The primary purpose of this forum is for you to discuss with, and help, each other. We participate as we have time. And we read a lot more than we respond to.
As for the request to see your projects while processing the inbox, we don’t have a quick and easy solution. So we’re watching this thread and the emails sent to us, and asking questions (like Kristina did) to make sure we understand various angles of the problem, before we dig into a more complicated solution. In situations like this, we need to understand why a workaround doesn’t work, in order to ensure our full solution doesn’t have the same flaw.
I think it was I that pointed out, way up-thread, that a second window could be opened. However, the fact that the use case can be met like that does not mean that it is ideal. There are advantages in the single-window layout which OF2 delivers. Clearly, your dev team sees / believes in those advantages also, else you would not have designed the OF2 processing window thusly.
You could have had a whole bunch of modeless windows, you could have gone with tabs ala The Hit List (count me as one who loves tabs and would not object), you could have done a lot of things. You primarily went with a four-pane, single window approach - and I am sure you have noted that there have been few gripes with that layout.
And so we, your users, happily wade our way through our projects, our task groups, our contexts, our perspectives with a four pane layout which we (mostly) adapt to and (mostly) are OK with. And yet with the Inbox, that layout is not in evidence. And that adds friction to our processing. Why should I process my way through all of the above detailed views of my tasks, projects and groups in one way - and yet have to process in a completely different way with the Inbox? The friction added is kind of grating.
And so yes, we can process through the use of two windows, I think we’d acknowledge that is possible. However, it is not ideal, it is not what we want and it is not even an improvement over the manner in which we achieved the same use case with OF1. I hope that answers it for yourself, for Kristina, for Ken and for the dev team. Thanks.
I don’t see why a “No Project” item couldn’t easily be added as the top item in the project list, just like a “No Context” item already exists at the top of the context list. If someone clicks the “No Project” project they would see all currently unassigned items and they could drag them over to the list of projects fairly easily.
Technically it wouldn’t be the inbox, but it would probably satisfy a lot of the needs for the use case, and it would avoid using two windows.
Your idea would work better for the use case, because we could process the Inbox with our typical four pane layout. However, I would still have an issue with that approach, because then the Inbox still does not behave consistently with all of the other views. I hope for / ask for / expect consistency.
To answer your question, ‘why a workaround doesn’t work’…
Why do I not want to have to open a second window to perform a task that I can currently perform with just one?
GTD is about reducing friction: capture, processing, doing and reviewing should be as straight-forward as possible. Having to set up and, on my MacBook, carefully configure a second window is a pain, especially when there’s more than enough space in the Inbox window for the information I need to see. Having to do this every time I process my Inbox adds needless complexity (and irritation).
Why can’t I just leave the second window open all the time?
The reduction in data density in OF2 already means using a window twice as large as OF1 to see the same information, and now I need to open another? The minimum width of an OF2 window with a sidebar is 706px! That’s an awful lot of real estate on a MacBook, and even on an iMac. Maybe I want to have my Someday/Maybe list in OO4 open as well? I’m out of luck on the MacBook.
Why can’t I just overlap the windows as in Kristina’s screenshot?
Having the project list in the Inbox window allows the existing actions in any project to be viewed by Command-clicking on the project. Having the project list in a separate window means having to have the second window arranged to show not just the project list, as in Katrina’s screenshot, but also the Outline, taking up more screen space. The alternative, tabbing between overlapping windows, adds more steps to what is, in OF1, a simple task.
OF1 already solved this problem. As Rique has noted above, a four-pane layout is used in every other view, so why not in the Inbox?
As a workaround for now, You could make subtasks for the tasks (when the juices are flowing, to avoid the friction of solving this problem) and later create a new project, to which You then move the tasks to.
Apart from that I agree that task to project should be a right-click as well as drag/drop option.
Agree with everything proposed here. Right click to convert to project, right-click to move to project and/or context, drag and drop to move to move to project and/or context. Please consider adding these features.
The lack of drag and drop into folders and projects from the inbox is going to be a deal breaker for me. The inbox feels isolated. It’s a shame I really like OF2 but I couldn’t buy it purely because of this.
As others have said - The second line on projects is too small and indiscernible.
We’ve added “Convert to Project” to the Edit menu, but it’s also worth noting that you can open your Inbox in a second window (which you could probably make much smaller) and drag things from your Inbox window to any list that you have open in your main window.
As your aware screen estate is precious and more windows are always best avoided.
With regards to the “covert to project” - fair enough but what about inserting that project directly into a folder in a certain position; Clearly these things are possible but take longer than simple “drag and drop”. Further, it’s nice to view inbox items in relation to projects and folders.
I hate moaners who don’t attempt to come up with a suitable solution to said moaned about problem; I’m at a real loss as to how this can be overcome with your current U.I - Sorry.
I agree as well. The two window workaround is interesting but counterintuitive, and against the one window environment you’ve lovingly crafted. It seems odd to have to make two windows or to have to go to the edit menu, though I see there’s a Cmd+Shft+1 shortcut for this action.
It’s a huge workflow issue though, as I do use the inbox as a brain dump often, then in my daily reviews move things around and flesh things out. A lot of single list items that go into the inbox later become projects for me when I review and sort. I right click option would be nice, but being able to drag from the inbox to the project icon of the same window so the item being dragged populates as a project and disappears from the inbox is down right essential.
As far as dragging an item into a Context there is a “No Context” item in the Context view that you could use to see all items that aren’t assigned a context yet and then you can drag them into the appropriate context. Maybe something similar could be done for projects in the Project view? Adding the inbox to the top of the list of projects could allow someone to do all project assigning in the project view.
Btw, this thread seems very similar to the “Viewing the Inbox at the same time as Projects” thread. Both are asking for essentially the same thing.
At a minimum, can you add that as a button option for the toolbar please? At a push, I can live without being able to drag tasks to become projects in specific folders, although it’ll make every inbox task>project upgrade at least a 2-step action, but there should at least be something a little more visible in the UI.
At the same time, I miss the old Switch menubar button, which took you to the same action in the context/project view.
I too was trying to figure out how to get items from my ‘Inbox’ into a given project. I tried to select the item and then use the right-hand side editor to set the project. That didn’t seem to work and to be truthful even it had worked, it would not be preferred manner.
Thanks for the 2 window work around. It’ll work in the short term, but by no means should it be the only solution. My vote is for the ability to drag-drop the inbox item onto the project in which I want to associate it.
Pretty much agree with everyone else. Would be nice if it were easier (more intuitive) to move things from my Inbox to a project. I do this pretty much every time I open OF.
