RELEASE: Actiontastic 0.8.3
The Beta4 release of Actiontastic is fresh out of the oven.
Download It Now
(Mac OS X Tiger Required)
To get away from the industry-standard bulleted feature list, let’s just walk through a typical flow from idea to action — GTD-style. My hope is that this will benefit some of the new users in this growing community as well as provide a few things that may have been overlooked by the seasoned folks. And don’t worry, a complete bulleted list will be provided at the end. Old school readers are welcome to skip straight to the end for the goods.
Collect
One of the most powerful habits taught in David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done, is that of collection. Collection means getting things out of our heads when they pop up — all kinds of things. These could be business ideas, goals, things we need to do, reminders to email so-and-so, etc. When we have a place to store our ideas as quickly as they come to us, we reap a few benefits. First, we don’t spend time worrying about what we will forget, because we immediately get things out of our heads and into a trusted system where we can review them at the right time. Second, we reap the benefits of flow. Once you are “in the flow” working on a particular task, switching gears to think about some email from HR that just popped up or some new feature idea for your new app will take you out of a zone that is highly productive and place you in a distraction-oriented mindset. Staying “in flow” keeps you at the top of your game.
The Inbox in Actiontastic is the place to collect these sorts of things as they pop into your head. There is no need to give them more than a passing thought if you are in the middle of something. Just place them in your Inbox and get back to the work at hand. Collection is aided by the use of Quicksilver. If you don’t already have it, you can get it here.
Quicksilver allows you to collect at any point on your Mac, even while working in other applications. Just hit Ctrl+Space to bring up Quicksilver. Type a period “.” to enter text mode, and enter your thought. Hitting the tab key moves the focus to the action box where you can begin to type “Send to Actiontastic.” Once the icon appears, just hit enter and your item will be stored safely away until you are ready to “process” all of those collected items. (They used to call this “filing” in the old days.)
Let’s just assume that you’ve reached the end of a good coffee-fueled blur of productivity and you are ready to clean up some of those items that you placed in the Inbox earlier. Actiontastic has what some people like to call “wizards” but I am kind of scared of that whole fantasy scene so I have secretly called this the “Inbox Ninja” for lack of a better word. Just hit F3 or click the little arrow at the bottom of the Inbox to see this ninja leap from the tree.
Process
This helper screen pulls up each Inbox item, one at a time, to allow focused decisions to be made. The items are automatically highlighted so that you can instantly edit them into good prompts for action (i.e. “call VP re: flying car”) — things you can do immediately upon seeing the phrase. For these types of Actions, it is important to file them as standalone items (”Single Actions” in Actiontastic terms), or as part of a project (i.e. “Build Flying Car”). The real key to Zen-like action is to place these in their proper Context. A “context,” in GTD terms, is the frame of mind or physical location required to complete an action. For example, I have contexts named @web, @calls, @read, @errands, etc. Actions in these contexts can be carried out when I have the resources (in my car running errands) or the time (reading up on my RSS feeds) to complete them. When I am not in one of these situations, seeing these actions over and over on a typical ToDo list just adds unhealthy stress.
Projects, in GTD terms, are simply any outcomes that require more than one step. So think carefully about your Inbox items and decide if they are really Actions (one step) or Projects (two more more steps).
If the Inbox item doesn’t fall into either of these categories, it might be a reference item (someone’s phone number, a quote, etc.) or trash. Delete uneeded items right away (things you’ve already done, not-so-hot ideas) and copy reference items elsewhere for later use. Actiontastic allows notes for most items but full blown reference hierarhies are better handled by quality Information Manager apps like DEVONthink, Yojimbo, EagleFiler, and others.
Plan
Now that all of your Inbox items have been filed, planning can take place in the Project view. Here you can drag actions into different projects, quickly convert actions into projects (F2), create new projects, actions, and perhaps most importantly — order your actions in the way that they should be executed. If the order doesn’t matter, great. But if it does, you can drag and drop these actions to until they match reality. This ordering will come into play later. Also, new in this release, is the concept of “paused” projects, start dates, and due dates. Pausing a project just means “not right now.” Due dates are sort of obvious. Start dates in the future have the same effect as pausing, except they appear magically on the correct day. This timing information is aided by the new filters above the Project list — “All” and “Current.” Choosing “All” just means that all Projects will be displayed. Choosing “Current” will hide paused projects and those projects with start dates after today. This can be a big help when trying to choose what is relevant for today.
