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{
"version": "https:\/\/jsonfeed.org\/version\/1",
"title": "Rosemary Orchard",
"home_page_url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog",
"feed_url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog",
"icon": "http:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/user\/themes\/rosemaryorchard\/images\/favicon.png",
"author": {
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog",
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"items": [
{
"title": "Workflow: Add Task & Sub Tasks To OmniFocus",
"date_published": "2018-08-24T07:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-24T14:55:45+02:00",
"id": "workflow-add-task-sub-tasks-to-omnifocus",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-add-task-sub-tasks-to-omnifocus",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Add Task & Sub Tasks To OmniFocus\" alt=\"Add Task & Sub Tasks To OmniFocus\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/5\/0\/8\/f\/6508fe20fd09a551265115719ecc02bac67637b4-workflow-add-task-sub-tasks-to-omnifocus.png\" \/> One thing I frequently do in OmniFocus is to add an action group, that is a task with a series of sub tasks. Action groups are flexible because they can be turned into projects if necessary, or be a series of tasks within a project.<\/p>\n<p>The Workflow works by asking you for the main task, then it asks for the sub tasks. Each sub task is indented (and has a dash added in front of the name to make it TaskPaper friendly), and then the whole lot is put into my OmniFocus inbox.<\/p>\n<p>Exact Workflow Steps: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Ask for Input\" alt=\"Ask for Input\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: This is the main task.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Text<\/code>: Add a dash before it - which in TaskPaper makes it a task not a project.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Add to Variable\" alt=\"Add to Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <code>Add to Variable<\/code> - <code>Task List<\/code><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Ask for Input\" alt=\"Ask for Input\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: Ask for the sub tasks.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Split Text\" alt=\"Split Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Split Text<\/code>: Turn this into a repeatable item<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Repeat with Each\" alt=\"Repeat with Each\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Repeat with Each<\/code> - go through the sub tasks.\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Text<\/code>: Add the tab indent and the dash before each task.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Add to Variable\" alt=\"Add to Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <code>Add to Variable<\/code> - <code>Task List<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Variable\" alt=\"Get Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <code>Get Variable<\/code> - <code>Task List<\/code>. This makes sure we get the main task too, the output of the repeat loop would just be the sub tasks.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Combine Text\" alt=\"Combine Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Combine Text<\/code>: Put the action group together.<\/li>\n<li><img src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/workflow-icons\/com.omnigroup.OmniFocus2.iPhone@2x.png?cropResize=25\" alt=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" title=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" \/> <code>Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus<\/code>: Everything goes into my OmniFocus inbox.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/c78d1a35f5f84e2fb645d01e46a1888b\">Add Task &amp; Sub Tasks To OmniFocus<\/a>.<\/p>",
"content_text": " One thing I frequently do in OmniFocus is to add an action group, that is a task with a series of sub tasks. Action groups are flexible because they can be turned into projects if necessary, or be a series of tasks within a project.\nThe Workflow works by asking you for the main task, then it asks for the sub tasks. Each sub task is indented (and has a dash added in front of the name to make it TaskPaper friendly), and then the whole lot is put into my OmniFocus inbox.\nExact Workflow Steps: \n\n Ask for Input: This is the main task.\n Text: Add a dash before it - which in TaskPaper makes it a task not a project.\n Add to Variable - Task List\n Ask for Input: Ask for the sub tasks.\n Split Text: Turn this into a repeatable item\n Repeat with Each - go through the sub tasks.\n\n Text: Add the tab indent and the dash before each task.\n Add to Variable - Task List\n\n Get Variable - Task List. This makes sure we get the main task too, the output of the repeat loop would just be the sub tasks.\n Combine Text: Put the action group together.\n Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus: Everything goes into my OmniFocus inbox.\n\nYou can get the workflow here: Add Task &amp; Sub Tasks To OmniFocus.",
"tags": "workflow,omnifocus"
},
{
"title": "Fusion 18: September is Coming",
"date_published": "2018-08-22T09:26:29+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-22T09:26:29+02:00",
"id": "fusion-september-is-coming",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/fusion-september-is-coming",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/membership",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>This week I was on the Relay FM member's only podcast: Fusion. Stephen, Mikah and I talked about what we might get at the September Apple event, and keyboards - because it's always about the keyboards!<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/membership\">Listen it on Relay FM<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "This week I was on the Relay FM member's only podcast: Fusion. Stephen, Mikah and I talked about what we might get at the September Apple event, and keyboards - because it's always about the keyboards!\n\nListen it on Relay FM",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Automators 4: First Look at Siri Shortcuts",
"date_published": "2018-08-19T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-22T07:32:37+02:00",
"id": "automators-4-first-look-at-siri-shortcuts",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/automators-4-first-look-at-siri-shortcuts",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Automators Artwork\" alt=\"Automators Artwork\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/7\/9\/5\/3\/079536e0ba319550ca3828263e3715883b2cbe5c-artwork.jpeg\" \/> Episode 4 of automators is all about Shortcuts and Siri Shortcuts. We discussed what's possible now, what we're excited about (and not so excited).<\/p>\n<p>I did mention my automation I now use when boarding a plane - this is available over on [Sharecuts.app]()https:\/\/sharecuts.app) which we didn't get into this episode, but it's a great place to share Shortcuts and let other people download them!<\/p>\n<p>You can listen to episode 4 on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/automators\/4\">Relay FM<\/a>, and discuss it in <a href=\"https:\/\/talk.automators.fm\/t\/automators-4-first-look-at-siri-shortcuts\/1431\/1\">our forums<\/a>!<\/p>",
"content_text": " Episode 4 of automators is all about Shortcuts and Siri Shortcuts. We discussed what's possible now, what we're excited about (and not so excited).\nI did mention my automation I now use when boarding a plane - this is available over on [Sharecuts.app]()https:\/\/sharecuts.app) which we didn't get into this episode, but it's a great place to share Shortcuts and let other people download them!\nYou can listen to episode 4 on Relay FM, and discuss it in our forums!",
"tags": "automators,shortcuts,siri shortcuts,workflow"
},
{
"title": "How to get daily weather summaries and precipitation notifications from CARROT Weather",
"date_published": "2018-08-09T01:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-19T08:44:55+02:00",
"id": "how-to-get-daily-weather-summaries-and-precipitation-notifications-from-carrot-weather",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/how-to-get-daily-weather-summaries-and-precipitation-notifications-from-carrot-weather",
"external_url": "https:\/\/thesweetsetup.com\/get-daily-weather-summaries-precipitation-notifications-carrot-weather\/",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>If you use Carrot weather like I do then make sure you get the benefit of these notifications!<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thesweetsetup.com\/get-daily-weather-summaries-precipitation-notifications-carrot-weather\/\">Read it on The Sweet Setup<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "If you use Carrot weather like I do then make sure you get the benefit of these notifications!\n\nRead it on The Sweet Setup",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "OmniFocus 3 for Mac Sneak Peek",
"date_published": "2018-08-08T12:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-08T13:54:38+02:00",
"id": "omnifocus-3-mac-sneak-peek",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/omnifocus-3-mac-sneak-peek",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img alt=\"OmniFocus Sketch Icon\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/7\/b\/0\/1\/e7b0116ba5b3f6bf194a0e5335dcd9cbc33f928f-omnifocus-sketch-icon.png\" \/> I am once again lucky enough to be in the early preview for OmniFocus 3 - this time on the Mac! What's important to keep in mind here is that this is a beta, and an early one at that - things can and likely will change between me writing this post and OmniFocus 3 for Mac being released - they may have already changed by the time you read this post!<\/p>\n\n<h3>Stability<\/h3>\n<p>This is a beta app so there's no guarantees, for me the app has been very stable - but I'm also running it on High Sierra. However as the builds can literally be released every few hours (depending on what is being added or changed) this could change at the drop of a hat - so be warned \ud83d\ude09.<\/p>\n<h3>The Icon<\/h3>\n<p>We have the sketch icon again! It's cute, and helpful to distinguish between the two apps in your dock. Personally I put OmniFocus 2 in a folder in Applications called \"OmniFocus 2\" and the beta in a folder called \"OmniFocus 3\" (yes, I <em>was<\/em> feeling creative, however did you guess\u203d). This means if you launch the app via spotlight you get a helpful text hint about which version of the app you're launching too.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/7\/6\/b\/4\/376b4f5aa5256f74fea558db2c60f1a8ad6efa5b-omnifocus-spotlight-launcher.png\"><img alt=\"Launching OmniFocus from Spotlight\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/d\/c\/b\/f\/cdcbf704eef198b3137ef864ee2b8b1ad85434b2-omnifocus-spotlight-launcher.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Forecast View<\/h3>\n<p>Interleaved tasks and calendar events have made their way to the Mac in the forecast view. This is really handy for putting my day together and I'm a big fan of this on iOS.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/6\/1\/3\/9\/1613901f422b6dbed8883cf36d2be1deb267d2ed-omnifocus-3-forecast-view.png\"><img alt=\"Forecast view in OmniFocus 3\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/7\/7\/6\/a\/a776a41067d14f9ef7faaec7432e4ccf4e6270ce-omnifocus-3-forecast-view.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/b\/0\/5\/5\/6b055443cfcf0dcdc5bdd4214487f9f46ba87dfe-omnifocus-2-forecast-view.png\"><img alt=\"Forecast view in OmniFocus 2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/3\/0\/e\/ef30eda5b233388a520e44170ee65efe45f5caff-omnifocus-2-forecast-view.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I find this view much more beneficial than the gantt style view in OmniFocus 2, just because it brings everything together.<\/p>\n<h3>Appearance<\/h3>\n<p>OmniFocus looks different now, for example the toolbar across the top is much slimmer and by default includes fewer actions - though as always you can customise it by right clicking on it to add more options. The sidebar where the perspectives (and any starred custom perspectives) are listed, as well as the area where the project or tag list is shown have a dark background too, which I find helps me focus on the tasks area - the important things!<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/f\/3\/1\/f\/ff31f79f78b28a2ef902f680470beef6029bb8da-omnifocus-3-project-view.png\"><img alt=\"OmniFocus 3 Project View\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/7\/5\/0\/0\/67500571a6ad3b8ea10d2da019698eb3c4d04e99-omnifocus-3-project-view.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/6\/2\/d\/4\/d62d4ad78a7f1e308c8b25f9cd16c196a9c2c818-omnifocus-2-project-view.png\"><img alt=\"OmniFocus 2 Project View\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/b\/6\/b\/5\/cb6b5d87d5632f74c707d97077c761bcfc3fe7f4-omnifocus-2-project-view.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>One place where you can see some subtle, but effective changes to the design is in the inspector. For example the status of the selected item has changed from a dropdown to segmented controls - the iOS equivalent of radio buttons (you have probably seen these in the maps app, to say that you want to see a map, transit, or satellite view). Tags of course have changed too, so that you could see multiple tags which are assigned to the current item at the same time.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/1\/2\/f\/a\/a12fabbbdb249695659295923fee4277a2c62399-omnifocus-3-task-inspector.png\"><img alt=\"OmniFocus 3 Task Inspector\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/0\/6\/5\/5\/7065577625e74e72ecfe604bf8ae0f3da2220ece-omnifocus-3-task-inspector.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/8\/d\/d\/c\/78ddc8d9296d03ec7aeb1f82d6a6fb77b2500520-omnifocus-2-task-inspector.png\"><img alt=\"OmniFocus 2 Task Inspector\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/b\/9\/6\/7\/4b96744f9906f79e8461b6e19f1024b89e0c4da4-omnifocus-2-task-inspector.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Repeats<\/h3>\n<p>In OmniFocus 3 for iOS we got custom repeats, and these have been brought over to the Mac as well. The place where this really shows is in the monthly where you can specify that a task should repeat on day <code>X<\/code> of the month, or you can specify a repeat on the <code>y<\/code>th <code>z<\/code>day of each month (e.g. the second Tuesday). These repeats have come in very handy for me - for example I submit my timesheet for last month on the first Monday of the next month.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/e\/c\/c\/4\/3ecc492e76dd7d54312daaa2b3c654ce1dd847ed-omnifocus-3-monthly-repeats-days-month.png\"><img alt=\"OmniFocus 3, repeating on specific days in a month\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/5\/7\/4\/3\/65743b44223c676aa3041dd75aec6a6559d24981-omnifocus-3-monthly-repeats-days-month.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/0\/f\/2\/2\/80f220436178f7ed76063e8ea0ffc397d99d3a75-omnifocus-3-monthly-repeats-days-week.png\"><img alt=\"OmniFocus 3, repeating on 1st\/2nd Monday\/etc of the month\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/5\/5\/b\/c\/255bc2ef3ca31957571f536e2e2e193cf85a0ab4-omnifocus-3-monthly-repeats-days-week.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Custom Perspectives<\/h3>\n<p>Another feature we're now seeing on the Mac is enhanced custom perspectives. You can build these by nesting rules - if you've used Hazel or created smart folders in Finder then you'll be familiar with creating the rules (click the <code>+<\/code> to add a new one), and you can press <code>ALT<\/code>+<code>+<\/code> to add a nested rule. A new feature here that's not yet on iOS is the ability to change the overarching rule, on iOS it defaults to \"all of\", and this can be changed to \"any of\" or \"none of\" in the new Mac version - though at the time of writing this doesn't yet sync to iOS.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/2\/a\/3\/e\/32a3e6c141cb1f614ac879c3ab32910792aede16-omnifocus-3-custom-perspectives.png\"><img alt=\"OmniFocus 3 Custom Perspective Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/3\/1\/7\/2\/131720249934199aa811cb78b24e2911e655e271-omnifocus-3-custom-perspectives.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/4\/c\/0\/c\/44c0c06b36d9af6640be053126def7242e4abb45-omnifocus-2-custom-perspectives.png\"><img alt=\"OmniFocus 2 Custom Perspective Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/a\/2\/9\/9\/0a299cfc02ea8c6569cc6eae5d06bd8d2db7e659-omnifocus-2-custom-perspectives.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I'm very excited about the new OmniFocus 3 for Mac, and really looking forward to seeing how it evolves throughout the beta process!<\/p>",
"content_text": " I am once again lucky enough to be in the early preview for OmniFocus 3 - this time on the Mac! What's important to keep in mind here is that this is a beta, and an early one at that - things can and likely will change between me writing this post and OmniFocus 3 for Mac being released - they may have already changed by the time you read this post!\n\nStability\nThis is a beta app so there's no guarantees, for me the app has been very stable - but I'm also running it on High Sierra. However as the builds can literally be released every few hours (depending on what is being added or changed) this could change at the drop of a hat - so be warned \ud83d\ude09.\nThe Icon\nWe have the sketch icon again! It's cute, and helpful to distinguish between the two apps in your dock. Personally I put OmniFocus 2 in a folder in Applications called \"OmniFocus 2\" and the beta in a folder called \"OmniFocus 3\" (yes, I was feeling creative, however did you guess\u203d). This means if you launch the app via spotlight you get a helpful text hint about which version of the app you're launching too.\n\nForecast View\nInterleaved tasks and calendar events have made their way to the Mac in the forecast view. This is really handy for putting my day together and I'm a big fan of this on iOS.\n\n\nI find this view much more beneficial than the gantt style view in OmniFocus 2, just because it brings everything together.\nAppearance\nOmniFocus looks different now, for example the toolbar across the top is much slimmer and by default includes fewer actions - though as always you can customise it by right clicking on it to add more options. The sidebar where the perspectives (and any starred custom perspectives) are listed, as well as the area where the project or tag list is shown have a dark background too, which I find helps me focus on the tasks area - the important things!\n\n\nOne place where you can see some subtle, but effective changes to the design is in the inspector. For example the status of the selected item has changed from a dropdown to segmented controls - the iOS equivalent of radio buttons (you have probably seen these in the maps app, to say that you want to see a map, transit, or satellite view). Tags of course have changed too, so that you could see multiple tags which are assigned to the current item at the same time.\n\n\nRepeats\nIn OmniFocus 3 for iOS we got custom repeats, and these have been brought over to the Mac as well. The place where this really shows is in the monthly where you can specify that a task should repeat on day X of the month, or you can specify a repeat on the yth zday of each month (e.g. the second Tuesday). These repeats have come in very handy for me - for example I submit my timesheet for last month on the first Monday of the next month.\n\n\nCustom Perspectives\nAnother feature we're now seeing on the Mac is enhanced custom perspectives. You can build these by nesting rules - if you've used Hazel or created smart folders in Finder then you'll be familiar with creating the rules (click the + to add a new one), and you can press ALT++ to add a nested rule. A new feature here that's not yet on iOS is the ability to change the overarching rule, on iOS it defaults to \"all of\", and this can be changed to \"any of\" or \"none of\" in the new Mac version - though at the time of writing this doesn't yet sync to iOS.\n\n\nI'm very excited about the new OmniFocus 3 for Mac, and really looking forward to seeing how it evolves throughout the beta process!",
"tags": "omnifocus,sneak peek"
},
{
"title": "Workflow: Markdown To Nice PDF",
"date_published": "2018-08-07T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-07T09:35:09+02:00",
"id": "workflow-markdown-to-nice-pdf",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-markdown-to-nice-pdf",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Markdown To Nice PDF\" alt=\"Markdown To Nice PDF\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/d\/e\/5\/1\/ede514e42b67283673a485256a2bc9f81b8cba86-workflow-markdown-to-nice-pdf.png\" \/> Every so often I want to make a nice PDF from some text which is currently formatted in Markdown and I often do this by sharing the text to Workflow. Unfortunately by default when you make rich text from markdown in Workflow you end up with something like this:<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Example, text is \"here's to the crazy ones\", font is Times New Roman\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/4\/3\/1\/2\/143121be318f8d826e708c0de1ed978199cff1a2-example-without-formatting.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Yes, that's Times New Roman. Not a font I usually use by choice. Thankfully however it's quite simple to fix this with my Workflow. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, I convert the rich text to HTML, replace the <code>&lt;body&gt;<\/code> tag with one containing a HTML inline style (<code>&lt;body style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"&gt;<\/code>), make rich text from that HTML, and then make the PDF. The body in HTML is where all of your content is, so this will then apply to all of your text. If you just wanted to change the first level of headings, you could replace the <code>&lt;h1&gt;<\/code> tags instead. <\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Example, with modified formatting\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/c\/0\/a\/a\/dc0aaae5e35c5cea795a5e5c430698c4b71d19c9-example-with-formatting.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is how the whole Workflow runs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Make Rich Text from Markdown\" alt=\"Make Rich Text from Markdown\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/d\/0\/a\/1\/2d0a16b11ee9efae2448a2c3fb8e53dfd6b6d42d-richtext.png\" \/> <code>Make Rich Text from Markdown<\/code><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Make HTML from Rich Text\" alt=\"Make HTML from Rich Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/d\/0\/a\/1\/2d0a16b11ee9efae2448a2c3fb8e53dfd6b6d42d-richtext.png\" \/> <code>Make HTML from Rich Text<\/code><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Replace Text\" alt=\"Replace Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Replace Text<\/code>, this is where I replace the <code>body<\/code> tag.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Make Rich Text from HTML\" alt=\"Make Rich Text from HTML\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/d\/0\/a\/1\/2d0a16b11ee9efae2448a2c3fb8e53dfd6b6d42d-richtext.png\" \/> <code>Make Rich Text from HTML<\/code><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Make PDF\" alt=\"Make PDF\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/0\/9\/7\/4\/1097445bae9c35c53a13ae967b9f8f781f51278f-pdf.png\" \/> <code>Make PDF<\/code>, make sure that <code>include margin<\/code> is enabled otherwise the PDF looks funny.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Bonus: The PDF contains the text as well, so it's searchable and also accessible. All you need to do is to add an action at the end of the Workflow to make it do what you want with it, you could quick look it, share it, open it in another application or save it somewhere you choose!<\/p>\n<p>You can get the simplest workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/0f438f7dc4c34b43a3aa02fb108b08d3\">Markdown To Nice PDF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It would also be possible to link a style sheet, such as the [Pure CSS] one, by adding the css link to the <code>&lt;head&gt;<\/code> tag, the caveat of this is most pre-built CSS files work best when you add classes to sections (e.g. <code>&lt;table&gt;<\/code> would be <code>&lt;table class=\"pure-table\"&gt;<\/code>), which will require many more <code>Replace Text<\/code> actions if you want to account for all the possibilities.<\/p>\n<p>If you want the <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/772806a60f4a4b968f273aa0f0c3eca3\">Pure CSS version<\/a> is also available.<\/p>",
