Built-In Perspectives

Default Perspectives

The perspectives for planning and completing items are:

• Inbox — for quickly capturing and processing actions.
• Projects — for gathering actions into projects, and figuring out what comes next.
• Tags — for adding information about people, places, things, states of mind, energy level, or anything that affects when or where you work.
• Forecast — for viewing all of your actions and projects that have related due or defer until dates, and viewing them alongside your schedule.
• Flagged — for gathering all of your flagged actions in one place.
• Nearby — for seeing all actions or projects that have a tag with an assigned location, either in a list or on a map. What can you do where you are, or nearby?
• Review — for checking on your progress so far, determining the status of projects, and figuring out what to do next.

Completed and Changed

The perspectives for viewing completed or changed items are:

• Completed — for finding completed actions and projects.
• Changed — for finding changed actions and projects.

More information about each perspective is below. The easiest way to view a perspective is to click or tap its icon in the Perspectives Bar, or navigate to it using Quick Open.

Perspectives Bar

The perspectives bar is a row of tabs down the left side of the screen on a Mac and iPad, or across the bottom of the screen on an iPhone. By default, it is visible when OmniFocus is first installed, with each tab containing an icon and title; tapping on an icon will visit the related perspective. If you’d like to, you can either hide the perspectives bar, or just hide the titles.

By default, the perspectives bar includes all the built-in perspectives, except for Completed and Changed. You can change the order of perspectives, as well as choose which ones to show (including custom perspectives, when using OmniFocus Pro), using the Perspectives List on Mac, or Quick Open edit mode on iPad and iPhone. If you choose to show more perspectives than can fit across the height or width of your screen, you can scroll the row to reveal additional tabs.

On an iPhone or iPad, you can also tap the current tab to update the view. If you are viewing the Outline, and have scrolled or selected one or more items, the first tap will clear the selection and return to the top of the Outline. The second tap will show or hide the Sidebar on an iPad, and switch between the Sidebar and Outline on an iPhone.

Perspectives Bar Shortcuts

Each tab in the perspectives bar is also a button. When long pressing (press and hold) on an iPhone or iPad, or control-clicking on a Mac, a shortcut menu (also called a contextual menu) appears. The shortcut menu may contain some or all of the following menu commands, which apply to the selected perspective:

• Edit — opens View Options for the selected perspective, and begins editing.
• Unfavorite — removes the selected perspective from the perspectives bar and favorites list. Quick Open can be used to favorite it again on an iPhone or iPad, and the Perspectives List can be used on a Mac.
• Copy Link — copies a link to the perspective in OmniFocus’s app URL format. Tap this link from anywhere on your device to view the perspective in OmniFocus.
• Open in New Window — on a Mac, this opens the selected perspective in a new window, instead of the current window. On an iPad, this will open the selected perspective in a new split screen window. This command is not available on iPhone.

Quick Open

Quick Open is designed to help you quickly navigate wherever you need to go in OmniFocus, whether you are using a Mac, an iPhone, or an iPad.

Quick Open (Mac)

While working anywhere in OmniFocus, use the Quick Open… menu item in the File menu (Command-O), or click on the Quick Open button in the Toolbar (if you have customized the Toolbar).

Navigating:

• Enter text into the search field at the top of the sheet to quickly find a perspective, folder, project, tag, or Omni Automation plug-in that matches the text you enter.
• The field matches text from the middle of words as well as between them; entering "ho" will turn up both "Get started with OmniFocus" and "Phone", for example.
• Click on a result in the list to open it, or use the arrow keys to navigate, and return to select a result.
• If you check the Open in a new window option, the item will be opened in a new window.

Quick Open (iPhone and iPad)

On iPhone or iPad, Quick Open can also be used for selecting favorite perspectives, or reordering the perspectives bar. On a Mac, this functionality is located in the Perspectives List

With OmniFocus Pro, Quick Open can also be used to create new custom perspectives.

While working in any perspective’s Sidebar or Outline, tap the Quick Open button in the lower left part of the screen (or type Command-O).

Navigating:

• Enter text into the search field at the top of the sheet to quickly find a perspective, folder, project, tag, or Omni Automation plug-in that matches the text you enter.
• The field matches text from the middle of words as well as between them; entering "ho" will turn up both "Get started with OmniFocus" and "Phone", for example.
• Tap on a result in the list to open it. If you are using an attached keyboard, you can also open the selection using the return key.

Favorites:

• Tap on the star icon to favorite or unfavorite perspectives.
• Perspectives that are favorites will show in the Perspectives Bar.

