Compact layout: displays info on one line w/status circles on the left [Edit: Now available in 2.3! OmniFocus Preferences ▸ Layout ▸ Custom Columns]

This compact view is way better, esp in project view. I’ve been avoiding Project Tab due to an overwhelming feeling ( a perceived feel I’ve a lot more to do ). I’ve been living in Forecast View selecting specific days.

Think I’d prefer notes icon justified left and circle checkbox on right (difficult to be sure without trying). I know some have shouted loudly to reverse to checkbox on left but the note icon left & checkbox on right just feels right to me.

This is definitely a step in the right direction, in my opinion at least.

However, I’d prefer some visual distinction between projects & contexts. Right now, they appear right next to each other with only a dot separating them, making it hard to scan down the list reviewing contexts (which I sometimes prefer to do in lists that aren’t grouped by context–such as when they’re grouped by start date). Separating them into columns would be great.

Further, I’m still not sure why some perspectives display contexts and others don’t. For example, in my “flagged and due perspective” I don’t see how to make contexts visible.

This is wonderful and resolved nearly all my hesitations with switching from OF1 to OF2.

My only gripe is that clicking the checkbox didn’t mark the item as complete. Spacebar did though. This might be due the the REALLY small circle size though. As much as I love the uber compact layout, I’d appreciate a slightly larger circle that I could click.

Also I don’t use flags, but given the white space to the left of the task, I could see maybe a orange or red rounded square or some other shape to the left of the circle as a better indication of flagged tasks than the teeny flag.

Thanks for helping us users who despised the right hand circles and density with one setting though. You guys just made my day!

Goodness, from the moment I opened a new window, I already knew this was going to be better. I can’t wait until this is in the Review section too.

To reiterate the other requests: Yes, a bigger checkbox^h^h^h circle, please!

I’d like the notes button to be moved left, between the check circle and the action name, aligned with the notes button for the project title (which in turn means shifting the check circle more to the left; plenty of space there.

Thanks for the hidden option.

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I prefer the default view. The compact view looks good in the project list but in contexts it just doesn’t look right.

Where is the defer date in the compact context view? It shows a date if there is already one present but doesn’t tab into the field.

Continuing the discussion from Alternate layout which displays everything on one line with status circles on the left:


It looks incredible.

Thank you for listening to the community.

Don’t have time at the moment to test out OmniFocus 2 for the next week and a half, but afterwards (when I am more free) I’ll have a look again (and download the latest build, as my current one is expired and cannot update).


I did mention how (in another thread, somewhere) how the checkboxes were better visually, as they gave an impression of an ease of clicking (whereas on mobile, a circle makes sense, on desktop, a checkbox is a lot better).

An OmniGroup staffer did mention how there was the ‘overflow’ (meaning that the area around the circle (essentially forming a square, like the old checkbox) can be clicked.

Visually though, a checkbox would be better.

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Very, very nice. Especially useful and clean when the sidebar is hidden and when the window is narrowed. Developers probably spend a lot of time on huge-screens and may underestimate how crucial it is on an 11- or 13-inch screen to use the screen real estate efficiently. This is terrific!

The outline indentation seems just right too; gives a clear sense of the hierarchy without taking up too much space.

One point to improve, and this should be easy: the Notes field on projects is not yet in line with the title (the way it is for tasks within a project. Especially because I don’t happen to have much in the Notes field at the level of projects, these generates a lot of white space (see the second line of the screenshot below.)

Also noticed than tabbing through the fields in the new compact view skips defer date, though it seems to be a field that is displayed.

I use the Quick Entry window quite a lot but after converting to the alternative compact one-row layout, the defer and due date fields do not work! I have tried tabbing to the fields and clicking directly but nothing would allow me to input a date or even bring up a calendar. Love this layout otherwise.

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Well done! This view changes everything for me. I can finally stop using OF1

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This is excellent. Much more efficient. Much less time to get an brief overview of tasks, especially when there are many tasks on the list. A really HUGE improvement.

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Another wrinkle - not sure if it’s related to the compact layout change: when using Quick Entry, I can’t set a flag.

You can use shift-cmd-L to set a flag in the meantime.

@claw73, thanks for emailing in your report as well as posting it here; I’ve reproduced the problem and filed a bug on that.

Reminder: if you want to be sure that someone from Omni sees something, please email it to us! Things are about to get very busy at Omni later this week, and the “we can’t guarantee that we’ll see every post in every thread” caveat on these forums is going to be even more in effect than it usually is. :-)

After a couple of days with compact view, I returned back to normal OF2 view to try.
It seemed better:)

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FWIW, I’m still MUCH preferring compact view.

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I’m sticking with compact view, too. Thanks again for making it possible!

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Nice one - this is a great option. Thanks for listening to feedback!

Anyone unable to click the Complete circles in the compact view (v87 r209636)? I hit the space bar or use the inspector usually, and just realized clicking doesn’t work.

I’ll file as a bug via email, of course, but I want to know if it’s Just Me™.

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Anyone unable to click the Complete circles in the compact view (v87 r209636)? I hit the space bar or use the inspector usually, and just realized clicking doesn’t work.

No, I think it’s a bug. Thanks for filing this.