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OmniFocus 4 Reference Manual

Glossary

Some words and phrases used in OmniFocus have very specific meanings, and though we strive to make those meanings clear, this is a good place to come for further assistance.

Is there is a term missing from this list, or something here that doesn’t quite make sense? Please email our documentation team, and let us know what would be helpful… we’ll do our best to clarify and update.

Action

A specific item which can be accomplished, and which you can capture in OmniFocus. Actions can be found in the Inbox, as part of a project, or part of an action group within a project.

In other areas of your life, these are often referred to as tasks or to-dos. In OmniFocus, using the word action reminds you to always be thinking about the next step you can take to move a project towards completion, and attain your goal.

Action Group

A collection of child actions nested underneath a parent action, and which must all be completed before the parent action can be completed. Though the Inbox may contain actions groups, they are normally part of a project, and can be thought of as subprojects. Similar to a project, an action group may be parallel or sequential.

Action Group Type

Action Groups may be Parallel or Sequential.

Compare this to Project Types, which also includes Single Action List.

Active

See Item Status.

Apple User Guides

Apple provides User Guides for a variety of devices, operating systems, and applications:

Availability

Availability is a state that is derived for actions or action groups, based both upon the assigned status of the item, and the states of containing folders, projects, action groups, or assigned tags; this can include project status, project dates, project type, status of assigned tags, and more. Possible availability states include:

  • Available — An active action, action group, or project that is available for work, as it is not blocked, deferred, or on hold.
  • Blocked — An active action or action group that is not available for work, as another action must be completed first. This is typically found in a sequential project or action group, if another action is above it in the project outline. Actions can be unblocked by moving them to the top of the project or action group, or by changing the containing project or action group from sequential to parallel.
  • Blocked with container — An action or action group may also be blocked based on the availability of the project or action group which contains it.
  • Unavailable — An active action or action group that is not yet available for work. This is most often due to the defer date being in the future.
  • Unavailable with container — An action or action group may also be unavailable for work, based on either the status or availability of the project or action group which contains it. This is most often the case when the project is on hold, or the project or action group has a defer date in the future.

Available

To learn more about the concept of Availability in OmniFocus, and how it impacts actions, action groups, and projects, see Availability.

To learn more about the filter option named Available, which is part of View Options, see View Options Filters.

Blocked

See Availability.

Blocked with container

See Availability.

Compact View

Default view on an iPhone, or when using an iPad in split screen, this view shows OmniFocus one pane at a time, and can be thought of as navigating a series of stacked cards. Compare this with Regular view.

Completed

See Item Status.

Container

A folder which contains folders or projects, or a project or action group which contains action groups or actions. This term is used in the Inspector when viewing items which inherit availability, status, or values such as Flag or Due Date from their container.

Context Menu

See Shortcut Menu.

Contextual Menu

See Shortcut Menu.

Database

The collection of files, that are bundled together as an OmniFocus.ofocus package, which OmniFocus uses to store all the information that you add to the app. Under normal circumstances, you should rarely need to interact directly with the database folder, and the various perspectives show you all the contained information. There are settings that can optimize the performance of OmniFocus, and you can contact support if it looks like something isn't working correctly. When using a Mac or iPad, you can have multiple windows open, in order to see different views of your data at the same time. When using a Mac, you can open multiple database files at once to restore from a backup or archive, or view the contents of an OmniFocus database other than your primary data.

You may also see this referred to as your OmniFocus data, or OmniFocus library.

Defer Until Date

The date and time that you can next consider an item for work or completion. When the date and time that you have set is reached, the item becomes available for work. Using Defer Until is an excellent way to get something off of your plate for now, knowing that it will return when it's ready for work.

You may also see this referred to as a Defer Date or Start Date.

Projects or action that have a Defer Until date in the future are referred to as Deferred projects or actions.

Compare this to Due Date.

