Occasional OmniOutline user here. Mostly I just use it as a straight ahead outline for things to do. However, I recently discovered the column type Duration. I’ve also added a column for a number which indicates priority. I’d like to be able to sort by column to look at that data from a diff direction, but I can’t figure out a) if it’s possible, and b) if it’s possible, how to do it. I looked at the online manual but didn’t see anything like that. Am I overlooking something obvious, or is sort by column not a function of OmniOutliner? TIA for any insight into this.
Easy to do–I do it all the time. Assuming you’re using the current version of OmniOutliner (5.10 at the time I’m writing this): On the menus, go Organize / Keep Sorted (if you want it to sort automatically) or Sort Outline (for a one-time sort). You’ll then see options for which Column to use, and which direction you want to sort.
If you choose to automatically sort an outline, you can still do one time sorts for other columns, but they’ll be subsidiary to the automatic sort.
Thanks! Yes, I’m running the current version, and I’ll go check it out right now.
Okay! I tried it, and it worked fine… it sorted on my “priority” column, which contains integers 1-5. But it only sorts the subentries under each main heading. Do you know if there’s any way to “flatten” the hierarchy (maybe?) so each subentry stands alone when sorting by the priority column? That is, a subentry with a priority 1 would sort above a subentry from a different heading of priority 4? I’m not sure I’m explaining this very clearly. I’ll come back and edit if I think of a better way to put it.