Sorting Perspectives:

• Tap Edit
• Use the drag handles to arrange perspectives in the order you prefer.
• Perspectives that are favorites will appear in the order you set here.

Creating Custom Perspectives:

• With OmniFocus Pro, tap the Add Perspective button in the bottom right of the Quick Open window.
• A new custom perspective will be created and opened, ready for you to edit.
• Additional information can be found in Custom Perspectives.

Perspectives List

On Mac, the Perspectives List is used for selecting favorite perspectives, assigning custom keyboard shortcuts, or reordering the Perspectives Bar. With OmniFocus Pro, the Perspectives List can also be used to create new custom perspectives. This functionality is also available on iPhone and iPad, but is part of Quick Open.

Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Click on the Shortcut button (note that it may currently be showing an assigned custom shortcut).
• Type the keys that you would like to assign.

Favorites:

• Tap on the star icon to favorite or unfavorite perspectives.
• Perspectives that are favorites will show in the Perspectives Bar.

Sorting Perspectives:

• Click and hold on a row, then drag it into the order you prefer.
• Perspectives that are favorites will appear in the order you set here.

Creating Custom Perspectives:

• With OmniFocus Pro, click the plus icon in the bottom toolbar, to Add a new perspective.
• A new custom perspective will be created and opened, ready for you to edit.
• Additional information can be found in Custom Perspectives.

Next to the star icon, there is a More menu (indicated by three dots) which contains additional actions or settings for each row:

• Open — opens the selected perspective.
• Open in New Window/Tab — opens the selected perspective in a new view.
• Edit — opens View Options for the selected perspective, and begins editing.
• Copy as Link — copies a link to the selected perspective.
• Duplicate — duplicates the selected perspective. (Only available for Completed & Changed and custom perspectives.)
• Always Open in a New Window — choose whether to always open the selected perspective in a new view. (Only available for custom perspectives.)
• Revert to Default Settings — returns perspectives to their original settings. (Only available for Default perspectives.)
• Delete — deletes the selected perspective. (Only available for custom perspectives.)

View Options

View Options can be shown by tapping or clicking the eyeball icon in the toolbar, selecting Show View Options from the View menu, or using the keyboard shortcut Shift-Command-V.

View Options allow you to customize which actions or projects appear in the Outline for the current perspective, based on their status and availability, in addition to perspective-specific options.

This section provides an overview of the options that are common to most perspectives, with each perspective section discussing options that are specific to that perspective.

View Options is generally divided into several sections:

• Availability — The first section determines what is included in the view, based on the availability of the items (actions, action groups, and projects) that are shown; the View Options glossary entry has more detail. This section is not included in Forecast or Review, though each of those perspectives have similar components. These settings sync between all devices.
• Structure — The second section determines how the view displays, and varies between perspectives. This can include settings that impact visibility (such as whether to display the Inbox in Projects), or the organization of items (such as whether to display Forecast as a unified list, or separated by types of information). This section is not included in the Inbox or Nearby perspectives. These settings sync between all devices.
• Layout — The third section contains layout adjustments for the specific kind of device that you are using, including access to Edit Default Layout. These settings sync between devices of the same type.

Inbox

The Inbox is your starting place, where you can capture everything that you want to accomplish: all of your hopes, dreams, and goals. To add an item to the Inbox, navigate there using the Perspectives Bar or Quick Open, and choose New Action (Command-N) from the File menu, click the New Action button (plus icon) in the Mac toolbar, or tap the New Item button (plus icon) in the lower right of your iPhone or iPad.

Many people use the Inbox as a landing place for new ideas, allowing them to quickly capture all the thoughts in their mind. While it is possible to work out of the Inbox, it’s often a temporary place for those ideas to live. Adding a project or tags to an item turns it into an action, and converting it into a project allows you to add even more actions… all in the interest of moving towards your goals.

Inbox View Options

Keeping in mind the general View Options introduction above, the Inbox provides the following view options:

• In the Inbox, show: — this is the availability section, though it does not include the First Available option, which is partly determined by project structure, so is not available in the Inbox.
• Layout — Unlike the other perspectives, the Inbox View Options always allow customization, whether licensed for Standard or Pro, to make processing your Inbox as easy as possible. More information in the OmniFocus Pro note in View Options.

Inbox Outline

Once you have an item in your Inbox, what do you do next? In the simplest workflow, you can accomplish the action that you have captured in your Inbox, and then mark it complete by clicking or tapping the Status Circle next to the item.

