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Ethan Schoonover's OmniFocus overview video

Posted by Linda Sharps on 04.30.07 @ 11:17 AM File Under: OmniFocus

Our good friend Ethan Schoonover—the mastermind behind Kinkless GTD—has not only been helping Omni for the last several months with our ongoing OmniFocus development efforts, he's also created a very, very nice OmniFocus overview video for us to share. If Ethan glowed in the dark and also had a giant pair of leathery wings, there's a chance he could be even cooler than he already is, but I'm saying it would be a stretch.

The video is about 26 minutes long (25 MB), and does a great job of covering a bunch of the features and functionality in OmniFocus. Click to behold Ethan's work:

focusvideo.jpg

One small note: although Ethan uses the term “enter key” on multiple occasions in the video, it's the return key that he's referring to. I myself use a PC keyboard so I didn't even notice the discrepancy, but I suspect a few of you might be a little more vigilant.

We want to extend a huge thank you to Ethan for taking the time to put this together, and we hope you enjoy getting a closer look at OmniFocus!

Currently our biggest engineering priority with OmniFocus is working on forward compatibility—developing a file format that will work with future versions of OmniFocus. We want to have this in place before a beta, so nobody's information gets hosed in the process of updating to a new release. The plan is to have this finalized and an early beta (likely feature incomplete) available in the next couple of weeks.

 

Comments

  1. FixedOn66

    04.30.07 12:08 PM

    Okay! I was tinkering with iGTD for awhile after seeing the screen shots last week that looked very user-UNfriendly.


    But after watching Ethan's video I am sold on OmniFocus. I MUST get the beta. I have 5 children and run a business. I need the organization that I can tell OmniFocus will provide.


    Tell you what. Maybe we can work a deal where I'll offer up a couple of kids for the chance to beta test this thing.


    Second thought… while that would actually increase my productivity, it would greatly reduce my joy and much of my purpose in life, so I'll just have to beg!


    Seriously, the program looks great, guys. Very well thought out. Should be the top dog in this area.

  2. Keith

    04.30.07 12:08 PM

    Nice!  Thanks Ethan!  Can't wait for the beta.

  3. Marc

    04.30.07 12:48 PM

    FixedOn66, I disagree about iGTD. I think it's a fantastic GTD app and there is nothing I've seen in OmniFocus to make me want to switch. Especially since iGTD is free.

  4. Randy

    04.30.07 12:48 PM

    Wow! You guys are doing great. Love seeing it in action. Slick interface!

  5. prophetsearcher

    04.30.07 1:07 PM

    this looks fantastic. i'd love to see a more generous 'notes' panel (maybe a third panel?). cant wait to see the ical integration/mail also? the intuitive design is an ace in the hole. great jobs, im already looking forward to the 2.0 release (mobile browsing! online integration! task sharing!)

  6. rishabh

    04.30.07 1:10 PM

    please release a beta soooooon!!!!!!

  7. Alan

    04.30.07 1:23 PM

    this truly looks like GTD done right, done logically, done efficiently. I can't wait for the beta.

    I hope you have more videos to explain how to use at least the most used features upon release, as it's so much easier to get my head around the concepts when seeing them in action.


    Thanks again!

  8. Tony

    04.30.07 1:32 PM

    From what I've seen here, it's exactly what I wanted it to be. I'm eager to use it.

  9. yesteray

    04.30.07 1:34 PM

    I'll take Marc's beta!

  10. Jason Wong

    04.30.07 1:46 PM

    What if you could put contexts in terms of applications?  Like, an @EMail context that would pop up whenever your mail application was open, or @Word - write a form letter, that would show up whenever Word was open?  Or @Calendar - set up meeting with Jon.  Being able to see the right task DURING the right tool would help make sure I never forgot a thing.

  11. Tom

    04.30.07 1:52 PM

    I think it looks great—I'm really looking forward to it. But could you change the filter icon? It looks sort of like a diaphragm.

  12. SpinPapi

    04.30.07 2:21 PM

    I agree iGTD is a great little app. It doesn't look as Cocoaey Yummy as it could and isn't super spit and polished, but it's an amazing app and I can't wait to see what it grows into. Really the first GTD app that made me want to wade full into the GTD pond.


    That said, I'm eager to see what OmniFocus is like and whether it exceeds iGTD's abilities. Bring it on, buds! xoxoxox

  13. Joe

    04.30.07 2:37 PM

    Group Omni - The features are there.  Put it in Beta and fill in the rest.  Get it out in the next couple of weeks, and I'll buy a T-Shirt!

  14. Amy

    04.30.07 2:44 PM

    Looking Good! Can't wait for the beta. It looked quite stable in the demo (except for that one little glitch) and appears to have enough features in place to actually start using it on a daily basis. I do appreciate your concept of holding off on the beta until you have forward compatibility.

  15. JKR

    04.30.07 3:24 PM

    Well done, lads. This is what we all have been waiting for. Obviously tons of folks will come forward with “I need this and that feature” - but giving us a brief look into the alpha before we can get our hands on the beta was just the right move. I am now very happy I made the move to wait for OmniFocus, especially with the future prospect of integration with OmniPlan! Great job, everybody!