"content_text": " Every so often I want to make a nice PDF from some text which is currently formatted in Markdown and I often do this by sharing the text to Workflow. Unfortunately by default when you make rich text from markdown in Workflow you end up with something like this:\n",
"tags": "workflow,markdown,pdf"
},
{
"title": "Automators 3: Sal Soghoian uses AppleScript to turn a Numbers Sheet into a Keynote Chart",
"date_published": "2018-08-03T20:45:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-03T20:43:54+02:00",
"id": "automators-episode-3-sal-soghoian-applescript-numbers-keynote",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/automators-episode-3-sal-soghoian-applescript-numbers-keynote",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Automators Artwork\" alt=\"Automators Artwork\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/7\/9\/5\/3\/079536e0ba319550ca3828263e3715883b2cbe5c-artwork.jpeg\" \/> In the third episode of Automators we are joined by Sal Soghoian, AppleScript God, to learn about AppleScript and how to use it! <\/p>\n<p>While David and I usually take it in turns to write up everything about the show and provide complete documentation, Sal's actually done that for this week:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/macosautomation.com\/automators\/\"><img alt=\"The macOS Automation page for Automators\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/3\/5\/d\/7\/635d72e9c50cd7c804b8859fc076106974cb1e54-macosautomationautomators.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You can find the scripts, videos, and a complete breakdown of everything over at <a href=\"http:\/\/macosautomation.com\/automators\/\">macOSautomation<\/a>, along with all of Sal's other things. <\/p>\n<p>In this show Sal gave us 3 AppleScripts. The first takes a whole table, and converts it into a bar chart in Keynote, the second takes a row or column and makes a pie chart, and the final one takes selected rows and turns them into a chart.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th><\/th>\n<th>Q1<\/th>\n<th>Q2<\/th>\n<th>Q3<\/th>\n<th>Q4<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Widget A<\/td>\n<td>$1212<\/td>\n<td>$1495<\/td>\n<td>$1170<\/td>\n<td>$1423<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Widget B<\/td>\n<td>$1902<\/td>\n<td>$2345<\/td>\n<td>$1835<\/td>\n<td>$2121<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Widget C<\/td>\n<td>$2636<\/td>\n<td>$3250<\/td>\n<td>$2542<\/td>\n<td>$3168<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The brilliance of this, is the first script is just 17 lines - that's it! <\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Numbers table to Keynote Chart in images\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/b\/a\/0\/9\/0ba0950e763e961aa63b391290a846d4de46a644-numbertokeynote.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can listen to the episode over on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/automators\/3\">Relay FM<\/a>. And make sure to use the code in the show if you want to attend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cmddconf.com\">CMD-D Down Home Scripting Bootcamp<\/a>!<\/p>",
"content_text": " In the third episode of Automators we are joined by Sal Soghoian, AppleScript God, to learn about AppleScript and how to use it! \nWhile David and I usually take it in turns to write up everything about the show and provide complete documentation, Sal's actually done that for this week:\n\nYou can find the scripts, videos, and a complete breakdown of everything over at macOSautomation, along with all of Sal's other things. \nIn this show Sal gave us 3 AppleScripts. The first takes a whole table, and converts it into a bar chart in Keynote, the second takes a row or column and makes a pie chart, and the final one takes selected rows and turns them into a chart.\n\n\n\n\nQ1\nQ2\nQ3\nQ4\n\n\n\n\nWidget A\n$1212\n$1495\n$1170\n$1423\n\n\nWidget B\n$1902\n$2345\n$1835\n$2121\n\n\nWidget C\n$2636\n$3250\n$2542\n$3168\n\n\n\nThe brilliance of this, is the first script is just 17 lines - that's it! \n\nYou can listen to the episode over on Relay FM. And make sure to use the code in the show if you want to attend CMD-D Down Home Scripting Bootcamp!",
"tags": "automators,applescript,keynote,numbers,sal soghoian"
},
{
"title": "Systematic 227: Automating Everything with Rosemary Orchard",
"date_published": "2018-08-02T02:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "systematic-automating-everything-with-rosemary-orchard",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/systematic-automating-everything-with-rosemary-orchard",
"external_url": "http:\/\/esn.fm\/systematic\/227",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I had the chance to chat to Brett about automation, MacStock, and our top three picks for this week!<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/esn.fm\/systematic\/227\">Listen to it on Systematic<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "I had the chance to chat to Brett about automation, MacStock, and our top three picks for this week!\n\nListen to it on Systematic",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "How to create and edit multireddits in Apollo",
"date_published": "2018-08-02T02:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "how-to-create-and-edit-multireddits-in-apollo",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/how-to-create-and-edit-multireddits-in-apollo",
"external_url": "https:\/\/thesweetsetup.com\/create-edit-multireddits-apollo\/",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>A quick tip for creating and managing multireddits - collections of subreddits, in my favourite Reddit app!<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thesweetsetup.com\/create-edit-multireddits-apollo\/\">Read the article on The Sweet Setup<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "A quick tip for creating and managing multireddits - collections of subreddits, in my favourite Reddit app!\n\nRead the article on The Sweet Setup",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Roboism 19: I Bought My iPad a Boyfriend",
"date_published": "2018-08-01T20:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "roboism-19",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/roboism-19",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/roboism\/19",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I was honoured to be a guest of Alex Cox on Roboism, where we talked about automation, robots, cyborgs, accessibility, and BB8 droids!<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/roboism\/19\">Listen to the episode<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "I was honoured to be a guest of Alex Cox on Roboism, where we talked about automation, robots, cyborgs, accessibility, and BB8 droids!\n\nListen to the episode",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "A Slab of Glass 13: Automation with Rosemary Orchard",
"date_published": "2018-07-27T07:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "a-slab-of-glass-automation-with-rosemary-orchard",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/a-slab-of-glass-automation-with-rosemary-orchard",
"external_url": "http:\/\/aslabofglass.com\/13",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I chatted with Jeff and Chris about how much we love the iPad, accessories, apps, and automation!<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/aslabofglass.com\/13\">Listen on A Slab of Glass<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "I chatted with Jeff and Chris about how much we love the iPad, accessories, apps, and automation!\n\nListen on A Slab of Glass",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "How to Fill Out OmniFocus Project Templates with Workflow",
"date_published": "2018-07-24T09:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "how-to-fill-out-omnifocus-project-templates-with-workflow",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/how-to-fill-out-omnifocus-project-templates-with-workflow",
"external_url": "https:\/\/colterreed.com\/how-to-fill-out-omnifocus-project-templates-with-workflow\/",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>In this post I give you some Workflow workflows which allow you to take a template project, stored in OmniFocus, and create a new project from it - replacing variables along the way!<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/colterreed.com\/how-to-fill-out-omnifocus-project-templates-with-workflow\/\">Read on Colter Reed<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "In this post I give you some Workflow workflows which allow you to take a template project, stored in OmniFocus, and create a new project from it - replacing variables along the way!\n\nRead on Colter Reed",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Automators 2: Email Automation",
"date_published": "2018-07-20T18:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-20T17:54:10+02:00",
"id": "automators-episode-2",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/automators-episode-2",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Automators Artwork\" alt=\"Automators Artwork\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/7\/9\/5\/3\/079536e0ba319550ca3828263e3715883b2cbe5c-artwork.jpeg\" \/> Episode 2 of Automators is all about automating email. We all have email, and there are a lot of things you can do to automate it - from filters, to mail merges, and complete automation of sending emails. <\/p>\n<p>We've made 3 screencasts for this episode which you can find over on the <a href=\"https:\/\/m.youtube.com\/channel\/UCvpU-_RS85Y7q5PZsAaH87w\">YouTube Channel<\/a>, and you can discuss the episode in <a href=\"https:\/\/talk.automators.fm\/t\/automators-2-email-automation\/906?u=rosemaryorchard\">the forum too<\/a>. <\/p>",
"content_text": " Episode 2 of Automators is all about automating email. We all have email, and there are a lot of things you can do to automate it - from filters, to mail merges, and complete automation of sending emails. \nWe've made 3 screencasts for this episode which you can find over on the YouTube Channel, and you can discuss the episode in the forum too. ",
"tags": "automators"
},
{
"title": "Friends in Your Ears: 13",
"date_published": "2018-07-20T17:45:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "friends-in-your-ears-13",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/friends-in-your-ears-13",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.theincomparable.com\/fiye\/13\/",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I joined Kathy and Scotty to have a chat about our favourite podcasts!<\/p>",
"content_text": "I joined Kathy and Scotty to have a chat about our favourite podcasts!",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Useful iMessage Apps",
"date_published": "2018-07-16T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-16T09:04:46+02:00",
"id": "useful-imessage-apps",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/useful-imessage-apps",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I was recently asked on Twitter which iMessage apps I use regularly, and thought it might well be worth a blog post - there are some really <em>useful<\/em> iMessage apps out there, but most people just seem to use stickers! (Not that stickers aren't great of course.)<\/p>\n<h3>Airmail<\/h3>\n<p>If you've ever wanted or needed to send an email attachment via iMessage this is an easy way to do it. You simply get a list of attachments on emails, allowing you to send the file onwards.<\/p>\n<h3>Citymapper<\/h3>\n<p>This particular app is very useful - you can send your current location, a recently searched for destination, or your current trip. Very useful if you're trying to meet up with people!<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"CityMapper iMessage app, showing \"Send location\", sharing a location, and choosing one\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/5\/b\/e\/b\/a5bebedb7bfe9e1ab19d27cb151cde42f26f0596-citymapper.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Copied<\/h3>\n<p>I love Copied, it's a great clipboard manager that syncs between iOS and macOS, and you have access to images in it iMessage app. I often share to Copied and then I can use either the keyboard or the iMessage app to share things on.<\/p>\n<h3>Doodle<\/h3>\n<p>If you've ever tried to arrange an event that involves more than one person you've done the back and forth of \"are you free then? No, how about next week? FIne, I give up\" (or similar), Doodle is fabulous to help you fix that - you just create a poll when <em>you<\/em> are available, and everyone votes for the dates that work for them. Well throw that into a group iMessage and you've saved yourself 100 notifications (more or less, depending on the size of the group and how busy their schedules are!).<\/p>\n<h3>Drafts<\/h3>\n<p>I often start my writing in Drafts, regardless of what it is, and now I can grab a Draft and send it via iMessage. It's very useful and helps you avoid that copy and paste dance!<\/p>\n<h3>Dropbox<\/h3>\n<p>If you want to send a file that's stored in Dropbox this is the easiest way. <\/p>\n<h3>Glympse<\/h3>\n<p>I love sharing my location with people to help us find one another, Glympse goes a few steps above Find Friends here. You can choose to share for a time period, or until you get a location - if you do that it calculates the route and shows the person where you are on your route, how fast you're moving, and your estimated arrival time. Being able to share it via iMessage is extremely useful, especially as the other person doesn't need to be using Glympse check on you.<\/p>\n<h3>Mapstr<\/h3>\n<p>Mapstr is one of my favourite apps, I bookmark locations in it all the time, and I frequently want to share them! With the iMessage app you can search for a location - sorted by nearest to you automatically. The shared item results in a map, with the name and tags you have specified - so the person could import it directly if they wanted to.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"The list of places to choose from in Mapstr\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/3\/f\/a\/d\/73fad4abdccbd4383ad2d799f645f70d39a1a6b1-mapstrlist.jpeg\" \/>\n<img alt=\"A preview from what Mapstr shares\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/d\/0\/a\/0\/4d0a04d819eeda36bb34c9dd32caed661214fca1-mapstr-demo.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Music<\/h3>\n<p>I like to share music with people, they probably heard about it months, years, or decades before I came across it, but it's fun nonetheless. With the iMessage app I can send the exact track I'm listening to right now to a friend - or pick something earlier from my playing history.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Two songs, recently listened to, available for sharing\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/d\/9\/9\/c\/ed99c0edd963f1ec69ef44d72bfaaf7f82cdd0af-music-imessage-app.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>OneDrive<\/h3>\n<p>This works the same way the Dropbox app does, but with OneDrive (funny that). It's pretty useful for Word documents I've had to wrangle.<\/p>\n<h3>TripIt<\/h3>\n<p>I travel, a lot. At least compared to some people. I love to use TripIt to share parts of my trip with people. It formats things prettily, while still giving them the information they would want. <\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"TripIt iMessage App - showing a shared flight, and trip entries to share\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/9\/7\/d\/f\/e97df5511f120fb42c4c6ed541c5f955e62b695b-tripit-imessage-app-demo.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Week Calendar<\/h3>\n<p>I usually invite people to calendar events if they're involved or affected by it, however sometimes that's not practical. It's nice to be able to share the details of an event though. What's great about this app is it shares both the text (name of the event, start date\/time, end date\/time), and it also shares a URL, from the URL the person can add an ICS file straight to their calendar of the exact event if they like, or use iOS's smart recogniition to add their own event from the dates.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Choosing an event in WeekCalendar\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/b\/3\/5\/4\/cb354020e564f78ba51a3207389ff6dd9b02b597-weekcalendar-choose-an-event.jpeg\" \/>\n<img alt=\"The shared event in Week Calendar\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/6\/e\/e\/8\/56ee82c951f9880dda7b6eab9e0ae80801d83978-weekcalendar-share-an-event.jpeg\" \/>\n<img alt=\"The web page shared by the app, adding to the app or downloading an ICS file\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/4\/4\/7\/b\/7447b29be05866edb41cfd3b18e329d13d34b05f-week-calendar-view-an-event.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Yelp<\/h3>\n<p>I don't save <em>everything<\/em> to Mapstr - so Yelp comes in handy, especially when evaluating options. You can search and choose from recently searched for locations, and share them - by default the preview shows an image with the name and rating overlaid - but with the address underneath, so once you've finally picked the perfect pancake place you can head right there.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Yelp iMessage App, showing location choice and share\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/c\/0\/8\/2\/1c0825f741303de711311381ba8a0a03a6ba5ff7-yelp-imessage-app.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>IMessage apps certainly come in handy, which ones are you using?<\/p>",
"content_text": "I was recently asked on Twitter which iMessage apps I use regularly, and thought it might well be worth a blog post - there are some really useful iMessage apps out there, but most people just seem to use stickers! (Not that stickers aren't great of course.)\nAirmail\nIf you've ever wanted or needed to send an email attachment via iMessage this is an easy way to do it. You simply get a list of attachments on emails, allowing you to send the file onwards.\nCitymapper\nThis particular app is very useful - you can send your current location, a recently searched for destination, or your current trip. Very useful if you're trying to meet up with people!\n\nCopied\nI love Copied, it's a great clipboard manager that syncs between iOS and macOS, and you have access to images in it iMessage app. I often share to Copied and then I can use either the keyboard or the iMessage app to share things on.\nDoodle\nIf you've ever tried to arrange an event that involves more than one person you've done the back and forth of \"are you free then? No, how about next week? FIne, I give up\" (or similar), Doodle is fabulous to help you fix that - you just create a poll when you are available, and everyone votes for the dates that work for them. Well throw that into a group iMessage and you've saved yourself 100 notifications (more or less, depending on the size of the group and how busy their schedules are!).\nDrafts\nI often start my writing in Drafts, regardless of what it is, and now I can grab a Draft and send it via iMessage. It's very useful and helps you avoid that copy and paste dance!\nDropbox\nIf you want to send a file that's stored in Dropbox this is the easiest way. \nGlympse\nI love sharing my location with people to help us find one another, Glympse goes a few steps above Find Friends here. You can choose to share for a time period, or until you get a location - if you do that it calculates the route and shows the person where you are on your route, how fast you're moving, and your estimated arrival time. Being able to share it via iMessage is extremely useful, especially as the other person doesn't need to be using Glympse check on you.\nMapstr\nMapstr is one of my favourite apps, I bookmark locations in it all the time, and I frequently want to share them! With the iMessage app you can search for a location - sorted by nearest to you automatically. The shared item results in a map, with the name and tags you have specified - so the person could import it directly if they wanted to.\n\n\nMusic\nI like to share music with people, they probably heard about it months, years, or decades before I came across it, but it's fun nonetheless. With the iMessage app I can send the exact track I'm listening to right now to a friend - or pick something earlier from my playing history.\n\nOneDrive\nThis works the same way the Dropbox app does, but with OneDrive (funny that). It's pretty useful for Word documents I've had to wrangle.\nTripIt\nI travel, a lot. At least compared to some people. I love to use TripIt to share parts of my trip with people. It formats things prettily, while still giving them the information they would want. \n\nWeek Calendar\nI usually invite people to calendar events if they're involved or affected by it, however sometimes that's not practical. It's nice to be able to share the details of an event though. What's great about this app is it shares both the text (name of the event, start date\/time, end date\/time), and it also shares a URL, from the URL the person can add an ICS file straight to their calendar of the exact event if they like, or use iOS's smart recogniition to add their own event from the dates.\n\n\n\nYelp\nI don't save everything to Mapstr - so Yelp comes in handy, especially when evaluating options. You can search and choose from recently searched for locations, and share them - by default the preview shows an image with the name and rating overlaid - but with the address underneath, so once you've finally picked the perfect pancake place you can head right there.\n\nIMessage apps certainly come in handy, which ones are you using?",
