[ksrhee]

Originally Posted by ext555

If I was omnigroup I'd be very quiet about my plans and " shock the world " when the time came.
Hit List has lots of potential , Things looks like they need a major investment shot in the arm to deliver on all their ideas .
just my .02

Not sure this is a good marketing strategy as far as I'm concerned. I think Apple can get away with doing something like this (keeping things secret), since it really has a "monopoly" when it comes to OS and hardware integration, but it seems to me there is a competition in the market for this type of programs right now. I would agree that you don't want to advertise a feature so that others can "steal," but I doubt any of these ideas are "new" or "revolutionary." So, Omni might be risking "defection" of current customers or even "losing" future customers by keeping silence, while their competition is not.

[Toadling]

Originally Posted by ksrhee

I think Apple can get away with doing something like this (keeping things secret), since it really has a "monopoly" when it comes to OS and hardware integration...

I don't follow. What "monopoly?" Apple's got all kinds of competition. Yet they seem to be doing quite well in spite of (or perhaps because of) their secrecy. They certainly get a lot of free publicity from it.

Secrecy, I think, is just part of Apple's culture. They're even secret internally; everyone's on a "need to know basis," for better or worse.

Originally Posted by ksrhee

So, Omni might be risking "defection" of current customers or even "losing" future customers by keeping silence, while their competition is not.

Keeping silent? The Omni Group has been extremely forthcoming throughout the entire development of OmniFocus, more so than any other software company I know of. They've repeatedly said that metadata columns (in support of tags, people, priorities, etc.) are coming soon, possibly even 1.6. The Omni Group has also stated that they're adding smart folders along with a UI overhaul. Integration with OmniPlan has also been mentioned, although it sounds like that's farther down the road.

Granted there aren't many specifics, but maybe there's nothing to demo yet. After all, 1.5 was just released two months ago. And since then there have been holidays and Macworld, leaving maybe 4 weeks for them to start working on the next release. That's not much time.

So I see no reason to think the Omni Group has suddenly adopted a practice of secrecy. We just need to be patient and let them get the next release to a state where it's ready for alpha/beta testing.

-Dennis

[Avrum68]

Originally Posted by Toadling

(in support of tags, people, priorities, etc.) are coming soon, possibly even 1.6. The Omni Group has also stated that they're adding smart folders along with a UI overhaul. Integration with OmniPlan has also been mentioned, although it sounds like that's farther down the road

This is great to hear. At first, I left the The Hit List for OF due to stability issues with Beta software. My assumption was that I'd return to THL as soon as it ironed out the bugs. However I'm enjoying the stability of OF. And to think that there wll be improvement in the UI, smart folders, etc.... Hell, I may even stay.

[Nicolas_Thomsen]

This might be a bit OT, but I have seen a couple of members mention a request for tags. I have to say that I am fairly new to GTD, I have been playing with Things, Todo and RTM for iPhone before getting to OM for iPhone and Mac. What I really love about OM is that it is not over complicated. I dropped RTM and Things because I don´t understand the need for Lists(Projects), Areas/context AND tags. I love the principle of Contexts and Projects but why do some people here need tags as well?

[wdiadamo]

I don't know if this applies to other people as well, but I would like tags for "today" or "tomorrow", etc. The one thing I thing the tag based products do better than OF is identify those things that I want (as opposed to need) to do today. I (and I dare say others) don't always operate based on contexts. Sometimes I change contexts in order to do something I want or need to do at that time. This may not be strict GTD, but would better fit my workflow.

[CatOne]

Originally Posted by wdiadamo

I don't know if this applies to other people as well, but I would like tags for "today" or "tomorrow", etc. The one thing I thing the tag based products do better than OF is identify those things that I want (as opposed to need) to do today. I (and I dare say others) don't always operate based on contexts. Sometimes I change contexts in order to do something I want or need to do at that time. This may not be strict GTD, but would better fit my workflow.

I'm maybe missing something, but this functionality is already in OmniFocus if you set due dates for items, no?

Look at the built-in "Due Soon" perspective, for example. It gives you more than just "Today" and "Tomorrow" -- depending on how you have defined "Due Soon" it breaks down tasks that are due in certain time periods. It is great for finding out what's coming due or what's overdue, and it's more flexible than just 2 view for "today" and "tomorrow" in the sidebar.

The downside of course is that you then start living by due dates, many of them arbitrary, in an effort to make sure you see things in a certain time frame. The other downside (in particular, compared to Things), is that you can't create a view based on OR, a la Things' "Today" view which is basically "Things due or overdue today, as well as things I have manually marked Today (akin to a flag).

If OmniFocus were to get smart groups (alongside or replacing perspectives), as well as the flexibility to define smart groups, then I really see very little it couldn't do.

My only other request (which will no doubt offend the true practicers of GTD) would be that I could have a task with no context, which is also active. I really use start dates to hide tasks that I can't work on yet, and so use an Active view, but if I forget to set a context on an item, I lose it.

[joelande]

Originally Posted by Nicolas_Thomsen

but why do some people here need tags as well?

For OmniGroup's latest official response from OmiGroup regarding tags, click here:
http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost...&postcount=155
And in Ken's response, there is a link to the "Tags" thread.

And for a REALLY in depth discussion, if you are brave enough, you can try this link:
http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthre...highlight=tags

[gcrump]

Originally Posted by CatOne

I'm maybe missing something, but this functionality is already in OmniFocus if you set due dates for items, no?

Look at the built-in "Due Soon" perspective, for example. It gives you more than just "Today" and "Tomorrow" -- depending on how you have defined "Due Soon" it breaks down tasks that are due in certain time periods. It is great for finding out what's coming due or what's overdue, and it's more flexible than just 2 view for "today" and "tomorrow" in the sidebar.

but if I forget to set a context on an item, I lose it.

For the Today/Tomorrow stuff I use what CatOne suggests. Here is a screen shot.

CatOne: On you next item not having a context and therefore note making it a next action. I share your concern. There is a script that Curtis has developed that I use (Thanks Curtis) that scans for projects with no next actions, I wonder if i can be modified to look for "next items" that don't have a context assigned?.

[ext555]

I personally don't feel tags are all that useful .
During the time I tried out " things " they were probably the least used feature , it's one of those things that looks great , sounds great , but in practice is a pain to implement .
I didn't like using them for contexts at all .

[Avrum68]

Originally Posted by wdiadamo;54076I

(and I dare say others) don't always operate based on contexts. .

Truly, I never understood the hysteria surrounding contexts/GTD. I tried using them - thinking I was missing something - and abandoned them when I realized that I work according to energy, motivation, etc... not "Hey, I'm near a phone, whom shall I call". Anyway, I use the following contexts:

waiting
today
this week
later

to organize my tasks.