The Omni Group
These forums are now read-only. Please visit our new forums to participate in discussion. A new account will be required to post in the new forums. For more info on the switch, see this post. Thank you!

Go Back   The Omni Group Forums > OmniFocus > OmniFocus 1 for Mac
FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

 
Time Visualization and Calendar Preference Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcoad View Post
...I know that you have many feature suggestions to consider and juggle. But this one is widely desired...
I'm not taking a side in this, but do we really know that this feature is widely desired? Some users have been vocal about it, as is evident on the forum, but are those opinions truly representative of the entire OmniFocus user base? Do they even represent a significant percentage?

I'm not sure. I think it's entirely possible that most OmniFocus users are satisfied with the current single context implementation. But who knows?

I would think Omni Group has a better sense of this than anyone else.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toadling View Post
I think it's entirely possible that most OmniFocus users are satisfied with the current single context implementation. But who knows?
Maybe. As you say, who knows, and I agree that the Omni folks will have the best sense of what people want and priorities for development. It’s worth pointing out, though, that some form of multiple contexting is taken for granted in other popular GTD-type apps, such as LifeBalance and Things, presumably for a reason.

In just about every other respect, though, OF is far superior, imho, and a superb tool, so I shall be staying with it enthusiastically, despite the gripes, and keep on recommending it. Enthusiasm and vigorous argument for improvements (a subjective thing, obviously) can go together...

But this is supposed to be a thread about timelines, not multiple contexts, so that said I’m out of here...
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcoad View Post
It’s worth pointing out, though, that some form of multiple contexting is taken for granted in other popular GTD-type apps, such as LifeBalance and Things, presumably for a reason.
It is a common feature, I agree. And I wouldn't complain if it were added to OmniFocus. But there are other, more pressing issues that I'd like to see addressed first (like search performance across large databases with all items displayed).

Quote:
Originally Posted by mcoad View Post
In just about every other respect, though, OF is far superior, imho, and a superb tool, so I shall be staying with it enthusiastically, despite the gripes, and keep on recommending it. Enthusiasm and vigorous argument for improvements (a subjective thing, obviously) can go together...
I wholeheartedly agree. OmniFocus is not perfect, but all things considered, it's the best option available. And I applaud your desire and effort to make it even better. In my mind, that's really the whole point of these discussions and Omni Group's openness.
 
Absolutely!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcoad View Post
it would be good to know if there is a chance of it being considered in the future or whether you truly do rule it out on conceptual grounds.
We generally don't like to rule anything in or out absolutely - plans always change over time. We always listen to what folks want our apps to do, but keep in mind that we have to balance the needs of folks that want thing X, the folks that like our app because it excludes thing X, and the folks that don't know or care about thing X one way or the other but just want an application without a lot of extra features they don't care about or use.

If we're flat-out not going to do something, we'll say so, if only because we know folks will keep asking about it. That's a pretty small category, though.

(Will we do any more work on our port of Oni? No. That's the only one I could think of, though.)

If we haven't said anything, it generally means that we're thinking about the problem but haven't decided what course of action to take; that's all.
 
Thanks, Brian, and fair enough. Hope springs eternal, and meanwhile gratitude and kudos for the superb products as ever.
 
I too am stuck in the nether world between omnifocus and omniplan. Particularly I would like to be able to set up dependencies across many projects. As in I can't start project y until project x is complete even though they are completely different, due to "necessary work space" issues for example.

Things work fine on sequential actions if it is contained within a projects action list, but it is much more difficult to have a secondary project become active after, say, the 3rd item is complete from a different project list.

With development of the iPhone omnifocus, and logically when the entire mac platform goes to touch - it would be fantastic to be able to just "touch" grab and project and drop it onto a step in a different project to create a "has to be done before" or "can't be completed until" dependency much like what is possible in omniplan.

For those who say I should do this (with a mouse) in omniplan, the problem is I cant transfer omnifocus files back and forth between the 2 and keep any relevant information!