"tags": "imessage"
},
{
"title": "iPad Pros Podcast: Episode 27 \u2013 Automators with Rosemary Orchard",
"date_published": "2018-07-12T11:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "ipad-pro-podcast-27",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/ipad-pro-podcast-27",
"external_url": "https:\/\/ipadpros.net\/2018\/07\/12\/episode-27-automators-with-rosemary-orchard\/",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I talked to Tim about getting started with automation, the future of Shortcuts, Workflow, and more.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ipadpros.net\/2018\/07\/12\/episode-27-automators-with-rosemary-orchard\/\">Listen it on iPad Pros Podcast<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "I talked to Tim about getting started with automation, the future of Shortcuts, Workflow, and more.\n\nListen it on iPad Pros Podcast",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Sonos and Airplay 2: First Impressions",
"date_published": "2018-07-12T10:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-12T11:34:27+02:00",
"id": "sonos-and-airplay-2-first-impressions",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/sonos-and-airplay-2-first-impressions",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I bought a Sonos One back when it was released late last year, and it quickly became something I used without thinking about it too much. I got a Spotify subscription and liked that I could just switch my stream from my headphones to the Sonos from the Spotify app - in contrast to Apple and Google Music services which required navigating the Sonos app. I prefer Apple Music though - being able to put my headphones on and just press play is a surprisingly powerful factor, so I switched away from Spotify and back to Apple Music.<\/p>\n<p>Airplay 2 has given me the ability to switch where the music is playing to easily once more though, I can switch from my AirPods to my Sonos, there's a very slight pause waiting for the stream to switch - but this is technology, not magic! You can use any app to play the audio elsewhere, though some apps need to update to support Airplay 2 and those are noticeable with a longer pause from when you press a music control button - but I'm confident we'll get an update for these apps.<\/p>\n<p>I'm currently listening to podcasts on my Sonos and it's good - easy, no fiddling, just play and select the audio output. I have a feeling this might cause me to purchase a few more!<\/p>",
"content_text": "I bought a Sonos One back when it was released late last year, and it quickly became something I used without thinking about it too much. I got a Spotify subscription and liked that I could just switch my stream from my headphones to the Sonos from the Spotify app - in contrast to Apple and Google Music services which required navigating the Sonos app. I prefer Apple Music though - being able to put my headphones on and just press play is a surprisingly powerful factor, so I switched away from Spotify and back to Apple Music.\nAirplay 2 has given me the ability to switch where the music is playing to easily once more though, I can switch from my AirPods to my Sonos, there's a very slight pause waiting for the stream to switch - but this is technology, not magic! You can use any app to play the audio elsewhere, though some apps need to update to support Airplay 2 and those are noticeable with a longer pause from when you press a music control button - but I'm confident we'll get an update for these apps.\nI'm currently listening to podcasts on my Sonos and it's good - easy, no fiddling, just play and select the audio output. I have a feeling this might cause me to purchase a few more!",
"tags": "sonos"
},
{
"title": "Our first look at Shortcuts on iOS",
"date_published": "2018-07-11T02:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "our-first-look-at-shortcuts-on-ios",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/our-first-look-at-shortcuts-on-ios",
"external_url": "https:\/\/thesweetsetup.com\/articles\/first-look-shortcuts-ios\/",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I took a quick look at what's new in Shortcuts vs Workflow, and what we might see and give a few examples of how I'm using it.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thesweetsetup.com\/articles\/first-look-shortcuts-ios\/\">Read it on The Sweet Setup<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "I took a quick look at what's new in Shortcuts vs Workflow, and what we might see and give a few examples of how I'm using it.\n\nRead it on The Sweet Setup",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "How to Create OmniFocus Projects with Workflow",
"date_published": "2018-07-10T09:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "how-to-create-omnifocus-projects-with-workflow",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/how-to-create-omnifocus-projects-with-workflow",
"external_url": "https:\/\/colterreed.com\/how-to-create-omnifocus-projects-with-workflow\/",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>There are some projects that you just want to create a solid template of so you can use them again and again - this post gives you a few examples for how to execute that in Workflow.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/colterreed.com\/how-to-create-omnifocus-projects-with-workflow\/\">Read on Colter Reed<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "There are some projects that you just want to create a solid template of so you can use them again and again - this post gives you a few examples for how to execute that in Workflow.\n\nRead on Colter Reed",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Automators 1: Automating Calendar Events",
"date_published": "2018-07-06T17:30:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-09T13:34:37+02:00",
"id": "automators-episode-1",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/automators-episode-1",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Automators Artwork\" alt=\"Automators Artwork\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/7\/9\/5\/3\/079536e0ba319550ca3828263e3715883b2cbe5c-artwork.jpeg\" \/> This week's episodes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/automators\/1\">The Automators<\/a> is focused on calendar event creation. There are many ways you can automatically create calendar events, and it's useful to be able to do so, to avoid losing information. You can also use calendar events as a trigger to do something - which we cover towards the end. Below there are details of all the automations we cover, including 4 (really, four!) screencasts.<\/p>\n<h2>Workflow: Calendar Event Templates<\/h2>\n<p><img title=\"Calendar Event Templates\" alt=\"Calendar Event Templates\" class=\"image-left\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/3\/a\/c\/1\/33ac125fb4203dabea7f6b5cab3bd5189df41cd2-workflow-calendar-event-templates.png\" \/> This is a very simple Workflow which asks me for the date and time of the event, and then what kind of event this is (the demo has 3 examples) - it then adjusts the time to add an appropriate length for the appointment and adds it to my calendar. This is very useful because I can never remember what floor my dentist is on or exactly where to turn to find my hairdresser - so I can add this to the notes. Even if the places you frequent are not hidden like mine are you can still use this!\nYou can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/434bd4cf625f419282aee780d3414a4c\">Calendar Event Templates<\/a> Make sure to read on to find out about the \"Run Workflow\" action at the end of it.<\/p>\n<h2>Workflow: Add Event To Work Calendar<\/h2>\n<p><img title=\"Add Event To Work Calendar (Menu)\" alt=\"Add Event To Work Calendar\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/8\/b\/3\/5\/68b350294a420b45025218b4243a665f04e3be4a-workflow-add-event-to-work-calendar.png\" \/> This workflow follows the first one, and is in fact run by it - or could be. It simply asks you if the appointment you've made is during working hours, and if you say yes, adds an event that starts half an hour before and ends half an hour after the appointment you've just created to your calendar. Make sure to tweak the calendar setting here! You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/7028582e422441209e36690ab4621b94\">Add Event To Work Calendar (Menu)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Of course, you can automate this too, this formats the date of the event as one letter (so Monday becomes M, Friday becomes F), and if it's not Saturday or Sunday, checks if the event starts after 8 am but before 6pm - if yes it adds an event to your calendar. It's not <em>insanely<\/em> complicated, but it's not as simple as the Workflow above.\nYou can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/3a0dd365141d4146981c1297148f2a24\">Add Event To Work Calendar (Auto)<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>David's Hyper Scheduling Workflow<\/h2>\n<p><img title=\"Block Schedule\" alt=\"Block Schedule\" class=\"image-left\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/c\/e\/3\/2\/8ce3281452e40dff35fa53fa7160d0318f19d818-workflow-block-schedule.png\" \/> Since February David has had an ongoing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macsparky.com\/blog\/2018\/2\/the-hyper-scheduling-experiment\">Hyper-Scheduling Experiment<\/a>, which involves scheduling blocks of time in his calendar to provide a framework throughout his day. You can see his Workflow to generate some of the core blocks here.<\/p>\n<div class=\"grav-youtube\">\n <iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/mRDUdsRBiIk?color=white?enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/4568f7c24b8e415c9e77305b26e4768e\">Block Schedule<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Add Travel Time<\/h2>\n<p><img title=\"Travel Time\" alt=\"Travel Time\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/4\/c\/5\/2\/94c5262a0861e84a3fd8e16bb3d86ed9a5cc632d-workflow-travel-time.png\" \/> Here David walks you through how his Workflow to add travel time events to your calendar works.<\/p>\n<div class=\"grav-youtube\">\n <iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/Do6UWlnO_5g?color=white?enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/9bd57fd605034d3bade12d8486b80d7e\">Travel Time<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Repeating Events<\/h2>\n<p>Of course, one of the simplest ways to automate calendar event creation is repeats - and you can go from very simple up to fairly complex within that. The simplest repeats are every day\/week\/month\/year, but if you go into the <code>Custom...<\/code> options then you can create repeats such as \"On the first weekday of every month\".<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Simple Repeat Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/f\/4\/e\/4\/4f4e4d4aa15b00f1bc702e183e830f77ac49fb6a-calendar-simple-repeat-options.png\" \/>\n<img alt=\"Advanced Weekly Repeat Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/8\/9\/1\/5\/28915f4ac1bb1443aa9253ad4b405976cab54957-calendar-weekly-repeat-options.png\" \/>\n<img alt=\"Advanced Monthly Repeat Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/d\/5\/d\/1\/5d5d1fa55f8a53df1b9f22745494919f5e755866-calendar-monthly-repeat-options.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Copy and paste<\/h2>\n<p>If repeating events count as automation (they do!) then copying and pasting events does as well.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><code>CMD+D<\/code> allows you to duplicate an event, and then you can drag and drop it.<\/li>\n<li><code>CMD+C<\/code> and then <code>CMD+V<\/code> lets you paste, if you select a new date before you paste then the event is automatically added to that day. In many apps you can even paste it in at the time you have selected.<\/li>\n<li>Fantastical on iOS gives you the option to duplicate an event when you tap and hold on it, or when you swipe, and tap \"More...\", BusyCal allows you to duplicate an event by force touching it. I personally prefer Fantastical as it immediately asks me for the new date where as with BusyCal you need to edit the new event.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img alt=\"Duplicating an event in Fantastical\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/0\/a\/5\/f\/c0a5facede6422251335329bca352395e2f2fc3e-fantastical-duplicate-event.png\" \/>\n<img alt=\"Duplicating an event in BusyCal\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/6\/6\/d\/f\/d66dfe0c22e44dd90c26891155fd80b0e2a8cc17-busycal-duplicate-event.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Workflow: Copy a Calendar Event<\/h2>\n<p><img title=\"Copy Calendar Event\" alt=\"Copy Calendar Event\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/7\/8\/0\/1\/17801f0952dab9e92f6acaf392c75aab707c6bf3-workflow-copy-calendar-event.png\" \/> This Workflow lets you choose from calendar events, and uses the chosen item to create a new event. It is currently set to use events from today, but you can easily change the filter in the \"Find Calendar Events\" action to look in the last week, the next week, or any time period of your choice.<\/p>\n<div class=\"grav-youtube\">\n <iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/BNYbLxzKx2M?color=white?enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p><img alt=\"The visual of the workflow to copy a calendar event\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/c\/8\/a\/4\/9c8a47a051df76a2ee4ddcf8254b6376ba1e6e9f-workflow-copy-calendar-event-detail.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/ac14868356bd40a4b9223bbac1a844df\">Copy Calendar Event<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Parsing a list of events with Numbers<\/h2>\n<p>I first mentioned this automation in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/mpu\/418\">episode 418 of the Mac Power Users<\/a>, this is designed to help you take a list of events and quickly add them to the right calendars. As David mentioned on the podcast you could also use it to calculate dates backwards from a specific event (he used a trial as an example) to add other events or deadlines to your calendar.<\/p>\n<div class=\"grav-youtube\">\n <iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/tvlrZpEklbw?color=white?enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>You can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/mxx77d2bblqgt6k\/Fantastical Calendar Event Creation.numbers?dl=1\">download the spreadsheet here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Keyboard Maestro Macro is very simple, it splits the text on your clipboard into lines, and then runs the following AppleScript on each line.<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"language-applescript\">tell application \"Keyboard Maestro Engine\" to set myEvent to getvariable \"Event\"\n\ntell application \"Fantastical 2\"\n parse sentence myEvent with add immediately\nend tell<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>This AppleScript merely sets a local variable to the Keyboard Maestro variable for the line, and then uses Fantastical's AppleScript support to get it to parse the event and add it straight to your calendar. If you wanted to evaluate each event before it gets added then you would remove the <code>with add immediately<\/code>.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Visual of the Keyboard Maestro Macro\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/user\/pages\/02.blog\/55.automators-episode-1\/keyboard-maestro-macro-clipboard-to-fantastical-lines.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can download this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/0hthy74msa5j1ti\/Add-clipboard-events-to-Fantastical.kmmacros?dl=1\">Keyboard Maestro Macro here<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Clipboard Events To Fantastical\" alt=\"Clipboard Events To Fantastical\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/d\/6\/f\/0\/dd6f01ae16b041e857341bf15e742fc7b8b9d14c-workflow-clipboard-events-to-fantastical.png\" \/> You can also make this system iOS friendly in two ways, the Numbers sheet itself of course works on iOS. But you can do two things with the list of events it generates, the first is to use a Workflow, <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/8be06c81e6f4408687a1a5ca1e8b772d\">Clipboard Events To Fantastical<\/a> which goes through all the lines on your clipboard adding them to Fantastical for you. The second way is to use Drafts, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/actions.getdrafts.com\/a\/1ED\">Events in Fantastical<\/a> action provided by Agile Tortoise.<\/p>\n<p>As mentioned in the show, David has a great series of <a href=\"https:\/\/flexibits.com\/fantastical\/videos\">video tutorials for Fantastical<\/a> where he guides you through the core features and some of the syntax options.<\/p>\n<h2>Adding event with AppleScript<\/h2>\n<p>As we mentioned in the show, AppleScript is not the most flexible when it comes to adding events to your calendar. However it is definitely possible! I highly recommend the <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.apple.com\/library\/archive\/documentation\/AppleApplications\/Conceptual\/CalendarScriptingGuide\/Calendar-CreateanEvent.html#\/\/apple_ref\/doc\/uid\/TP40016646-CH94-SW3\">official Apple documentation<\/a> as a starting point for a script that <em>works<\/em>, There's also a library called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macosxautomation.com\/applescript\/apps\/Script_Libs.html#CalendarLib_EC\">CalendarLib<\/a> which is linked on the very helpful <a href=\"http:\/\/macosautomation.com\">macosautomation.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, you can also use AppleScript to control Fantastical - as demonstrated in my Keyboard Maestro Macro above, here's their <a href=\"https:\/\/flexibits.com\/fantastical\/help\/integration-with-other-apps\">documentation for integration with other apps<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Cloud Based Automation<\/h2>\n<p>Using web services like IFTTT or Zapier to automate things based on calendar events can be limited if you're not using the \"right\" calendar system - so you can have IFTTT trigger things based on an event starting in Google calendar, but not in iCloud calendar. You can however use a variety of triggers from time and date, to RSS feed entries, to add events to your calendar on almost any system - as long as if it's iCloud you have the IFTTT app installed.<\/p>\n<h2>Favourite Workflows<\/h2>\n<p>In this last part of the show we talked about our two favourite automations related to calendars.<\/p>\n<h3>David - Meeting Confirmation<\/h3>\n<p><img title=\"Meeting Confirmation\" alt=\"Meeting Confirmation\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/3\/1\/3\/9\/531398c2788a87fb1482e2cc97da3f1e6b76e656-workflow-meeting-confirmation.png\" \/> This workflow is really useful if you have meetings that you need to remind other people of, David actually has two - one for in person meetings, and one for scheduled calls. You can get them here:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/2995a75e01ef4bad9295a9f91d98d05d\">Meeting Confirmation<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/0e2c5184e2c647a39dfb999f11b6dc62\">Phone Confirmation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Rose - Workflow: Event Review<\/h3>\n<p><img title=\"Event Review\" alt=\"Event Review\" class=\"image-left\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/e\/6\/8\/b\/0e68bd5d076e8d9bd5cc3dbc24566682ff342cf4-workflow-event-review.png\" \/> I use this Workflow to help me review the events that have happened in the last week, as well as to prepare tasks for appointments in the upcoming week. This adds the calendar events from last week to a Drafts note, and combines any tasks you note down for the next week into Taskpaper and adds them to Omnifocus.<\/p>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/cda1965b59ae4ef19ece6958be097187\">Event Review<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": " This week's episodes of The Automators is focused on calendar event creation. There are many ways you can automatically create calendar events, and it's useful to be able to do so, to avoid losing information. You can also use calendar events as a trigger to do something - which we cover towards the end. Below there are details of all the automations we cover, including 4 (really, four!) screencasts.\nWorkflow: Calendar Event Templates\n This is a very simple Workflow which asks me for the date and time of the event, and then what kind of event this is (the demo has 3 examples) - it then adjusts the time to add an appropriate length for the appointment and adds it to my calendar. This is very useful because I can never remember what floor my dentist is on or exactly where to turn to find my hairdresser - so I can add this to the notes. Even if the places you frequent are not hidden like mine are you can still use this!\nYou can get the workflow here: Calendar Event Templates Make sure to read on to find out about the \"Run Workflow\" action at the end of it.\nWorkflow: Add Event To Work Calendar\n This workflow follows the first one, and is in fact run by it - or could be. It simply asks you if the appointment you've made is during working hours, and if you say yes, adds an event that starts half an hour before and ends half an hour after the appointment you've just created to your calendar. Make sure to tweak the calendar setting here! You can get the workflow here: Add Event To Work Calendar (Menu)\nOf course, you can automate this too, this formats the date of the event as one letter (so Monday becomes M, Friday becomes F), and if it's not Saturday or Sunday, checks if the event starts after 8 am but before 6pm - if yes it adds an event to your calendar. It's not insanely complicated, but it's not as simple as the Workflow above.