I have a project worth of tasks that need to be done whenever we hire a new person. It doesn’t make sense to have it be a repeating project, because we hire people at completely irregular intervals. Is there a way to copy a project so that when we hire someone, boom, I can have my whole list ready to go with a tap or two? Thanks.
On macOS it’s easy via copy-paste, on iOS I’ve not found a way in the OF interface (could be wrong)
What I do on iOS is use taskpaper templates and the shortcuts app to quickly add a project to OF when I need it. I’ve got a shortcut set up to select a specific template and then add that as a project to a folder in OF.
It’s quick, and also keeps the clutter in OF to an absolute minimum.
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Thank you for responding! It looks like TaskPaper is a Mac app, and I don’t have a Mac. Is this something that could be accomplished without TaskPaper?
Taskpaper is a format, not an app (well, actually it is both)
There’s a very good support article here:
https://support.omnigroup.com/omnifocus-taskpaper-reference/
Basically what you do is create a template:
- Project «subject» planning @parallel(false) @autodone(true) @context(work) @tags(office, client)
- plan «subject» in outlook @parallel(false) @context(work) @tags(client)
- get info on «subject» scan and add to OF project @parallel(false) @context(work) @tags(office)
- email: send planning on «subject» to «client» @parallel(false) @context(work) @tags(office, client, email)
have an iOS shortcut fill in the placeholders (= «items in»)
and add everything to Omnifocus.
it is very easy.
some examples / workflow options can be found
here: https://colterreed.com/how-to-fill-out-omnifocus-project-templates-with-workflow/
and here: https://rosemaryorchard.com/blog/automators-5-project-templates/
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I’ve found that creating the project setup you want in Omnifocus and then copying it as taskpaper into the shortcuts app is easiest. (in omnifocus: “copy as taskpaper”)
There is a way: in the Outline view, tap the Edit button (top right on iPhone) to go into multi-select mode, select the project(s) you want, then tap the More button (bottom right) and select Copy. Tap the Edit button again, and then tap and hold the project you want to paste the project(s) after, and hit Paste in the contextual menu.
Hope this makes sense!
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Good one, did not know that. A bit convoluted, but it works!
I still have problems with this. If I copy a project and paste directly it works. If however I paste into drafts (for example), then recopy the text straight away, and paste into a project then it becomes an action group rather than a project. I want to be able to go directly from some text in taskpaper format to OmniFocus. It does look like something has changed, as a template I’d created a while back and stored in notes no longer works and I end up with an action group with tasks rather than a project… any thoughts?
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