  16. Charliee

    04.30.07 3:39 PM

    This looks excellent! Can't wait (but will have to)!

  17. Tommy Weir

    04.30.07 4:14 PM

    Good old Ethan!


    Ah, Like the old days…


    Yes, that forward compatibility issue just might be important, but please let us have it after that :o)

  18. Don

    04.30.07 4:16 PM

    Just curious if you (Omni) have any rough ideas of market size for this app. If it's only a few hundred (thousand?) hard-core GTD geeks then you'll certainly sell a copy to each the second it becomes available, but hopefully there's a lot more demand beyond that?


    Like everyone else here I'm impressed with the work thus far and can't wait to start using it, but if there really is a large market for a good GTD app then perhaps that might justify allocating more resources to it (mythical man-month notwithstanding). I won't be so presumptuous to tell you how to develop software and make these tricky business decisions, but it seems like there is pent-up demand for Omnifocus beyond most other productivity apps. Or maybe that's wishful thinking on my part hoping that you've found the magic wand that expedites the initial release and then get well-rewarded for your efforts.

  19. Sean

    04.30.07 4:39 PM

    I really liked the concept of nested contexts.  And the interface is great; you just drag and drop.  I was a bit disappointed when Ethan demonstrated a similar concept for projects, but required a new “first class” object of a folder.  This seems very unintuitive to me.  Why can't I just take a project and make subprojects?  It's not clear to me why you have to create a new structure called a Folder to hold projects.


    I'm hoping this is just Ethan showing that you can ALSO make folders, should you want, especially since I think he mentioned subprojects.  But the Folders concept just felt very strange from me coming from an OmniOutliner Pro model where there are no secondary elements when I want to make a hierarchy.


    Just my two cents!

  20. Olga Yiparaki

    04.30.07 4:40 PM

    This looks gorgeous, just as I expected.  But more impressive is the sense of ease it conveys.  OK, a couple of suggestions. I'd really like some kind of Mail-OmniFocus “interaction”. Not sure what implementation would make sense, but I get so many ToDo's from emails (either inspired by an email I just read, or even within the body of an email I just received).  I would like a super fast and easy way of invoking OminFocus while I am reading my email, maybe even the ability to highlight text and right-click and have it go to OmniFocus. Also, as a Palm user, I'd like to be able to import ToDo's from iCal (originally written on the Palm and sync'ed to iCal) over to OmniFocus.  Thanks again for creating this, and I cannot wait for the beta.

  21. Stephan

    04.30.07 4:47 PM

    Excellent. This looks great. I liked the idea of the parallel or sequential projects, but would like to see the ability to combine these for one project. There are often a few parallel tasks at one time for a project where all the others are dependent. Looking forward to the beta.

  22. Ken

    04.30.07 5:02 PM

    • ProphetSearcher: The inline notes grow as you add to them (just as they do in OmniOutliner).  So they can be as big or as small as you want without wasting space for small notes or not providing enough space for big ones.


    • Jason Wong: Interesting idea.  I don't know how it would feel in practice, and we won't be doing it ourselves for 1.0 (we have enough on our plate already, and nobody wants us to delay anything!) but you could probably do what you want using our AppleScript API.


    • Tom: Icon feedback noted.  Also, suggestions welcome.  :)


    • Don: OmniFocus is definitely not a “back burner” project at Omni.


    • Sean: If you look at the OmniFocus screenshot a few blog posts back, you'll see that OmniFocus has nesting tasks.  (In the project “The School of Athens”, there are two task groups:  one expanded and one collapsed.)


    • Olga: Something that probably wasn't clear in the video is that you can pull up that Quick Entry window from any application (without activating OmniFocus itself), making it very easy to get new tasks in without interrupting your flow in other applications.  (Oh, and yes, we plan to import new tasks from iCal.)


    • Stephan: Task groups can be parallel or sequential independent of their parent project, specifically so that you can do those sorts of combinations within one project.

  23. Ethan

    04.30.07 5:04 PM

    Sean, you actually can make subprojects (not reliant on folders at all), I just couldn't cram that into this first video :) I have a feeling you will see more on that and other features I didn't include in this intro soon…


    -Ethan

  24. Want to buy.

    04.30.07 5:20 PM

    Credit card ready.

    Please release soon.

  25. coconino

    04.30.07 5:37 PM

    It looks superb.

  26. Jean

    04.30.07 5:49 PM

    I'd like to be able to have no purple-highlighted “next action” entry in the parallel project list, e.g. I have no need to prioritize “buy soy milk” over other purchases. I like the kGTD “Single Task” option, where I can have a number of tasks that aren't attached to a project.


    But otherwise, I have to say it looks great. (With the exception, previously noted, of the Filter icon—it was my first thought too…)

  27. Alexandra

    04.30.07 5:51 PM

    overall: brilliant.

    Filter: It does look like a diaphram!  Maybe a sieve would work? (if you can show the tiny little squares.)


    I'm giddy with excitement.

  28. [...] One other interesting news, this time from Omni blog, is that we can expect a first beta in no more than a couple of weeks, and that most of the efforts has been geared towards a standard file format that will be compatbile with future versions. This is something that I lilke.  If you liked this post, share it by using the links below: [...]