Do
With all of that quality planning under your belt, the Context view provides what is probably the second most powerful concept from GTD — blazing through your actions while seeing only the relevant choices for the moment. If you have access to email at the moment and feel especially extroverted, just highlight the @email context and fire off those HR responses and support emails. Better yet, if you are using ordered actions in your projects, click the “Next Action” filter and see only the very next action available for each project in that context. For extra speed, just hit the space bar to check off each item as you quickly glance at the prompt and then get to doing what you should be doing.
Sync
As many of you know, I have been building a complete GTD web app that will sync with Actiontastic. Fewer of you know that iCal support is in the works for the 0.9 series. But right now, you can pack those actions with you on your iPod with the new “Sync to iPod” feature.
Since doing and action are context-based, your contexts are where you enable syncing (via the info drawer) to your trusty white-headphoned friend. Any actions in these contexts will show up in the Notes section of your iPod sorted by context and in order. A project view is also available for those of you who care about such details when on the go.
And Now, The Bullet Point List…
New In This Release:
- Actiontastic can now sync to any iPod that supports “Notes.”
- New Inbox processor for better filing of inbox items.
- Projects and Actions now have start dates and due dates.
- Projects, Actions, and Contexts can be “paused.”
- Project and Context source lists can be filtered to only show current Projects and Contexts (those that are not paused and either have no start date or a start date of today or later).
- Keyboard shortcut for new inbox items now matches project and context actions. The old one is still available to add items from the other views.
- Cosmetic updates (lots of sheet de de-striping and rework).
- Quicksilver now properly passes along an action even after a start up delay in Actiontastic.
- Changing the drawer view no longer requires a mouse click.
- Clicking the “+” button to add new items while an item is still in “edit” mode now saves the edited item correctly.
- Drag-n-drop reordering of project actions no longer requires the filter buttons to be re-clicked in order to view the new order. (This was working in 0.8.1 but was broken by new code in 0.8.2.)
- Project and context renaming properly alphabetize the new name instantly. (Another working item in 0.8.1 that was broken in 0.8.2.)
- Changing from the “All” filter to the “Top” filter in the inbox while the bottom item is highlighted now properly highlights the top item.
Things That Could Be Better
- The Action table in Projects and Contexts needs its own filter for “Current” and “All” to make the best use of the Action start dates and pausing.
- Pausing a Project while the “Current” filter is selected doesn’t immediately hide the Project. This requires a re-click of the “Current” filter. This choice was made over a buggy alternative until the kinks are worked out. I err on the side of caution when it comes to your data.
- Choosing “Current” for Projects or Contexts really works and is perhaps over-zealous. It even removes these items from your choices when planning or processing. You can simply click the “All” filters, which is admittedly annoying but this was also chosen over buggy alternatives in order to release this update on time as planned.
Ben wrote:
Looks great, thanks for the app. I’m very much looking forward to seeing the final product. There’s obviously a big gap in the market for the perfect GTD app at the moment – it’s closing fast though!
Just one comment wrt dates. Much of the world uses dd/mm/yy dating conventions, rather than the US format. If there isn’t any way to use this format in ActT. could that be implemented? I couldn’t see any way.
Thankyou.
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 4:38 am | Permalink
Phill wrote:
Genius! ;-) I love this app!
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 4:40 am | Permalink
Oskar L-B wrote:
I second the dd/mm/yy format, for my fellow Europeans (and everyone else besides USA, I guess :)
Also, adding a syntax to the Quicksilver plugin to add notes to your action on the fly would be great for the next version.
You should just write “pick up sophie — remember to bring the flowers and candy” into Quicksilver and then Actiontastic would parse the first part as the action name and the second as the notes. I always need to add notes to my actions, so until that gets implemented, I’m relying on CheckOff :)
A “backup & archive” function would be great as well to lessen the memory footprint and startup time of the app when you have 2000+ actions that are done, but you still need to access them in a safe manner.
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 5:47 am | Permalink
Jorge Otero wrote:
It’s getting better all the time!
My request for the context view: hide empty contexts (no actions) and/or display the number of actions in each context.
It’d be great to select “current” and see at a glance that I have 3 phone calls, 4 errands and 2 emails to write.
Congratulations on the development of this fine app!
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 6:03 am | Permalink
Hawk Wings » Blog Archive » Actiontastic GTD app gets iPod syncing and more wrote:
[…] His write up of the new beta in action is very fine. I won’t repeat it here. You should read it, even if you use another app. […]
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 6:13 am | Permalink
Anders Betnér wrote:
With the latest release this app has moved on from quite useful to indispensable on my computer. I really like it.
