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"Due or Flagged" vs. Available Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
I use due dates and flags to create my daily actions lists. Due dates are reserved for things that MUST be done by the end of the day. Flags are for important tasks that aren't time sensitive.

Say I create an action that I want to start in two weeks. I set the start date to two weeks hence, and I flag it because it's important and I want it called to my attention. If I use the "Due or Flagged" filter, that task shows up, greyed out, in the list, even though the task isn't available because it's start date hasn't been reached.

Is it possible to have a "Due or Flagged" list that only shows available items, i.e. items with no start date or whose start date has arrived? Thanks!
 
I don't think there is right now, and that's a real flaw that I'm hoping Omni will fix. Please send feedback to them to help encourage a more useful functioning of the "due or flagged" filter.
There are other threads that touch on the topic, such as these:
http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=13281
http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=11599
http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=11887
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by adgirard View Post
Is it possible to have a "Due or Flagged" list that only shows available items, i.e. items with no start date or whose start date has arrived? Thanks!
Sure. It isn't possible to have every possible combination of view bar settings, but here's a useful set:

Group by Start Date, Sort by whatever you like, Due or Flagged actions, whatever you like for flagged and duration options. Close the groups for start dates in the future and save as a perspective. Obviously this will be in Context mode.

You can have actions with a start date that has passed which are not available, such as those assigned to a context which is on hold, a project which is on hold, a project with a future start date, or being in a sequential project or action group with a previous action which has not been completed.
 
That's a more useful set of view bar settings that I was using, so thank you. But it still includes actions that are unavailable for reasons other than a future start date.

Here's the usage scenario I'd like that will explain why I'd like the list restricted to truly available. I would like to be able at a weekly review to flag the projects of importance for the coming week, and then have the implicit flags of their actions make them show up in Due or Flagged. Due or Flagged has great potential as a list to work from because it captures both urgent and important tasks; but the inclusion of unavailable tasks makes it quite a bit less usable as a work-from list.

I recognize that the "Due Soon" filter shows unavailable tasks, and I confess to being inconsistent here: I actually appreciate that unavailable but soon-due tasks don't get hidden when I review under this filter. But in my use, I'd prefer the "flagged" part of "due or flagged" to be more selective.

In the meantime I have taken to flagging handfuls of next actions rather than entire projects at the weekly review.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by adgirard View Post
Is it possible to have a "Due or Flagged" list that only shows available items, i.e. items with no start date or whose start date has arrived? Thanks!
Not yet, but we've restructured the view bar settings for OmniFocus 1.8 so you'll be able to filter on a task's availability independently from its due status, so you'll be able to create a "Due or Flagged" list which only includes available actions.
 
That's great to hear, Ken.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
Group by Start Date, Sort by whatever you like, Due or Flagged actions, whatever you like for flagged and duration options. Close the groups for start dates in the future and save as a perspective. Obviously this will be in Context mode.
Great idea! Does pretty much what I want it to do. Thanks!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by adgirard View Post
Great idea! Does pretty much what I want it to do. Thanks!
As the original poster mentioned, it does show some actions as available that are not -- but I take safe harbor in his parenthetical remark asking for those with no start date or a start date in the past, which is what this delivers.

In my practice, when I do end up with sequential projects that have something blocking progress up at the top, with something lower down showing up because of an impending due date, I tend to work such projects from project mode rather than context mode. I have a look at a context that shows upcoming due items every morning (whether or not they are available, because whatever caused the due date to be imposed probably doesn't care about my problems in delivering on time) so I'm aware which projects need the attention first. I'll select the group of projects in the sidebar, and then right-click or control-click to get the popup menu and make a window focused on just those projects. I can then easily flip back and forth between project view and context view as I work off those items.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Case View Post
Not yet, but we've restructured the view bar settings for OmniFocus 1.8 so you'll be able to filter on a task's availability independently from its due status, so you'll be able to create a "Due or Flagged" list which only includes available actions.
Fantastic! Thanks!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Case View Post
Not yet, but we've restructured the view bar settings for OmniFocus 1.8 so you'll be able to filter on a task's availability independently from its due status, so you'll be able to create a "Due or Flagged" list which only includes available actions.
Excellent news! This has been bugging me for a while, and I was actually about to submit feedback but figured I'd take a quick look here first.

Is this something that's already locked in on the v1.8 roadmap, or should we be submitting feedback to vote it up?
 
 


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