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Hello,

is it possible to add a contact to a certain action? Say, I have the action "call Anders about ...", could I add the contact to the action so I wouldn't have to open the list of contacts, find him there and then call him?
 
Can't add the contact, but you can type or paste the phone number into the notes field. Then when you return to that task, you can just tap on the link and the phone will dial the number...or email if you put an email address in there instead of a phone number.
 
Hi HenricF,

The ability to add contacts has been requested for years, and in July it was the top of Omni's 'most requested' feature list, however it apparently has slipped back badly.

IMHO it's a no-brainer, who wants to have an action such as Call Joe, switch to contacts, and then copy-and-paste the relevant info back to OF? If you haven't decided how you want to communicate (which phone number?, depends on time of day; email?, home or work, etc.) that's a lot of switching back-and-forth, copy-and-pasting to cover all the possibilities! Like a lot of people, if I have Call Paul or Email Steve, I want to add the relevant person by simply hitting Insert Contact from within OmniFocus. It would also save me having to type the surname in, or trying to remember which 'Steve' from the half-a-dozen possibilities!

If you're up to it, email the Support Ninjas, and vote for it. However, I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for it to happen....!

Last edited by endoftheQ; 2010-11-07 at 10:57 AM..
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by endoftheQ View Post
Hi HenricF,

The ability to add contacts has been requested for years, and in July it was the top of Omni's 'most requested' feature list, however it apparently has slipped back badly.
Two observations:

1) it is hard to conclude anything about where it stands now if you are judging by what has been released, as the releases since then have been primarily bug fixes, not new feature vehicles.

2) if it has slipped back in the rankings, it has been because more votes have come in for other features (some features found only in the iPad app are likely candidates, I think). Feature requests aren't "aged out" of the system.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
Two observations:

1) it is hard to conclude anything about where it stands now if you are judging by what has been released, as the releases since then have been primarily bug fixes, not new feature vehicles.

2) if it has slipped back in the rankings, it has been because more votes have come in for other features (some features found only in the iPad app are likely candidates, I think). Feature requests aren't "aged out" of the system.
Huh! I'm relying on info. supplied by the OmniFolk.

In July this year:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian View Post
We may add this at some point - folks have asked for it before. But this request has had fewer than 10 customer votes attached since we launched the app. It looks like the top of the "we need this feature" list (linking to address book contacts in some fashion) has almost 70.
In September:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian View Post
Support for contacts actually got the first customer request in 2006, not 2007. :-)

Contacts were at the top of the list when I originally mentioned it, but there are other requests that are more popular now; contacts are in the #10 slot. The current top item has twice the votes that contacts do, and was entered more recently.
I've always thought it a complete joke that we're supposed to vote on bug fixes, it's up there with Omni's passion for flitting after Apple's latest bright shiny iDea and relegating everything else to the endoftheQ!

If Omni doesn't get that it's an iPhone and that adding contacts is a no-brainer (even though it has never been one of my feature requests), way ahead of flakey location-aware alerts, then all I can say is they must firmly believe in GTDVVS* and inflicting it upon the rest of us.

*Getting Things Done Very Very S-L-O-W-L-Y...!

Last edited by endoftheQ; 2010-11-07 at 10:58 AM..
 
That all seems quite consistent with what I said. Point #1 said "if you are judging by what has been released", and you aren't. Point #2 said that other requests had surpassed it (as you illustrated) in popularity. I know it is difficult for you to accept, but some of us find the current functionality sufficient, if not perfect, and may have other requests that are more pressing. Someone who wants the Review mode from the iPad or Mac on the iPhone can't really "fake it" in the same way that pasting Joe's phone number into the note field addresses the contact issue, for example.

If I'm in a rush during the entry of the action to call someone, I don't bother putting in the contact info; I'll put it in the next time I review the project.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
I know it is difficult for you to accept, but some of us find the current functionality sufficient, if not perfect, and may have other requests that are more pressing.
I understand completely, whpalmer4, you have an iPod not an iPhone, so being able to click on a contact to make a phone call or send a text isn't exactly a priority for you!
 
I have both. Nice try, though!

My point about adding contact info, whether it be something that I can tap to activate (email, phone) or not (street address), stands. In any case, the time it takes me to look someone up if they are in the Address Book app is usually dwarfed by the time spent on the phone call (or the time I spent laughing after seeing your post imagining that you thought you'd caught me :-). No doubt it would be slicker to be able to do that lookup at the time that the action was created, but somewhere along the line I'm going to have to spend the time to do the lookup.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
I have both. Nice try, though!

My point about adding contact info, whether it be something that I can tap to activate (email, phone) or not (street address), stands. In any case, the time it takes me to look someone up if they are in the Address Book app is usually dwarfed by the time spent on the phone call (or the time I spent laughing after seeing your post imagining that you thought you'd caught me :-). No doubt it would be slicker to be able to do that lookup at the time that the action was created, but somewhere along the line I'm going to have to spend the time to do the lookup.
Haha, I didn't know, was just being sarky, but delighted to have amused you!

As for your dwarf telephone analogy, I trust that every action you enter actually takes longer to do than put in. You have grasped the 2-minute rule? If not, more than happy to elaborate! Also, what about repeating actions, having to call, text or email a dozen different people or companies each and every week? Still think there's no value?

However, I have to accept that if 140+ of the membership voted to keep Ken beavering away at what IMHO will be totally flaky location-aware alerts, then who am I to argue?

I mean, location-aware alerts were top of the list right?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by endoftheQ View Post
You have grasped the 2-minute rule? If not, more than happy to elaborate!
No need, I understand it quite well. Just about everything I put into OmniFocus is something I need or want to do but cannot do at the time that I think of it, so the 2 minute rule rarely applies.
Quote:
Also, what about repeating actions, having to call, text or email a dozen different people or companies each and every week? Still think there's no value?
The functional blocks are that I create the action, I look up the contact, and I make the call. Do I not have to do all those things in any relevant scenario? The savings here is only if Omni makes it easier to find the contact and extract the necessary info from within OmniFocus than by switching to the Address Book, copying it, switching back and pasting. All my iOS gadgets still run some 3.x flavor, so I don't know how much easier that is under 4.x, but I don't find it to be much of a chore under 3.x, so that puts an upper bound on how much time it will save me. If it is a repeating call, that small penalty gets spread out over a larger number of calls.
Quote:
However, I have to accept that if 140+ of the membership voted to keep Ken beavering away at what IMHO will be totally flaky location-aware alerts, then who am I to argue?

I mean, location-aware alerts were top of the list right?
I think you are being a bit disingenuous. No one has said that Omni only looks at the customer requests database when deciding what to do next. It is merely one input. If Ken or whoever else is in a position to make such calls thinks that there is a feature they should build to advance the product, they are going to build it whether or not anyone has had the good sense to ask for it.
 
 


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