A short note on dates. I speak as a fellow European to Oscar L-B and I would prefer the dates as stated by the ISO standard (YYYY-MM-DD). Since there are enough variants of writing dates, would it be possible to just display them as the user has set in his OS X system preferences (under international)?
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 6:19 am | Permalink
eatmytag wrote:
Hi, I just downloaded Actiontastic and can’t start it. I have not had any previous version installed, but get the following error message when running from the terminal:
$ ./Actiontastic
2006-12-18 14:33:14.348 Actiontastic[1731] already have the sqlite format. model version is (null)
2006-12-18 14:33:14.348 Actiontastic[1731] upgrading to version 3…
2006-12-18 14:33:14.348 Actiontastic[1731] sqlite version is 3.3.5
2006-12-18 14:33:14.348 Actiontastic[1731] error opening!: 14
2006-12-18 14:33:14.348 Actiontastic[1731] Could not open version 2 database.
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 7:35 am | Permalink
eatmytag wrote:
Ok, I got it to work, but I downloaded the older beta first, ran it, then ran the new beta.
Old beta: http://s3.amazonaws.com/kaboomerang/actiontastic/ActiontasticBeta3.zip
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 7:44 am | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Friends outside of the USA
Good point regarding the dates. This app needs to become more location-aware.
@Phill
I’m not sure it’s genius but I’m glad you like it ;-)
@Oskar L-B
The note thing missed the delivery by a small margin. It should be ready in the next release. The database does support an archived state for actions. Thanks to Chris Messina, I may have a nice way to represent these items soon.
@Jorge
I have been think over a few options for that kind of heads-up display. Thanks for the ideas.
@eatmytag
Thanks for the report and for posting a fix! I did try the install in many scenarios including a clean slate, but never tried running it from the terminal. I will remember this next time.
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 9:18 am | Permalink
Ren wrote:
Had a similar would not launch problem to eatmytag. Initially I just tried running Beta4 out of the folder it unzipped to. Wouldn’t start, moved the program to Applications folder, wouldn’t start. So I overwrote 4 with 3, 3 started and gave me the expired error message, overwrote 3 with 4 and now everything seems to be working.
I love the simplicity. Thanks!
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 10:13 am | Permalink
Roger W wrote:
A really, really good product. The best GTD-app out there, if u ask me. One of my favourite ones on my mac (the Omni-guys will have a hard time competing w this one).
Two things:
Can’t seem to get iPod sync to work (don’t even see the checkbox in notes).
And i really, really would like the print option to work (w the ability to sort in either projects or contexts…
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 11:10 am | Permalink
Chris wrote:
I also ran into trouble running beta 4 as a fresh install. I worked around as described above (ran beta 3 first, then beta 4). I was running it from the GUI, not from Terminal, and the icon would bounce once and go away quietly. I’m on 10.4.8 with a MacBook Pro.
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 2:25 pm | Permalink
eDragonu - a view on the world » Blog Archive » GTD software race - close run wrote:
[…] Actiontastic made its move and launched 0.8.3 version, which basically sync to iPod now (a feature announced several weeks ago). The blog post annoucing this is also a little rebel, and instead of bulleted lists of features it just tells a story about how the software might be used. […]
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 2:42 pm | Permalink
bryan wrote:
i’ve downloaded actiontastic beta 4 and tried to run it as fresh install since i didn’t have beta 3. have tried several times. each time the icon bounces twice in the dock and then dissappears. tried to find a copy of beta 3 to install first. couldn’t find one. i’m on a ibook with 10.4.8 and running it through the gui. any thoughts?
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 2:48 pm | Permalink
a.r. wrote:
i had the same problem with beta 4 (bounce once and then go away, wouldn’t launch), but I used the workaround that others gave (download beta 3 first etc.) Thanks for the workarounds, guys.
@bryan - try using the link that someone has posted in the comments above, that worked for me.
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 4:38 pm | Permalink
ratz wrote:
Looks really promising. Probably could drop Thinking Rock; if we could get PocketMod Printing.
We I sit on an ipod it break; pocketmods are much much safer
http://www.pocketmod.com/
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 6:17 pm | Permalink
ratz wrote:
Tried to install Beta4 allow had to get Beta3 to get it to work; I went unzip > drag to applicaiton > double click.
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 6:42 pm | Permalink
ratz wrote:
Instead of just a purge and delete of complete items; who about an archive to yojimbo function?
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 6:43 pm | Permalink
owen wrote:
well done, it’s a great piece of software so far; here are some requests that would be really useful though:
- add syntax to quicksilver plugin so I can append the context/project/date of the action without going through actiontastic (similar to kgtd)
- add keyboard navigation to quickly apply contexts/projects without using the mouse (for example: tab to go to next column and enter to input)
these features would mostly make the process of GTD a lot faster and much more spontaneous, which is kinda important. this is great software, keep it up.
