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

 
Shouldn't a Next Action with Future Start Date = Pending Project? Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
If I have a sequential project whose next action has a future start date, would this not be a "Pending Project"?

Right now, Omnifocus shows these projects as active, but there's nothing you can do with it until a date in the future because there are no available actions. My workaround has been to copy and paste the next actions's start date to the project's start date. The project will then show up as "Pending".

I'm guessing, is the logic for the current implementation so projects don't disappear to Pending status when the project itself is technically active even though you can't do anything with it?

Cameron
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron View Post
Right now, Omnifocus shows these projects as active
Probably worth bearing in mind that 'active' is a user-assigned status and not a calculated one.

The user chooses whether a project is active |done|dropped|on hold and the filter system works with these atoms of user choice, and other factors like user-specified dates, to derive computed states like 'Remaining' or 'Stalled' (without overwriting the user's status or date data).

The draft FAQ on OF 1.8 filter options may give an idea of how the atoms of user-assigned status, dates etc are combined logically to build the filter rules.

--

Last edited by RobTrew; 2010-09-29 at 01:20 PM..
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron View Post
If I have a sequential project whose next action has a future start date, would this not be a "Pending Project"?
No. If you've put a future start date on a project, you are saying that you don't want to even see the project until that date appears. If you put a future start date on the next action, you are simply saying that you can't do any work on the next action until that start date arrives. If that start date changes, or you find there's another task which can be done before the next action, suddenly that project is active again.
Quote:
Right now, Omnifocus shows these projects as active, but there's nothing you can do with it until a date in the future because there are no available actions. My workaround has been to copy and paste the next actions's start date to the project's start date. The project will then show up as "Pending".
You can add additional actions, you can change the start date, and you are reminded of the project's presence when you look at your list of active projects.

You take your car into the shop to have it fixed. The mechanic discovers after doing major disassembly that there's a part that needs to be replaced, and it will take 2 days to get the new part. That's still an active project, but progress can't be made until the part arrives. Now, if he discovers the part is needed before disassembling your car, you can drive it home and come back if and when the part arrives. That's a pending project.

There's certainly nothing wrong with you looking at a project, deciding that as you can't possibly do any work on it until the next action is available, and you don't expect the next action start date to change or additional tasks to be added, you would prefer to have the project be pending until that date. That should be a conscious decision by you, though.

Prior to OmniFocus 1.8, active projects where the next action had a future start date were caught by the Stalled filter in the sidebar. In 1.8, the definition of Stalled was simplified to active projects with no remaining actions.
 
 


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Add the ability to hide project folders with no content or future start dates Kosjer D OmniFocus 1 for Mac 1 2012-02-03 08:32 AM
Unwanted Loc. reminders now for an action due in Jan [A: add start date to action] jman995x OmniFocus for iPhone 4 2011-12-01 02:39 PM
Set Action B's Start Date to Action A's Completion Date ankushnarula OmniFocus 1 for Mac 1 2009-02-23 08:28 AM
Projects are stalled if they have an action with a future start date SpiralOcean OmniFocus 1 for Mac 11 2008-04-02 03:00 PM
Bug: single tasks with start up date in the future brab OmniFocus 1 for Mac 0 2007-06-05 01:58 AM


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 09:37 PM.


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