[wfiveash]

I don't get the parent/child task behavior in OF. When I create a parent task and assign several child/sub tasks under it, I expect that when I've marked all the child tasks as done, the parent task would then be marked as done but that isn't what OF does. The parent isn't automatically marked as done when all the child tasks are done. This doesn't make sense to me and again differs from how OOutliner behaves in regards to status check boxes.

[brianogilvie]

This behavior has been debated ever since action groups were introduced. Some people want the behavior you describe, thinking action groups are akin to actions. Others think they're more akin to projects, and that the fact that you have completed all the actions in them does not necessarily mean that you have completed them. You might have more planning to do on them.

Me? I wish that they behaved like parent actions in Life Balance, which appear on the task list only after all their children are done. Then you can decide whether to check them off or switch to the outline view and add more children.

[wfiveash]

Originally Posted by brianogilvie

This behavior has been debated ever since action groups were introduced. Some people want the behavior you describe, thinking action groups are akin to actions. Others think they're more akin to projects, and that the fact that you have completed all the actions in them does not necessarily mean that you have completed them. You might have more planning to do on them.

Me? I wish that they behaved like parent actions in Life Balance, which appear on the task list only after all their children are done. Then you can decide whether to check them off or switch to the outline view and add more children.

I don't get the OF logic if it's trying to treat parent tasks as projects. If one wants to use a project then create a project. I think the current parent/child task behavior is wrong.

[Chris]

I personally would like to see the behavior wfiveash suggests (action groups autocomplete when all the children are completed), and have told OG this more than once, but also agree that the behavior brian suggests would be a big improvement over the current (badly designed) behavior.

Or, make it a preference, even if it's a hidden one.

[Captain Tex]

I would like to see this change as well. -CT

Originally Posted by Chris

I personally would like to see the behavior wfiveash suggests (action groups autocomplete when all the children are completed)

[Brian]

We appreciate the feedback, but 'me too' threads on the forums aren't helpful. Locking this thread.

[brianogilvie]

Originally Posted by wfiveash

I don't get the OF logic if it's trying to treat parent tasks as projects.

An action group is neither a subproject nor a parent task. It is an action group. Some people use them to keep their complex projects organized. Others use them to mix parallel and sequential sets of actions within the same project. If you want to use OmniFocus as it was developed and released, it's best to think of an action group as just that, rather than something that it is not (project or action).

That doesn't preclude sending email feedback to Omni Group suggesting that they change the behavior in version 2.0. I'm not arguing for stasis. I'm just trying to explain the logic behind the current behavior.

[Brian]

Originally Posted by brianogilvie

An action group is neither a subproject nor a parent task. It is an action group. Some people use them to keep their complex projects organized. Others use them to mix parallel and sequential sets of actions within the same project. If you want to use OmniFocus as it was developed and released, it's best to think of an action group as just that, rather than something that it is not (project or action).

That doesn't preclude sending email feedback to Omni Group suggesting that they change the behavior in version 2.0. I'm not arguing for stasis. I'm just trying to explain the logic behind the current behavior.

We <3 brianogilvie.

[brianogilvie]

Originally Posted by Brian

We <3 brianogilvie.

Aw, shucks!