[SpiralOcean]

Yes... I'm bringing this up again... :-)

I'm as hesitant as anyone to open the pandora box of tags. I don't want to see OmniFocus turn into an unfocused mess. I think tagging can be done elegantly, it's just a matter of doing it... elegantly.

I have another thought about how this might be integrated into OF.

In my opinion, one of the problems with tagging is it is usually done with text, and when searching for tags, a person has to keep the correct tag name in mind.

Here is how tagging could work in OF.

All contexts are tags
Every action has a default tag of the context it is in.

If a user wanted to tag an action item, there would be another box in the inspector with all contexts and a checkbox next to them.
They simply check boxes if they want more than one tag applied to an action.

If a user wanted to search for tags.
There would be another, bar, right underneath the view bar.
They select show tag bar and it appears, with all the contexts as checkboxes.
The currently selected context would be checked in the tag bar.

If a user never wants to touch tags, they don't have to.

If the user wanted to search for more tags to narrow a field down,
they place a checkbox next to the appropriate tag in the tag bar.

If a user wanted to change the context, they select a different tag box.

Thats the basic idea. Another level could be added with folders as tags.
Possibly with another bar... folder bar.

This would allow a user to "focus" on a folder and still work with tags and contexts.

The ability to tag an action item would allow for the following scenarios to be solved:
• Home project with a work action
the work action would have a tag of home folder, work folder, calls
When a user is in the work folder, looking through their calls context, they would see the action item that needs to be completed at work but resides in a home folder.

• Agendas for specific people
an action item could have a default context of calls, with a tag of larry.
if they are going through their calls, they will see the action
if Larry suddenly appears in the room, they can filter by larry and see the action item.

For what it's worth... ¢¢

[pjb]

I like the idea of unobtrusive tagging; it could help solve the problem several people have commented on where they feel the need to duplicate subontexts. The second view bar probably wouldn't work because the list would be too long. Any more information will probably have to go in a window pane (was drawer) similar to the to do list space in iCal.

[yucca]

I've been gone a few months, and it is disappointing to see that context tagging appears to be entirely off the road map now. For me, even if it didn't make it into v1, I was willing to limp along without it. Now I don't know what to think . . .

[ksrhee]

I think probably most sensible tagging would be to modify the current flag status into multiple flags and give us the ability to customize flag labels. Even Outlook has this capability, and I think this might satisfy most people's need for tagging w/o complicating interface or adding more complexity into the program as I seen above.

[mcoad]

I agree with kshree. A single flag is weird. As weird, IMO, as allowing only a single context per task. Being able to assign a task to more than one context would be a great, even crucial, help in many circumstances. The only objection I’ve seen to this so far on the forum is that it would violate the GTD principle of one context per task! With respect, how’s that for dogmatism? If a user wants to stick to one context (or flag), great. But why restrict the rest of us?

I for one am quite used to using tags to organize and share information online. It would be extremely helpful to do so in OF as well.

I agree that a tool I pay for should provide different options for me to choose to use or not choose to use. I don't want a tool deciding for me, just because it's adhering to some GTD dogma.

The current move in software and Web development is to allow the user to organize and use their data however works best for them. I would not want anyone to assume that their way is the best way for me or anyone else.

I want unlimited tags and flags. I may or may not use them all of the time, but I want the freedom to choose for myself depending on the project or task. Right now, I'm having to duplicate sub-contexts which seems like a very unwieldy way of working.