  29. Mauricio

    04.30.07 6:41 PM

    I think another way to personalize the aplicacion the way you work it wolud be with the posibility to show any of the data in the property as a column in the main viewI think another way to personalize the aplicacion the way you work it would be with the possibility to show any of the data in the property as a column in the main view.


    thanks, 

    I'm really exited with this app

  30. Chris Parsons

    04.30.07 6:41 PM

    Awesome. Salivating :-)


    Quick suggestion: Remove the 'show all' button and make it a toggled version of the 'focus button'. (i.e. when you click 'focus', the focus button turns into the show all button). Should save some toolbar space.


    -Chris

  31. OmniFan

    04.30.07 7:08 PM

    Is there a column that shows the estimated time for a task if that information has been entered?

  32. tomislav

    04.30.07 7:12 PM

    Look beta enough to me. Give give :)

  33. Jacques Chester

    04.30.07 7:24 PM

    Fantastic presentation. I'm really looking forwards to using OF.

  34. dwlt

    04.30.07 7:55 PM

    Awesome! This looks terrific, and I can't wait for the beta.

  35. Bushford

    04.30.07 8:35 PM

    This looks great, folks!

    Thanks for the excellent video as well.


    A very lean & mean implementation.


    My questions:


    - Can we save filtered views as smart folders?  ThinkingRock 2.0 has very useful configurable action list views…

    - Can we see more columns in the project/table list, e.g. date fields, customize what we want to see?

    - I'm still not sure that I can do without a “delegated to” field.  Any chance?

    - Finally : can we get a beta now :-))?


    btw: currently using kGTD but nr of projects is getting too much. Considering TR2.0 or OF…

  36. Ted Pearlman

    04.30.07 8:48 PM

    Cloning!  Let tasks have multiple contexts.  Let contexts live in multile parent contexts.  Let tasks live in multiple projects.  I know this is not a simple change as it requires a different db architecture, but think how freakin' cool that would be!

  37. OmniFocus video is out

    04.30.07 9:34 PM

    [...] Omni just posted a new video showing the main features of the forthcoming OmniFocus application. And it looks like they are doing almost everything right. [...]

  38. [...] Omni Group has just released a first screencast that demonstrates a number of features of their upcoming Getting things done (GTD) application OmniFocus. [...]

  39. millerj

    04.30.07 10:00 PM

    Very nice.  This screencast has given me the strength to hold out for OF just a little longer.  It seems like a very good evolutionary step from kGTD.  Love the non-syncing, and the “parallel or serial” task designations.  Good work Ethan and Omni.  I'll be looking for more screencasts (perhaps) and maybe an invitation to test the beta, soon.

  40. Cate

    04.30.07 10:57 PM

    Marvellous.  Thanks Ethan and Omnigroup.  Looking forward to the focus and filtering options which I need.  Agree with the early comment about the filter icon.  Currently using iGTD, which is a great app with a couple of bugbears for me.  It appears Omnifocus might address these.

  41. TjL

    04.30.07 11:34 PM

    Recent Macs have a (as in “1”) key labeled


    Enter


    Return


    So anyone quibbling about this is just being a PITA, but given Mac users' history, it was a goood thing to point out ahead of time.


    Forward compatibility is good, but the question I think we're most wondering about is:


    How much will the thing cost?  Is there going to be a “pro” version and a “normal person” version?

  42. Kieran

    04.30.07 11:52 PM

    It's a lens! It's a scaffold! It's invisible! It's an invisible shrink-to-fit lens scaffold!


    Looking forward to the beta.

  43. Chris

    04.30.07 11:52 PM

    It would be great if filters could be saved, in the same way as saved searches in Mail.app. This way, several commonly-used views could be at the user's fingertips.

  44. Chris Parsons

    05.01.07 12:01 AM

    Another suggestion:


    It would be really great to have the ability for contexts to live in multiple parent contexts.


    That way I could simply select a 'office' contact and have all my 'desk', 'mac', 'internet', 'calls-day' tasks up in one go.


    Likewise I could select 'evening', and have 'mac', 'home', 'calls-evening', 'internet' ... and then 'phone' for 'calls-day', 'calls-evening'.

  45. Rich Schumaker

    05.01.07 12:48 AM

    Almost time to ship the beta!  Just need to make sure that there is .mac syncing so I can keep my work and home computers in sync.  I too have my credit card ready.


    BTW - What software did Ethan use to make the show?

  46. Wylie

    05.01.07 1:00 AM

    Looks very promising! Omni products always look so good. I think the deal breaker for me will be how task resources (calendar entries, links, files, email) are handled. Using GTD, I have come to realize making a task list is only 1/2 the battle—aggregating needed resources for that task is the other. I currently use Journler for GTD because it can attach resources to a task. I hope OmniFocus addresses this need, too.

  47. Corey

    05.01.07 1:01 AM

    This video changes everything.  I was beginning to doubt omnifocus and fet consigned to iGTD (a great app but without the kind of support Omni has), but the video has alliad my fears.  I now wait intently and with renewed intrest for an Omnifocus beta.

  48. Issa

    05.01.07 1:19 AM

    Video looks great. I am curious if iCal sync will also be transparent and automatic, or will it require manual syncing? thanks.