\nYou can get the workflow here: Add Event To Work Calendar (Auto)\nDavid's Hyper Scheduling Workflow\n Since February David has had an ongoing Hyper-Scheduling Experiment, which involves scheduling blocks of time in his calendar to provide a framework throughout his day. You can see his Workflow to generate some of the core blocks here.\n\n \n\nYou can get the workflow here: Block Schedule\nAdd Travel Time\n Here David walks you through how his Workflow to add travel time events to your calendar works.\n\n \n\nYou can get the workflow here: Travel Time\nRepeating Events\nOf course, one of the simplest ways to automate calendar event creation is repeats - and you can go from very simple up to fairly complex within that. The simplest repeats are every day\/week\/month\/year, but if you go into the Custom... options then you can create repeats such as \"On the first weekday of every month\".\n\n\n\nCopy and paste\nIf repeating events count as automation (they do!) then copying and pasting events does as well.\n\nCMD+D allows you to duplicate an event, and then you can drag and drop it.\nCMD+C and then CMD+V lets you paste, if you select a new date before you paste then the event is automatically added to that day. In many apps you can even paste it in at the time you have selected.\nFantastical on iOS gives you the option to duplicate an event when you tap and hold on it, or when you swipe, and tap \"More...\", BusyCal allows you to duplicate an event by force touching it. I personally prefer Fantastical as it immediately asks me for the new date where as with BusyCal you need to edit the new event.\n\n\n\nWorkflow: Copy a Calendar Event\n This Workflow lets you choose from calendar events, and uses the chosen item to create a new event. It is currently set to use events from today, but you can easily change the filter in the \"Find Calendar Events\" action to look in the last week, the next week, or any time period of your choice.\n\n \n\n\nYou can get the workflow here: Copy Calendar Event\nParsing a list of events with Numbers\nI first mentioned this automation in episode 418 of the Mac Power Users, this is designed to help you take a list of events and quickly add them to the right calendars. As David mentioned on the podcast you could also use it to calculate dates backwards from a specific event (he used a trial as an example) to add other events or deadlines to your calendar.\n\n \n\nYou can download the spreadsheet here.\nThe Keyboard Maestro Macro is very simple, it splits the text on your clipboard into lines, and then runs the following AppleScript on each line.\ntell application \"Keyboard Maestro Engine\" to set myEvent to getvariable \"Event\"\n\ntell application \"Fantastical 2\"\n parse sentence myEvent with add immediately\nend tell\nThis AppleScript merely sets a local variable to the Keyboard Maestro variable for the line, and then uses Fantastical's AppleScript support to get it to parse the event and add it straight to your calendar. If you wanted to evaluate each event before it gets added then you would remove the with add immediately.\n\nYou can download this Keyboard Maestro Macro here\n You can also make this system iOS friendly in two ways, the Numbers sheet itself of course works on iOS. But you can do two things with the list of events it generates, the first is to use a Workflow, Clipboard Events To Fantastical which goes through all the lines on your clipboard adding them to Fantastical for you. The second way is to use Drafts, with the Events in Fantastical action provided by Agile Tortoise.\nAs mentioned in the show, David has a great series of video tutorials for Fantastical where he guides you through the core features and some of the syntax options.\nAdding event with AppleScript\nAs we mentioned in the show, AppleScript is not the most flexible when it comes to adding events to your calendar. However it is definitely possible! I highly recommend the official Apple documentation as a starting point for a script that works, There's also a library called CalendarLib which is linked on the very helpful macosautomation.com.\nOf course, you can also use AppleScript to control Fantastical - as demonstrated in my Keyboard Maestro Macro above, here's their documentation for integration with other apps.\nCloud Based Automation\nUsing web services like IFTTT or Zapier to automate things based on calendar events can be limited if you're not using the \"right\" calendar system - so you can have IFTTT trigger things based on an event starting in Google calendar, but not in iCloud calendar. You can however use a variety of triggers from time and date, to RSS feed entries, to add events to your calendar on almost any system - as long as if it's iCloud you have the IFTTT app installed.\nFavourite Workflows\nIn this last part of the show we talked about our two favourite automations related to calendars.\nDavid - Meeting Confirmation\n This workflow is really useful if you have meetings that you need to remind other people of, David actually has two - one for in person meetings, and one for scheduled calls. You can get them here:\n\nMeeting Confirmation\nPhone Confirmation\n\nRose - Workflow: Event Review\n I use this Workflow to help me review the events that have happened in the last week, as well as to prepare tasks for appointments in the upcoming week. This adds the calendar events from last week to a Drafts note, and combines any tasks you note down for the next week into Taskpaper and adds them to Omnifocus.\nYou can get the workflow here: Event Review",
"tags": "automators,podcast,calendar events,keyboard maestro,workflow,applescript,ifttt"
},
{
"title": "Shortcuts Beta now open!",
"date_published": "2018-07-05T22:28:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-06T10:32:43+02:00",
"id": "shortcuts-beta-now-open",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/shortcuts-beta-now-open",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>Earlier today a few little birdies told me about the Shortcuts beta being open to sign up for if you have a developer account. If I hadn't already had one I might have been tempted to sign up for it just for this!<\/p>\n<p>It seems Apple is sending out the invitations pretty quickly as mine has already arrived. I'm really looking forward to testing this and getting stuck in - iOS 12 has made some big promises regarding automation, I bet it will live up to them!<\/p>\n<p>You can read more about the current beta over on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macstories.net\/linked\/shortcuts-app-beta-arriving-through-testflight-soon\/\">MacStories<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Mail invite to the Shortcuts beta\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/6\/6\/9\/7\/166973eccfc21972a5b703f4e148abdf901d5637-shortcuts-beta-invite.jpeg\" \/><\/p>",
"content_text": "Earlier today a few little birdies told me about the Shortcuts beta being open to sign up for if you have a developer account. If I hadn't already had one I might have been tempted to sign up for it just for this!\nIt seems Apple is sending out the invitations pretty quickly as mine has already arrived. I'm really looking forward to testing this and getting stuck in - iOS 12 has made some big promises regarding automation, I bet it will live up to them!\nYou can read more about the current beta over on MacStories.\n",
"tags": "workflow,shortcuts"
},
{
"title": "Clockwise 248: Six Filters Was All We Needed in My Day",
"date_published": "2018-07-03T21:52:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "clockwise-six-filters-was-all-we-needed-in-my-day",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/clockwise-six-filters-was-all-we-needed-in-my-day",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/clockwise\/248",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I was a guest on Clockwise where we talked about Apple Maps getting better, Instagram's new \"you've seen it all\" feature and marketing sessions, as well as Apple Pay and public transit. And I managed to pick the title! <\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/clockwise-six-filters-was-all-we-needed-in-my-day\/'https:\/www.relay.fm\/clockwise\/248'\">Listen on Relay FM<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "I was a guest on Clockwise where we talked about Apple Maps getting better, Instagram's new \"you've seen it all\" feature and marketing sessions, as well as Apple Pay and public transit. And I managed to pick the title! \n\nListen on Relay FM",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Launching Automators: a Podcast About Automation",
"date_published": "2018-07-02T16:10:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:54+02:00",
"id": "launching-automators-podcast",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/launching-automators-podcast",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Automators Artwork\" alt=\"Automators Artwork\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/7\/9\/5\/3\/079536e0ba319550ca3828263e3715883b2cbe5c-artwork.jpeg\" \/>\nI've been asked several time if I have a podcast of my own, or a podcast about automation, and today I'm very excited to announce both: I'm launching a podcast with <a href=\"https:\/\/macsparky.com\">David Sparks<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/relay.fm\">Relay FM<\/a> called <a href=\"https:\/\/automators.fm\">Automators<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>We plan for every episode to be approximately 30-45 minutes in length, and will release them every two weeks. Every episode will be accompanied by a blog post either on my blog or on David's where we provide all of the automations in the episode ready for download. The episodes will be released every two weeks on Fridays, which means you have the weekend ahead of you if you want to take our examples and go crazy!<\/p>\n<p>This podcast is for everyone, you don't need to be a super nerd or a programmer - we are giving you the finished automations directly so you can just use them. You simply need some imagination (to think of things to automate), and a willingness to try things. <\/p>\n<p>If you want an RSS feed of the blog posts which will accompany the episodes, you can find it via <a href=\"https:\/\/automators.fm\">Automators.fm<\/a> - these will link straight to David's blog post or my blog post, but is ideal for automation! We also have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCvpU-_RS85Y7q5PZsAaH87w\">YouTube Channel<\/a> and a <a href=\"https:\/\/talk.automators.fm\">forum<\/a>, where you can see any screencasts we make, and discuss every episode.<\/p>\n<p>We created an episode 0 where we tell about the podcast, and David and I got a little carried away and made a Memoji version which you can actually watch!<\/p>\n<p>I hope you'll <a href=\"https:\/\/relay.fm\/automators\">subscribe to the feed<\/a>, and that you enjoy the first episode which is coming on Friday!<\/p>\n<p>Here are links to the podcast in some popular podcast players:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/castro.fm\/podcast\/62af351b-5cc2-4845-9285-8b9da25846ae\">Castro<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/id1406364168\">iTunes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/overcast.fm\/itunes1406364168\/automators\">Overcast<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/pca.st\/SYSe\">PocketCasts<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"grav-youtube\">\n <iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/Kv84vVxG_CU?color=white?enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>",
"content_text": "\nI've been asked several time if I have a podcast of my own, or a podcast about automation, and today I'm very excited to announce both: I'm launching a podcast with David Sparks on Relay FM called Automators.\n\nWe plan for every episode to be approximately 30-45 minutes in length, and will release them every two weeks. Every episode will be accompanied by a blog post either on my blog or on David's where we provide all of the automations in the episode ready for download. The episodes will be released every two weeks on Fridays, which means you have the weekend ahead of you if you want to take our examples and go crazy!\nThis podcast is for everyone, you don't need to be a super nerd or a programmer - we are giving you the finished automations directly so you can just use them. You simply need some imagination (to think of things to automate), and a willingness to try things. \nIf you want an RSS feed of the blog posts which will accompany the episodes, you can find it via Automators.fm - these will link straight to David's blog post or my blog post, but is ideal for automation! We also have a YouTube Channel and a forum, where you can see any screencasts we make, and discuss every episode.\nWe created an episode 0 where we tell about the podcast, and David and I got a little carried away and made a Memoji version which you can actually watch!\nI hope you'll subscribe to the feed, and that you enjoy the first episode which is coming on Friday!\nHere are links to the podcast in some popular podcast players:\n\nCastro\niTunes\nOvercast\nPocketCasts\n\n\n \n",
"tags": "automators,podcast"
},
{
"title": "My Raspberry Pi Zero W Portable Development Server",
"date_published": "2018-07-01T20:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:54+02:00",
"id": "my-raspberry-pi-zero-w-portable-development-server",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/my-raspberry-pi-zero-w-portable-development-server",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I love my iPad, it's a great, very portable device that I can use for almost everything. Unfortunately the almost for most people is a deal breaker - but I'm stubborn and see these things as a problem to be solved rather than a reason to use another device!<\/p>\n<p>One of my most frequently used \"tools\" are servers - if you can call a server a tool. This blog runs on one, as does <a href=\"https:\/\/automationorchard.com\">Automation Orchard<\/a>, as well as a lot of little scripts which make my life easier. Unfortunately having an entire server running locally on an iPad isn't quite possible yet - apps like <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/id593757593?at=1010lumu\">DraftCode Offline PHP IDE<\/a> are fabulous and can even run Wordpress - but sometimes needs must, and you need something that is less restricted. This is where my Raspberry Pi Zero W comes into play.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"My Raspberry Pi with a short Micro USB Cable and Anker Battery Pack\" alt=\"My Raspberry Pi with a short Micro USB Cable and Anker Battery Pack\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/a\/a\/c\/6\/8aac67b56f53168cf5c70d95cce3b490f5577b52-pi-on-a-plane.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Raspberry Pi Zero W, for those of you not familiar with it, is an extremely small headless computer - it doesn't have a screen - indeed when you buy it you just get the board, that's it! The hard drive is a micro SD card, and it sports a few ports - 2 micro USB (one for power), and a mini HDMI. How on earth can you connect to that with an iPad?<\/p>\n<p>The answer is not the shortest or easiest, but it does sound simple: wifi. I have set my Raspberry Pi up so that when it boots up it creates a wifi network, of course this doesn't create an internet connection, but that's not what we're after here. I won't go into the steps of setting this up here, instead I recommend you follow this guide: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raspberrypi.org\/documentation\/configuration\/wireless\/access-point.md\">Setting Up a Raspberry Pi as an Access Point in a Standalone Network (NAT)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The other part I needed to do was to make sure the Pi would always have the same IP address. This allows me to use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/remote-control-raspberry-pi\">use Workflow to control it via SSH<\/a>, and connect to it with <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/id500906297?at=1010lumu\">Coda<\/a> which lets me hook right into the device and has great syntax highlighting. As I mostly program for the web with PHP I use Coda in split screen with Safari which I can refresh to see the results of what I'm doing. <\/p>\n<p>I use a CMS called Grav, and they have a nice little guide to help you set up the <a href=\"https:\/\/getgrav.org\/blog\/raspberrypi-nginx-php7-dev\">Raspberry Pi<\/a> to run it - there are guides to set up most CMS on a Pi if you look.<\/p>\n<p>Why would I do all of this over using something like Linode or Digital Ocean, you might ask. It's a very simple answer: internet isn't always a given. I travel a lot, and most of my flights do not have wifi (and those that do charge a fortune for it). Even trains go through tunnels where you lose your connection. If you always have wifi or cellular data then you can avoid carrying a tiny computer, cable and battery pack along with your iPad, but if you don't then this is a very small combination that gives you a lot of power.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hardware in use:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thepihut.com\/collections\/raspberry-pi-zero\/products\/raspberry-pi-zero-w\">Raspberry Pi Zero W<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thepihut.com\/collections\/raspberry-pi-cases\/products\/pibow-zero-w\">Pibow Zero W<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B01CU1EC6Y\/?tag=rosemaryorchard-20\">Anker PowerCore<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B01NAMTC5T\/?tag=rosemaryorchard-20\">Anker PowerLine Micro USB (4 Inches)<\/a>\nYou'll also need a microSD card and to set up the OS on it, if you're not sure where to begin you can buy one with <a href=\"https:\/\/thepihut.com\/products\/noobs-preinstalled-sd-card\">NOOBS preinstalled<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>",
"content_text": "I love my iPad, it's a great, very portable device that I can use for almost everything. Unfortunately the almost for most people is a deal breaker - but I'm stubborn and see these things as a problem to be solved rather than a reason to use another device!\nOne of my most frequently used \"tools\" are servers - if you can call a server a tool. This blog runs on one, as does Automation Orchard, as well as a lot of little scripts which make my life easier. Unfortunately having an entire server running locally on an iPad isn't quite possible yet - apps like DraftCode Offline PHP IDE are fabulous and can even run Wordpress - but sometimes needs must, and you need something that is less restricted. This is where my Raspberry Pi Zero W comes into play.\n\nThe Raspberry Pi Zero W, for those of you not familiar with it, is an extremely small headless computer - it doesn't have a screen - indeed when you buy it you just get the board, that's it! The hard drive is a micro SD card, and it sports a few ports - 2 micro USB (one for power), and a mini HDMI. How on earth can you connect to that with an iPad?\nThe answer is not the shortest or easiest, but it does sound simple: wifi. I have set my Raspberry Pi up so that when it boots up it creates a wifi network, of course this doesn't create an internet connection, but that's not what we're after here. I won't go into the steps of setting this up here, instead I recommend you follow this guide: Setting Up a Raspberry Pi as an Access Point in a Standalone Network (NAT)\nThe other part I needed to do was to make sure the Pi would always have the same IP address. This allows me to use use Workflow to control it via SSH, and connect to it with Coda which lets me hook right into the device and has great syntax highlighting. As I mostly program for the web with PHP I use Coda in split screen with Safari which I can refresh to see the results of what I'm doing. \nI use a CMS called Grav, and they have a nice little guide to help you set up the Raspberry Pi to run it - there are guides to set up most CMS on a Pi if you look.\nWhy would I do all of this over using something like Linode or Digital Ocean, you might ask. It's a very simple answer: internet isn't always a given. I travel a lot, and most of my flights do not have wifi (and those that do charge a fortune for it). Even trains go through tunnels where you lose your connection. If you always have wifi or cellular data then you can avoid carrying a tiny computer, cable and battery pack along with your iPad, but if you don't then this is a very small combination that gives you a lot of power.\nHardware in use:\n\nRaspberry Pi Zero W\nPibow Zero W\nAnker PowerCore\nAnker PowerLine Micro USB (4 Inches)\nYou'll also need a microSD card and to set up the OS on it, if you're not sure where to begin you can buy one with NOOBS preinstalled.\n",
"tags": "raspberry pi,workflow,coda,travel,programming"
},
{
"title": "Download #61: Someone Else Call 911",
"date_published": "2018-06-28T11:45:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "download-61-someone-else-call-911",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/download-61-someone-else-call-911",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/download\/61",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I was a guest on Download yesterday along with Mikah Sargent and Stephen Hacket. We had fun talking about companies buying companies, Apple covering the news, and beta software - as well as the fluffy puppy of the week!<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/download-61-someone-else-call-911\/'https:\/www.relay.fm\/download\/61'\">Listen on Relay FM<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "I was a guest on Download yesterday along with Mikah Sargent and Stephen Hacket. We had fun talking about companies buying companies, Apple covering the news, and beta software - as well as the fluffy puppy of the week!\n\nListen on Relay FM",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Managing References and Resources When Writing Academic Papers",
"date_published": "2018-06-27T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:54+02:00",
