Quote:
Originally Posted by Leila
Wow. Ok.
Am I the only one who thinks this is kind of strange?
|
Possibly, yes, but let's see if we can talk you out of thinking that way :-)
The sort option in project/planning mode sorts projects. It would make no sense for it to be sorting actions at the same time as it is sorting projects. If I want to see my projects in order that they fall due, I don't want OF to also be reordering the actions in those projects! Remember, there are options other than due, such as start, next review, etc. and almost none of them would be suitable for reordering all the actions in all my projects just because I wanted to see the projects in a particular order.
If you want to destructively sort the actions in a project, you can do so by selecting them and then using the Edit->Sort or control/right-click and select sort from the contextual menu. The view bar simply reorganizes the view and has no impact on the data, as you can see by opening another window and watching what happens to the contents of one as you change the view bar settings in the other. The Edit->Sort command makes permanent changes to the data, just as if you had dragged the actions around in the project. If you change the due date on some action in the middle of the project, it doesn't move just because you changed the due date.
Quote:
When reviewing my projects and making plans for the next days or weeks, it seems "normal" or good to me to see my project laid out in date order. That way I can review the project and determine if there are things missing and add them - in addition to flagging tasks or changing dates as needed.
|
The project is laid out in the order that you entered it. OmniFocus maintains that ordering unless you change it by dragging actions around or using the Edit->Sort sort. OmniFocus assumes that the order you arrange your actions in is significant, though you are free to disregard it, of course.
Quote:
I definitely do not want to do my planning in context mode. For planning purposes, I prefer the project mode. Is there any way to sort by due date? This would be especially important on projects that have a lot of steps.
|
You can't really do your planning in context mode, if doing your planning involves rearranging actions, because context mode doesn't allow you to do so. To have OmniFocus rearrange actions on a permanent basis, you need to use Edit->Sort as described above, or drag things around by hand.
To recap: the view bar settings in both context and project mode merely rearrange the view, with the granularity as appropriate for the mode. For project mode, the granularity is the project, and for context mode, it is the action. No change is made to your database by fiddling with the view bar settings. To reorder the list so that OmniFocus will present the actions in a different order (assuming you were in the Next Action view exclusively, always taking the next one offered), you need to either use Edit->Sort or move the actions by hand in the project/planning outline. Doing so will change your database file.