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Returning to no folders Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Awhile back, I had a hierarchy of folders relating to abstract concepts like "Personal Development", etc. I believe this was from me trying to implement too much of Getting Things Done into Omnifocus. It was too much.

I left Omnifocus for awhile, and since I've been back, I use Folders strictly for Areas of Focus. I have three: Personal, Work, and one more for an organization I volunteer for. That's it. (If I didn't spend a considerable amount of time with the organization, I would have just lumped that in with Personal). There's no drilling down any further. Plus, I can use the Focus feature with Perspectives and my Areas of Focus.

This works great for me. Anything more (or less) is too chaotic.
 
Rob, thank you so much! I love this script as I have always struggled with folders vs. flat list. This is awesome!

Why doesn't Omni adopt some of the awesome scripts Rob, Cliff, et. al develop? These jewels are often buried in the forums.

Steve
 
I finally got around to installing this script. I just got the ipad app and am deciding how I want to tweak things. I have kept my folder arrangement since I last posted here, but I don't like it. Plus I'm finding it unwieldy on the ipad in particular.

But, as I feared, the script is just changing what you SEE on the desktop version, right? So even if you sync, no change to the ipad. Right?

Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

Thanks again though Rob, it is beautiful on the desktop.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by malisa View Post

But, as I feared, the script is just changing what you SEE on the desktop version, right? So even if you sync, no change to the ipad. Right?
That's correct — it does the equivalent of cmd-clicking in the sidebar on all of the projects (but none of the folders), then focusing on the resulting selection. Nothing changes in the database.

It wouldn't be too terribly difficult to arrange for it to actually turn your folder structure into a flat list, but the code to support toggling back at some future point would be a challenge :-)
 
If you are really prepared to irreversibly lose the meaning and memory of your folder structure, want to perform a quick once-only and non-reversible flattening, you could, of course:
  1. Use the script to display all projects in a flattened list,
  2. create a new folder,
  3. select the whole list of projects and drag them into the new folder.

(Using the script to toggle back to the folder view would then reveal a surviving but emptied hierarchy of folders, with all the projects in a single flattened list.)

Not a step to be taken lightly, and I personally haven't tested this and don't recommend it :-)

--

Last edited by RobTrew; 2010-08-22 at 08:59 AM..
 
Thanks. I manually drastically changed the structure. Much less hierarchy, but some.
 
I can understand the current of ambivalence about folders that runs through this thread. Nesting is useful (I am not persuaded by the current rhetoric about simply replacing "hierarchy" with search), but nesting needs to be fluid and easily changed, and one always needs flattened views as well as gathered ones.

The current support for drag and drop is already pretty good in the sidebar, but people clearly do find that folders are either just a little too clumsy for fluid and continual reorganisation, or impede a quick visual search just a little too much.

I personally use folders for building overview, integration, and narrative, but I do find that this requires continual collapsing, reordering and regathering, and that this isn't yet quite as quick and easy as it might be (though applescript can remove a little of the friction, with functions like "flatten the selected sub-tree" and "gather the selected elements into a new or existing folder").



--

Last edited by RobTrew; 2010-08-23 at 01:11 AM..
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobTrew View Post
I can understand the current of ambivalence about folders that runs through this thread. Nesting is useful (I am not persuaded by the current rhetoric about simply replacing "hierarchy" with search), but nesting needs to be fluid and easily changed, and one always needs flattened views as well as gathered ones.

The current support for drag and drop is already pretty good in the sidebar, but people clearly do find that folders are either just a little too clumsy for fluid and continual reorganisation, or impede a quick visual search just a little too much.

I personally use folders for building overview, integration, and narrative, but I do find that this requires continual collapsing, reordering and regathering, and that this isn't yet quite as quick and easy as it might be (though applescript can remove a little of the friction, with functions like "flatten the selected sub-tree" and "gather the selected elements into a new or existing folder").



--
Rob, thanks for your always thoughtful reflections. I must say that, bar my current un-fodlered system, your (un)flattening scripts seemed like the best solution vs. search for the reasons you mention above. So far I'm finding the absence of hierarchy (full flattened lists) are helping me out (just talking about my personal circumstances) because they "force" me to re-engage and be aware of my system's current state more consistently. In other words, having everything flattened out (paradoxically?) helps me trust in my engaging with the system fully and regularly.
 
Going folderless (sounds so risque!) works well with AutoFocus techniques http://www.markforster.net/autofocus-index/ wherein your tasks live on a simple, single list--apparently hopelessly intermingled, till you learn the system.

OF has way more power than you need for this system, but I find the quick input and sync are great (and I do use projects and contexts to provide other views, even though not required by the system).
 
 


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