I guess that is where things need to start - allow omniplan cross transferable manipulation of omnifocus data for those who have paid for the higher end functions. It is really frustrating to not be able to use the same data across both programs. Dual Entry, even when minimal, sucks.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcoad View Post
Thanks, yucca. You’re right, these are the alternatives, but at the risk of repeating what’s already been said ad infinitum in this and other threads, this is just the problem. Those of us asking for a timeline are always recommended to go to OmniPlan or similar. Our point is that these are total overkill for what we need, which is the simple ability to see tasks and dates set out graphically in a basic timeline to see at a glance how they all jive together and thus organize time better (ie get things done). We don’t need the bells and whistles of a full-scale, multi-person project planner (never mind the far bigger bucks for the myriad other features we would never use). This feature would be a natural addition to the app, fully in keeping with its lean style and philosophy, and far from bloat.
I can't agree more. Hopefully this a feature that will not add to much more complexity to the program (for people who like the simplicity of OF) and will be a good point of differentiation from the competitors. It could at least look fancy.
If "Things" was to add this feature I would consider switching to it although it lacks the depth of features that OF offers.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mjstarks View Post
I guess that is where things need to start - allow omniplan cross transferable manipulation of omnifocus data for those who have paid for the higher end functions. It is really frustrating to not be able to use the same data across both programs. Dual Entry, even when minimal, sucks.
We have definite plans to attack this issue, though it would be in OmniFocus/OmniPlan 2.0 at the earliest.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcoad View Post
Those of us asking for a timeline are always recommended to go to OmniPlan or similar. Our point is that these are total overkill for what we need, which is the simple ability to see tasks and dates set out graphically in a basic timeline to see at a glance how they all jive together and thus organize time better (ie get things done). We don’t need the bells and whistles of a full-scale, multi-person project planner (never mind the far bigger bucks for the myriad other features we would never use). This feature would be a natural addition to the app, fully in keeping with its lean style and philosophy, and far from bloat.
A couple things that bear mentioning:
As I mention here, the only feature requests that are guaranteed to make it into our bug tracking system are the ones that come to omnifocus@omnigroup.com.

Our bug system currently has over 150 open feature requests with more user votes attached than the one for Gantt charting has. The #1 request is machine-to-machine synching. It has over 20 times as many emails attached to it.

If we add stripped-down gantt charting to OmniFocus, folks will inevitably want 'just this one feature that OmniPlan has' added to OmniFocus. Except every person will want a different one feature. Interested readers may want to check this article out:
Bloatware and the 80/20 Myth
It explains the phenomenon I'm describing in more detail. You start with stripped-down Gantt charts in OmniFocus, but it will not end there. I promise you.

'Bloat' is a very pejorative term, but the features being discussed here involve adding completely new view modes to the app. It's a lot of code, and you can't just copy and paste it over from OmniPlan or iCal, even to do the stripped-down charting or calendaring which is just the first step down either road.

Assuming the features I mentioned in my last post - remember, OmniFocus/OmniPlan 2 at the earliest - it is more than likely that we'll stick with a 'export data from OmniFocus to OmniPlan' approach.

Remember - even without an OmniPlan license, you can open an OP document of any size. You just can't edit the document. So, if you really don't need the features of OmniPlan enough to make a license for both apps worth it, you could still edit in OmniFocus, export to OmniPlan, and use that info to make further edits back in OmniFocus.

Is it ideal for you guys? No. But given the demand we're seeing for this feature, the ideal solution requires a lot more work to make a small portion of our user base happier.

An additional problem with this: how it would affect folks that are new to our product line. We have a minor problem now with folks not understanding how OmniOutliner, OmniFocus, and OmniPlan differ from each other. Adding Gantt charts to OmniFocus would muddy that water even further.

So, to be very clear: is the specific solution being requested here possible? Yes.

Is it likely to be implemented in the way this thread requests? No, for the reasons I've explained.

Is it likely that we'll do something to satisfy folks that want this? Yes, because we have existing work planned that covers most of the request. We want to make our users as happy as we can possibly make them.

Last edited by Brian; 2008-05-01 at 03:48 PM..
 
 


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Can't find my calendar in the preference list [A: sync to a local calendar.] roblevin12 iCal Sync 42 2012-07-13 03:47 AM
Calendar in forecast: specify time range and 24h clock? brab OmniFocus for iPad 2 2011-05-18 04:29 AM
Making tasks show 'calendar' time flamejob OmniPlan General 8 2009-04-17 04:45 PM
Calendar time vs. duration vs. effort Bijan Parsia OmniPlan General 0 2008-11-10 02:48 AM
Effort / Duration vs Calendar Time pkropf@gmail.com OmniPlan General 0 2007-12-03 12:07 PM


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 01:31 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.