Do you need to do a little more organizing, before tackling that first action? The Inbox Outline contains a list of individual items, which you can choose to organize into action groups. This can be accomplished by dragging one item on top of another (Mac, iPhone, or iPad), selecting an item and using the Add Inside command (Mac, iPhone, or iPad), or dragging the New Action button from the lower right of your screen to hover over an action in the Outline (iPhone or iPad).

You can also add tags to an item, by clicking or tapping into the Tags fields, and beginning to type; you can either select existing tags, or create new ones.

Since the Inbox is most often a temporary place for capturing ideas, it only supports very simple organization. If you need more complexity, or are working on a project with many related actions, then it’s time to either add the Inbox item to an existing project, or convert it into a project, and continue planning. Clicking or tapping into the Project field will allow you to either select an existing project, or create a new project.

Once you have added a project or tags to an Inbox item, it will likely disappear from view, depending on your settings for Clean up inbox items which have. Your items are still safe! They’re now filed, and ready for your next steps. Not entirely sure where your Inbox item just went? Please see read about the default Miscellaneous project.

Inbox Sidebar

The Inbox perspective is unique among perspectives, as it doesn’t have a Sidebar. The Sidebar is normally used for navigating to part of the Outline, or filtering to only see a specific section of the Outline. Both navigation and filtering require additional information which Inbox items don’t typically have, such as an assigned project or tags; in the Inbox, adding that information normally removes the item from the Inbox entirely, based on your Clean up inbox items which have setting.

Item Status

As you discovered above, clicking or tapping on the Status Circle next to an item will mark it completed, one of several status options that can be applied to actions, groups, projects, folders, and even tags. Other status options include active (the default), on hold, and dropped. More information about status options can be found in the glossary.

Cleaning Up Resolved Items

When you mark an item complete by clicking its status circle , the item may not immediately disappear from the Outline. If you have set items to clean up when changing perspectives, they remain until you navigate elsewhere or clean up manually by using the Clean Up command. You can choose when OmniFocus cleans up by changing the setting for Clean up resolved items

If a completed item doesn’t disappear even after you’ve cleaned up your current view, check your View Options for the perspective, as you likely have the availability section of View Options set to All. Change to any of the other availability options, to hide completed items.

Projects

A project is a collection of related actions and action groups, typically working towards a specific end goal. The Projects perspective displays all of your projects in a list, which can also be grouped into folders, such as Personal or Work.

To add a new project, navigate to Projects using the Perspectives Bar or Quick Open, and choose New Project (Shift-Command-N) from the File menu, or use the Add Project at the bottom of the Projects Sidebar.

A project is a task made up of multiple items. Projects are typically more complex than individual action items, and can include several related actions. The Projects perspective displays all of your projects in a list, which can be grouped into folders to create hierarchy.

Projects View Options

Keeping in mind the general View Options introduction above, Projects provides the following view options:

• In Projects, show: — Choose the setting for items that you would like to be visible in the Outline (Remaining is the default). Each option describes the requirements for items that it includes or excludes; see View Options, Project Type and Project Status sections for further details.
• Structure — Choose whether to show the contents of the Inbox at the top of the Projects Outline and Sidebar (this makes it easier to drag and drop between the Inbox and Projects), and choose whether to include folders in the Outline view (folder rows are hidden if this option isn’t selected).
• Layout — Settings in this section vary with the device that you are using: on a Mac or iPad there is a setting for Keep Sidebar Hidden, while on an iPhone there is a setting for Show Project list first. OmniFocus Pro allows you to set a custom layout for this perspective; see the OmniFocus Pro note in View Options.

Projects Outline

The Projects Outline displays a list of your projects, and the actions they contain, with visibility determined by your View Options. The Outline displays your projects in a list of rows, with each row representing a project, an action group or action that it contains, or (if enabled in your view options) a folder. The relationships between projects, the actions they contain, and any additional structure in the form of action groups, or folders, are represented in the Outline by levels of indentation. The further indented an item is, the deeper in the project view it is nested.

Projects Sidebar

The Projects Sidebar shows the full OmniFocus project structure, including folders and projects, along with an icon indicating Project Type on the leading edge of the row, and project or folder status along the trailing edge. Click or tap the disclosure chevrons to collapse and expand folder rows and show and hide their contents.

Drag and drop can be used to rearrange projects in the Sidebar. If you drop one project on top of a second project, the first project is converted to an action group inside the second project.