Drag and Drop

A system-level function that allows dragging items into OmniFocus, out of OmniFocus, and between OmniFocus and other apps on Macs, iPads, and iPhones. Try dragging text into OmniFocus from other apps, reordering items in the outline, and dragging rows or selected text from OmniFocus to other apps on your device.

Dropped

See Item Status.

Due Date

The date and time by which a given action, action group, or project must be completed.

Compare this to Defer Until.

Due Soon

A designation for actions, action groups, and projects with assigned due dates that are approaching, and may need additional attention. Items that are due soon have a special style to make them more visible in your outline. The exact meaning of Due Soon can be changed in “Due Soon” Means.

Editing Menu

A menu available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, that allows editing of text in text fields; normally accessed by tapping in a text field, while editing text. Most often contains system commands such as cut, copy, paste, and more; may also contain OmniFocus commands, such as Paste with Original Style.

Everything

See View Options Filters

Favorite

Perspectives can be starred to indicate that they are a favorite view. This can be done in the Perspectives List on Mac, in Quick Open on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, and in Settings on Apple Watch.

First Available

Unlike the other availability states, which can also apply to projects and action groups, First Available is a state that can only apply to actions.

See View Options Filters

Flag

A way of indicating that an action, action group, or project is important. Children of flagged items are also considered flagged, making it very easy to prioritize an entire project with a single click. Items that are flagged also have a special orange status circle.

Use Set/Clear Flag to add or remove Flagged status to an item.

Folder

A way to group together related projects or folders. By default, folders are shown in the Sidebar, and can optionally be shown in the Outline using View Options in Projects.

Group

See Action Group.

Hidden

An item that exists in your OmniFocus data, but that isn’t currently visible, based on your setting for View Options. This can be relevant when OmniFocus alerts you that something might be deleted by mistake.

Hierarchy

See Structure.

Inbox

The built-in perspective designed to hold actions and action groups that you have captured in OmniFocus, prior to processing them… creating new projects, adding them to existing projects, or assigning tags.

Inbox Order

The order in which action groups and actions are listed in the Inbox perspective. This is a very common order in which to display your OmniFocus data, even when you are in other perspectives.

Related: Project Order.

Inspector

A view on the trailing side of the OmniFocus window (in Regular view), or that can be opened by swiping from the trailing side (in Compact view), which allows you to adjust all the details for actions, action groups, projects, folders, and tags. With something selected in the Outline or Sidebar, the Inspector automatically shows relevant fields. Click the Inspector button in the toolbar, or choose Show Inspector from the View menu.

More information is available in the Inspector chapter.

Item

Term that may refer to actions, action groups, projects, folders, or tags. This reference manual will typically refer to the specific type of item being discussed, but there are a few topics where referring to an item is either necessary, or sufficiently clear.

Keyboard Shortcut

A single key, or set of keys pressed in combination, that calls a menu command. These are available when using a Mac, or with an external keyboard attached to an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro. When using an iPad, pressing and holding the Command key (⌘) will see a list of shortcuts available from your current location in the app.

Leading/Trailing Edge

When using OmniFocus with a left to right language, the leading edge is the left side, and the trailing edge is the right side.

When using OmniFocus with a right to left language, the leading edge is the right side, and the trailing edge is the left side.

Omni Account

Your Omni Account can be used to start a free trial of our applications, purchase a license or subscription, upgrade an existing license, and sync our applications using the Omni Sync Server.

More information about Omni Accounts can be found in our Using and managing your Omni Account support article.

Omni Automation

A method of scripting OmniFocus with JavaScript. See the Omni Automation website for more information on this feature.

On Hold

See Item Status.

Outline

The main view of OmniFocus, where you see and interact with your actions, action groups, and projects, usually through a structured view of your data. On a Mac or iPad, this is the center area of the OmniFocus window, with the Sidebar available on the leading edge, and the Inspector available on the trailing edge. On an iPhone, this is also the primary area of OmniFocus, with both the Sidebar and Inspector hidden most of the time, but available for changing your view or data. Some perspectives, such as Forecast, Nearby, and Review have specific ways of viewing your data, that may differ from the typical project structure.