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 7:10 pm | Permalink
a.r. wrote:
ps - i didn’t mention this before, but this seems to be a fantastic app. i really like it so far. keep up the good work!
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 9:22 pm | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Everyone:
Thank you for the reports regarding start up trouble with a fresh install of Beta4. Please check out eatmytag’s comment (Number 8) for a temporary workaround and a link.
Thank you also for the kind words!
@RogerW:
Please check the About box and make sure it shows version 0.8.3. If it does and iPod syncing still does not work, please send an email to jon at kaboomerang dot com and I will walk through it in detail. Oh, and printing is on the planned feature list.
@ratz:
Pocketmod is a clever invention. Right now it is on the “maybe for 1.0″ feature list. I did give it a whirl with a real list of actions and liked it. Archiving to Yojimbo is a great idea. I will give this some thought.
@owen:
Improved Quicksilver filing is in the works as well as the tab-to-context/project thing. A partial implementation was pulled before this release due to a few quirks.
Posted on 18-Dec-06 at 9:48 pm | Permalink
Mark wrote:
Wow. This beta is fantastic!
It’d be good if the start and due dates could be able to go in alternative formats. In australia we use DD/MM/YY
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 2:14 am | Permalink
Tim wrote:
Looks good. I’m just waiting for the international date support before I start using it.
I like the way you’ve explained how it actually fits in to a typical work flow too.
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 5:17 am | Permalink
Brad Balfour wrote:
Syncing the info off my Mac onto my iPod is nice. But what I’m really looking for is syncing to my Palm Z22. Then I can update the info during the day at work or while out as new to-dos show up.
Any chance of that?
Brad
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 12:05 pm | Permalink
alex wrote:
it would be great to be able to use Actiontastic both at work and at home, and be able to syncronize the two.
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 1:56 pm | Permalink
tripdragon wrote:
Just an idea. Since the views are really just the same exact veiw besides titles. How about chaning each veiw semo with liake an image or colors relevent to the view. A better visual feedback i guesss
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 2:12 pm | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Brad and alex:
Syncing is a planned feature for the 0.9 series.
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 2:16 pm | Permalink
Alex Porter wrote:
Sounds great–can’t wait to try it on my mac when I get home!
I’m more excited to hear you’re working on a full-blown web-based version. Do you have a time frame for when that will be available? What’s it called?
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 2:42 pm | Permalink
Kevin wrote:
Methinks this will become my GTD app. I’m currently on kGTD but do not trust it (which is important). My feature request is to not have the app close (just hide) when clicking the left most button on the window. Thanks. Great work!
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 3:55 pm | Permalink
Chad wrote:
Looks like a few others have suggested it, but syncing between multiple locations would be great. I’m using tasktoy (tasktoy.com) right now because I can access it readily from muiltiple places, but I’d be pretty happy with some sort of sync ability. (I hesitate to suggest .Mac sync api because it costs people far too much money for far too little benefit, and overall is just a half a solution, not a full solution)
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 4:18 pm | Permalink
Steve wrote:
Excellent - do not stop - and be sure to make us all pay when you hit 1.0!
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 8:04 pm | Permalink
James Byers wrote:
Nice work, this is exactly what I’m looking for in a GTD app.
One thought on making processing faster: I’d like keyboard shortcuts for the project and context fields on the process form. My current use of this is to tab from the task name to Project:, drag down with the mouse, tab to Context:… I’d prefer if I could tab to Project:, press the first letter I’m looking for, e.g. “t” for “term paper”. Another “t” press and I get to “training material”. Press a different letter, and the selection goes back to the first item with that letter. This should be case-insensitive and ignore leading non-alphanumeric characters, so @contexts work as expected.
I think this enhancement is in the same spirit as Quicksilver integration. My use of organizers like this drops precipitously when I have to do a lot of mouse-clicking for common entry tasks.
Thanks again for the nice, fast, simple app. I’d be happy to pay for it, so start charging. :)
James
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 9:07 pm | Permalink
rcw wrote:
sweet
this is the app I almost sat down and wrote because none of the others fit me
if I’d already had this I would have been able to get that on my list to do but then I wouldn’t have to because you already did
smiley face
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 10:22 pm | Permalink
rcw wrote:
feature request - google calendar integration
ical makes sense but I happen to use google calendar.. maybe allow folks to write plugins for things like that?