You can click or tap a project or folder in the Sidebar to view the selected item and contents in the Outline, or you can select several projects and/or folders to view them together. Tap again or Command-click to remove the selection, and return to the full list in the Outline.

Control-clicking (on a Mac) or long-pressing (on an iPhone or iPad) on an item in the Sidebar will show a selection of Commands in a Shortcut menu, which updates depending on which item(s) you have selected.

At the bottom of the Projects Sidebar on a Mac, there are two buttons: the Add button (plus icon), and the Action menu (gear icon). The Add button allows you to Add Parallel Project, Add Sequential Project, Add Single Action List, or Add Folder. The Action menu contains a selection of Commands in a Shortcut menu, which updates depending on which item(s) you have selected.

At the bottom of the Projects Sidebar on an iPhone or iPad, there are two buttons: the Add button (plus icon), and the More menu (three dots icon, available in Select or Edit mode). The Add button allows you to Add Project or Add Folder. The More menu contains a selection of Commands in a Shortcut menu, which updates depending on which item(s) you have selected.

Miscellaneous Project

Before we move on from the Projects Sidebar, let’s consider a very special project: the default Miscellaneous project, which can appear after cleaning up items from the Inbox.

The Miscellaneous project is a single action list that OmniFocus automatically creates whenever items are cleaned up that don’t have a project assigned. Since removing items from the Inbox requires that they be assigned a project, if your Clean up Inbox items which have are configured to move Inbox items that have an assigned tag, but no assigned project, the Miscellaneous project becomes their home until you assign them another.

Since the Miscellaneous project is automatically created by the app based on how you’ve chosen for clean up to work, it can’t be permanently removed; when needed, it will be re-created. If you’d prefer not to use it, try requiring an assigned project in your Clean up Inbox items which have setting.

Project Type

Projects are distinguished by their type, which reflects how actions inside the project must be completed. Project type also affects how actions within the project show up according to the perspective’s View Options.

Projects may be set to Parallel or Sequential, or they may be a Single Action List. By default, all new projects are created as Parallel, but the Default Project Type can be changed in Settings.

• Parallel — Parallel projects contains actions which may be accomplished in any order. By default, all active actions are considered available. View Options set to First Available or Available will show different results, as the topmost action in the project is considered first available.
• Sequential — Sequential projects contains actions which must be completed in a specific order, from top to bottom. By default, only the topmost active action is considered available, and all actions below that one are considered blocked. View Options set to either First Available or Available should show the same result.
• Single Actions — A single action list contains actions that may (or may not) be related in some way, but that are not part of an overall goal. Unlike with parallel or sequential projects, the position of an action in a single action list does not matter; each action can be thought of as a very small standalone project. For a single action list, View Options set to First Available or Available will show identical results, as all actions are considered first available.

Project Status

When planning or reviewing a project, it can be useful to assign it a status to indicate whether work is still progressing, or plans have changed. The statuses for projects are:

• Active — The default status for a new or ongoing project. It can be useful to review active projects regularly to determine what progress you’ve made, and whether they are still things you want to do.
• On Hold — If you’re not sure whether you want to continue a project, you can change the project’s status from Active to On Hold. If you’ve chosen to show only Available items in View Options, the project and its actions are removed from the project list in the Sidebar and Outline. Projects placed on hold are still available for review if you decide to prioritize them again in the future. If you’d like to view an on hold project, change your View Options to Remaining or use Search Remaining.
• Completed — Eventually you’ll reach the successful end of a project. Select the project and then choose Completed in the Status section of the inspector (this automatically marks any unfinished actions in the project complete). If you’d like to view a completed project, change your View Options to All or use Search Everything.
• Dropped — If you have decided not to work on a project any longer, you can set it to Dropped. It will be hidden from the Projects list, along with its actions. You can delete the project instead, but then you won't have any record of it; keeping it around in a dropped state means you can go back and check on actions you’ve completed (or not), even if they are part of projects that are no longer relevant. If you’d like to view a dropped project, change your View Options to All or use Search Everything.

Folder Status

Folders also have a status to indicate whether contained work is still progressing, or plans have changed. The statuses for folders are:

• Active — The default status for a folder. This status does not affect any contained projects or folders.
• Dropped — If you have decided not to work on projects inside a specific folder any longer, you can set the folder to Dropped. This will result in all contained folders, projects, and actions also being Dropped. All the contents of the folder will be hidden from the Projects list. If you’d like to review a dropped folder or contained items, change your View Options to All or use Search Everything.

