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Example project attached - why is this so unmanageable on the iPad? Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
... I already had 195 other items in my inbox ...
Wow, you are one busy dude. Can't imagine ever having more than a dozen items or so in my inbox :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
Fact of the matter, though, is I'm not going to type stuff like this in on my iPad except in an emergency.
Whereas I can only get to the Mac in an emergency! I've got quite used to the keyboard, and can quite happily tap out multi-page scripts on it. Gonna get me a bluetooth keyboard at some point, but I think the argument that the iPad isn't for content creation has been properly blown out the water now. Again, in an outliner app (like the CarbonFin one) I can rattle out outlines, with their structure, almost as fast as with a desktop app. Just can't add contexts and due dates, and there's no way to import it into OF, so I'm stuck with inputting it directly into OF.

Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
No, I'm not going to do it all again on the iPhone for the sake of comparison! :)
Well then, you're just not trying. ;)
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by howiem View Post
It's taken a while, but OmniFocus has become essential to my life. The Mac version lets me (encourages me, even) to break my projects down into do-able chunks. A typical small-scale promo film for me looks like this (I've simplified it a little, but apologies for the size of this image):
My projects are just like this - and I quite agree, there should be an easier way of nesting actions.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by howiem View Post
Again, in an outliner app (like the CarbonFin one) I can rattle out outlines, with their structure, almost as fast as with a desktop app. Just can't add contexts and due dates, and there's no way to import it into OF, so I'm stuck with inputting it directly into OF.
Howiem, I haven't tested this, but as CarbonFin Outliner can export OPML, can't you then import this into OmniFocus via OmniOutliner?

Just a thought!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonoslack View Post
My projects are just like this - and I quite agree, there should be an easier way of nesting actions.
Actually, I've just had a proper try to do a nested project like this - it's very quick and simple -
create project
hold finger to create new action
type in description - touch info to see context and move
type in context
hit move and choose where to nest
hold finger on project to create new action
type in description
choose context
choose move (info inspector stays active)
Seems to me that it's quick and intuitive and fast.

Even moving inbox items is simpler after a little practice.
 
Maybe Im missing something, but...
my advice would be to first create a project. Then press and hold that project until a pop-up appears, in which you can select "focus". Now only this project is shown and that allows you to use the "plus-button" to add new actions to this specific project. This is way faster than adding all your individual actions through the quick-entry button.

The only thing that is still a hassle is the indenting within a project (now you need the Move button for each individual action). Drag-and-drop indenting is already noted by others as a feature request, so I suggest you send Omni an email that you would like that too.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonoslack View Post
Actually, I've just had a proper try to do a
nested project like this - it's very quick and simple -
create project
hold finger to create new action
type in description - touch info to see context and move
type in context
hit move and choose where to nest
hold finger on project to create new action
type in description
choose context
choose move (info inspector stays active)
Seems to me that it's quick and intuitive and fast.

Even moving inbox items is simpler after a little practice.
Well, if there's one thing I've learnt on this forum, it's that people have a wide range of expectations and very different perceptions of speed :)

A number of the steps you list above are actually several taps or presses, as compared with just hitting Tab or Return on the Mac version. I know it seems like I'm being pissy - "oh noes, you have to tap, tap and hold, tap instead of just hitting return between each action, shame" - but every extra step adds to the inertia of adding stuff.

I'm an extreme case - ADD - for whom each extra tap is a real barrier to me actually getting round to getting the chaos out of my head. And for many, the current implementation of OF on the iPad is fine - cool, I don't want to suggest you're wrong. Live long and prosper. But heck, when I find that I'm using VNC to access the Mac version on my iPad because it's quicker and more intuitive to input stuff, something definitely is wrong, at least for me.

Facetious screenshot:


I hasten to add - VNCing into a Mac version ain't for everyone - the keyboard lag might be too much for you - but it works well for me in some situations, especially when inputting lists and processing my inbox or fleshing out projects.

Last edited by howiem; 2010-08-02 at 02:45 PM..
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by endoftheQ View Post
Howiem, I haven't tested this, but as CarbonFin Outliner can export OPML, can't you then import this into OmniFocus via OmniOutliner?

Just a thought!
I've been trying this today with no luck yet. OO refuses to load my OPML. It'd be nice to be able to do that on the iPad itself - use CarbonFin as the inbox, then once everything's fleshed out, export it to OF to assign contexts and sequential/concurrent stuff and make it all 'live', as it were...
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonoslack View Post
Actually, I've just had a proper try to do a nested project like this - it's very quick and simple -
create project
hold finger to create new action
type in description - touch info to see context and move
type in context
hit move and choose where to nest
hold finger on project to create new action
type in description
choose context
choose move (info inspector stays active)
Seems to me that it's quick and intuitive and fast.
I put together a nested list today with a client and though what you describe above wasn't much of a hassle once the list got long with a lot of nesting just to scroll down the 'Move' list to make sure the new item was going to be nested in the right place took so much concentration that it interrupted the flow between myself and the client.

Client>"so we need to add this next"

Me> "Ok, hold on while I get that entry in the right place, Ok where were we?"

Wouldn't have had to drop concentration if I hadn't had to go down a list of 25 items. That's where the machine gets in the way of the brain. I'm sure it will be worked out and it is much better than not having all that nesting functionality for the type of projects I work on.
 
It isn't necessary to use the Move command for every action you want nested, just the ones that establish the framework. Once the action group framework is present, others can be moved into place by tap and hold (to turn on the drag and drop feature), then drag to the desired action group. The hitch here is that you can't drag it immediately to be the last item at a given level, but you can put it anywhere else and immediately drag to the end as soon as the editor indents it.
 
 


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