OmniFocus 2.3 is now in public test, with a “Custom Columns” layout option and title folding:
This replaces the temporary “compact layout” option with something which is much more flexible (letting you hide and show various columns) and which can be customized for each perspective.
This is, as expected, the biggest improvement to OmniFocus 2.
What’s left? I would ask for the “x remaining” and similar information be moved from under the large project or context title and placed after it on the same line. The same text wrapping rules could apply as for the action title.
When running test builds, we’d really appreciate if you could email any questions or comments to omnifocus@omnigroup.com. Not only will this help us investigate further if you’re encountering a bug, it’ll also help us ensure the team knows about any usability issues. Tips for effectively submitting feedback can be found here. Thank you!
For me, the “dog-ear” flag on the status circle and the new thicker circle are not improvements. The thinner circle was more elegant and better suited its new size. The flag can be displayed on the right and the flagged status is also shown by the colour of the circle, so the messy, unclickable “dog-ear” is redundant.
At first I thought the dog ear would be nice, but I also find it messy and unneeded because flagged actions have a unique color. I’d prefer an option to disable it.
I think the new layout options will be very useful. One thing I’d like to see is an option to turn off the ghosted “due” and “defer” in every empty date cell. I’d like to see them only when a row or cell is active. Maybe they could also be shown for the very first list entry as a kind of column header.
Furthermore I’d like to toggle the context/project sidebar independently of the perspective tabs - I think this will become more useful now that you offer a more horizontally oriented layout option. When I work inside my custom perspectives, I rarely change the set of selected contexts, so I’d rather use the space for my task list and have a more focussed interface. On the other hand, I switch between different perspectives quite frequently, which is why I’d like to keep the perspective tabs open. Right now, it’s all or nothing because these two very different things are tied together.
I agree with you about the keep-the-perspective-tabs-open-but-lose-the-middle-pane. Please email omnifocus if you haven’t to vote for that feature request. I have.
As for a work-around, depending on your horizontal space, you can right click on the toolbar and add custom perspective icons up there. I currently have the sidebar closed and my perspective icons in the toolbar for 90% of my OF2 usage and it works great. …but still, it would be nice to just see perspective icons on the left-hand side.
Click on the “View” icon (the button with the eye picture). You can set what columns you want to show. Then click “Save” to save the view settings for your custom perspective.
@Rockyroad,
Are you setting the custom layout on a specific perspective, with the View Options toolbar button? Or are you setting it for the whole app in Preferences? If a specific perspective, which one?