Things that are possible w/AppleScript but should be easy

I recently switched to OF from Things - but barely. Certain common UI operations are way too complex for a lazy guy like me. If I need to switch from trackpad to keyboard, or (even worse) click more than once to do these things it’s like a giant anvil was dropped on my workflow. Not a soft anvil.

Fortunately, OF has excellent AppleScript support, and (even better) the ability for a given script to become a toolbar button. Without this latter feature, I wouldn’t have been able to switch over. That’s right: I can’t even deal with opening an AppleScript drop-down menu and selecting an item. That’s how lazy I am. But when it comes to commonly used UI operations, the gold standard is “no physical motion required beyond one slide on the trackpad and one click”.

Here are a few items I think should have their own dedicated toolbar button or equivalent. Or at least an included AppleScript.

  • Toggle Action visibility parameters in current Perspective (e.g. “show/hide deferred items”, “show/hide inactive projects”)
  • Ditto for Project visibility perspective (e.g. “show/hide inactive projects”)
  • Toggle various scheduling parameters of current Action (e.g. “toggle whether this task is due today”).

Everyone has their own specific needs, and I think countless variations should be easily available. If they’re Toolbar options or included AppleScripts, they won’t cause interface clutter for people who don’t need them. But boy will people who do need them appreciate them. Especially lazy people like me.

</2 cents>

Mike

1 Like

Almost anything you need can be written as an AppleScript and included as a button in the toolbar.


JJW

I haven’t looked and I’m away from my Mac. Does the AppleScript dictionary for OmniFocus have access to settings? I’d be interested in buttons for this as well.