"id": "managing-references-and-resources-when-writing-academic-papers",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/managing-references-and-resources-when-writing-academic-papers",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>Some of you may know that I'm studying for my Masters degree in Computing (Software Engineering), this naturally requires me to write more than a few essays with full referencing. Being a nerd I want to make this as easy as possible for myself, whilst still being accurate - and the simplest way to do this is to use software to manage my references.<\/p>\n<p>After doing some comparisons I settled on Zotero - it's free, which is perfect for a student budget, and you could program your own extensions if needed. More importantly it has a Word plugin which as I am required to submit my assignments in Word format is extremely useful.<\/p>\n<p>For those of you not familiar with referencing plugins and software you usually write your essay, and as you get to a place where you would insert a citation then you use the plugin in Word to do so. This software later generates a complete bibliography for you. EndNote, Mendeley, Bookends and Zotero are all capable of handling different citation formats, and Zotero even has one for my university's exact styling which is a great timesaver.<\/p>\n<p>At the start of each course or module I save all of the recommended reading into Zotero, they have browser plugins for Safari, Firefox, and Chrome which is ideal. By default Zotero saves PDFs if one is available for the reference, or a web snapshot. I prefer to save these items to DevonThink so use DevonThink's plugin to save the actual files to it instead. When saving the files I use the format <code>Author - year - title<\/code> which makes it easy to find the relevant reference. DevonThink allows me to use <em>Edit in Place<\/em> on iOS to annotate documents with whichever app I like. I also prefer to save web pages in PDF form which means I can annotate everything with PDF Expert.<\/p>\n<p>To remove these attachments from my Zotero library (you only get 200MB of sync storage for free), I have created a saved search. It has <code>Item Type is Attachment<\/code> as the sole criteria, and searches the whole library. I simply open this saved search, use CMD+A, and press delete - which deletes all of my attachments. As I prefer to use the search in DevonThink to find references I remember this isn't a problem, and I can also use the NEAR search parameter (<code>NEAR(man, cat)<\/code> would find items where the word man is within 10 words of the word cat, you can expand on this with <code>NEAR(man, cat, 100)<\/code> which would do the same but within 100 words - this is a massive timesaver for me.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Smart folder settings in Zotero to find attachments\" alt=\"Smart folder settings in Zotero to find attachments\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/5\/8\/4\/5\/d5845a6257eb0cf2329145ba0272ae7e77a5077d-zotero-smart-folder-settings-find-attachments.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes items added to Zotero do not always have the complete metadata - this tends to be my university website in my case. To fix these items I have a very useful smart folder and Keyboard Maestro Macro. The smart folder filters for items from my university website, which have no date or creator, the keyboard maestro macro requires me to set the number of items it should process and then goes through and uses the \"click at image\" action to set both the author and the date of the item in question. Zotero does have an API, but sometimes the best automation is the one you can set up the fastest which achieves the needed results - and this certainly fits that bill.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Zotero smart folder to find references from a specific source with no date\" alt=\"Zotero smart folder to find references from a specific source with no date\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/2\/9\/d\/2\/229d2265734f956bb674b6f2648f6bd967929ce3-zotero-smart-folder-no-date.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Keyboard Maestro Macro to set author and date in Zotero\" alt=\"Keyboard Maestro Macro to set author and date in Zotero\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/5\/6\/e\/8\/f56e89e6a2ce6e3868063142c06005c4735a9e34-keyboard-maestro-macro.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>DevonThink and Zotero are a very useful pair for me and I honestly think that without them I would struggle to complete my assignments.<\/p>",
"content_text": "Some of you may know that I'm studying for my Masters degree in Computing (Software Engineering), this naturally requires me to write more than a few essays with full referencing. Being a nerd I want to make this as easy as possible for myself, whilst still being accurate - and the simplest way to do this is to use software to manage my references.\nAfter doing some comparisons I settled on Zotero - it's free, which is perfect for a student budget, and you could program your own extensions if needed. More importantly it has a Word plugin which as I am required to submit my assignments in Word format is extremely useful.\nFor those of you not familiar with referencing plugins and software you usually write your essay, and as you get to a place where you would insert a citation then you use the plugin in Word to do so. This software later generates a complete bibliography for you. EndNote, Mendeley, Bookends and Zotero are all capable of handling different citation formats, and Zotero even has one for my university's exact styling which is a great timesaver.\nAt the start of each course or module I save all of the recommended reading into Zotero, they have browser plugins for Safari, Firefox, and Chrome which is ideal. By default Zotero saves PDFs if one is available for the reference, or a web snapshot. I prefer to save these items to DevonThink so use DevonThink's plugin to save the actual files to it instead. When saving the files I use the format Author - year - title which makes it easy to find the relevant reference. DevonThink allows me to use Edit in Place on iOS to annotate documents with whichever app I like. I also prefer to save web pages in PDF form which means I can annotate everything with PDF Expert.\nTo remove these attachments from my Zotero library (you only get 200MB of sync storage for free), I have created a saved search. It has Item Type is Attachment as the sole criteria, and searches the whole library. I simply open this saved search, use CMD+A, and press delete - which deletes all of my attachments. As I prefer to use the search in DevonThink to find references I remember this isn't a problem, and I can also use the NEAR search parameter (NEAR(man, cat) would find items where the word man is within 10 words of the word cat, you can expand on this with NEAR(man, cat, 100) which would do the same but within 100 words - this is a massive timesaver for me.\n\nSometimes items added to Zotero do not always have the complete metadata - this tends to be my university website in my case. To fix these items I have a very useful smart folder and Keyboard Maestro Macro. The smart folder filters for items from my university website, which have no date or creator, the keyboard maestro macro requires me to set the number of items it should process and then goes through and uses the \"click at image\" action to set both the author and the date of the item in question. Zotero does have an API, but sometimes the best automation is the one you can set up the fastest which achieves the needed results - and this certainly fits that bill.\n\n\nDevonThink and Zotero are a very useful pair for me and I honestly think that without them I would struggle to complete my assignments.",
"tags": "zotero,study,devonthink,pdf expert,workflow,keyboard maestro"
},
{
"title": "The New Mac Power Users Community",
"date_published": "2018-06-25T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:54+02:00",
"id": "the-new-mac-power-users-community",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/the-new-mac-power-users-community",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>The Mac Power Users community which I have been helping to moderate has a wonderful new home on Discourse. The Facebook group has been archived (which means it is still there, but in read only mode), and <a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\">talk.macpowerusers.com<\/a> is already exceedingly popular. I know a large number of the Mac Power Users fans are not Facebook users and hope that they will join this community. <\/p>\n<p><img title=\"A screenshot of the Mac Power Users community home page\" alt=\"A screenshot of the Mac Power Users community home page\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/f\/4\/e\/e\/4f4ee2149a3f3e96ed5e2cb60cb57c4fb54f5df0-mpu-talk-discourse-homepage.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Here are some of my posts which I have created so far:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/workflow-workflows-a-collection\/461\/16\">Workflow workflows, a Collection<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/referencing-software\/992\/10\">Referencing Software<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/whats-your-favourite-shelf-app\/580\/27\">What's your favourite shelf app?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/agenda-the-new-note-taking-software\/1214\/6\">Agenda, the \"new\" note taking software<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/my-10-5-ipad-pro-on-the-go-homescreen\/579\/15\">My 10.5\" iPad Pro (on the go) Homescreen<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And here are some useful help posts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/rss-feeds-for-mpu-talk\/459\/1\">RSS Feeds<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/emails-notifications\/996\/1\">Email Notifications<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/app-for-discourse\/460\/2\">Discourse App<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>",
"content_text": "The Mac Power Users community which I have been helping to moderate has a wonderful new home on Discourse. The Facebook group has been archived (which means it is still there, but in read only mode), and talk.macpowerusers.com is already exceedingly popular. I know a large number of the Mac Power Users fans are not Facebook users and hope that they will join this community. \n\nHere are some of my posts which I have created so far:\n\nWorkflow workflows, a Collection\nReferencing Software\nWhat's your favourite shelf app?\nAgenda, the \"new\" note taking software\nMy 10.5\" iPad Pro (on the go) Homescreen\n\nAnd here are some useful help posts:\n\nRSS Feeds\nEmail Notifications\nDiscourse App\n",
"tags": "mac power users"
},
{
"title": "Workflow: OmniFocus When Home",
"date_published": "2018-06-23T18:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:54+02:00",
"id": "workflow-omnifocus-when-home",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-omnifocus-when-home",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"OmniFocus When Home\" alt=\"OmniFocus When Home\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/9\/6\/8\/c\/4968cef772b389537094a85d8b2e26fafe97bfd4-workflow-omnifocus-when-home.png\" \/> I often add things to my OmniFocus as reminders of items to do when I get home - however they're not <em>due<\/em> when I get home, which would be the default if I added these icons through the Forecast view for today. As such as I have the following Workflow which allows me to defer items until I get home. <\/p>\n<p>Steps: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Ask for Input\" alt=\"Ask for Input\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: The first thing I do is input one or several tasks which I would like to accomplish.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Split Text\" alt=\"Split Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Split Text<\/code>: Turn this block of text into a series of items.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Repeat with Each\" alt=\"Repeat with Each\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Repeat with Each<\/code> \n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Change Case\" alt=\"Change Case\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Change Case<\/code>: Make the task sentence case.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Text<\/code>: Flag the tasks and my preferred tags - Home, Afternoon, and Evening.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Combine Text\" alt=\"Combine Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Combine Text<\/code>: Turn this list back into a block.<\/li>\n<li><img src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/workflow-icons\/com.omnigroup.OmniFocus2.iPhone@2x.png?cropResize=25\" alt=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" title=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" \/> <code>Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You will want to tweak the tags added to the tasks, to suit your needs. You may also wish to remove the flag I add to these tasks. You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/9808cc5297094a2e8608385c86e4a395\">OmniFocus When Home<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": " I often add things to my OmniFocus as reminders of items to do when I get home - however they're not due when I get home, which would be the default if I added these icons through the Forecast view for today. As such as I have the following Workflow which allows me to defer items until I get home. \nSteps: \n\n Ask for Input: The first thing I do is input one or several tasks which I would like to accomplish.\n Split Text: Turn this block of text into a series of items.\n Repeat with Each \n\n Change Case: Make the task sentence case.\n Text: Flag the tasks and my preferred tags - Home, Afternoon, and Evening.\n\n Combine Text: Turn this list back into a block.\n Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus.\n\nYou will want to tweak the tags added to the tasks, to suit your needs. You may also wish to remove the flag I add to these tasks. You can get the workflow here: OmniFocus When Home",
"tags": "workflow,omnifocus"
},
{
"title": "My 10.5\u201d iPad Pro (on the go) Homescreen",
"date_published": "2018-06-20T08:07:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "my-ipad-pro-on-the-go-homescreen",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/my-ipad-pro-on-the-go-homescreen",
"external_url": "https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/my-10-5-ipad-pro-on-the-go-homescreen\/579?u=rosemaryorchard",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>If you're curious about what my 10.5\" iPad home screen looks like and some of the apps I use, here's a look at it!<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/my-ipad-pro-on-the-go-homescreen\/'https:\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/my-10-5-ipad-pro-on-the-go-homescreen\/579?u=rosemaryorchard%27\">Read on MPU Talk<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "If you're curious about what my 10.5\" iPad home screen looks like and some of the apps I use, here's a look at it!\n\nRead on MPU Talk",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Workflow: Drafts 5",
"date_published": "2018-06-20T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:54+02:00",
"id": "workflow-drafts-5",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-drafts-5",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Drafts 5\" alt=\"Drafts 5\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/b\/8\/5\/6\/6b856a408986c32db2b4b19e2909b943f5ccdd97-workflow-drafts.png\" \/> Workflow has built in support for Drafts 4 - but no actions for Drafts 5. This workflow is intended to replace some of that functionality. You can share text to it, get text from the clipboard, type text in, or modify the text on the keyboard to start.<\/p>\n<p>The next step is choosing your action, you can create a new draft, and append or prepend to an existing draft - with the ID of the draft (<a href=\"https:\/\/actions.getdrafts.com\/a\/1Gu\">Drafts Action to get ID<\/a>). <\/p>\n<p>Next you can choose to run an action after putting the text in Drafts, this is done by typing in the action name, though you may want to replace the <code>Ask for Input<\/code> action with a <code>List<\/code> and <code>Choose from List<\/code> if you have a few actions you regularly use. <\/p>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/a610c7715c2c466e955fe00efbb796b3\">Drafts 5<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": " Workflow has built in support for Drafts 4 - but no actions for Drafts 5. This workflow is intended to replace some of that functionality. You can share text to it, get text from the clipboard, type text in, or modify the text on the keyboard to start.\nThe next step is choosing your action, you can create a new draft, and append or prepend to an existing draft - with the ID of the draft (Drafts Action to get ID). \nNext you can choose to run an action after putting the text in Drafts, this is done by typing in the action name, though you may want to replace the Ask for Input action with a List and Choose from List if you have a few actions you regularly use. \nYou can get the workflow here: Drafts 5",
"tags": "workflow,drafts"
},
{
"title": "Workflow Workflows, a Collection",
"date_published": "2018-06-16T06:45:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "workflow-workflows-a-collection",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/workflow-workflows-a-collection",
"external_url": "https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/workflow-workflows-a-collection\/461?u=rosemaryorchard",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>Here's a collection of Workflow workflows I created for members of the Mac Power Users community.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/workflow-workflows-a-collection\/'https:\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/workflow-workflows-a-collection\/461?u=rosemaryorchard%27\">Read on MPU Talk<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "Here's a collection of Workflow workflows I created for members of the Mac Power Users community.\n\nRead on MPU Talk",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Workflow: OmniFocus Travel Plans",
"date_published": "2018-06-11T22:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:54+02:00",
"id": "omnifocus-travel-plans",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/omnifocus-travel-plans",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"OmniFocus Travel Plans\" alt=\"OmniFocus Travel Plans\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/0\/f\/3\/0\/50f30e3c7d9c60d176b045c959cbfc9f6fd2eda6-workflow-omnifocus-travel-plans.png\" \/> Another Workflow workflow I demonstrated in my <a href=\"https:\/\/inside.omnifocus.com\/rose-orchard\/?ref=16\">Learn OmniFocus Video<\/a> was one to generate a project for travel. I travel a fair amount, and often to more than one destination so this is built around that. <\/p>\n<p>The first thing I do is decide where I'm going and when I'll go there. Then the Workflow puts together the start of a \"before I go\" list - including entries such as booking time off work, booking flights, charging battery packs, etc. The next step is to choose if this is a one or a multiple destination trip, if it's just one location then I add a few entries for that - planning travel to and from the airport, things to do, and so on. If it's a multi destination trip then I have to tell the app which places I'm going and in what order, and it generates a series of tasks based on that. The last thing the template does is to add packing categories to my project, I keep my actual packing lists in TripList as it has a wizard which generates a list for me (I could replicate that in Workflow of course!) - and syncs things to my TripIt plans.<\/p>\n<p>The taskpaper result for a one destination trip looks like this:<\/p>\n<pre><code>2018\/08 - Belgium:\n - Book time off work 11\/08\/2018 - 14\/08\/2018\n - Book flights to Belgium\n - Plan travel to the airport for 11\/08\/2018\n - Plan travel home from the airport for 14\/08\/2018\n - Make a packing list\n - Pack\n - Charge battery pack\n - Charge headphones\n - Put films &amp; TV shows on iPad\n - Book accommodation for Belgium\n - Plan travel from the airport to accommodation (11\/08\/2018)\n - Plan travel from the accommodation to the airport (14\/08\/2018)\n - Plan things to do in Belgium\n - Packing\n - Clothing\n - Documents\n - Electronics\n - Miscellaneous\n - Hand luggage<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>And for a multiple destination trip you end up with this:<\/p>\n<pre><code>2018\/08 - Belgium \/ Netherlands:\n - Book time off work 11\/08\/2018 - 18\/08\/2018\n - Book flights to Belgium\n - Plan travel to the airport for 11\/08\/2018\n - Plan travel home from the airport for 18\/08\/2018\n - Make a packing list\n - Pack\n - Charge battery pack\n - Charge headphones\n - Put films &amp; TV shows on iPad\n - Belgium @autodone(true) @parallel(true)\n - Book accommodation for Belgium\n - Plan travel from the airport to accommodation\n - Plan things to do in Belgium\n - Netherlands @autodone(true) @parallel(true)\n - Plan travel from Belgium to Netherlands (14\/08\/2018)\n - Book accommodation for Netherlands\n - Plan things to do in Netherlands\n - Packing\n - Clothing\n - Documents\n - Electronics\n - Miscellaneous\n - Hand luggage<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>As you can see there's not much of a difference - just the division and repetition of some tasks. <\/p>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/7311f351577f41a2bfba7fd755ec9812\">OmniFocus Travel Plans<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you look at that Workflow and think that it's too complicated and I'm crazy (possible), then I also have a <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/9e1ee05ca67e43cbb23093b6999863f3\">simple version<\/a> for one destination which you can get here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/9e1ee05ca67e43cbb23093b6999863f3\">OmniFocus Travel Plans - Simple<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": " Another Workflow workflow I demonstrated in my Learn OmniFocus Video was one to generate a project for travel. I travel a fair amount, and often to more than one destination so this is built around that. \nThe first thing I do is decide where I'm going and when I'll go there. Then the Workflow puts together the start of a \"before I go\" list - including entries such as booking time off work, booking flights, charging battery packs, etc. The next step is to choose if this is a one or a multiple destination trip, if it's just one location then I add a few entries for that - planning travel to and from the airport, things to do, and so on. If it's a multi destination trip then I have to tell the app which places I'm going and in what order, and it generates a series of tasks based on that. The last thing the template does is to add packing categories to my project, I keep my actual packing lists in TripList as it has a wizard which generates a list for me (I could replicate that in Workflow of course!) - and syncs things to my TripIt plans.\nThe taskpaper result for a one destination trip looks like this:\n2018\/08 - Belgium:\n - Book time off work 11\/08\/2018 - 14\/08\/2018\n - Book flights to Belgium\n - Plan travel to the airport for 11\/08\/2018\n - Plan travel home from the airport for 14\/08\/2018\n - Make a packing list\n - Pack\n - Charge battery pack\n - Charge headphones\n - Put films &amp; TV shows on iPad\n - Book accommodation for Belgium\n - Plan travel from the airport to accommodation (11\/08\/2018)\n - Plan travel from the accommodation to the airport (14\/08\/2018)\n - Plan things to do in Belgium\n - Packing\n - Clothing\n - Documents\n - Electronics\n - Miscellaneous\n - Hand luggage\nAnd for a multiple destination trip you end up with this:\n2018\/08 - Belgium \/ Netherlands:\n - Book time off work 11\/08\/2018 - 18\/08\/2018\n - Book flights to Belgium\n - Plan travel to the airport for 11\/08\/2018\n - Plan travel home from the airport for 18\/08\/2018\n - Make a packing list\n - Pack\n - Charge battery pack\n - Charge headphones\n - Put films &amp; TV shows on iPad\n - Belgium @autodone(true) @parallel(true)\n - Book accommodation for Belgium\n - Plan travel from the airport to accommodation\n - Plan things to do in Belgium\n - Netherlands @autodone(true) @parallel(true)\n - Plan travel from Belgium to Netherlands (14\/08\/2018)\n - Book accommodation for Netherlands\n - Plan things to do in Netherlands\n - Packing\n - Clothing\n - Documents\n - Electronics\n - Miscellaneous\n - Hand luggage\nAs you can see there's not much of a difference - just the division and repetition of some tasks. \nYou can get the workflow here: OmniFocus Travel Plans\nIf you look at that Workflow and think that it's too complicated and I'm crazy (possible), then I also have a simple version for one destination which you can get here: OmniFocus Travel Plans - Simple",
