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-   -   OmniFocus 2 – Multiple Contexts or Tags…? [A: Not in the foreseeable future.] (http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=28127)

effective 2013-02-05 05:30 AM

OmniFocus 2 – Multiple Contexts or Tags…? [A: Not in the foreseeable future.]
 
I guess almost everybody under the sun is expecting the implementation of multiple contexts or some tagging system

Anyway i did a quick search and read that that doesn't seem to be coming with OF 2

Is that right?

I also read someone is still suggesting HIGHLY UNPRACTICAL workarounds like nested contexts and manually adding tags to tasks…
I'd like to know this nightmare will soon come to an end… please give me some hope



Footnote: i love OF, but as it's deeply rooted on a calendar workflow – the due on specific date kind of stuff, while my task are of the 'urgent', 'soon', 'next' nature – i'm using contexts to work that out and my poor single-context-for-a-task is already gone bye bye
Just another example of the limitations of single contexts…

NickHibma 2013-02-05 06:35 AM

No more than a face lift?
 
Well, maybe there is a workflow change as well, but yes, I have not found any mention of any sort of possibility to integrate other dimensions into the action selection criteria.

I'd love to see tags, much more than any sort of redesign. If people are so fond of the iPad workflow, why not use that instead of wasting everybodies time with a redesign of the app on the Mac?

whpalmer4 2013-02-05 08:06 AM

[QUOTE=effective;119983]I guess almost everybody under the sun is expecting the implementation of multiple contexts or some tagging system
[/quote]
Why do you think that? There are more sources than ever of in-depth advice on how to use OmniFocus, and I can't recall any of them wishing for multiple context or tagging, or encouraging their readers to lobby Omni for the same. The fact that Omni isn't giving it to us suggests strongly that in the grand scheme of things, not many people are requesting those features relative to other desired features.
[quote]
Anyway i did a quick search and read that that doesn't seem to be coming with OF 2

Is that right?
[/quote]

OF 2 has been presented as a leveling of the feature set and new look and feel. None of the platforms have tagging or multiple contexts. Also, to maintain sync compatibility with the existing iOS apps, no changes are being made to the data model, and changes would be necessary to implement those features.

[quote]
I also read someone is still suggesting HIGHLY UNPRACTICAL workarounds like nested contexts and manually adding tags to tasks…
I'd like to know this nightmare will soon come to an end… please give me some hope
[/quote]


Highly impractical, yet proven :)

Look, people at Omni use the tool to manage substantial workloads in the same ways that you reject as impractical. Lowest resistance results are often obtained when using tools in the fashion their designers envisioned. Square pegs and round holes, you know.

Retooling the UI and data model on all three apps to support the mythical metadata column is no trivial task. Judging from the statement of goals for 2013 on the Omni blog, and the pace of Omni development work in the many years I've been a customer, there is almost no chance you'll be using such features in OmniFocus in 2013.

[quote]

Footnote: i love OF, but as it's deeply rooted on a calendar workflow – the due on specific date kind of stuff, while my task are of the 'urgent', 'soon', 'next' nature – i'm using contexts to work that out and my poor single-context-for-a-task is already gone bye bye
Just another example of the limitations of single contexts…[/QUOTE]

What is it exactly that you love about OmniFocus, if your preferred working style is as incompatible as you assert? It would be a mistake, btw, to allege that those of us who comfortably manage using OmniFocus in the ways you reject do not have substantial burdens of tasks that would be characterized in the same way. The GTD system that inspired OmniFocus does not require use of a calendar. The calendar-based functionality is present to support those tasks which are calendar-based.

wilsonng 2013-02-05 11:40 AM

Tags would be a nice and interesting feature to have but Omnigroup had to prioritize feature sets.

I am guessing that adding tags would fundamentally change the underlying data structure and require an additional three to six months (or more) to put this into place. Omnigroup would also have to rejigger the iPad and iPhone version to support this. So would you want to wait even longer than we already have to get tags?

I also think that we have to be careful of what we ask for. Tags seems like the new bright, shiny object that everyone wants to see. It might be a nice feature to have but we may not really use it once we do get it. It reminds me of the time when my daughter asks me for a toy that she really must have or the world must end. So I finally break down after several weeks of pestering and buy it. She gives me a big hug, promises to diligently do her homework and chores (ha!) and goes off to play with it. After a couple of days, all the marbles are gone and she no longer likes the toy..... Bright, shiny object indeed.


I think that suggesting that nested contexts is HIGHLY UNPRACTICAL is just a sign of resistance to change and attempting to learn a new workflow. Learning how to use nested tags was a little rough at first but now it has become second nature to me. I don't even think about it anymore.

Brian 2013-02-05 12:23 PM

One of the goals of OmniFocus 2 was to maintain database format compatibility with the existing iOS products. We didn't want folks to have to update up to three apps at the same time.

OmniFocus 2.0 will include plenty of features new to the Mac version, but not ones that would require a new database format. Multiple contexts or tags fall into that category. Hope that makes things more understandable.

In case it helps, here's [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=25901"]a thread [/URL] from late last year which covers our current thinking with respect to the features being discussed here.

effective 2013-02-05 02:05 PM

thank you guys for helping me understand a little better the issue with multiple contexts and/or tags

thanks brian for those links, they really shed some light

i'll give another try to what's already built into OF and see if there's a way to work things out
(maybe it's just not so self evident as a tagging system would be, and maybe i'll even find out i don't need tags…)

i can see how tags may put a simple system into complex chaos
anyway, definitely looking forward to that increment of flexibility you're going to implement into OF

Andrew Scott 2013-02-06 01:51 PM

I'm very disappointed to see Omni pass on the chance to make OmniFocus more flexible for people for whom a single context is problematic. I'd have been happy to upgrade all my apps to accommodate tags or something similar. I guess I'll stick with Things despite its other failings.

I've never seen anyone accuse OmniFocus of being a "simple system". It's certainly [I]possible[/I] to run it as complex chaos as it is right now.

BwanaZulia 2013-02-06 01:56 PM

The debate that won't end.

Multiple Contexts = Noise and confusion

Leave it alone.

BZ

Andrew Scott 2013-02-06 02:05 PM

One man's noise is another man's music.

jamess 2013-02-06 02:26 PM

[QUOTE=Andrew Scott;120052]One man's noise is another man's music.[/QUOTE]

I like noisy music but I don't want tags ;)

OF2 looks great by the way, can't wait to play with the forecast view on the Mac.


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