I have a suggestion, and that is to be able to look at your projects as a mindmap.
As most people I see things a lot more clearer if they are presented to me in a graphical fasion.
I love OF, but I have problems getting the simple overview that I want – it’s obviously more presented in a database way than any other way. A mindmap is really only another way to look at a database, so it shouldn’t be that hard to implement this.
I have thought about this a long time, and for me this would be a perfect way to view your data.
I’d love that. But nothing is ever as simple as it seems… (sigh)
At the moment, I’m using MindNode to create a mind map of my big projects (active and someday/maybe). There is a share function that can convert a selected node in the mind map or the whole mind map into OmniFocus.
When I use the iThoughtsX mind mapping app, I usually have to save it to OPML format and then suck it into OmniOutliner. Then import the OmniOutliner document into OmniFocus.
In the beginning, OmniFocus was basically an extended version of OmniOutliner. Slowly, we’re seeing other graphical elements come in to play. The Forecast perspective was the first step in getting out of the outline only mode. Hopefully, a mind map or graphic overview will come into play eventually.
But it looks like Omnigroup have their hands full. Looking at the public betas, the programmers are still getting the new OmniFocus format up and running with encryption and a new data structure to possibly allow structural changes such as tags. It will probably be awhile before they’ll get around to this idea.
You can always send in your vote via e-mail to omnifocus@omnigroup.com. The more votes that get tallied up for a feature request will indicate higher interest and buzz to get this feature and other feature requests faster.
I’m guessing that if MindNode has the capability to create new projects inside OmniFocus, the capability is already there. I think it all boils down to reading the OmniFocus XML database and using Applescript.
The API that I’d like to see would connect directly to the sync servers and use REST and JSON, not XML and AppleScript, which has to be run on the desktop. This would allow east integration with 1000s of services via things like IFTTT and Zapier.