"tags": "omnifocus,travel,workflow"
},
{
"title": "Workflow: OmniFocus University Course",
"date_published": "2018-06-03T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:54+02:00",
"id": "workflow-omnifocus-university-course-template",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-omnifocus-university-course-template",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"OmniFocus University Course\" alt=\"OmniFocus University Course\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/8\/6\/f\/6\/a86f61fb7ccf2ae9929017b5b5309ac2f29e58bc-workflow-omnifocus-university-course.png\" \/> I was asked to talk through my thought process behind a Workflow by <em>powderizedbookworm<\/em> in the OmniFocus Slack, so this post will go into more detail than usual.<\/p>\n<p>The purpose of this Workflow is to add my syllabus to my OmniFocus project for that class. The project will already exist as I have to register for the course, and potentially order course materials or communicate with the course professors before I get the syllabus. Each of my courses is separated into action groups - sometimes the courses divide their materials into weekly blocks, and sometimes they're divided into blocks based on assessments. I always put assessments in their own blocks, because they are broken into sub sections as well. <\/p>\n<p>This workflow should add each section of work or assessment to OmniFocus as an action group, deferred and due as is appropriate. As such the first thing it does after I input the project name (which is the class name) is to ask me how many sections there are in the course. We then go through every section inputting the name of it. If I know that the course is split into weeks then I modify this action in advance to just use \"Week <code>Repeat Index<\/code>\" as the name of the section. I use the start and end dates to set due and defer dates, and then select if this section is to study something or to submit something (study or assignment). This is a menu which allows me to use different actions based on which option is selected.<\/p>\n<p>In the study section I input the tasks, and format them as taskpaper. In the assignment section I input the name of the assignment and the number of questions it has which generates subtasks for me. <\/p>\n<p>This whole Workflow generates TaskPaper and adds it to OmniFocus for me. <\/p>\n<p>Steps: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Ask for Input\" alt=\"Ask for Input\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: The course name (which is the project name in OmniFocus)<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Ask for Input\" alt=\"Ask for Input\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: How many sections or blocks does the course have?<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Repeat\" alt=\"Repeat\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Repeat<\/code>: Going through every section\/block\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Ask for Input\" alt=\"Ask for Input\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: The name of the section<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Ask for Input\" alt=\"Ask for Input\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: The start date<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Ask for Input\" alt=\"Ask for Input\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: The end date<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Choose from Menu\" alt=\"Choose from Menu\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Choose from Menu<\/code>: Is this a study or assignment section\/block<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Choose from Menu\" alt=\"Choose from Menu\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Study<\/code>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Ask for Input\" alt=\"Ask for Input\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: Input the tasks which need to be completed.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Split Text\" alt=\"Split Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Split Text<\/code>: Break up the lines of tasks<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Repeat with Each\" alt=\"Repeat with Each\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Repeat with Each<\/code>: For every task\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Text<\/code>: Format it with a tab indent and the <code>-<\/code> used to indicate a task in TaskPaper<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Combine Text\" alt=\"Combine Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Combine Text<\/code>: Put these tasks back together with line breaks between them,<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Text<\/code>: Format the action group here, with the defer and due dates (these are inherited), followed by the tasks which were input and formatted.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Choose from Menu\" alt=\"Choose from Menu\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Assignment<\/code>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Ask for Input\" alt=\"Ask for Input\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: <\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Ask for Input\" alt=\"Ask for Input\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: <\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Repeat with Each\" alt=\"Repeat with Each\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Repeat with Each<\/code>: For every task\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Text<\/code>: Format it with a tab indent and the <code>-<\/code> used to indicate a task in TaskPaper<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Combine Text\" alt=\"Combine Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Combine Text<\/code>: Put these tasks back together with line breaks between them,<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Text<\/code>: Format the action group here, with the name of the assignment, defer date and due date and the questions as sub tasks.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/workflow-icons\/com.omnigroup.OmniFocus2.iPhone@2x.png?cropResize=25\" alt=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" title=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" \/> <code>Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus<\/code>: Put everything we've generated above into OmniFocus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/e70385ca84394cccb7c5d5f827e8e797\">OmniFocus University Course<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": " I was asked to talk through my thought process behind a Workflow by powderizedbookworm in the OmniFocus Slack, so this post will go into more detail than usual.\nThe purpose of this Workflow is to add my syllabus to my OmniFocus project for that class. The project will already exist as I have to register for the course, and potentially order course materials or communicate with the course professors before I get the syllabus. Each of my courses is separated into action groups - sometimes the courses divide their materials into weekly blocks, and sometimes they're divided into blocks based on assessments. I always put assessments in their own blocks, because they are broken into sub sections as well. \nThis workflow should add each section of work or assessment to OmniFocus as an action group, deferred and due as is appropriate. As such the first thing it does after I input the project name (which is the class name) is to ask me how many sections there are in the course. We then go through every section inputting the name of it. If I know that the course is split into weeks then I modify this action in advance to just use \"Week Repeat Index\" as the name of the section. I use the start and end dates to set due and defer dates, and then select if this section is to study something or to submit something (study or assignment). This is a menu which allows me to use different actions based on which option is selected.\nIn the study section I input the tasks, and format them as taskpaper. In the assignment section I input the name of the assignment and the number of questions it has which generates subtasks for me. \nThis whole Workflow generates TaskPaper and adds it to OmniFocus for me. \nSteps: \n\n Ask for Input: The course name (which is the project name in OmniFocus)\n Ask for Input: How many sections or blocks does the course have?\n Repeat: Going through every section\/block\n\n Ask for Input: The name of the section\n Ask for Input: The start date\n Ask for Input: The end date\n Choose from Menu: Is this a study or assignment section\/block\n Study\n\n Ask for Input: Input the tasks which need to be completed.\n Split Text: Break up the lines of tasks\n Repeat with Each: For every task\n\n Text: Format it with a tab indent and the - used to indicate a task in TaskPaper\n\n Combine Text: Put these tasks back together with line breaks between them,\n Text: Format the action group here, with the defer and due dates (these are inherited), followed by the tasks which were input and formatted.\n\n Assignment\n\n Ask for Input: \n Ask for Input: \n Repeat with Each: For every task\n\n Text: Format it with a tab indent and the - used to indicate a task in TaskPaper\n\n Combine Text: Put these tasks back together with line breaks between them,\n Text: Format the action group here, with the name of the assignment, defer date and due date and the questions as sub tasks.\n\n\n Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus: Put everything we've generated above into OmniFocus.\n\nYou can get the workflow here: OmniFocus University Course",
"tags": "workflow,omnifocus,university studies"
},
{
"title": "The Mac Quadcast - Ep. 4 (Interview with Rose Orchard)",
"date_published": "2018-06-02T02:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "the-mac-quadcast-ep-interview-with-rose-orchard",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/the-mac-quadcast-ep-interview-with-rose-orchard",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.themacquad.com\/themacquadcast\/2018\/6\/2\/the-mac-quadcast-ep-4-interview-with-rose-orchard",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I was Darren's guest on the MacQuadCast where we talked about everything from AirPods to iPods, and our favourite devices as well as entertainment.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/the-mac-quadcast-ep-interview-with-rose-orchard\/'https:\/www.themacquad.com\/themacquadcast\/2018\/6\/2\/the-mac-quadcast-ep-4-interview-with-rose-orchard'\">Listen on The MacQuadCast<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "I was Darren's guest on the MacQuadCast where we talked about everything from AirPods to iPods, and our favourite devices as well as entertainment.\n\nListen on The MacQuadCast",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Review: Juuk Rainbow Watch Strap",
"date_published": "2018-06-01T15:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:54+02:00",
"id": "juuk-rainbow-watch-strap",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/juuk-rainbow-watch-strap",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Juuk Rainbow Ligero Watch Strap\" alt=\"Juuk Rainbow Ligero Watch Strap\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/f\/3\/9\/2\/0f392bb050aadc20c41c4c53b1995c23f7f84d84-file-20180501094356-3279.jpeg\" \/> A while ago I ordered a rainbow watch strap. Not just any rainbow watch strap, but an aluminium link, Apple Watch strap. I came across a purple link watch strap on Reddit months ago, fell in love and then was immensely disappointed it had sold out. I did spot the rainbow strap on the same website though, and immediately put it on my wish list. <\/p>\n<p>Since then the rainbow strap has been in the back of my mind - I dislike buckles on watches, which is why I never tried to get the <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2017\/06\/05\/apple-releases-rainbow-pride-edition-apple-watch-band-new-nike-sport-colors-now-available-to-order-through-apple\u2024com\/\">Apple Pride strap<\/a> despite loving the idea and colour combination. Similarly, I've never owned a link strap for my Apple Watch. My wrists are small, so unless the strap comes with an adjuster tool, it often ends up being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/microblog\/2018-04-17-1451\">comically large<\/a>. Juuk ships all of their watch straps with an adjuster tool, and the <a href=\"http:\/\/juukdesign.com\/faq\">video guides for adjustment<\/a> didn't look too hard to follow either - I decided to give it a whirl.<\/p>\n<p>I paid for fast shipping, and shipping was <strong>fast<\/strong>. I ordered May 1st; it was delivered May 5th. Of course, postage depends a lot on the postal services are involved and handover time - but it's safe to say I'm impressed. The watch was in an envelope, in a box - in a box. Good packaging so you could give the strap as a gift, and the recipient would be delighted. <\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Outer box, brown cardboard\" alt=\"Outer box, brown cardboard\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/9\/e\/d\/8\/19ed8206494866de6bdbb1f3b0f24746a8a53539-outer-box.jpeg\" \/>\n<img title=\"Inner box, white with a picture of the strap on it and the Juuk logo at the top\" alt=\"Inner box, white with a picture of the strap on it and the Juuk logo at the top\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/3\/7\/7\/3\/637737e54fb061c126da107387aa6610ab8dfe98-inner-box.jpeg\" \/>\n<img title=\"The strap in the box, in grey foam. There's a silver bar at the top and more foam above that.\" alt=\"The strap in the box, in grey foam. There's a silver bar at the top and more foam above that.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/4\/d\/1\/4\/34d14d20f1b93b549e6b562f5301b6643eca0340-strap-in-box.jpeg\" \/>\nInside the box in a box, was the watch strap. Nicely presented in specially cut out foam. I didn't realise to start with the metal bar at the top is the adjustment tool - with its own piece of foam on it to prevent you hurting yourself. The way it is laid out makes it look high quality - and it is too. <\/p>\n<p>The strap itself has some heft to it - and you would expect it to. But being aluminium rather than steel it's not that heavy, making it comfortable to wear all day. Every link is a different colour graduating through the rainbow from the watch face on both sides, and it is designed so that one side has one more link than the other - to make it easier for you to put on and take off I presume, the idea being the shorter side brings the butterfly closure closer to the inside of your wrist. An extra nice touch is the last link above the closure has Juuk engraved into it, it't not highlighted in any colour and if you weren't looking for it you might miss it. I dislike wearing advertisements for brands unwillingly - but should I forget where I purchased this band (unlikely) I will still be able to see it and let people know.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"The adjustment tool, a aluminium bar, with three points of varying heights to allow you to pop out the pins\" alt=\"The adjustment tool, a aluminium bar, with three points of varying heights to allow you to pop out the pins\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/8\/7\/6\/2\/a8762cf37ccf5cab6208f7142dd9f02f340483a7-adjustment-tool.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Adjusting the watch strap was as easy as the video says. Make sure you don't put your fingers on the top of the pin you're trying to pop out, and I would personally have a small tray (such as the lid from a tube of Pringles) ready to put the pin and pin casings in. Unless you do this sort of thing regularly or have another strap to compare to for length you're going to have to adjust this with trial and error. I thought I had it adjusted perfectly, only to decide 20 minutes later that an extra link would be preferable - so keep the adjustment tool handy. There are extra <\/p>\n<p>This is the first link strap I've bought that I can wear (I haven't managed to get the other one linked above adjusted yet), and it takes some getting used to. Putting it on the watch requires a little more coordination than I'm used to, as Milanese and sport loops are floppy and flexible, and the sport bands are of course two pieces - that's not a criticism of this band though, I went to the Apple Store to play and all the link straps are like that. I have found it's easiest to put both sides on at the same time now. <\/p>\n<p><img title=\"The strap as it arrived, with all the links and much too big\" alt=\"The strap as it arrived, with all the links and much too big\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/3\/9\/9\/6\/0399644fdf11caa053409df44c4337b9f082a3a2-all-the-links-too-big.jpeg\" \/>\n<img title=\"After removing the links the strap fits very well\" alt=\"After removing the links the strap fits very well\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/5\/a\/f\/a\/05afaabe8ae8fe7a75ad34584d13267ed72995f4-removed-links-just-right.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I love this strap, it's fun, comfortable, nice quality, and easy to wear. It's not cheap, but it's much cheaper than the Apple ones. For people not into rainbow they also have a variety of solid colours, and even ones with a raised stripe\/bar down the middle that remind me of racing cars. Some straps are available on <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2LdSgX4\">Amazon<\/a>, but the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.juukdesign.com\">Juuk website<\/a> has the full range and excellent customer service should you have any questions.<\/p>",
"content_text": " A while ago I ordered a rainbow watch strap. Not just any rainbow watch strap, but an aluminium link, Apple Watch strap. I came across a purple link watch strap on Reddit months ago, fell in love and then was immensely disappointed it had sold out. I did spot the rainbow strap on the same website though, and immediately put it on my wish list. \nSince then the rainbow strap has been in the back of my mind - I dislike buckles on watches, which is why I never tried to get the Apple Pride strap despite loving the idea and colour combination. Similarly, I've never owned a link strap for my Apple Watch. My wrists are small, so unless the strap comes with an adjuster tool, it often ends up being comically large. Juuk ships all of their watch straps with an adjuster tool, and the video guides for adjustment didn't look too hard to follow either - I decided to give it a whirl.\nI paid for fast shipping, and shipping was fast. I ordered May 1st; it was delivered May 5th. Of course, postage depends a lot on the postal services are involved and handover time - but it's safe to say I'm impressed. The watch was in an envelope, in a box - in a box. Good packaging so you could give the strap as a gift, and the recipient would be delighted. \n\n\n\nInside the box in a box, was the watch strap. Nicely presented in specially cut out foam. I didn't realise to start with the metal bar at the top is the adjustment tool - with its own piece of foam on it to prevent you hurting yourself. The way it is laid out makes it look high quality - and it is too. \nThe strap itself has some heft to it - and you would expect it to. But being aluminium rather than steel it's not that heavy, making it comfortable to wear all day. Every link is a different colour graduating through the rainbow from the watch face on both sides, and it is designed so that one side has one more link than the other - to make it easier for you to put on and take off I presume, the idea being the shorter side brings the butterfly closure closer to the inside of your wrist. An extra nice touch is the last link above the closure has Juuk engraved into it, it't not highlighted in any colour and if you weren't looking for it you might miss it. I dislike wearing advertisements for brands unwillingly - but should I forget where I purchased this band (unlikely) I will still be able to see it and let people know.\n\nAdjusting the watch strap was as easy as the video says. Make sure you don't put your fingers on the top of the pin you're trying to pop out, and I would personally have a small tray (such as the lid from a tube of Pringles) ready to put the pin and pin casings in. Unless you do this sort of thing regularly or have another strap to compare to for length you're going to have to adjust this with trial and error. I thought I had it adjusted perfectly, only to decide 20 minutes later that an extra link would be preferable - so keep the adjustment tool handy. There are extra \nThis is the first link strap I've bought that I can wear (I haven't managed to get the other one linked above adjusted yet), and it takes some getting used to. Putting it on the watch requires a little more coordination than I'm used to, as Milanese and sport loops are floppy and flexible, and the sport bands are of course two pieces - that's not a criticism of this band though, I went to the Apple Store to play and all the link straps are like that. I have found it's easiest to put both sides on at the same time now. \n\n\nI love this strap, it's fun, comfortable, nice quality, and easy to wear. It's not cheap, but it's much cheaper than the Apple ones. For people not into rainbow they also have a variety of solid colours, and even ones with a raised stripe\/bar down the middle that remind me of racing cars. Some straps are available on Amazon, but the Juuk website has the full range and excellent customer service should you have any questions.",
