Can I add a custom column to OF?

OmniFocus OmniFocus for Mac
#1

Hi,

is there a way to add a new column to my OF projects and tasks?

Thanks!

Bart

#2

No, there’s not, unfortunately. The best you could get away with is using the notes field. If the data you wish to save is numeric, you might be able to use the estimated duration field, but that could be a bit wacky😊

1 Like
#3

Ah too bad. Thanks for your reply!

#4

Sorry to disappoint! We’re currently working on infrastructure changes that will allow custom column definitions in the future, but the feature itself is a ways off yet.

#5

No worries Dave, I know what it’s like. I’ll figure out a way around it :)

#6

I see OF3 is out and, unless I missed it, does not implement custom columns. Is there to be any eventual movement on this or is it abandoned? (I see that an app as young and unpolished as SheetPlanner has custom columns.) [“Unpolished” isn’t a criticism. It’s “young.” It’s expected to be “unpolished.”:)]

#7

SheetPlanner (which I use) is a very different app from OF. It’s a lot more flexible (can be used for a wider variety of purposes), but it doesn’t have the pause task management capabilities that OF has. SP is closer to (but still not the same as) OmniOutliner than OF.

I don’t see that custom columns are likely to come to OF - there’s been no significant talk of it in the last 3.5 years, and it’s not in the 2019 roadmap. If you need that feature, I think that you’ll have to look elsewhere, unfortunately.

#8

The 2016 work we were doing was to allow database format changes without hard cutovers—at the time we weren’t sure exactly which features that would lead to. In OmniFocus 3 we’ve added tags which I know are not exactly what the original request was, but without the context of a use case it’s hard to know how they aren’t meeting your needs. We would definitely like to expose tags to perspectives more directly, and I think JavaScript automation also provides a lot of possibilities in the same area that a custom column definition would.

So, we’re interesting in hearing more about what you’d do with a custom metadata type, but Nick is correct that that’s not something that’s currently on the roadmap.