I’m assuming the ical integration will appear at the processing step.. “This Is An Appointment”
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 10:28 pm | Permalink
James Byers wrote:
To follow up to my earlier post of #32, it seems this sort-of works already when you hit down-arrow then a letter. It doesn’t scroll through items, however, it tries to narrow with each successive keypress. I don’t think this works well for small to medium-sized lists where you don’t always remember the exact name or make a mistake in your first keypress.
So, I think it still makes sense to be able to scroll by letter without dropping the list down.
Posted on 19-Dec-06 at 11:47 pm | Permalink
ratz wrote:
Keep adding apple script support and you go; I’d be happy to right scripts for the group as we go for things like import from mail and do X Y Z and then stand on your head. I’ve used them all; and I just ported my data over from thinking rock and it looks good.
Can we get some better KeyboardFU for process inbox? F3 is a PITA on a laptop. :)
Seriously too, to the people wanting PDA syncing. after 10+ years of carrying some sort of PDA; I tossed mine away; synced my address book and calendar to my cell phone and ipod and started using pocketmod. You gotta try it; seriously go make a mod with real data and use if for a couple days; end of the day I just enter the mod’s data into the computer. I keep a time log to see which was more efficient…. any ways enough of that; probably won’t convince the diehards any how.
Lastly anyone else think it’s time to setup a google group for this sort of discourse?
Posted on 20-Dec-06 at 1:08 am | Permalink
Podophile wrote:
Wow, really nice work on this app. Its layout is really intuitive, it plays nice with Quicksilver, and the iPod sync… c’est magnifique!
In addition to syncing, which you’re already working on, I would love to see a variety of printing options. Plain paper, index cards, pocket mod, and room for user-customized templates.
Thanks for this fine release.
Posted on 20-Dec-06 at 1:54 am | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Alex:
I will be able to start posting solid info on the web app soon, but don’t have a date yet.
@Kevin:
Hiding the app with the red X should be available in an upcoming release.
@James:
Better menu nav with the keyboard is in the works but had to be pulled before this release due to a few quirks. I hope to have it ready in the next release.
@rcw:
After watching the situation with Spanning Sync and Google’s API, I am a little hesitant, but would consider it for a future update if things improve in that area. Plugins are a good idea though. I will give this some thought.
@ratz:
Nice idea. I will set up a Google Group or a forum on this site after doing a little research on the pros and cons.
@Podophile:
Thanks for the kind words. Printing is in the works for a pre-1.0 release.
Posted on 20-Dec-06 at 2:07 am | Permalink
Ian wrote:
Actiontastic looks killer to me, but lack of Palm sync is a show-stopper. 8-{
(Synchronizing with iCal to-do lists is probably the easiest way to get there, since iCal Palm is already well supported. So I’m eagerly awaiting 0.9.)
Thanks for listening.
:ian
Posted on 20-Dec-06 at 9:19 am | Permalink
journal wrote:
Remainders 12.18.2006…
While there are a million GTD apps out there these days, Actiontastic is really starting to stand out from the rest. While it wont switch me away from my system, it is clean, simple and very easy to pick up……
Posted on 20-Dec-06 at 10:39 am | Permalink
Jim wrote:
Actiontastic workflow improvement: Often when I’m offloading a bunch of ideas, they are related to a specific project or context. It makes sense that this would be the case for many individuals. For this reason, the workflow clicks could be minimized by having the process pane keep the context and project popup choices from the last item.
Posted on 20-Dec-06 at 1:46 pm | Permalink
Jim wrote:
Most new items I enter into the Project view also get a context. It would be convenient if I could tab to the context column and then type the name of an existing context or use the arrows to select it.
The ability to tab would also be appreciated in the Contexts view to attribute a project to new items there.
Further, the same ability could be applied to the process pane.
This would virtually eliminate the need for mouse/trackpad use, as tab already works well to give action details.
Reason for my suggestions: This app is awesome. Thanks!
Posted on 20-Dec-06 at 4:11 pm | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Jim:
Thanks. I have been working to get a nice tab-to-project and tab-to-context feature working. It will be in a future release. I too dislike the mouse, spoiled by vi long ago.
Posted on 20-Dec-06 at 11:09 pm | Permalink
Heather wrote:
I’m loving Actiontastic. It feels so almost there. Pausing projects might just be the last piece I need before it can rule my life, so I’ll try that out now.
