[johnsel]

One of the reasons I think so many people have trouble grokking OF is the notion of Focus and Perspectives.

Here's an example of a point of potential confusion.

1) In settings tell the app to "Show Due Soon and Overdue actions" "In the menu bar"
2) Focus on a project or folder.
3) Click on a context in the menu bar list that has due soon or overdue items as indicated by the number in a red circle.

If the overdue items are not for the project/folder currently in focus, a new window opens to that context, in that focus, and shows no actions.

Even more confusing, if there is more than one window open and they have different focuses, it chooses - I think - the top most focus.

Clicking the menu bar item should, in my opinion, open a window with all items available (ie: nothing in focus) and show all items that are due soon / overdue for that particular context.

[whpalmer4]

I'm sorry to say that, in my experience, this has been a buggy area of the software since the beginning. I've filed many bug reports, gotten agreement from the right people that the bugs should be fixed, even offered to run test images or give them access to my system and data when suggestions have come back that they haven't been able to reproduce the issue in the lab. Whatever the reason, the bugs remain, and I can't say that getting them fixed is more important to me than other issues, so I've largely given up on it. Maybe some bug reports from other users will prod them into a bit of action.

To my eyes, the behavior of opening a new window when following an external link or using the menu bar feature should not depend on the state of any windows already open. And opening a new window intended to show a particular action or project (following a link being the clearest example) must give the user a window that actually does so! The current implementation appears to fail both tests.

[johnsel]

I have some hope / faith that this will improve. I think the omni guys are committed to working this out. they've certainly been approachable on this forum and in support email.

Even though I think I really "get" OF now, I still remember finding it tough going in the beginning. I can't quite put my finger on why.

I think it has to do with the "modes" in which the app functions. Panic's Coda web dev app has a similar problem: it's not always clear what mode you're in at any given time.

Also, the fact that fields only show up if you populate them is confusing for some. It looks like a blank line until you click in the Due column, for example. There is no visual indicator on the line itself that you can do that. I think this is a weakness that should be addressed.

I think the design is that OF strives to get out of your way. And with practice, it certainly does fade into the background.