  49. Saud

    05.01.07 1:23 AM

    Got a question: Does all the contents in the inbox show in project mode? If it does, I would find that sort of irritating, since David Allen's point of the inbox is to put things “out of sight & out of mind” until you process your inbox. I can imagine come Feb 2008 I would put something like “Do my taxes” and every time I check my current projects I would see that and it would re-open an open loop. Maybe some people like it that way, but can it be an option to leave monsters in your inbox until your ready to view them?

  50. JKR

    05.01.07 1:24 AM

    One thing that I think a lot of people would like to see is the attachment/linking option - or more generally, the overall integration with other apps. Can I drag and drop files onto a task? Maybe if you could show your approach to that issue, it would help us with the waiting for the beta…

  51. Craig

    05.01.07 1:35 AM

    Couple of comments/dittos to prior comments:


    1. Regarding the first item purple in parallel lists. I agree that some might not want this. Could be solved with a simple checkbox in the Project Inspector, or even with an app wide preference setting. But then what shows up in your filtered “Next Actions ONLY” view? Perhaps that view would list the first action followed by +++ to indicate a parallel list of actions? I'm not sure. Maybe we just learn to use it as built.


    2. Ditto on Chris's brilliant UI suggestion the FOCUS/SHOW ALL icon/button occupy a single slot on the toolbar and contextually change based on where you currently are (focused or not).


    3. Ditto the suggestion for some sort of Smart Folders/Views which are saved settings of filters, but for me that goes near the bottom of the request queue. Lean and robust first.


    4. One question related to the Subprojects vs. Project Folders distinction. Am I correct in assuming that we'll have to create the first order Folders for the “Focus” functionality to work? That's okay, just wanting clarification. If so, what about a CTRL-click menu item to convert a Project into a Project Folder. Just a thought.


    5. Overall, though, to paraphrase from my daughter's favorite book about a mouse named Lily and her purple plastic purse, “Wow, that's really all I can say…Wow.”

  52. Hiram

    05.01.07 1:53 AM

    This might just be the first GTD-app that I will continue using.

  53. BZ

    05.01.07 2:13 AM

    @Jason Wong - That is a great idea I am sure it could be handled in a few ways.


    1) You could write an AppleScript that would, activated by a keystroke could bring up a little window with the tasks for that application.


    2) Maybe with “Spaces” in 10.5 you could have the window open to the right context next to the right application (ie, in Mail, it could be filtered on Mail context in that Space).


    3) OmniGroup could make a quick easy menu/ling or QuickSilver plugin to show a list of things to do at any application.


    A very cool idea though.


    RELEASE THE BETA!


    BZ

  54. [...] The folks over at OmniGroup have put up a video showcasing their latest app, OmniFocus. You may not be sold on the whole idea of GTD, but the video is worth a view anyway. [...]

  55. Shig

    05.01.07 2:33 AM

    Very nice. You've practically made a grown man cry. My questions about how this will be different from the ten godzillion other GTD apps out there have been more than set to rest.


    My only remaining concern is printing. I like to have a lot of printing options, like next actions only, individual contexts, whole projects, etc. And I'd like to be able to print notecards and PagePacker pages and the like. If Focus will support all of that, I'm sold. I'd almost prefer not to have a public beta, just because I'm liable to rely on it straightaway.

  56. Jay Elmore

    05.01.07 2:55 AM

    This looks like it has all of the features I want in a task manager, with a superb amount of polish. And this is an alpha, you say? Oh yeah, I want to get my hands on a beta for this. You had me at “the Sync button (from kGTD) is gone”.


    Question: has anyone done any forwad-looking to see how OmniFocus could interact with Leopard's new To Do functionality in Mail.app?


    http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/mail.html

  57. John Laudun

    05.01.07 2:55 AM

    Nice screencast, Ethan. And I'm really digging all the easy configurability via DnD. Nicely done. I'm looking forward to trying the app out.


    Quick question: where will the app store its data and will that be user-determinable?


    I ask because I work in multiple contexts with multiple computers, and, frankly, Mac syncing is still just dreadful—if I hadn't already bought a discounted membership extension, I would probably drop it. I use an iPod to keep all my data synced across multiple Macs—using ChronoSync—it would be nice to save OF files the way one could OP files, in a place of one's own choosing. I am not a terribly big fan of the way iCal and Address Book choose their spots for you.  (It's my data after all!)


    Speaking of iPod, I'm glad for the iCal syncing, and I imagine that I will be also try my hand at some hackery to generate an OF export that can go into a Notes file on my iPod. Unless of course you're already planning that ... ;)


    Keep up the great work.

  58. Obyor

    05.01.07 3:05 AM

    You got me.

  59. mt

    05.01.07 3:17 AM

    wow.

  60. Owen

    05.01.07 3:33 AM

    Having a nice printed version of all projects and tasks is important for me for field work.  I always like to carry a paper backup.  Being able to have printing options for multiple layouts/paper sizes would be really sweet. 


    One other option for the future may be the ability to add items as reference material for one's projects.  I suppose this could be done as a project task labeled “Reference Material” with multiple items added in a note.  Thanks.