More information is available in the Outline chapter.

Overdue

A state for items with due dates in the past. Items that are overdue have red status circles for greater visibility.

Parallel

A project or action group that contains actions which may be accomplished in any order. By default, all active actions are considered available. For a parallel project or action group, View Options set to First Available or Available will show different results, as the topmost action is considered first available.

Compare sequential projects or action groups, and single action list projects.

More information is available in the Perspectives chapter.

Pending

This custom perspective filter rule is now called Has an active project which has a future defer date.

Perspective

A view of your OmniFocus data that appears in the Perspectives Bar, Perspectives List, and Quick Open. OmniFocus comes with nine built-in perspectives, and custom perspectives can be created using OmniFocus Pro.

Plug-In

Omni Automation Plug-Ins are written in JavaScript, and can be used for automating various tasks, when using OmniFocus Pro. Visit the Omni Automation in OmniFocus website for more information.

Project

A collection of actions and action groups that are all working towards a common goal (see parallel or sequential) or that are united by another common element (see single action list).

Project Order

The order in which projects, action groups, and actions are listed in the Projects perspective. This is a very common order in which to display your OmniFocus data, even when you are in other perspectives.

Related: Inbox Order.

Project Type

Projects may be Parallel or Sequential, or they may be a Single Action List.

Compare this to Action Group Types, which does not include Single Action List.

More information is available in Project Type

Regular View

Default view on an iPad when running in full screen. This view can show all panes of OmniFocus at the same time; you can see the Sidebar, Outline, and Inspector at the same time. Compare this with Compact view.

Remaining

See View Options Filters

Resolved

Projects, action groups, or actions that have either been completed or dropped.

Sequential

A project or action group that 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. For a sequential project or action group, View Options set to either First Available or Available should show the same result.

Compare parallel projects or action groups, and single action list projects.

More information is available in the Perspectives chapter.

Shortcut Menu

When long pressing on an item, row, or selection of text, a menu may appear with relevant commands.

These were previously referred to as context menus or contextual menus, but Apple now refers to these as shortcut menus.

A pane to the left of the Outline, which can display folders, projects, tags, or a calendar, depending on which perspective you are viewing. When using Regular view, choosing Show/Hide Sidebar will show or hide the Sidebar, next to the Outline. When using Compact view, the Sidebar will slide in from the left, and will slide out to the left when you are finished using it, leaving the Outline visible.

Single Action List

A project which 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.

Compare parallel and sequential projects and action groups.

More information is available in the Perspectives chapter.

Stalled

This custom perspective filter rule is now called Has an active project which has no remaining actions.

Status

Status can be directly assigned to an action, action group, project, folder, or tag. Status can also be inherited from the item which contains it: actions can inherit status from action groups and projects, projects can inherit status from folders, and so on.

Inherited status works a little differently from status that is applied directly. When a status is inherited, the item keeps the original value of any assigned fields, and shows the inherited values through slight modifications of icons and text, in both the Outline and Inspector.

Status can be applied by clicking or tapping on a Status Circle, using the Status sub-menu in the Edit menu, using the Status sub-menu in the shortcut menus, or using the Inspector.

  • Active — Status for an action, action group, project, or folder that is planned for work, or a tag that is currently in use. This is also the default status for newly added items.
  • On Hold — Status for a project or tag which is not currently planned for work, but which may be in the future. Actions or action groups which are part of an On Hold project will be considered unavailable for work; actions or action groups which are assigned to an On Hold tag will be considered blocked. Use the Inspector to set this status.
  • Completed — Status for an action, action group, or project when you have finished work on the item. Clicking or tapping on the status circle will complete the action or action group; actions, action groups, and projects may also be completed by pressing the Space bar while they are selected, or by using the Inspector.
  • Completed with container — Active actions or action groups which are part of a container which has been Completed will be considered Completed with container.
  • Dropped — Status for an action, action group, project, folder, or tag that is no longer planned for work. Option-clicking on the status circle will drop the action or action group; actions, action groups, projects, folders, and tags may also be dropped by pressing Option-Space bar while they are selected, or by using the Inspector or shortcut menu.
  • Dropped with container — Active actions, action groups, projects, and folders which are part of a container which has been Dropped will be considered Dropped with container. When dropping a tag group, any child tags will also be dropped; note that dropping a tag does not drop actions with that tag assigned.

