts, you should be within both the spirit and the letter of the license agreement. Two different databases because one is for your spouse and therefore a second person is using the application (even though on the same computer) is not allowed with a single license, by my understanding.

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;63343]No support for only syncing part of your database. You can work around this by having 2 databases, kept in separate user accounts on your Mac.[/QUOTE]

Great, thanks, will investigate that. My experiments so far were not very good... i.e the sync settings were the same on both accounts and ended up merging the two separate databases back into one again!

Sounds like the simplist solution would be an iPhone perspective and then an option to 'only sync iPhone perspective to this iPhone'. Then we'd all have total control over what got sync'd there.

Good idea?