But I have one silly question. What do I do with completed projects? Deleting them just seems wrong and I … just … can’t bring myself to do it :-)
Posted on 21-Dec-06 at 12:51 am | Permalink
ratz wrote:
@Heather
Look higher up at jon’s response to my suggestion about archiving to Yojimbo :)
Posted on 21-Dec-06 at 1:29 am | Permalink
ratz wrote:
@Jon
One other thought. We’ve got: Project, and Context in pure GTD fashion. But in the real world there’s often the need to note a third data point of some sort be it customer; recipent etc…
ThinkingRock got it right and add a “Topic” field. Identical to Context in behavior. Having that 2 x 2 grid to assign actions to really cuts donw on the complex descriptions for items.
In that way you can get that extra bit of filtering that really makes a difference.
Posted on 21-Dec-06 at 1:33 am | Permalink
Uno wrote:
@Kevin and ultimately @Jon: Doesn’t the Apple user interface guidelines state that single window apps should quit when hitting the red x? Personally, I find the Cmd-H shortcut key sufficient for hiding the app.
Posted on 21-Dec-06 at 2:54 am | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Heather:
As ratz mentioned, I am considering some sort of external archiving at the moment.
@ratz:
Interesting point about another context-level relationship. Thank you.
@Uno:
That was the reasoning behind my original use of the red x to quit the app — it is not document-based. However, maybe I can take a cue from NetNewsWire, which isn’t really a document editor either and just hide when clicking the x, adding a “show” option to the Window menu?
Posted on 21-Dec-06 at 8:56 am | Permalink
EThan Kaplan wrote:
Any idea if this can be used with one data set on multiple machines? Specifically I have a work machine and a laptop that I use at home.
Posted on 22-Dec-06 at 11:22 am | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Ethan:
Official sync support will be available in a future pre-1.0 release. Some users have reported swapping the database (at ~/Library/Application Support/Actiontastic.sqlite) between machines, but this has not been fully tested.
Posted on 22-Dec-06 at 11:34 am | Permalink
Bruce Corkern wrote:
I like Actiontastic and am torn between using it or Yojimbo (I understand they can be complimentary). Actiontastic takes a departure from what I understand Next Actions to be…actions that can be done next without any other action being done first. Many, if not all, of my projects have multiple next actions (which I label in Yojimbo) which can be done now and are not dependent on any other actions. Actiontastic limits me to seeing only one in my Contexts lists. A simple checkbox for NA would be great.
Posted on 22-Dec-06 at 12:26 pm | Permalink
EThan Kaplan wrote:
@jon:
No way to specify a location for that database (like a flash drive)?
Posted on 22-Dec-06 at 2:59 pm | Permalink
Heather wrote:
re: “red x closing window vs app” — iCal just closes the window and remains running (it seems like a single window app, but I think it’s being sneaky). I’m in agreement with those who expect and prefer actiontastic to stay open, although mainly because of the beta alert that pops up every time actiontastic starts.
re: archiving — oh, yeah, I see those comments now. I’m more interested in the interface (i.e. I want a _button_ or something that says this project is _done_.) I’m sure I’ll eventually care what happens to the project when I push the button, but mostly I want to stop agonizing over what to do about completed projects :-)
re: ratz’s comments about topics — yeah! I keep catching myself trying to make projects called things like “Finances” and then having to go “no, no, no, that’s not a project, dummy!” I feel this strong compulsion to categorize my projects.
re: paused projects — I would think actions for a paused project would not show up in the relevant context (or at least not show up as a “Next Action”). For me the point of pausing a project is that it’s so low in priority that even if I’ve fleshed out what some or all the actions are, I don’t want them cluttering up my view of what I need to do next.
I’m not sure the term “paused” makes sense when you look at contexts. What does it mean to “pause” a context? Is the goal to avoid seeing the context in the left pane? Perhaps more useful would be context hierarchies or the ability to select multiple contexts at once. My favorite example is “@computer” which might include “@computer - home”, “@computer - work”. Some times I’m free to do either work related tasks or personal tasks on the computer. Other times I need to limit myself to work related tasks.
Hope this helps!
Posted on 22-Dec-06 at 3:38 pm | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Ethan:
Not at the moment. An Automator or shell script could possibly help speed the process until real sync support is released.
@Heather:
Thank you for all of the follow up info. Regarding paused projects, I agree. The action related filters will be updated in one of the next releases. Multi-select in the context list is a great idea.
Posted on 23-Dec-06 at 7:57 am | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Bruce:
Yojimbo is great software and I agree that it works well in conjunction with Actiontastic. I will give the manual next action idea some more thought.
