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Need some help understanding Omnifocus Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Hi
I've been trying to use Omnifocus in my law practice for quite a while but it's been a bit unsuccessful. I finally decided to try and actually ask for help (which i guess i should have done long ago).

The workflow basically looks like this.

I have a number of clients. So far I have been making every client a "project" but that doesnt seem to work so good. My issues are with the sequential versus parallel workflow. For a particular client there can be tasks which should be sequential and tasks that are not. Since you cant nest "sub-projects" to a project this means my client can only be one or the other. I finally figured that peraps I'm doing it wrong maybe each client should simply be a folder which in turn has various "projects" depending on the client. But if I use folders then in my perspectives I cannot see which client a particular task applies to unless I also add the client name to the project which seems a bit strange.

The there are "perspectives". I tried changing a client project to sequential but my perspective still shows all tasks and not the one at hand. My perspective has the following settings.

grouping = ungrouped
Sorting = start
Avilability = Remaining
Status filter = Any Status
Estimated time = Any duration

So why are tasks that are nr 2 in the sequential order still being displayed in my perspective?

Another question is - can I affect the color of an item? I'm thinking that if I have something that has to be done and I have done it and handed it to my secretary for some final activity, I would like the task to change color so that I know I have done my bit but I still can keep an eye on it to make sure the secretary does her bit? Changing to a certain color could work so when they for instance are yellow I know I have done my bit but that I still have to keep tabs on the secretary doing her final bit.

If there are any fellow lawyers then it would be great to get some feedback, but even if you arent a lawyer Iäd like feedback on these questions.

I know all of this is basic but Omnifocus is sometimes hard to grasp.

Thanks

Last edited by consiglieri; 2012-10-30 at 12:40 AM..
 
All tasks are showing because Availability = Remaining and not = Next, which would only show the first available.

No go on programmatically changing color with OF but somebody here may have already made an apple script to change the font of a selected action. I use the "Complete and Await Reply" script to mark the item as done but change the context to "Waiting for". You could use a variant to specifically change it to "Waiting for the secretary". Then make up a Waiting For Secretary perspective to have a quick view of outstanding items.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pjb View Post
All tasks are showing because Availability = Remaining and not = Next, which would only show the first available.
Available is another option here which would show only those tasks which are available for immediate action, though there may be multiple actions available from a project or single action list.
Quote:
No go on programmatically changing color with OF but somebody here may have already made an apple script to change the font of a selected action.
It isn't possible to change the formatting or styling of a individual action's name in the outline.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by consiglieri View Post
I have a number of clients. So far I have been making every client a "project" but that doesnt seem to work so good. My issues are with the sequential versus parallel workflow. For a particular client there can be tasks which should be sequential and tasks that are not. Since you cant nest "sub-projects" to a project this means my client can only be one or the other. I finally figured that peraps I'm doing it wrong maybe each client should simply be a folder which in turn has various "projects" depending on the client. But if I use folders then in my perspectives I cannot see which client a particular task applies to unless I also add the client name to the project which seems a bit strange.
You absolutely can nest sub-projects (called action groups) within a project. There's an explanation in the manual, starting on page 20. With a hierarchy, you can mix and match sequential and parallel any way you like.

As to whether a client is a project or a folder, that probably depends on 1) the details of your practice and 2) personal preference. The convention is that a project is a set of actions for a particular goal with a particular end-point. If you have a one-client-one-project paradigm, a client as a project may be fine. If you have multiple projects per client (especially if there might be more than one project at the same time), a client as a folder with several projects may make more sense. If the projects/tasks are not sufficiently different from each other that it's not immediately obvious which client it goes to, I'd (personally) be resigned to adding the client name to the project within the folder as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by consiglieri View Post
Another question is - can I affect the color of an item? I'm thinking that if I have something that has to be done and I have done it and handed it to my secretary for some final activity, I would like the task to change color so that I know I have done my bit but I still can keep an eye on it to make sure the secretary does her bit? Changing to a certain color could work so when they for instance are yellow I know I have done my bit but that I still have to keep tabs on the secretary doing her final bit.
This seems like a good time for a Secretary context. You will still see the item when reviewing the project, you can easily see everything that's currently with the secretary, and when you don't need to see it you can easily focus on your own contexts.
 
 


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