[Jay Levitt]

I'm just switching from a PC (and MyLifeOrganized) to a Mac, so my keyboard habits aren't completely kosher yet. Nonetheless, I've been computing for 30 years, and I've never run into this one before:

It's way too easy to accidentally create empty (blank) actions!

I want Quick Entry to let me use Return to create multiple items. And I haven't touched any other keystroke defaults either (I remember futzing with them in OmniOutliner last week, but that was last week, so who remembers?)

So usually my day goes something like:

Oh! Buy peanut butter. Control-option-space, "Buy peanut butter", return. Oh yeah, return doesn't save. Enter. Nope, enter adds a blank line. Command-return. Nope, that beeps. Oh yeah, Command-S! OK, so now I have "Buy peanut butter" and a two-line blank item.

Likewise when I try to add actions in the main window under other actions ("aunts", in OmniOutliner parlace); half the time, I get the outline paradigm wrong (same problem in Finder, for what it's worth), so I end up creating a blank item and then finding the right way to add it.

MLO is pretty smart; if your item contains only whitespace, it doesn't add it - it acts as an undo. Yes, I could remember to delete the item before (or after) quick entry, but the whole point of quick entry is to be brainless... can Omni Focus please delete the blank entries for me before saving them?

I'm using 1.0.2 sneakypeak (v77.1.5.0.99275, and do I wish that text was selectable for copy/paste? I do.)

[jasong]

Under Omnifocus > Preferences, choose General, and under Quick Entry select "Save items and save" for the "When pressing Return" option.

Beyond that, OF does need to handle "empty" entries more intelligently. It's an annoying mis-feature.

[Toadling]

I don't know, I personally like that the Return key creates a new entry. It's one of the reasons I think OmniFocus is easier to use than its competitors. The Return key behavior (along with the Delete key and arrow keys) makes OmniFocus feel like a text editor - quick and lightweight.

I suppose if you're not used to it, though, it might take a while to build up the muscle memory. I spend a lot of time in BBEdit and OmniOutliner, so the behavior feels completely natural to me.

Originally Posted by Jay Levitt

I'm using 1.0.2 sneakypeak (v77.1.5.0.99275, and do I wish that text was selectable for copy/paste? I do.)

I'm not sure I understand. Text is selectable for copy/paste. Can you be more specific?

[Jay Levitt]

No, I agree with Toady; I want return to create new items. I often think of three or four things at once that I want to "quick enter".

But I don't count them ahead of time. It's "milk, RETURN, cheese, RETURN, crackers, RETURN, hmm, okay, I guess that's it, SAVE".. and now my shopping list has milk, cheese, crackers, and emptiness. My supermarket doesn't even carry emptiness; I have to have it special-ordered.

As for copy/paste - I meant, specifically, the version number in the "About OmniFocus" window. Try selecting it, at least in the sneakypeek, and you'll just open up a sub-pane with build details. As any programmer knows, if you want people to report their version numbers, you make it easy for them to copy and paste their version numbers :)

[Toadling]

Originally Posted by Jay Levitt

But I don't count them ahead of time. It's "milk, RETURN, cheese, RETURN, crackers, RETURN, hmm, okay, I guess that's it, SAVE".. and now my shopping list has milk, cheese, crackers, and emptiness. My supermarket doesn't even carry emptiness; I have to have it special-ordered.

LOL, yea, emptiness is in short supply at my grocer too. OK, I agree it'd be nice if OmniFocus was smart enough to automatically remove a blank entry submitted from the Quick Entry window. Is there any valid case for wanting to submit a blank entry from the Quick Entry window? I can't think of any.

As a bit of a work-around, and following on the theme of "acting like a text editor", you can hit the Delete key once after creating a blank entry and it will be removed.

If you haven't already, you should send an official feature request using the Help->Send Feedback menu bar option.

Originally Posted by Jay Levitt

As for copy/paste - I meant, specifically, the version number in the "About OmniFocus" window. Try selecting it, at least in the sneakypeek, and you'll just open up a sub-pane with build details. As any programmer knows, if you want people to report their version numbers, you make it easy for them to copy and paste their version numbers :)

Ah, I understand now. Sorry, I was confused. Yea, that should be selectable it seems. But you could also just copy the Revision number from the build details. I think that gets you everything you need to uniquely identify your version.