Posted on 23-Dec-06 at 8:04 am | Permalink
Muninn wrote:
This looks great, I would also like to say that iCal todo support (where I have been half-implementing my own GTD) would be fantastic and easily facilitate synching with my various other scripts and to my Palm
Posted on 28-Dec-06 at 6:50 pm | Permalink
Bruce Keener wrote:
I love Actiontastic! Only thing on my wish list on it for now (other than what has been mentioned, like iCal support) is ability to import existing Tasks from iCal.
ratz, you mentioned doing some AppleScripting regarding connecting with iCal - anyway you can share with a new Mac guy (me) so I can port existing tasks into Actiontastic?
BTW, I’ve been doing GTD for years, and this is the most clever app I’ve seen for implementing … great and straightforward and lets you throw stuff into your inbox as soon as you think of it. Really good work!
Posted on 29-Dec-06 at 11:48 am | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Bruce Keener:
Thanks! I have added task importing from iCal to the brainstorming list.
Posted on 29-Dec-06 at 4:30 pm | Permalink
Bruce Keener wrote:
@Jon,
Thank you very much!
Take care,
Bruce
Posted on 29-Dec-06 at 6:55 pm | Permalink
Walter wrote:
Hi Jon,
congrats for the most useful GTD app so far! (despite what DA says being able to see actions by projects is key to an effective review).
-When I create a NA with a start date in the future because it cannot be done before that date, it still appears in my “next actions” view. Am I missing something?
-I think a “search” function through projects and NA would be great.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers,
Walter
Posted on 30-Dec-06 at 5:33 am | Permalink
Danny Zacharias wrote:
Thanks for this app, will definitely purchase when the time comes! I have a few suggestions- they probably have been thought of, mentioned before, or I am misunderstanding, but oh well.
- Using F3 to process inbox is a bad idea. Use command-shift-P or something. F3 is mute on iBooks.
- Have a shortcut to both open and close the info pane (command-I or something) and have the app resize itself accordingly. Nothing is more annoying than programs that open an info drawer off of the screen
- I really like that you can use tab to navigate in the program. Can I suggest that you add the context/project column to the tabbing maze? That way a context/project can be changed without the mouse (like the way OOutliner does it)
- What about recurring items? This kind of info should be doable in the info pane (like iCal)
- I am a little hazy on next action. Is it the one on top? If so, I can’t move them anyway. I also added a due date to the items, and the closest due date did not become the next action.
- Perhaps a better way to handle delineated stuff.
That’s all for now. Hopefully you don’t mind the comments and suggestions. Thanks again!
Posted on 02-Jan-07 at 11:30 am | Permalink
ratz wrote:
@Danny
F3 is not mute on an iBook. That’s the Mute key. On a laptop the F3 is access by pressing the Fn key. So Fn+Mute = F3 if you will. That’s proper and correct.
This is because the laptop really doesn’t have Software Function key row by default. They are hardware funciton keys in the default mode and Software Function keys when Fn is depressed….
Confusing No? :)
But you can also reverse the setup; Go to system preference keyboards and mice, click on the Keyboard Tab and not the Check box in the middle of the dialog the reverses the behavior of the keys.
enjoy
Posted on 02-Jan-07 at 10:45 pm | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Danny:
Thanks for the suggestions. A shortcut for the info drawer is planned. Tabbing to project and context is also planned. Recurring items are on the maybe list right now. Regarding next actions, they are the items that are listed either in the “Single Actions” category or as the very first incomplete item for each project. These items can be reordered in the project view via drag and drop.
Posted on 02-Jan-07 at 11:09 pm | Permalink
Danny Zacharias wrote:
Thanks for the replies guys. I still think command-shift-P or I would be a better shortcut for processing the inbox, it retains similarity with the other shorcut keys.
Please put recurring items on the ‘for sure’ list. There are so many actions that recur regularly that not having to remember them and knowing they have been processed is very ‘GTD-like’.
Thanks again for this, I find it a lot better than kinkless.
Posted on 03-Jan-07 at 9:27 am | Permalink
Christopher McKinney wrote:
Love the program. Best I’ve seen so far and I’ve tried them all. I would add one comment as you continue to develop the product. The Due date is great for those items that really must be completed by a particular deadline. However, currently I don’t see what the Due date does for me in the software. I don’t see a way to sort by due date or view items due today, this week, etc. Perhaps having items change color as their due date approached? Anything to help one flag oncoming due dates without having to view each and every project would be great.
Posted on 03-Jan-07 at 10:09 am | Permalink
Jon wrote:
@Christopher McKinney:
Better integration and visibility for due dates will be ready in a future release. Thanks for checking out the app.
Posted on 04-Jan-07 at 10:35 pm | Permalink
Philip wrote:
How can I copy the data of my Actiontastic application/file to another computer?
