[dp1]

Some of my workload consists of multi-month projects, which I manage in OmniOutliner. A typical project outline contains many pages of deeply-nested non-action reference data which make it inappropriate to develop the outline in OF. There are, nevertheless, many actions distributed through the outline. Some are undated and parallel. Others are hard-dated deadlines. Still others are contingent upon events rather than dates.

I've tried putting a single item in OF and linking it to the project outline. That keeps me on track for the project kickoff, but leaves me with no reminders for subsequent tasks. I've tried doing double-entry, putting the actions in both OO and OF. But except for the deadlines, the project is a moving target. I keep track of all the changes in OO, but then must remember to go back and duplicate the changes in OF. The simplest solution would be the ability to attach alarms to line items in OO. I've suggested this to OmniGroup, but they don't plan to implement it. I assume that it's too much feature bloat for a tool intended to be an outliner.

I would be pleased to hear how more experienced OF users manage complex projects.

Sorry for the long post. I tried to get some feedback in July and got zero responses, which I took to mean either that it was an intractable problem, or that I hadn't explained adequately. This is an attempt to address the latter possibility.

Thanks for reading.

[dschaffner]

Reference material gets kept in paper folders and in nested directories on my hard disk by project. Big projects get split into sub-directories as needed.

Actionable items get placed into OF as projects. Groups of related projects get grouped together in in folders in OF.

[dp1]

Originally Posted by dschaffner

Reference material gets kept in paper folders and in nested directories on my hard disk by project. Big projects get split into sub-directories as needed.

Actionable items get placed into OF as projects. Groups of related projects get grouped together in in folders in OF.

I'm nearly paperless, but that seems irrelevant. Whether paper or digital, you're still looking at double entry. The actions need to be tracked in the project tool, but also in OF. Some sort of Linkback-type capability would be cool. Thanks for the feedback.

[Kourosh]

Not sure it this helps, but you could use OmniFocus as your outlining tool. This would only work though if the outline did not need columns and other outlining features not available to OmniFocus.

The outline could be exported and/or printed for distribution before and after tasks were completed. With the filter settings set to allow completed items (Availability Filter set to "Any Status"), you could then export/print that list as an update.

The reference material you mention would then be listed separately in the Finder with a link from note fields of tasks or projects. To do this, drag the file while holding Control to create a link. To import the actual file, hold Option.

[dp1]

Originally Posted by Kourosh

Not sure it this helps, but you could use OmniFocus as your outlining tool. This would only work though if the outline did not need columns and other outlining features not available to OmniFocus.

Thanks for the idea, but unfortunately, that's the heart of the problem. I do execute simpler projects entirely within OF. But the outlines of the projects to which I'm referring exceed OF's outlining capabilities.

Regarding the reference material, I do occasionally keep some exclusively in Finder. But one of the huge advantages of OO is its ability to allow me to corral a vast amount of diverse material and adjust the views as needed.

[eurobubba]

Have you tried OmniPlan?