Seems like an easy task but I cannot find a way to do it: I want to implement a task that would generate automatically a new instance at a certain interval: for example an omnifocus task that repeats at a fixed interval.
E.g. every 4 hrs. a new instance of the task is created automatically irrespective if the previous was completed or not.
Is this what you are looking for?
Yes but is broken.
Radu,
Is the link broken; or is this feature missing from your installation of OmniFocus?
The link is ok
Are you saying that the Repeat functionality in OF 3 for macOS doesnât work?
If so, please would you explain what doesnât work - perhaps illustrating the problem with a screenshot.
Repeat (in the Inspector) allows you to make a task repeat at the regular intervals which you want - either on a fixed date regardless of whether you have completed the task or not, or only when you have completed it.
This repeat interval can be by (any number of) days, days in the week, number of weeks, of months or each year.
You can also set tasks to repeat every so many minutes or hours⌠like every four hours as you need, I think.
Hope we can help you if you explain a little more, please :-) .
The answer I think is no you cannot create a repeating task that repeats irrespective of whether the previous instance is completed natively in OF
What you can do however is use shortcuts on IOS to generate a templated instance of a task on a schedule.
You can I am guessing run an omniJS script or AppleScript on a timed repeat to generate a new task if on Mac
That is my experience, too. But that must be a bug as it is possible to select repeat for the itemâs assigned dates but it probably does not work:
As well, I recall the same was working in OF2 and for sure the same works in Things.
We should not have to maintain a separate script to achieve this functionality.
Letâs suppose you have to make a payment every week on Monday, so the expectation is that a new task is automatically created each Monday irrespective if the previous one(s) is completed or not.
So when I get around to make the payments I end up with the correct number of tasks pending and I will pay the correct amount.
This is basic functionality and Things has it.
Now if I set the repeating task in OF3 to repeat from assigned dates and I miss for example three occurences I will still have just one task pending in OF!
Not how I see it, in your example if you fail to make a payment the task will still be there the next Monday.
Itâs not a bug just the way OF works.
Plus while it may be possible to repeat a task every hour, (as per your example) I think a reminder in an app like âdueâ is a far better option.
No app is perfect and there are trade offs and compromises with any app. For me âThingsâ would not function the way I wanted so was ditched in a few hours, for others obviously the experience may be different. The trick is to find the one nearest the way you would like to work and then sidestep the shortcomings with a bit of lateral thinking.
Yes, the task will still be there bit if I come back to make the payments after three weeks, all intermediary tasks will be skipped.
Anyway this behavior is acknowledged now by OF as a bug. They actually have a bug for more than one year on this and still did not fix it.
They might appreciate your fanboi attitude but to me, it is laughable :) And not helpful.
Thatâs not how OF works, as you can see in the documentation. Are you sure they have a bug open for this?
Yes. Anyway the way it works now for the âAssigned datesâ part of your excerpt is pretty useless.
I mean you should be able to schedule a repeating task at fixed intervals.
I disagree itâs useless. It works well if you need a task to repeat based on the day it was deferred or due and not based on when it was completed. I understand your use case, but unfortunately OF doesnât have that covered.
I myself had to adapt to this for my bills, as you can see below. Instead of using the repeat feature, I create all expected due dates beforehand using Shortcuts.
Itâs a trivial use case and it should be covered. Things has it. OF is a commercial product and we should not have to use other products and/or extensions in order to handle so basic use cases.
Really? Resorting to insults helps no one and adds nothing to the forum, it simply shows a lack of maturity and respect.
Am I a fan of OF? Yes, is it perfect? No. I use it because it works for me, I post here to try and help others if I can. Maybe OF just is not for you, maybe politeness isnât either.
Where is the insult?
Here:
This is a forum where users (with all levels of expertise) come to ask questions and give answers where they may.
Itâs courteous to give thanks, acknowledge those who help.
And stick to the substance of the queries, not engage in comments which - in the end - tend to alienate those who just want everyone to make the best of OGâs excellent products.
There is no insult there: you already admitted your biased attitude. And nothing to thank for as you defend an obvious shortcoming in the product like you would be employed by OG.
If anyone should apologize, itâs you for wasting peopleâs time.
Indeed, you are right but these tasks are kept âhiddenâ even if many of them might have their dates in past and they are not depending on a previous one (e.g. paying the Jan invoice can be done without having the Dec. invoice paid).
They are not showed as Available nor as Remaining!
So the user cannot get them visually listed in a perspective in order to plan for their completion.
