[indygreg]

I 100% agree with the comparison of Web 1.0 and 2.0 and OF and things/hit list.

My #1 issue by a huge long shot with OF is simply the inspector window. I hate them. I would like to see the option of more of the inspector fields in the main window.

[Ken Case]

Originally Posted by indygreg

I 100% agree with the comparison of Web 1.0 and 2.0 and OF and things/hit list.

My #1 issue by a huge long shot with OF is simply the inspector window. I hate them. I would like to see the option of more of the inspector fields in the main window.

Thanks for the concrete feedback! Did you have a particular field in mind?

[Schlaefer]

What peeves me the most visually is the complete lack of any aid for the eye to distinguish rows and columns in the main window. Imho THL does this beautifully without being obtrusive while OF has a strong text desert attitude.
I love the the theme customization in OF, but if it has to go for that (or strongly cut back), I wouldn't hesitate for a second.

[Toadling]

Originally Posted by Schlaefer

What peeves me the most visually is the complete lack of any aid for the eye to distinguish rows and columns in the main window.

That's not entirely true. There is some indication: on mouseover of the row, OmniFocus displays a bullet at the beginning of the row so you can tell which one you're hovering over regardless of where your cursor is on the row. Various column inputs are highlighted on mouseover as well. Selecting the row also puts a nice bubble around it.

Originally Posted by Schlaefer

Imho THL does this beautifully without being obtrusive...

I'm not as fond of THL's approach. The "lined paper" look that pretends to be a realworld object is just silly and annoying, IMHO. It's one of the reasons I immediately lost interest in THL. OmniFocus' UI may not be perfect, but I strongly prefer its clean, simple appearance. It allows me to focus only on the content without a lot of superflous visual distraction.

In THL's defense, however, I think the Things interface is even worse; it's much too heavy, dark, and cluttered.

-Dennis

[Schlaefer]

Originally Posted by Toadling

That's not entirely true. There is some indication: on mouseover of the row, OmniFocus displays a bullet at the beginning of the row so you can tell which one you're hovering over regardless of where your cursor is on the row. Various column inputs are highlighted on mouseover as well. Selecting the row also puts a nice bubble around it.

This is a actual picture of a project: http://img.skitch.com/20090404-g474e...bx1pih4ctu.png

The green area is ok, but for the red areas it is hard to see without looking twice which action has which context far on the right. And 'mousing over' all the time doesn't cut it. It's just 'interface grind' eating the 'fun'.

I'm also totally in love with the the alternating column colors in THL. In OF it's just 'text in space': http://img.skitch.com/20090404-gsjeu...wkk23yui6u.png

Originally Posted by Toadling

I'm not as fond of THL's approach. The "lined paper" look that pretends to be a realworld object is just silly and annoying, IMHO. It's one of the reasons I immediately lost interest in THL. OmniFocus' UI may not be perfect, but I strongly prefer its clean, simple appearance. It allows me to focus only on the content without a lot of superflous visual distraction.

While I have to admit that I like the particular look of THL, it's imho not about the 'lined paper' look itself, but information laid out in a spreadsheet. And row and column indicators definitely would help.

PS: While I was writing this I opened up THL and I want to mention to things I discovered: a) why do I have to resize columns (e.g. dates) in OF? If it is visible it should be the right width to show a complete date and b) when you throw a file (I tried to import something to compare) onto the THL icon in the Dock it makes a new action in the inbox with a "Look into <file>" action. Simple and brilliant (see -> fun).

OF is more powerful, but OF should steal a few things from the competition - they did too. I don't care for an original app, but for the best app. ;)

[jbkendrick]

@whpalmer4 - thanks for the explanation. This will help a great deal and I did add a request for perspective syncing. John

[indygreg]

Originally Posted by Ken Case

Thanks for the concrete feedback! Did you have a particular field in mind?

I was just wrong .. . .I can add the fields from the inspector to the main screen . . . start date, due, time, etc.

I bought OF a long time ago, but switched to Things (also paid for it) becuase of the visual aspect and the tagging. But I hated no nesting and I have given up on that product as it has stalled too much. I used Thinking rock for a while as I had to switch to a PC for a brief period of time (and I use them at work a good deal). But I just needed so much more and I wanted a better app. Then I saw hit list and it has huge potential, but I do not want to wait for it to get where it needs to be, if it ever hits there. I am guessing like things it is basically a person or two in their spare time and the iphone will sidetrack them for months.

so I am back to OF. i think it is the most powerful . . . but again I think it could look a lot better. I dearly want tags. Also I dearly want the ability to do inline /tags and @contexts like the hit list has.

Sorry . . . got off track . . . I never really put in the few hours that I think OF needs to really see what it can do and how to make it all work best.

[wilsonng]

Watching the screencasts will help you with getting back on track.

There was a time when I was on the fence and choosing between Things and OmniFocus.

Things was the media darling with its "simplicity." But the maturity of OmniFocus was what won me over. I couldn't wait for Things to add all the features that were in OmniFocus. So I decided to invest some time in watching the screencasts. It's well worth it.

[Lecter]

Originally Posted by Ken Case

Thanks for the concrete feedback! Did you have a particular field in mind?

On the subject of the Inspector panel, would it be possible to add a option to show the Inspector panel as a drawer (that is attached to the side of main OF window)? If the option is set, it would be a drawer, and if not, it could remain as the panel it currently is. I often move the main window around, and it is annoying to have to move the Inspector panel independently. Comparatively, I love how the Utility Drawer works in OmniOutliner.

On the topic of particular fields, I'd love the option to hide the flag column. I think that it is great that the visibility of the Context, Estimate, Start Date, Due Date and Completion Date columns can be toggled. The visibility of the Flag column should be optional as well.

[erasure]

Originally Posted by Ken Case

Thanks for the concrete feedback! Did you have a particular field in mind?

I know myself and at least a few others find ourselves only using the inspector for the repeat feature; not sure how all those repeat options could be implemented inside the main window in a simple way, though.