[FlyingBarney]

Hi all,

I am a bit confused about the odd behaviour of this display section, and the meaning of "next week" within OF (v 1.0.2).

Say it is Thursday today. I have an action due for today, one for Friday, and one for Saturday. The display will show:

Today
- the task for today

Tomorrow
- the task for tomorrow (for Friday)

Due within the next week
- the task for Saturday - and this is the confusion!

Doesn't - logically - next week starts on Monday? It confuses and doesn't make sense...

Would welcome any ideas/thoughts/suggestions, or offers of condolences...

Thanks,
Simon

[Lizard]

If I remember right, we went round and round on what the behavior should be and what the phrasing should be for this feature.

For OmniFocus, "within the next week" is intentionally not the same as "next week". It means in the seven days starting tomorrow. We tried the other way, and found that it worked great for things that fit inside the regular work week, but was quite awkward for things that happened on the weekend. And when should next week start? If you're working a Monday-Friday job and mostly tracking work stuff, Monday makes sense. But for the rest of life, or anyone who worked a non-traditional week, this model just didn't suit them.

[FlyingBarney]

Originally Posted by Lizard

If I remember right, we went round and round on what the behavior should be and what the phrasing should be for this feature.

For OmniFocus, "within the next week" is intentionally not the same as "next week". It means in the seven days starting tomorrow. We tried the other way, and found that it worked great for things that fit inside the regular work week, but was quite awkward for things that happened on the weekend. And when should next week start? If you're working a Monday-Friday job and mostly tracking work stuff, Monday makes sense. But for the rest of life, or anyone who worked a non-traditional week, this model just didn't suit them.

Thanks for the reply and the explanation, "Lizard"...

Though it still doesn't make sense. I am self-employed, and work whenever (Monday through Sunday). Regardless of the current day of the week, though, the way I look at dates, times, and anything that has to do with it - "next week" to me always starts at the immediate Monday. So it is strange and somewhat confusing.

I wonder whether there is a "next week" instead of "within the next week" way to show upcoming actions...

Thanks,
Simon

[Toadling]

I wonder if it would be more clear if the OmniFocus label read, "Within the next 7 days" rather than "Within the next week".

Other people on this forum have mistakenly come to the conclusion that "Within the next week" meant, literally, "next week" (i.e. not the next 7 days, but sometime in the seven days following the coming Sunday or Monday, whichever you consider the start day of the week).

It's a fine point, and I'm not sure it would help, but I thought I'd mention it.

-Dennis

PS - Once it was clear that the label meant "within the next 7 days" it made perfect sense to me. It tells me what's coming up in the next few days regardless of what day of the week it currently is.

[popcornflix]

Originally Posted by Toadling

I wonder if it would be more clear if the OmniFocus label read, "Within the next 7 days" rather than "Within the next week".

More clear, but still confusing. If it's Weds, "Within the next Seven Days" includes both this week and next week.

How about "Later This Week"?

OmniFocus has a pref for specifying the first day of the week. So anything later than tomorrow but before next week gets displayed as "Later This Week."

[Toadling]

Originally Posted by popcornflix

More clear, but still confusing. If it's Weds, "Within the next Seven Days" includes both this week and next week.

Yes, and I think that's exactly what OmniFocus is currently displaying. So the "Due within the next 7 days" seems right to me, unless the Omni developers change what data is shown in that view.

Originally Posted by popcornflix

How about "Later This Week"?

This might be a useful variation, but, as I mention above, it's not what OF currently displays.

The other niggling issue I'd have with this approach is that the "display window" (i.e. the number of days of data being displayed) gets smaller and smaller as you approach the end of the week. So it becomes less and less useful and less information dense until it hits only one day and starts over again.

I personally prefer the current behavior where it consistently displays X number of days into the future. I think that approach also fits better with the other section labels in that view: "Due within the next month" (30 days), "Due within the next 3 months" (90 days), "Due within the next year" (365 days).

-Dennis

[brianogilvie]

I'm with Dennis in preferring the current behavior. There's an important semantic difference between "due within the next week" and "due next week." I wouldn't mind if OF gave the option of using fixed calendar weeks (as long as the start date of the week could be set by the user, perhaps from iCal's preferences), but I don't think I would use that option. I want to know what's coming up in that 7-day horizon, not what is going to happen in a calendar week. And as long as you sort, as well as group, by due date, you can use the top entries in the "due within the next month" section to see what is coming up next week after that 7-day horizon.

Do those who find the current behavior odd also think that "due within the next year" should have everything due in 2009? That is, is there something special about weeks that make expectations different?

[Christopher]

I really like it the way it is.