  61. Jay Elmore

    05.01.07 3:38 AM

    @Marc: As I'm looking for something to use until OmniFocus is available, I looked at iGTD.


    I feel that there is a lot of interface widgetry in iGTD that I don't get—what's the recycle icon used for?—and I think, for an application with “GTD” in the name, it fails to capture the essence of the GTD methodology (I can assign a priority to something in my Inbox but I can't easily turn it into a Project?)


    It's possible that iGTD is a good task management app, but IMO it's not a GTD app. OmniFocus looks like a lot of effort s going into making it as easy as possible to create, organize and review your projects and actions per the GTD methodology.

  62. [...] There has been quite a lot of buzz around the GTD community about the long awaited OmniFocus from the Omni Group. [...]

  63. Janice

    05.01.07 3:45 AM

    Ethan's first video is very appreciated (thank you!). Any chance a second will be made?


    What's the purpose of the “on hold” feature? Is this option intended to satiate folks like me who are anxious for a “waiting for/delegated” feature?


    I'm ridiculously picky about icons, to the point that if they're not as pretty as I would like, I'd rather not see 'em at all. Can I assume that a “just text” view will be available in preferences?


    I've been using TR2 to date, and have been very frustrated by the cluttered UI and as a consequence, I'm overwhelmed by my projects and tasks everytime I open the application. Because of this, I am very much looking forward to (and am very grateful for) the proposed Focus features (including the ability to nest) above all else.


    What I really like about TR2 is the “Process” page. What's the equivalent in OmniFocus?

  64. Rock

    05.01.07 3:59 AM

    okay, probably not possible in this version, I realize this. but here's a blow-your-mind concept for something like this, and wanted to see if anyone else thinks it's cool, too.


    I think that breaking tasks out as errands is a great idea. What I would LOVE is to have hooks into Google Maps (or your favorite online maps compendium), and look at all the locations in your errands, then look at your home location in your Address Book. Then plot a map based on the shortest route to accomplish all errands that day, with an ability to choose “no backtracking” or “minimal backracking.” then i print out that map, and voila! there's the most efficient order to handle those errands, and it's got all sorts of cool whiz-bang web 2.0 goodness tied in.


    it seems like it “could” be possible. i've already asked Google directly to add a similar functionality to Google Maps directly (like instead of A to B, allow me to enter several points, and then plot the most efficient map), so maybe they'll get around to it in my lifetime.


    tell me that wouldn't be cool. ;-)

  65. Mike S.

    05.01.07 4:18 AM

    I was starting to wonder about the future of omnifocus, and as a software product manager myself, I understand now why you guys have been holding back… I am SO ready to buy this the minute it hits the streets!


    Wish list:

    1. ease of loading tasks from email into “Inbox”

    2. “Today” focused view where it is based on proactive decision to “focus” work on one or more specific projects and/or NAs

    3. Flexible printing

    4. Link waiting for context and projects to address book groups and/or contacts

  66. jason

    05.01.07 4:43 AM

    wow, i'm very excited! funny thing…as soon as i was done watching this video i moved quickly (absent-mindedly, mind-like-watery) to determine my “next action,” hence invoking kGTD and had an immediate urge to start using the features i had just witnessed! it was like deja-vu…only in reverse, or something like that.


    it was very disappointing in an odd sort of way.


    *sigh*


    i'd like to second chris' toggle button suggestion: brilliant!


    i'd also like to second bushford's smart folders suggestion…oh yeah.


    finally, i have to admit i'm not a big fan of purple -  but i can live with it if you'll just replace the feminine contraceptive product that others have pointed out (too harsh?).


    great work guys.

  67. Sean

    05.01.07 6:13 AM

    Filter icon: How about an icon of a funnel?

  68. Sean

    05.01.07 6:14 AM

    Filter icon: Or how about something that looks like a filter operation, conceptually.  Here's bad ASCII art that might not come out:


    | | | |

    ____|__

      |

      v

  69. Sean

    05.01.07 6:19 AM

    Filter icon: Arg, it didn't come out.  Here's a link to an image:

    http://theaherns.com/Filter.png</a>

  70. Don

    05.01.07 7:27 AM

    Filter?


    I just met her!


    Ok, something constructive - if you want to stick with the physical kitchen-based metaphor, at least change it to one of those pleated coffee filters. The current image looks more like a colander, or maybe a strainer.


    (Strainer? I just m- oh never mind.)

  71. scofield

    05.01.07 9:51 AM

    Great work. Congratulations.

    The only thing I wonder if it will be possible to export the next actions as plain text via applescript. I guess so.

    export to txt, send to ftp, send to pda…nice!

  72. Dimitri

    05.01.07 10:36 AM

    Dang I want to help test this program!  Who's lawn do I need to mow to be included in the beta..?

  73. [...] The Omni Mouth » Ethan Schoonover’s OmniFocus overview video (tags: omnifocus omnigroup gtd productivity mac program osx unproductivity.org) [...]

  74. Chris

    05.01.07 12:21 PM

    OmniFocus looks great.  I will definitely buy it.  My only concern is as follows.  Although I really liked kinkless, I was worried its project-centricness would carry through to OmniFocus, and it looks like it did.  In order to create a projectless action, you have to either leave it in the inbox until it is done or create special project to hold project-less actions. 