"tags": "apple watch,watch strap"
},
{
"title": "OmniFocus 3 Overview",
"date_published": "2018-05-30T19:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "omnifocus-3-overview",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/omnifocus-3-overview",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/id1346190318?at=1010lumu\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 3\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/e\/c\/f\/95ecf0de72834801ce58f087317885f46081c8c5-omnifocus.png\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/id1346190318?at=1010lumu\">OmniFocus 3<\/a> for iOS is here, and there's more than a few changes! If you want to see a video of my setup you can do so over on <a href=\"https:\/\/learnomnifocus.com\/tutorials\/2018-05-23-omnifocus-workflows-rose-orchard\/?ref=16\">Learn OmniFocus<\/a>, there's also an article on how I've been using OF3 over on <a href=\"https:\/\/inside.omnifocus.com\/rose-orchard\/?ref=16\">Inside OmniFocus<\/a>. Finally you might want to check on my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/omnifocus-3-sneak-peak\">OmniFocus Sneak Peak<\/a> - though that was back in March and more than a few things have changed since then!<\/p>\n\n<h2>Multi-Pane Mode<\/h2>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/2\/5\/8\/6\/7258675ccfc39e30730fd7350df9ab836eb75c27-3-pane-view.jpeg\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 3 Pane View, Sidebar, Outline (Forecast View) and Inspector\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3 Pane View, Sidebar, Outline (Forecast View) and Inspector\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/0\/f\/8\/b\/c0f8bcd0ee042ccfbb1af50b091cc4a2ab5251f1-3-pane-view.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>My favourite feature has to be the multi pane view, being able to see 3 columns at once makes me happy, and it works exceptionally well on the 12.9\" iPad Pro. You can choose to pin the sidebar and the inspector independently of one another or together, so you can have a 2 pane view if that's what you need. The outline view is always shown on the iPad.<\/p>\n<h2>Tags<\/h2>\n<p>Tags, glorious tags. What used to be contexts has been renamed, and that opens up all sorts of possibilities. I've seen people experimenting with energy levels, I'm personally experimenting with \"time of day\" tags, and you can go as crazy as you like. Where tags are really paying off for me is being able to add both \"waiting on\" and \"Person A\" to a task - so whenever I check my agenda for \"Person A\" I see that I'm waiting on that task, as well as seeing it in my waiting on list.<\/p>\n<h2>Perspectives<\/h2>\n<p>Perspectives are where everything is different. All your perspectives have been migrated over from OmniFocus 2, and you can upgrade those to OmniFocus 3 perspectives which gives you the following options:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Status\n<ul>\n<li>Due Soon<\/li>\n<li>Flagged<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li>Availability\n<ul>\n<li>First Available<\/li>\n<li>Available<\/li>\n<li>Remaining<\/li>\n<li>Completed<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li>Has a due date<\/li>\n<li>Has a defer date<\/li>\n<li>Has an estimated duration<\/li>\n<li>Has an estimated duration less than\n<ul>\n<li>5 minutes<\/li>\n<li>15 minutes<\/li>\n<li>30 minutes<\/li>\n<li>60 minutes<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li>Is untagged<\/li>\n<li>Has a tag which\n<ul>\n<li>Is active<\/li>\n<li>Is on hold<\/li>\n<li>Is dropped<\/li>\n<li>Is active and has available actions<\/li>\n<li>Is active and has no available actions<\/li>\n<li>Is tagged with any of<\/li>\n<li>Is tagged with all of<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li>Is not a project or group<\/li>\n<li>Is in the inbox<\/li>\n<li>Has a project which\n<ul>\n<li>Is active or on hold <\/li>\n<li>Is on hold<\/li>\n<li>Has been completed<\/li>\n<li>Has been dropped<\/li>\n<li>Is active and has available actions<\/li>\n<li>Is active and has no available actions<\/li>\n<li>Is active and has a future defer date<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li>Is contained within a project or folder<\/li>\n<li>Matches search terms<\/li>\n<li>All of the following<\/li>\n<li>Any of the following<\/li>\n<li>None of the following<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The best part of perspectives is being able to add as many rules as you like. The top level is always \"All of the following\", and then you start adding rules within that. You can also add \"Any of the following\", \"None of the following\" and \"All of the following\" and add rules inside of those - useful for requiring a group of rules (e.g. flagged and has Tag X), or setting optional groups. I have a \"Now\" perspective which changes all the time, and I tap the rule above my Work folder to change it to \"All of the following\" to \"None of the following\" depending on if I'm at work or not.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/0\/4\/d\/1\/104d13736a1b11de2a49b19a3991019e932e9bf8-now-perspective.jpeg\"><img title=\"My now perspective\" alt=\"My now perspective\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/0\/9\/5\/2\/809523b2b4105e962a4cbc3f82a66cd404471449-now-perspective.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Batch Editing<\/h2>\n<p>Being able to edit more than one task at once is not a feature I need frequently, but it is one I really appreciate when I use it. You can enable it by tapping the \"Edit\" button in the top right, and then selecting multiple tasks. You can access the task inspector in the batch edit mode, and it will show you all of the properties which are the same, and a greyed out option where they're different. If I selected two tasks, one had a due date of today and one with tomorrow, I could still set a new due date for both items at the same time though. You can also use CMD+A to select all the tasks in the current view if you have an external keyboard attached - very useful if your inbox was empty, you added a lot of tasks and then realised they should have been in a project instead!\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/5\/f\/0\/b\/55f0bbb5af451c8934520975f1dfb2297da328aa-batch-editing.png\"><img title=\"Batch editing, 3 tasks selected in the outline with the inspector open\" alt=\"Batch editing, 3 tasks selected in the outline with the inspector open\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/1\/a\/f\/4\/21af4f190bf8cb2cf161eaff99e0e166a6f92a02-batch-editing.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Custom Repeats<\/h2>\n<p>I love repeating tasks, my problem is my repeating tasks aren't all that regular (at least most of them), thankfully I can handle this in OmniFocus 3. You can set repeats with an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly interval, but you can also say \"every Tuesday and Saturday\", or \"the first Wednesday of every month\", or \"the last day of every month\". This has made submitting my work timesheets much easier to remember.\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/3\/1\/a\/f\/e31af341e095a0fa7cdca1b5946494ff793fcf7f-repeat-options.png\"><img title=\"Hourly, daily, weekly and monthly repeat options\" alt=\"Hourly, daily, weekly and monthly repeat options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/7\/0\/1\/0\/170100bfea5a7f70cf67f185b157153df1594756-repeat-options.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Notifications<\/h2>\n<p>Some tasks are very important, so important you want flashing lights, sirens, and people in hazmat suits running around if the deadline gets too close. In the main settings you can specify notifications for due dates and defer dates globally, and these can also be enabled or removed on each task. You are also able to set two extra kinds of notifications - ones relative to the due date, and ones at a specific date and time. These reminders are a great help with those crucial tasks - if you need someone with a hazmat suit though you're on your own.\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/c\/8\/5\/4\/3c85450ec79d94bdb6b1b03711d8f77571b62e77-notifications.png\"><img title=\"Adding extra notifications relative to the due date and at specific times\" alt=\"Adding extra notifications relative to the due date and at specific times\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/a\/c\/2\/5\/cac25f3a4049eae6223a96db66e9da42f6562ad3-notifications.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Customisable Inspector<\/h2>\n<p>Some people love defer dates, some people hate them. Some people don't want notifications or repeats, for others those are on every task. In OmniFocus 3 you can choose which properties you want to see by default in the inspector - just open up a task, tag or project and tap \"Customize Inspector\" at the bottom to move the items you want to where you want them to bo.\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/d\/8\/0\/5\/0d80583bc78d97b055b47779c21eccf7f142c4ad-customizable-inspector.png\"><img title=\"Customizing the inspector for tasks, tags and projects\" alt=\"Customizing the inspector for tasks, tags and projects\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/b\/0\/9\/a\/db09ab1f43ea5428a65d7350078c843d47942f51-customizable-inspector.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Forecast<\/h2>\n<p>The forecast has changed a lot in OmniFocus 3, there are two major changes which I'll look at here.\n<img title=\"Options you can set in the Forecast\" alt=\"Options you can set in the Forecast\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/c\/8\/c\/c\/fc8ccece51958ff2384d1953afd2ff13913f981f-forecast-view-options.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Interleaved Events &amp; Due Items<\/h3>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/8\/5\/0\/4\/c85043b93c6ca33dce78dcbd2d508fc10c4c2e31-forecast-view.png\"><img title=\"Interleaved events and due tasks in the forecast, with deferred items below and the forecast tag below those\" alt=\"Interleaved events and due tasks in the forecast, with deferred items below and the forecast tag below those\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/5\/6\/c\/7\/056c7b58dd29869fc44bd911b1fac5d7406c8dda-forecast-view.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Calendar events are interleaved with due items in your day. Instead of the gantt chart style event display in in OF2 (which at least for me wasn't very helpful), they are nice big blocks which show which calendar they're on, when they start and when they end. If you have a meeting 9am-10am, and then a due date at 10:30 that's the order you'll see your tasks in.<\/p>\n<h3>Forecast Tag<\/h3>\n<p>You can now choose a task to display in the forecast view, this is ideal for things like routine tasks, a sprint at work (a series of tasks or projects to be completed within a specific time period), or errands. You can choose different forecast tags per device, so on your iPhone you might choose calls or errands, but on your iPad it could be \"secret nerdy tasks\".<\/p>\n\n<p>There are a lot of big changes in OmniFocus 3, and based on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omnigroup.com\/blog\/omni-roadmap-2018#omnifocus3\">roadmap<\/a> there will be a lot more to come, but first of all we have WWDC and the Mac app to look forward to!<\/p>",
"content_text": " OmniFocus 3 for iOS is here, and there's more than a few changes! If you want to see a video of my setup you can do so over on Learn OmniFocus, there's also an article on how I've been using OF3 over on Inside OmniFocus. Finally you might want to check on my OmniFocus Sneak Peak - though that was back in March and more than a few things have changed since then!\n\nMulti-Pane Mode\n\nMy favourite feature has to be the multi pane view, being able to see 3 columns at once makes me happy, and it works exceptionally well on the 12.9\" iPad Pro. You can choose to pin the sidebar and the inspector independently of one another or together, so you can have a 2 pane view if that's what you need. The outline view is always shown on the iPad.\nTags\nTags, glorious tags. What used to be contexts has been renamed, and that opens up all sorts of possibilities. I've seen people experimenting with energy levels, I'm personally experimenting with \"time of day\" tags, and you can go as crazy as you like. Where tags are really paying off for me is being able to add both \"waiting on\" and \"Person A\" to a task - so whenever I check my agenda for \"Person A\" I see that I'm waiting on that task, as well as seeing it in my waiting on list.\nPerspectives\nPerspectives are where everything is different. All your perspectives have been migrated over from OmniFocus 2, and you can upgrade those to OmniFocus 3 perspectives which gives you the following options:\n\nStatus\n\nDue Soon\nFlagged\n\nAvailability\n\nFirst Available\nAvailable\nRemaining\nCompleted\n\nHas a due date\nHas a defer date\nHas an estimated duration\nHas an estimated duration less than\n\n5 minutes\n15 minutes\n30 minutes\n60 minutes\n\nIs untagged\nHas a tag which\n\nIs active\nIs on hold\nIs dropped\nIs active and has available actions\nIs active and has no available actions\nIs tagged with any of\nIs tagged with all of\n\nIs not a project or group\nIs in the inbox\nHas a project which\n\nIs active or on hold \nIs on hold\nHas been completed\nHas been dropped\nIs active and has available actions\nIs active and has no available actions\nIs active and has a future defer date\n\nIs contained within a project or folder\nMatches search terms\nAll of the following\nAny of the following\nNone of the following\n\nThe best part of perspectives is being able to add as many rules as you like. The top level is always \"All of the following\", and then you start adding rules within that. You can also add \"Any of the following\", \"None of the following\" and \"All of the following\" and add rules inside of those - useful for requiring a group of rules (e.g. flagged and has Tag X), or setting optional groups. I have a \"Now\" perspective which changes all the time, and I tap the rule above my Work folder to change it to \"All of the following\" to \"None of the following\" depending on if I'm at work or not.\n\nBatch Editing\nBeing able to edit more than one task at once is not a feature I need frequently, but it is one I really appreciate when I use it. You can enable it by tapping the \"Edit\" button in the top right, and then selecting multiple tasks. You can access the task inspector in the batch edit mode, and it will show you all of the properties which are the same, and a greyed out option where they're different. If I selected two tasks, one had a due date of today and one with tomorrow, I could still set a new due date for both items at the same time though. You can also use CMD+A to select all the tasks in the current view if you have an external keyboard attached - very useful if your inbox was empty, you added a lot of tasks and then realised they should have been in a project instead!\n\nCustom Repeats\nI love repeating tasks, my problem is my repeating tasks aren't all that regular (at least most of them), thankfully I can handle this in OmniFocus 3. You can set repeats with an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly interval, but you can also say \"every Tuesday and Saturday\", or \"the first Wednesday of every month\", or \"the last day of every month\". This has made submitting my work timesheets much easier to remember.\n\nNotifications\nSome tasks are very important, so important you want flashing lights, sirens, and people in hazmat suits running around if the deadline gets too close. In the main settings you can specify notifications for due dates and defer dates globally, and these can also be enabled or removed on each task. You are also able to set two extra kinds of notifications - ones relative to the due date, and ones at a specific date and time. These reminders are a great help with those crucial tasks - if you need someone with a hazmat suit though you're on your own.\n\nCustomisable Inspector\nSome people love defer dates, some people hate them. Some people don't want notifications or repeats, for others those are on every task. In OmniFocus 3 you can choose which properties you want to see by default in the inspector - just open up a task, tag or project and tap \"Customize Inspector\" at the bottom to move the items you want to where you want them to bo.\n\nForecast\nThe forecast has changed a lot in OmniFocus 3, there are two major changes which I'll look at here.\n\nInterleaved Events &amp; Due Items\n\nCalendar events are interleaved with due items in your day. Instead of the gantt chart style event display in in OF2 (which at least for me wasn't very helpful), they are nice big blocks which show which calendar they're on, when they start and when they end. If you have a meeting 9am-10am, and then a due date at 10:30 that's the order you'll see your tasks in.\nForecast Tag\nYou can now choose a task to display in the forecast view, this is ideal for things like routine tasks, a sprint at work (a series of tasks or projects to be completed within a specific time period), or errands. You can choose different forecast tags per device, so on your iPhone you might choose calls or errands, but on your iPad it could be \"secret nerdy tasks\".\n\nThere are a lot of big changes in OmniFocus 3, and based on the roadmap there will be a lot more to come, but first of all we have WWDC and the Mac app to look forward to!",
"tags": "omnifocus,review"
},
{
"title": "Inside OmniFocus: Tags, Perspectives, and Automation",
"date_published": "2018-05-30T18:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "inside-omnifocus-tags-perspectives-and-automation",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/inside-omnifocus-tags-perspectives-and-automation",
"external_url": "https:\/\/inside.omnifocus.com\/rose-orchard",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>Here I wrote about some of my OmniFocus workflow, with some Workflow workflows as well as Launch Center Pro automation.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/inside-omnifocus-tags-perspectives-and-automation\/'https:\/inside.omnifocus.com\/rose-orchard'\">Read on Inside OmniFocus<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "Here I wrote about some of my OmniFocus workflow, with some Workflow workflows as well as Launch Center Pro automation.\n\nRead on Inside OmniFocus",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Workflow as an OmniFocus Trigger List",
"date_published": "2018-05-25T05:05:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "workflow-omnifocus-trigger-list",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-omnifocus-trigger-list",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"OmniFocus Trigger List\" alt=\"OmniFocus Trigger List\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/5\/a\/3\/3\/35a3321e80c6d9b8f5a67dbb0dc78feb1fb84192-workflow-omnifocus-trigger-list.png\" \/> A workflow I frequently run to help me remember tasks is my Trigger List workflow. For those of you not familiar with them, trigger lists are essentially prompts you use to help you remember things you may have forgotten. <\/p>\n<p>This workflow is very simple, it has a list of items at the top, goes through each item and asks you what's on your mind regarding it. Then it takes all of these items and puts them in your OmniFocus Inbox. <\/p>\n<p>I've uploaded two \"flavours\" of this Workflow, one where the trigger word is noted after the task in brackets, and the other where the trigger word becomes the parent task of an action group, with your triggered tasks inside of it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/240e9f7af97b428d8e7c3981b1c00558\">Trigger word in brackets<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/93c12b7a53a34f758ea84e729065a4c7\">Action groups with the trigger word as the parent task<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you need some inspiration for your trigger list the official <a href=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/free-articles\/mind_sweep_trigger_list\/\">GTD Trigger Lists<\/a> are a great place to start - and there are trigger list examples all over the internet. <\/p>\n<p>One enhancement you might make is to have more than one of these workflows - one at home, and one at work. You could also trigger the Workflow to run at a specific time with <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/id532016360?at=1010lumu\">Launch Center Pro<\/a> - I do this as it's one of my tasks which kicks off my weekly review. Here's the <a href=\"https:\/\/launchcenterpro.com\/y9k96x\">Launch Center Pro action<\/a>.<\/p>",
"content_text": " A workflow I frequently run to help me remember tasks is my Trigger List workflow. For those of you not familiar with them, trigger lists are essentially prompts you use to help you remember things you may have forgotten. \nThis workflow is very simple, it has a list of items at the top, goes through each item and asks you what's on your mind regarding it. Then it takes all of these items and puts them in your OmniFocus Inbox. \nI've uploaded two \"flavours\" of this Workflow, one where the trigger word is noted after the task in brackets, and the other where the trigger word becomes the parent task of an action group, with your triggered tasks inside of it.\nTrigger word in brackets\nAction groups with the trigger word as the parent task\nIf you need some inspiration for your trigger list the official GTD Trigger Lists are a great place to start - and there are trigger list examples all over the internet. \nOne enhancement you might make is to have more than one of these workflows - one at home, and one at work. You could also trigger the Workflow to run at a specific time with Launch Center Pro - I do this as it's one of my tasks which kicks off my weekly review. Here's the Launch Center Pro action.",
"tags": "workflow,omnifocus"
},
{
"title": "Interview with Rosemary Orchard, Creator of Automation Orchard",
"date_published": "2018-05-25T02:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "interview-with-rosemary-orchard-creator-of-automation-orchard",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/interview-with-rosemary-orchard-creator-of-automation-orchard",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.tablethabit.com\/2018\/05\/interview-with-rosemary-orchard-creator-of-automation-orchard",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>Jeff interviewed me about the launching of <a href=\"https:\/\/automationorchard.com\">Automation Orchard<\/a> and my love of automation.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/interview-with-rosemary-orchard-creator-of-automation-orchard\/'https:\/www.tablethabit.com\/2018\/05\/interview-with-rosemary-orchard-creator-of-automation-orchard'\">Read on Tablet Habit<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "Jeff interviewed me about the launching of Automation Orchard and my love of automation.\n\nRead on Tablet Habit",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Learn OmniFocus Workflows: Rose Orchard",