Posted on 08-Jan-07 at 11:38 am | Permalink
Bruno wrote:
I’m just putting in another request to change the hotkey to something like Apple+P. Awesome program!
Posted on 09-Jan-07 at 2:15 pm | Permalink
Ross wrote:
Actiontastic rocks.
Here’s a quick bug-fix/feature request:
Actiontastic should “remember” task view settings between quits. For example, let’s say you are in Projects and are viewing “ToDo” items. When you quit Actiontastic, then re-open Actiontastic, come back to Projects, it should be in “ToDo” view. Currently, the view resets to “All” when you re-start the application.
Any idea on how much Actiontastic will cost when it goes to a release version? Just curious…
Keep up the great work!
Posted on 10-Jan-07 at 3:31 am | Permalink
TomK wrote:
if the Actiontastic data and app could be installed on the iPod, the iPod could be moved between computers. No sync required.
Any way to remove “done” projects from the iPod without deleting them?
Posted on 11-Jan-07 at 11:57 am | Permalink
Baz wrote:
{Jon wrote:
@Jim:
Thanks. I have been working to get a nice tab-to-project and tab-to-context feature working. It will be in a future release. I too dislike the mouse, spoiled by vi long ago.
Posted on 20-Dec-06 at 11:09 pm}
Thanks this will be an added bonus as well as some of the other keyboard commands mentioned in posts 1-70.
I would also suggest a command when an action is highlighted in Context View that would move it to another context via a popup list of contexts to move it to. Something like Cmd-shift-M. Rather not touch the trackpad when I am in the zone!
Can’t wait to see what the printing and syncing will be like as they are currently show stoppers for me but I will be watching.
Keep up the good work!
Posted on 13-Jan-07 at 6:52 pm | Permalink
Rick wrote:
I’ve been searching for a good app to help me execute my workflow and this thing is very cool. Doesn’t quite fit, but it’s close.
One thing I need is multi-media support. I need to be able to link address book entries, PDF files, JPGs, etc…, to either projects or inbox items and would ideally do this via drag and drop. For this functionality, I really like what Jumsoft did with Process 2.x. It’s about all I like from that app, unfortunately.
Would also like to be able to optionally display due date and have that be a secondary sort within context. I don’t want to have to manually scan to see which tasks I need to work on next. Due date isn’t everything, but it’s part of the internal algorithm on how to select what should be next in my queue.
And while this isn’t pure GTD, would like an option label feature. I use some GTD concepts (love the ideas, for example, of collecting and processing within the context of, well, contexts), but I also use other concepts, notably Tony Robbins’ RPM planning and I like to ‘chunk’ tasks by ‘categories of improvement’. I’m sure others have individualized/personlized systems as well and customized labels on which I can sort would be a powerful tool for me here.
Great app and I LOVE the Quicksilver integration. Just wish it better fit my workflow preferences but I will be keeping an eye on its development.
Posted on 14-Jan-07 at 12:02 am | Permalink
Ray wrote:
I just downloaded Actiontastic and Quicksilver to try it out but for some reason the Quicksilver plug in isn’t working. The directions said to open up the Actiontastic folder and double click om the Actiontastic Module.qsplugin icon, which I have done, but what it does is opens up a folder which contains Contents/MacOS/Actiontastic Module.
i suspect the .qsplugin folder is supposed to be a file that activates, but instead is a folder. This is beta 6. Thanks for any help!
Ray
Posted on 17-Jan-07 at 4:42 pm | Permalink
Chris wrote:
I’ve had this as well on my Pismo but it works fine on my Intel mac. It’s something to do with Quicksilver not registering its plugins properly but for the life of me I can’t work out why. The Quicksilver installation doesn’t seem to complete successfully and adding any new standard quicksilver plugins doesn’t work.
I’ve appzapped it and everything but Quicksilver doesn’t seem to want to play.
I’ll have another go tonight and if I get it working I’ll post an update as to how
Posted on 17-Jan-07 at 7:57 pm | Permalink
Ray wrote:
The other QS plugins do work and they all install fine, but it’s just that one for Actiontastic that won’t work on my MacBook. I also installed QS and Actiontastic on my PowerPC Mac Mini and the plugin installed fine there. Must be something on my MacBook.
Hope I can figure it out somehow.
thx,.
Ray
Posted on 18-Jan-07 at 8:52 am | Permalink
saul wrote:
simple request - If a project doesn’t have a start date but it’s actions do - why not have the project assume the earliest action date - that would save a bunch of redundancy IMHO
Posted on 30-Jan-07 at 7:18 am | Permalink