    My understanding of the way GTD works is this:  you have an inbox, a number of context lists and a project list.  Throw everything into your “inbox.”  The goal then is to get “In” to empty.  You do this by first asking if it is actionable.  If it is actionable you ask whether it is multi-step?  If it is multi-step, then it is a project and you add it to the projects list.  If it is not you add it to one of your context lists.  Next actions from your projects may be added to your context lists.


    I never heard of a “singleton” project until I started using kinkless.  Based on the video, it looks as if you leave a next action as a non-project associated next action, even if you assign it a context, it stays in the inbox.  This makes it hard to get the inbox to empty unless you associate it with a project.  Projects are for “multistep projects,” according to David Allen.  Lumping unrelated next actions into a “singleton” project does not seem to fit because these singletons are unrelated and hence not a project.


    I guess, in my mind, the ideal situation would be to have the task come into the inbox an stay there until it is associated with a context.  When associated with a context, it would move to one of the context lists and out of the inbox, no association with a project necessary. 


    You would also have a project list which is for multistep projects.  You could transform one of your next actions into a project if you wanted to, or you could start a new project first and add next actions to it.  The idea is that it is a separate, but interrelated list.


    Take a look at David Allen's workflow diagram and see if you agree with my understanding.


    Bottom line here is - would it be possible to have an option to automatically move the next action from the inbox to the context lists as soon as a context is associated with it, but without putting it into a “singleton” project?  Or another way of doing this could be to make inbox just a default context.  A next action would by default be added to the Inbox (unless context is chosen for it at the time is added).  To move it out of the inbox later, you just change its context from inbox to @work for example.

  75. David Levine

    05.01.07 1:26 PM

    Looks great!  I'd like to suggest some attention be paid to printing tasks/projects both individually (a project) or in groups for those on the go items.  What about printing integration with DYMO labelwriter (perahps large shipping label format) so that you can peel and stick into your GTD portable inbox (moleskin notebook, etc.).  Would be nice.

  76. troy

    05.01.07 2:49 PM

    Looks pretty good, except “purple” color scheme.  I will state firstly, that I am aware that it is a beta only.  Honestly though I don't feel really excited about OF as i did when I originally heard about it.  I own OO, OG, and OP, so I was really looking forward to OF, but not so much now.  I think iGTD feels more like a “real” GTD application than OF, although not quite as sharp looking.


    —Troy

  77. Gijs

    05.01.07 3:18 PM

    You got me sold. I'll wait for the beta. It would be great if the app has some export formats supported. Say XML, CSV, Excel, Text

  78. Paul

    05.01.07 5:15 PM

    Thanks Ethan,  this is very encouraging. And charming, as always.  I hope you'll be able to do more presentations, because for me, it eases the one thing you said that wasn't true.  Omni doesn't write good manuals, or at least not good USER manuals.  They show what the program commands can do, but not what you can do with the program.  [For example: try changing kGTD's sorrting in OOP. You have to grok the entire manual to realize that you have to change things in three different locations.]  So thank you for your involvement and please stay involved.

  79. Wolfgang

    05.01.07 5:54 PM

    @Developpers of Omnifocus


    When I saw the video, there was this feature for parallel and sequentional actions introduced. A question popped into my mind: What if I have a project with some actions which are parallel and with some which are sequential. Is there support for this issue planned in the final release? How do I handle such projects?


    But anyway, after I saw this video my desire to convert to a Mac became omnipresent.


    -Wolfgang

  80. Sam

    05.01.07 11:35 PM

    Looks great. Love nesting, and linking.


    Regarding linking… would be such a pleasure to have “smart” linking, especailly for contacts in Address Book.


    I.e. When I enter task “Call John Doe”, Omnifocus pops a window that lets me choose from all the Johns in my address book, John Doe at the top of the list.


    Good work.

  81. gary

    05.02.07 4:49 AM

    Looks great. Love how it reminds me of oo3. That said, I needed it yesterday. Enough teasing. Slap a beta sticker on it and get it in our hands or I'm gonna sick gruber on you.

  82. Paul

    05.02.07 5:16 AM

    Congratulations, OmniFolks.  You've really put a lot of work into the interface and it's so good that it's going to be completely taken for granted.


    Some details:


    You use checkbox with check in it to represent a completed task in the project view, but in the filter control it represents whatever state of tasks is included in the filtered view.  I suggest using a checkbox with an X for completed action to distinguish these.


    “Clean up” name and icon don't tell what's happening.  If it does more than hide completed tasks, then that may be the best terminology,  but if it not,show the checkbox with X being swept up or filed in the icon and say “Hide” with the X'd checkbox for the name.


    The ampersands showing in context view are visually cluttering. Make it smaller than the text size and farther away or slightly lighter to help it lead the eye, like a fancy bullet.


    Chris is making assumptions about how the Inbox works that I don't see in the screencast, but it seems his concern could be handled with (1) a view that doesn't show single tasks or the Inbox in the project list and (2) showing Inbox tasks that have a context set in the context view.


    I'd like a setting that shows tasks that I completed today all day today but hides them before I look at OF tomorrow morning.  Maybe that's what the “daily” setting does, but if not, i request an “at 4am” or “Overnight” setting.


