[bashosfrog]

During the course of a workday there are often tasks that I want to drop from my workflow, but still have in the task list as a reference point.

So, I make a context "dropped" with the status "Dropped". But when I want to mark a task as dropped, it doesn't show up in the context drop-down list. It seems my only option is to drag-and-drop the task onto the context within the Context view. I can't do that from Project view, which is where I tend to work from.

Why banish "dropped" contexts from the drop-down list? It's one of those small "do it my way" things about OmniFocus that make it less intuitive than it should be.

[whpalmer4]

Make your context "on hold" instead of "dropped" and you won't have this issue. Dropped projects don't appear in the lists, either. The idea is that you want the project (or context) out of sight during normal operation, and are keeping it only so you have a record of its existence.

[bashosfrog]

Thanks for the pointer, whp.

I already use "On Hold" for a couple of contexts. I want to specifically "drop" certain tasks, which OF recognises as a possible course of action. But:

- why make dropped items disappear? I'd prefer to have them appear, if very subdued, as an aide-mémoire to my thought processes at the time.

- why are "dropped" contexts unavailable in the drop-down context list?

Maybe I just need to file a gripe with Omni.

[curt.clifton]

The fact that the don't appear in drop down lists is the result of previous griping. Most people seem to think that dropped items shouldn't appear; they're gone forever except as a record of past activity. So, feel free to submit a request, but I'd guess that a change is unlikely.

It sounds like when you drop something, you intend to pick it up again. That seems like the definition of on-hold to me. OF 2.0 will supposedly include the ability to put individual actions on-hold without changing their contexts. Would that help with your situation?

[bashosfrog]

Curt - no, I don't intend to pick dropped items up again as part of the same project. But in my line of work, the people I talk to as part of one assignment may become the basis for another assignment in the future. In that case, I go back and review who I interviewed, and also who I didn't interview. In that sense, old task lists serve as a permanent aide-mémoire.

Very few of my tasks are of the "clean desk" variety, the sort that can be chucked out after they are crossed off. They contain contact details, a few notes on when I called, left messages, promises to call back, websites and other cruft. I should be using a CRM, perhaps, but I'm not in sales and find CRMs to be clunky and full of features I don't need.

OF is just right - except in its insistence that it knows what I don't want to see.

[curt.clifton]

Originally Posted by bashosfrog

OF is just right - except in its insistence that it knows what I don't want to see.

Or rather, its insistence that when it uses a word like "dropped" the word means what it wants it to mean, with apologies to Lewis Carroll. I think the change you're looking for is unlikely to happen, and certainly won't happen immediately. So, you'll have to look for ways to use the tools that you have to do what you want. Sand with the grain, in woodworker parlance.

Let us know whether Bill's (whpalmer) suggestion can be made to work for you. If not, perhaps there's some other foo that you could do using perspectives.

[bashosfrog]

Originally Posted by curt.clifton

Or rather, its insistence that when it uses a word like "dropped" the word means what it wants it to mean, with apologies to Lewis Carroll.

I think in this case, the interpretation of "dropped" is too close to "deleted" in that the task goes AWOL from the task list.

Anyway, I seem to be alone in my angst, so I'll just give "dropped" an On Hold status and leave it at that.

Thanks for the discussion, Curt and Bill.

[curt.clifton]

Originally Posted by bashosfrog

I think in this case, the interpretation of "dropped" is too close to "deleted" in that the task goes AWOL from the task list.

Only if you don't change the view bar. You can show the tasks in dropped contexts by changing the view bar's availability filter to show any status.

It might be worth experimenting with the use of searches like

tasks where (hidden of its context) is true

and

contexts where hidden is true

in Where in OF (for OF 1.8)

to list and select / focus on the matching items, or a subset of them.

--

[bashosfrog]

Rob,

I'm a big fan of your OmniFocus-Devonthink scripts, and am really appreciative that you've taken the time to analyse my workflow and improve it substantially :-)

As a non-scripter, my mind boggles at how much work WhereInOF must have taken. It's another gem, and thank you, it does partly address the subject of this thread.

I'd like to think that the OmniFolk will grab this (paying you handsomely) and put an Omni UI on it. Search is one of OF's weak points, perhaps because few people use the program as a CRM-type work record as I do. This goes a long way towards fixing that.