Tags

In OmniFocus, tags can be used to add context necessary for completion of an action or project. They may represent a person, place, thing, state of mind, energy level, or anything else you find useful. Once multiple items have been assigned the same tag, you can easily view the related (tagged) actions, action groups, and projects in one place.

Your use of tags can be simple, such as showing you all the items related to work; or it can be complex, such as showing you all the items related to work that you need to coordinate with your co-worker, and that must be completed while you have high-energy and are sitting near your computer.

You can assign as many tags to an action, action group, or project as you find useful. Or you may not want to use tags. It’s your choice!

The Tags perspective displays a list of tags in the Sidebar, and a list of all actions and projects with assigned tags in the Outline, grouped by tag.

Tags View Options

Keeping in mind the general View Options introduction above, Tags provides the following view options:

• In Tags, Show: — Choose the setting for items that you would like to be visible in the Outline (Remaining is the default). Each option describes the requirements for items that it includes or excludes; see View Options and Tag Status sections for further details.
• Structure — Choose whether to sort items within tags by their due date and flagged status, or to leave them in their default sort order.
• Layout — Settings in this section vary with the device that you are using: on a Mac or iPad there is a setting for Keep Sidebar Hidden, while on an iPhone there is a setting for Show Tag list first. OmniFocus Pro allows you to set a custom layout for this perspective; see the OmniFocus Pro note in View Options.

Tags Outline

The Tags Outline displays each of your tags as a parent row, with the actions or projects assigned that tag immediately below the tag, filtered by your View Options selection.

Tag Groups are presented in the Outline as a flat list, with child tag rows below their parent tag row. Each child tag row is labeled with the parent tag name, a colon, and the child tag name, using an additional colon and name for each level.

Tags Sidebar

The Tags Sidebar shows a list of all the tags you’ve added to OmniFocus, along with summaries of their contents and tag status along the trailing edge.

Tags can be organized into Tag Groups using drag and drop, Indent and Outdent, or Add Inside and Add Outside. When dropping one tag on top of a second tag, the first tag becomes a child tag of the second tag. You can click or tap the disclosure triangle for the tag group to hide or show child tags.

You can click or tap a tag in the Sidebar to view the selected tag and assigned actions or projects in the Outline, or you can select several tags and/or parent tags to view them together. Tap again or Command-click to remove the selection, and return to the full list in the Outline.

Control-clicking (on a Mac) or long-pressing (on an iPhone or iPad) on a tag in the Sidebar will show a selection of Commands in a Shortcut menu, which updates depending on which tag(s) you have selected.

At the bottom of the Tags Sidebar on a Mac, there are two buttons: the Add button (plus icon), and the Action menu (gear icon). The Add button allows you to Add Tag. The Action menu contains a selection of Commands in a Shortcut menu, which updates depending on which tag(s) you have selected.

At the bottom of the Tags Sidebar on an iPhone or iPad, there are two buttons: the Add button (plus icon), and the More menu (three dots icon, available in Select or Edit mode). The Add button allows you to Add Tag. The More menu contains a selection of Commands in a Shortcut menu, which updates depending on which tag(s) you have selected.

Tag Status

Just as projects have a status to indicate whether work is progressing, tags also have a status that indicates whether they are currently relevant to your work.

• Active — The default status for a tag. When a tag is active, it is available, and relevant to you in some way.
• On Hold — When a tag is not currently available or relevant, but will be in the future, you can change the tag’s status from Active to On Hold. The tag remains visible in the Sidebar (with an On Hold status icon), and if you’ve chosen to show only Available items in View Options, its assigned actions are hidden in the Outline.
• Dropped — If a tag is no longer available or relevant to your work, you can change the tag's status to Dropped. The tag will disappear from the Sidebar and Outline, and its actions are also hidden. You can delete the tag instead, but then you won’t have any record of it; keeping it around in a dropped state means you can go back and check on actions with that assigned tag. If you’d like to view a dropped tag, change your View Options to Everything or use Search Everything.

Tag Sorting

By default, actions that have been assigned a tag will appear in the Tags Outline in same order they appear in their respective projects (project order), or in the order they appear in the Inbox if no project is assigned (Inbox order).

You can use drag and drop to rearrange actions within a tag. The tag saves its new custom order once you make a change, and the previous default rules no longer apply: any items subsequently added to the tag appear at the end of the list, and can be reordered manually from there.

Forecast

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Flagged

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Nearby

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Review

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Completed

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Changed

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