    And thank you for realizing that we will want to see dates on various tasks simultaneously.

  83. Frank

    05.02.07 6:07 AM

    The clip sold me…after the screenshot alone I downloaded iGTD to check it out.  However, its not quite right for me.


    After seeing the clip, I can now say I believe OmniFocus suits me just fine.


    The only thing I REALLY need before I can transfer over from my current kludge of a GTD system (Mail and iCal) is the integration with email.  This is critical—I should be able to read an email, use the enter anywhere widget (or Quicksilver) and send something in the inbox that makes it easy to refer back to the email.


    Other than that, the current capabilities I saw in the clip are fine for 1.0.

  84. [...] Mehr bei The Omni Mouth Ethan Schoonover’s OmniFocus overview video. [...]

  85. [...] Ethan Schoonover’s OmniFocus overview video (tags: GTD Productivity Mac OSX) [...]

  86. Liz

    05.03.07 12:29 AM

    Wow!


    It looks like OmniFu (I can't stop thinking of it this way) will answer most of my complaints about other GTD software. I can't wait!


    One quibble ... will it be possible to change the colors of the test in the Preferences? My eyes are aging, and the small, gray text is nearly impossible for me to read.


    —Liz

  87. Ingo

    05.03.07 3:27 AM

    WOW! Congratulations! That application will be a big hit! I programmed my own version with FileMaker, not bad, but of course lacking all the nice drag-and-drop, filtering an many other features. WOW!


    Please add an option to the preferences in order to change the colors not only of the next step/note text, but also the background of the projects/context lists. A lot of people I know print their tasks/lists/contexts on colored paper, and it would be ABSOLUTELY STUNNING if these prints could match the colors on screen.


    Perhaps different colors for different contexts/projects? Because “waiting for” is basically nothing else but a “special” context, and one could use this an others even more easy with the option of coloring…


    So if that would be possible someday, I would be more happy than I am already now! Thanks a lot


    Const

  88. Erik

    05.03.07 3:55 AM

    This is looking fantastic.


    In addition to the Quick Entry window - I'd like a Quick Entry Widget and/or a Widget that shows time based Next Actions with check boxes.


    Lastly, which has been mentioned here, the ability to put an email into the OmniFocus “In” basket.

    Keep up the great work.


    - Erik

  89. Kevin Jones

    05.03.07 8:05 AM

    Hi guys - love it, just one distaste. That icon is bad, real bad. I know its just an opinion but there it is. Nasty shading, funny none standard size clip board thingy. I beg of you to bring the icon look (for the concept is fine) in line with the look of graffle, outliner and plan icon - their winners! Focus-  Bad heavy shading, weird shape. Save us from a great app with a dire icon (Yojimbo anyone!). The cleanup icon ain't great either. Anyway the app is stunning looking and I'll be buying it even if the icon lives through the beta.


    - Kevin

  90. Rob

    05.03.07 11:40 AM

    WOW - I am drooling.  Ethan's video raised my excitement level at least 1000% - what a great way to introduce the direction OmniFocus is taking.  Two thoughts came to me while watching the video:


    1) Can the list of tasks/contexts be given bubbles to indicate how many things are sitting in them (if you are looking at your lists, it would jog your memory that two of your collapsed errands sub-folders have things in them)


    2) Printing/formatting - will 3x5 cards be supported so that I can put together the 5 or 6 disparate things that I can get done between office and home and have it in my hand (3 phone calls for the train, 2 articles for the train, and the grocery list, post-office, & dry-cleaner for when I'm in the car).


    Thanks for sharing!

    -Rob

  91. Alexandra

    05.03.07 4:27 PM

    I second Kevin; Its look (as seen on Ethan's wonderful video) just isn't yet quite worthy of you omnifolk and the inner beauty of OmniFu. (But you can deal with that later, please don't even think about holding up the beta!)

  92. Sara

    05.03.07 6:49 PM

    Is the quick entry panel able to handle project entry as well? That is one of my gripes about kGTD… I sometimes have new projects that I want to enter before I start entering actions under that project, and this is very difficult to do. Also, at times I want to just enter in a new project, no actions at the present moment.

  93. George Garrett

    05.04.07 6:07 AM

    Thanks for the video. I can't wait to try it. In some respects OmniFocus is not new, since much of what it does is already present in Life Balance. For example: context and project views with automatic integration, nested projects, nested contexts, default contexts, parallel and sequential tasks, among others OF does some things more elegantly, however, and adds a focus feature and better filtering. I hope some kind of Palm OS integration is in the future (which is a major aspect of Life Balance). Those of you who can't wait should try Life Balance in the mean time.

  94. John Sheehan

    05.04.07 7:12 AM

    Wonderful start on this. I just completed a one day seminar with David Allen, and your app will make implementation of his comments so streamlined that even I will manage to stick with this.


    Have you approached David Allen about a formal endorsement? One comment he made in the seminar is that there are a lot of so-called implementations of GTD that he thinks do NOT do justice to GTD. Your product does, and he should be promoting it on his website and in his seminars


    Congratulations on another elegant product

  95. Charliee

    05.05.07 4:28 PM

    A question - I am not a KGTD user but I do keep my task lists in OOP Pro - Will OF be able to import OOP files?