Structure

OmniFocus data is structured in a specific way, often referred to as the hierarchy of OmniFocus. Here is a very quick introduction to that structure.

The smallest item in OmniFocus is the action, which can either exist in the Inbox, or as part of a specific project. While part of the Inbox, an action is just that: a single item which has the potential to be completed, but which may or may not be part of a larger goal.

When switching to the Projects perspective, you begin to see where else an action can exist. Actions, whether or not they are part of an action group, are also part of a project. Projects may contain many actions or action groups, but may not contain other projects. How can you group project?

Looking at the Sidebar, you can see folders, which can hold projects, or other folders.

This brings us to a quick summary of the hierarchical structure of OmniFocus: folders can contain folders or projects, projects can contain action groups or actions, action groups can also contain action groups or actions, and at the bottom of the structure lives the most important part: the action.

Sub-Project

See Action Group.

Status Circle

The circle next to an action or action group that can be clicked or tapped to set the item to complete, or Option-clicked to drop the item. The color of the circle also indicates whether it is due soon, overdue, or flagged; repeating actions or groups also have a special status circle, containing 3 dots.

Sync

Updating your local OmniFocus data with another copy, which is stored on a server, such as the Omni Sync Server. This allows you to keep all of your copies of OmniFocus up-to-date, as changes go from one device, to the server, to another device, and back again.

Settings

See OmniFocus Settings or System Settings, depending on whether you want to change something about OmniFocus, or something about the system on which OmniFocus is running.

Starred

See Favorite

System Settings

Apple application that allows you to change options that affect either your entire device, or only OmniFocus. This application is named Settings on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Watch; it is named System Settings on Mac, where it was previously known as System Preferences.

Tag

Tags can be assigned to an action, action group, or project, and provide another way of looking at your OmniFocus data. They can represent a person, place, thing, state of mind, energy level, or any other factor that you find useful. These allow you to pull together all related actions, action groups, and projects into one place.

Your usage 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.

Tag Group

A collection of child tags nested underneath a parent tag. Selecting a parent tag in the Sidebar will also select child tags. Assigning a child tag to an action or project will also assign the parent tag.

Task

See Action.

Toolbar

An area at either the top or bottom of the OmniFocus window that contains tools and commands for modifying the contents of that window, or provides access to additional functionality, such as settings, help, or automation.

Unavailable

See Availability.

Unavailable with container

See Availability.

View Options

View Options allows for setting many elements that impact how your OmniFocus data displays, and which actions and groups and displayed. Though the details can vary between perspectives, these choices are found in most of the perspectives:

  • First Available — The first of the actions which are active and available, in a given project; this is a more focused view of the Available option (described next), which additionally takes into account the position of actions within a project, as well as the type of project. In sequential projects, the first available action must be higher in the project list than any other blocked or unavailable actions; it is very common for a sequential project to not have a first available action, if there is another action higher in the project, which is itself blocked or unavailable. In parallel projects, the action may be anywhere in the project, as actions in parallel projects may be completed in any order. For single action lists, all available actions are considered first available, as a single action list is a collection of individual actions, rather than actions working towards a specific goal. This list may also be thought of as a list of next actions.
  • Available — Actions, action groups, projects, folders, and tags which are both active and available; items may not be blocked, deferred, or on hold.
  • Remaining — Actions, action groups, projects, folders, and tags which are not completed or dropped.
  • Everything — All actions, actions groups, projects, folders, and tags, including those which have been completed or dropped.

More information is available in the Perspectives chapter.