  96. Rob

    05.06.07 5:56 AM

    I like the clean, spare interface.

    I would like to see a column for “Actor,” the person responsible for this action. This would provide a segue into OmniPlan (along with dates).

  97. Russell

    05.06.07 2:02 PM

    One thing I thought about watching the screencast, which was great btw, how about a task count out to the side of the project or context like Apple's Mail folders?


    I just think that could be helpful in some instances.  This may clutter the interface and be useless, I'm not sure, so maybe the option in preferences is enough for those who do and don't want it.


    Otherwise though, great stuff!

    Looking forward to it!

  98. Al

    05.07.07 7:45 AM

    Looks good - looking forward to hearing of more progress. Some points spring to mind though:


    Chris is totally correct IMHO - in a canonical GTD implementation you need to be able to have tasks not associated with projects.

    Is the “on hold” function intended to be @waiting for, or is it Someday/Maybe?

    I'm not sure how useful the idea of one task in a parallel project being designated as the next action is. Surely in a parallel project, all the actions are next actions and should be highlighted as such? I would have thought that if they have to be done in a specific order then some of them aren't really next actions and the project should be a sequential one (or a mixed parallel/sequential one).

    I think a Mail.app-style count of number of projects, tasks per context etc. would be useful.


    Roll on the beta. :)

  99. Peter Merel

    05.09.07 2:30 PM

    I like the interface but I am presently utterly wedded to the “High Priority” menubar control. High Priority has everything I could possibly want in gtd *EXCEPT* projects.


    I'd like either a menubar control equivalent to “High Priority”, or at least an ability to sync with iCal Calendar ToDos so I can continue to use High Priority as I do now.


    An ability to colour contexts is very important to me too. I know it seems silly, but the ability to see context at a glance is very powerful.


    Thanks for the excellent work!

  100. Jonathan

    05.09.07 6:54 PM

    I find myself actually slacking on my normal GTD program (using kGtd) because I'm waiting for Omnifocus..  I know I'm not alone…


    Can't wait for that beta!

  101. a11en

    05.11.07 7:49 AM

    Very cool demo, guys!  A quick couple comments for you-


    1) if you are able to seriously limit your work-flow to areas (i.e., go into the folders and only work on “work” eg), you need pretty serious visual queues that you're not seeing your “whole world” of tasks.  It looked very minor with the folder-change in the window-bar.


    2) that concept of areas of focus, is very similar to Stephen Covey's life “roles” quite nice.


    3) I'm starting to think you guys should consider a versioning server… a public and private side of this app.  I.e., if you can link with Omni-plan, you could link and publish goals etc., for the omni-plan project sub-goals (waiting fors)- a versioning system would allow the “publically viewed goals” and links with omniplan to be altered and agreed upon between manager and worker together.. in fact, goal-reviews could be done within this versioning system as well.  [likely you could wrapper subversion or cvs for this]  Add to this the concept of a document area (subversion or cvs could handle this as well), and now you have a collaborative planning and project tool that may be a good bit better than subversion or CVS alone.  It could even be worked into performance reviews etc., in terms of public goal accomplishments etc.


    Very interesting stuff, guys!  Love the new-app.  Hope that we can see a beta or even an alpha very very soon.  I for one would adopt it in my work-flow now as a beta-tester.


    Cheers!

    -Allen

  102. a11en

    05.11.07 7:58 AM

    I'm thinking Gantt charts that show progress on something with version numbers along the bar (v.0.1a—- v.0.2b—-) etc.  Mixing these things might be really really intriguing.


    Especially the back and forth in goal creation that may be possible between worker and manager…


    Ok, I'll stop posting in my excitement here… ;)

    -Allen

  103. Bruce Corkern

    05.11.07 9:07 AM

    One suggestion that I make to all GTD software designers is to allow multiple contexts.  Nested is another way, but doesn't quite have the flexibility.  For instance, if I have a bill to pay (which I pay online), I can do it @lunch or @home.  Using a context such as @online is nonsense as almost all tasks would end up there and it doesn't describe the scenario - I am online during working hours, but would never pay bills.  If I mark that task with tags @lunch @home, I see it in both contexts in Mori. But I can't nest those contexts and make it work.


    That's just one example.  Another would be “write memo regarding project goals”.  I might write that @office or @home, but I couldn't nest those contexts.


    My 2 cents, free of charge and worth what you paid..

  104. [...] Ten days later, they published a video ’screencast’ of the pre-release application with a commentary talking us through the features and workflow. 9 Perhaps more to the point, though, is the fact that hundreds of comments were being left on each blog post, and the software developers were responding effectively to the questions that were being asked about the new application. [...]

  105. ajea

    05.16.07 3:56 AM

    Didn't see ANYTHING about retaining a record or archive about work done or accomplished. Dont need to keep records of buying cheese or eggs :-) but some projects far more important and having to resort to yet another project to keep track of work accomplished or completed would be disheartening to say the least.

  106. [...] One other interesting news, this time from Omni blog, is that we can expect a first beta in no more than a couple of weeks, and that most of the efforts has been geared towards a standard file format that will be compatbile with future versions. This is something that I lilke. [...]

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