"date_published": "2018-05-23T02:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "learn-omnifocus-workflows-rose-orchard",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/learn-omnifocus-workflows-rose-orchard",
"external_url": "https:\/\/learnomnifocus.com\/tutorials\/2018-05-23-omnifocus-workflows-rose-orchard\/?ref=16",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>This is a video where I demonstrate my workflow in OmniFocus 3 for iOS, as well as some Workflow workflows which I use to automate my system.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/learn-omnifocus-workflows-rose-orchard\/'https:\/learnomnifocus.com\/tutorials\/2018-05-23-omnifocus-workflows-rose-orchard?ref=16%27\">Watch on Learn OmniFocus<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "This is a video where I demonstrate my workflow in OmniFocus 3 for iOS, as well as some Workflow workflows which I use to automate my system.\n\nWatch on Learn OmniFocus",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Workflow: Menus, Lists &amp; Dictionaries",
"date_published": "2018-05-16T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "workflow-menus-lists-dictionaries",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-menus-lists-dictionaries",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>When should you use a list or a menu. What about a dictionary? If you're not a programmer and have had little experience with writing for computers in general then this can be a little overwhelming. <\/p>\n<h3>Lists<\/h3>\n<p>A list is exactly what it sounds like. You have a list of items, and you can choose from them or get a specific item (at an index, so the 1st or 5th item for example). A list gives you what you choose - so if you have a list of animals, when you choose \"Cat\" you get \"Cat\" - fairly simple. <\/p>\n<p>You can make lists in a few ways, if you <code>Add to Variable<\/code> you can get that variable and use <code>Choose from List<\/code>. You can also <code>Split Text<\/code> and then <code>Choose from List<\/code> again. There is also the list action you can add items to - and you follow it with a <code>Choose from List<\/code> action again.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Workflow List Action with Choose from List\" alt=\"Workflow List Action with Choose from List\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/9\/5\/7\/4\/e9574f3bd427fdac35791fb495f984aa1d273d80-workflow-list.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Menus<\/h3>\n<p>A menu is a list of items which contain actions - this is ideal if you want to be able to do different things based on the option chosen (e.g. reminder vs calendar event vs note). You don't get the text of the menu item after you click it, though you can work around this by using the <code>Text<\/code> action if you need it.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Workflow Menu Action\" alt=\"Workflow Menu Action\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/6\/c\/3\/956c31e41c2d3f0e016d3d263d1dcaf73bd4ac69-workflow-menu.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Dictionaries<\/h3>\n<p>A dictionary is somewhere between a list and a menu in many ways. If I choose \"Spaghetti Bolognese\" then a dictionary can return \"ground beef, tomatoes, onion, spaghetti...\". This can have all sorts of applications - and Workflow actually gives you dictionaries a lot of the time when you put the <code>Choose from List<\/code> action after another, such as <code>Search App Store<\/code>.\nDictionaries can really help improve your Workflow experience. Maybe you want to have a simple list of people, and when you select one you get that person's phone number - or maybe you want to get complicated and go crazy. That's all possible with dictionaries.\nA dictionary is a series of keys and values. The key is what you choose, and the value is what you get. There are multiple ways to make dictionaries in Workflow - the simplest way though is to use the Dictionary action.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Workflow Dictionary and Choose from List actions\" alt=\"Workflow Dictionary and Choose from List actions\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/6\/9\/e\/9\/f69e973f6ce45929cf998e6e14dad4ad98a7c894-workflow-dictionary-choose-from-list.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Tips and tricks<\/h3>\n<p>You can order lists, menus, and dictionaries manually using the grab handles on the side of their action blocks. But a list or dictionary can also be sorted by its key using the <code>Filter files<\/code> action. You can use this to sort the keys alphabetically. This won't change the list or the dictionary in your editing view, but it will change before you choose or get an item from it. <\/p>",
"content_text": "When should you use a list or a menu. What about a dictionary? If you're not a programmer and have had little experience with writing for computers in general then this can be a little overwhelming. \nLists\nA list is exactly what it sounds like. You have a list of items, and you can choose from them or get a specific item (at an index, so the 1st or 5th item for example). A list gives you what you choose - so if you have a list of animals, when you choose \"Cat\" you get \"Cat\" - fairly simple. \nYou can make lists in a few ways, if you Add to Variable you can get that variable and use Choose from List. You can also Split Text and then Choose from List again. There is also the list action you can add items to - and you follow it with a Choose from List action again.\n\nMenus\nA menu is a list of items which contain actions - this is ideal if you want to be able to do different things based on the option chosen (e.g. reminder vs calendar event vs note). You don't get the text of the menu item after you click it, though you can work around this by using the Text action if you need it.\n\nDictionaries\nA dictionary is somewhere between a list and a menu in many ways. If I choose \"Spaghetti Bolognese\" then a dictionary can return \"ground beef, tomatoes, onion, spaghetti...\". This can have all sorts of applications - and Workflow actually gives you dictionaries a lot of the time when you put the Choose from List action after another, such as Search App Store.\nDictionaries can really help improve your Workflow experience. Maybe you want to have a simple list of people, and when you select one you get that person's phone number - or maybe you want to get complicated and go crazy. That's all possible with dictionaries.\nA dictionary is a series of keys and values. The key is what you choose, and the value is what you get. There are multiple ways to make dictionaries in Workflow - the simplest way though is to use the Dictionary action.\n\nTips and tricks\nYou can order lists, menus, and dictionaries manually using the grab handles on the side of their action blocks. But a list or dictionary can also be sorted by its key using the Filter files action. You can use this to sort the keys alphabetically. This won't change the list or the dictionary in your editing view, but it will change before you choose or get an item from it. ",
"tags": "workflow"
},
{
"title": "Siri Watch Face",
"date_published": "2018-05-02T08:30:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "siri-watch-face",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/siri-watch-face",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Apple Watch Face showing a homekit scene and a calendar entry\" alt=\"Apple Watch Face showing a homekit scene and a calendar entry\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/9\/b\/5\/0\/e9b505474db75f13d8be42879a6da47167c910a8-apple-watch-siri-face-home-calendar.png\" \/> The Siri Watch face has been an unexpected gem for me - it is limited but still very useful. One thing many people miss is that you can customise the data sources for the watch face - so if you don't want to see reminders to breathe, or the stocks then you don't need to.<\/p>\n<p>The Siri watch face only allows you to have one complication, which complicates matters somewhat (pun intended!). I have chosen Carrot weather, because the weather in Vienna <em>tends<\/em> to stay somewhat stable throughout the day, this means I can turn off the Weather source in the watch face.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Blank Siri Face - Have a Nice Day\" alt=\"Blank Siri Face - Have a Nice Day\" class=\"image-left\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/5\/3\/3\/d\/c533d145904732771b3816bb5f548a74698e2ef8-apple-watch-blank-siri-face.png\" \/> What is limiting is that 3rd party app developers can't integrate into the Siri face - at least not directly. I have managed to get my OmniFocus data into it though - by subscribing to my OmniFocus calendar on my iPhone. This calendar is hidden, and does have the unfortunate side effect of giving me an extra notification when each task is due if I let it get that far - but for me the trade off is well worth it. You can manage the calendars shown on your Apple Watch in the Watch app, under Calendars. I don't have this mirror my iPhone as I am subscribed to many calendars and toggle those on and off as needed - but I still don't want birthdays showing up on my watch face as that's a bit late reminder wise!<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the last year the Siri face has been very successful in providing me the data I want when I want it - possibly because I don't have many data sources enabled. If you tried it before and gave up on it then I would recommend giving it another shot - perhaps with less data this time.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Settings for the Siri watch face\" alt=\"Settings for the Siri watch face\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/a\/1\/d\/6\/9a1d6291750f9f7140681ebfe32dbd922e867fe6-siri-face-settings.png\" \/><\/p>",
"content_text": " The Siri Watch face has been an unexpected gem for me - it is limited but still very useful. One thing many people miss is that you can customise the data sources for the watch face - so if you don't want to see reminders to breathe, or the stocks then you don't need to.\nThe Siri watch face only allows you to have one complication, which complicates matters somewhat (pun intended!). I have chosen Carrot weather, because the weather in Vienna tends to stay somewhat stable throughout the day, this means I can turn off the Weather source in the watch face.\n What is limiting is that 3rd party app developers can't integrate into the Siri face - at least not directly. I have managed to get my OmniFocus data into it though - by subscribing to my OmniFocus calendar on my iPhone. This calendar is hidden, and does have the unfortunate side effect of giving me an extra notification when each task is due if I let it get that far - but for me the trade off is well worth it. You can manage the calendars shown on your Apple Watch in the Watch app, under Calendars. I don't have this mirror my iPhone as I am subscribed to many calendars and toggle those on and off as needed - but I still don't want birthdays showing up on my watch face as that's a bit late reminder wise!\nThroughout the last year the Siri face has been very successful in providing me the data I want when I want it - possibly because I don't have many data sources enabled. If you tried it before and gave up on it then I would recommend giving it another shot - perhaps with less data this time.\n",
"tags": "omnifocus,apple watch,siri,watch face"
},
{
"title": "Overlay Contact Information on Wallpaper",
"date_published": "2018-04-29T18:30:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "overlay-contact-information-on-wallpaper",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/overlay-contact-information-on-wallpaper",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Overlay Contact Information On Wallpaper\" alt=\"Overlay Contact Information On Wallpaper\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/0\/5\/2\/5\/90525381215c96eb8992131a58ac6677dc3ebeea-workflow-overlay-contact-information-on-wallpaper.png\" \/> A while ago <a href=\"https:\/\/katiefloyd.com\">Katie Floyd<\/a> put out a call on Twitter looking for a replacement app which can overlay contact information onto your wallpaper for iOS. I thought \"I bet you can do this with Workflow\", and I was right! Here's how it works.<\/p>\n<p>Steps: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Text<\/code>: This contains your name.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Text<\/code>: This contains your phone number, advice: Don't use the number of your iPhone, use that of a trusted family member or friend, or your home phone if you have one.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Text<\/code>: HTML formatting of the above two items, your name is set to be smaller than the phone number as it's likely to be longer and not quite as important.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Make Rich Text from HTML\" alt=\"Make Rich Text from HTML\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/d\/0\/a\/1\/2d0a16b11ee9efae2448a2c3fb8e53dfd6b6d42d-richtext.png\" \/> <code>Make Rich Text from HTML<\/code>: Now we make that HTML into rich Text - applying the formatting.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Make PDF\" alt=\"Make PDF\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/0\/9\/7\/4\/1097445bae9c35c53a13ae967b9f8f781f51278f-pdf.png\" \/> <code>Make PDF<\/code>: Bear with me, PDFs are great!<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Convert Image\" alt=\"Convert Image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/5\/b\/8\/b\/e5b8bbe50e06e3b00e9b46d2ac08b21904f3dcd3-image.png\" \/> <code>Convert Image<\/code>: PDFs can be converted to images - voila! We now have a white image with black text.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Crop Image\" alt=\"Crop Image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/5\/b\/8\/b\/e5b8bbe50e06e3b00e9b46d2ac08b21904f3dcd3-image.png\" \/> <code>Crop Image<\/code>: Let's make this approximately the same aspect ratio as an iPhone X screen.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Resize Image\" alt=\"Resize Image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/5\/b\/8\/b\/e5b8bbe50e06e3b00e9b46d2ac08b21904f3dcd3-image.png\" \/> <code>Resize Image<\/code>: Shrink it down to be about the right size<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Set Variable\" alt=\"Set Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <code>Set Variable<\/code>: Make it easy to access in a moment.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Select Photos\" alt=\"Select Photos\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/2\/b\/f\/4\/b2bf484c70a0b121b7fed0e1b0f99c257e90f42d-photos.png\" \/> <code>Select Photos<\/code>: Choose your background.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Mask Image\" alt=\"Mask Image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/5\/b\/8\/b\/e5b8bbe50e06e3b00e9b46d2ac08b21904f3dcd3-image.png\" \/> <code>Mask Image<\/code>: Here's the magic. The mask image action is like a very smart overlay, here it will make sure the text of your name and contact number shows up on the wallpaper, and nothing else.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Quick Look\" alt=\"Quick Look\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/7\/1\/b\/f\/771bfe221cc7b543aaa6724826b6e9f55c35bd5f-quicklook.png\" \/> <code>Quick Look<\/code>: Check it for prettiness.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Share\" alt=\"Share\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/d\/4\/3\/3\/ad433a1e06687b2f1df1d62ee7f000a2d0affbad-sharing.png\" \/> <code>Share<\/code>: Save it where you want!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img title=\"The original wallpaper, and the wallpaper with the contact information overlay\" alt=\"The original wallpaper, and the wallpaper with the contact information overlay\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/b\/5\/b\/d\/eb5bd59f0d973bff423885a0311f8b5c276dad83-example-before-after-iphone-wallpaper.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/07ea46d7530b4da6b924ec61dfe970e2\">Overlay Contact Information On Wallpaper<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>If, like Stephen in the comments you want to put the contact information in the vertical middle of your wallpaper then <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/38b07b2bf3ea4f2b8bc5478020926732\">this Workflow<\/a> will do the trick.<\/p>",
"content_text": " A while ago Katie Floyd put out a call on Twitter looking for a replacement app which can overlay contact information onto your wallpaper for iOS. I thought \"I bet you can do this with Workflow\", and I was right! Here's how it works.\nSteps: \n\n Text: This contains your name.\n Text: This contains your phone number, advice: Don't use the number of your iPhone, use that of a trusted family member or friend, or your home phone if you have one.\n Text: HTML formatting of the above two items, your name is set to be smaller than the phone number as it's likely to be longer and not quite as important.\n Make Rich Text from HTML: Now we make that HTML into rich Text - applying the formatting.\n Make PDF: Bear with me, PDFs are great!\n Convert Image: PDFs can be converted to images - voila! We now have a white image with black text.\n Crop Image: Let's make this approximately the same aspect ratio as an iPhone X screen.\n Resize Image: Shrink it down to be about the right size\n Set Variable: Make it easy to access in a moment.\n Select Photos: Choose your background.\n Mask Image: Here's the magic. The mask image action is like a very smart overlay, here it will make sure the text of your name and contact number shows up on the wallpaper, and nothing else.\n Quick Look: Check it for prettiness.\n Share: Save it where you want!\n\n\nYou can get the workflow here: Overlay Contact Information On Wallpaper\n\nIf, like Stephen in the comments you want to put the contact information in the vertical middle of your wallpaper then this Workflow will do the trick.",
"tags": "workflow"
},
{
"title": "Launching Automation Orchard",
"date_published": "2018-04-27T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "launching-automation-orchard",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/launching-automation-orchard",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Automation Orchard Logo\" alt=\"Automation Orchard Logo\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/d\/0\/f\/d\/9d0fdd78df150b633450e9c5445636f8c2213f89-logo-background.png\" \/> I've been working on a project for a while - a place to find <em>all<\/em> of the automation content for Mac, iOS, Web and even your home, and it's finally ready!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automationorchard.com\">Automation Orchard<\/a> is where I've collected every article, podcast and even video I've found regarding any automation topic related to Apple, from Workflow to IFTTT, and Automator to AppleScript. It doesn't have everything - yet, but it has a lot. So if you were trying to find a Workflow workflow to work with Trello, you could search and find a lot of options. All of this content links back to the original website. <\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/c\/4\/3\/9\/8c4392533cd95a9035739867d4755190e8f37972-automation-orchard.png\"><img title=\"Automation Orchard\" alt=\"Automation Orchard\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/c\/4\/3\/9\/8c4392533cd95a9035739867d4755190e8f37972-automation-orchard.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>There's also a forum, this is split up into sections:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Learn - housing lessons, challenges, and questions based on language.<\/li>\n<li>Mac - for questions and posts about automating things on your Mac, including using AppleScript, Keyboard Maestro, et. al.<\/li>\n<li>iOS - for automation on iOS, including Workflow and more.<\/li>\n<li>Web - the place to talk about IFTTT, Zapier, Microsoft Flow, and other cool web automation services.<\/li>\n<li>Home - where you can discuss home automation.<\/li>\n<li>General - for everything else.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/7\/2\/8\/7\/372874700874b280cbc3161428b83695c155d54b-automation-orchard-forum.png\"><img title=\"Automation Orchard Forums\" alt=\"Automation Orchard Forums\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/7\/2\/8\/7\/372874700874b280cbc3161428b83695c155d54b-automation-orchard-forum.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Why? I love to automate, I love to help people automate. The website has become my Wikipedia - if I want to find a DEVONThink Workflow then I know where to search, and I know I'll probably find helpful related content too. <\/p>\n<p>The forum only has a few posts in it right now - started by me. I hope to see many of you there, asking questions, sharing your automations, and discussing why we automate!<\/p>\n<p>My personal posts will still appear here - <a href=\"https:\/\/automationorchard.com\">Automation Orchard<\/a> is to collect content from around the web, including from here! There will be some blog posts there too - predominantly about the why of automation, you can check out the first post <a href=\"https:\/\/automationorchard.com\/blog\/welcome\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>P.S. Yes, the name is a play on my name and the focus on Apple!<\/em><\/p>",
"content_text": " I've been working on a project for a while - a place to find all of the automation content for Mac, iOS, Web and even your home, and it's finally ready!\nAutomation Orchard is where I've collected every article, podcast and even video I've found regarding any automation topic related to Apple, from Workflow to IFTTT, and Automator to AppleScript. It doesn't have everything - yet, but it has a lot. So if you were trying to find a Workflow workflow to work with Trello, you could search and find a lot of options. All of this content links back to the original website. \n\nThere's also a forum, this is split up into sections:\n\nLearn - housing lessons, challenges, and questions based on language.\nMac - for questions and posts about automating things on your Mac, including using AppleScript, Keyboard Maestro, et. al.\niOS - for automation on iOS, including Workflow and more.\nWeb - the place to talk about IFTTT, Zapier, Microsoft Flow, and other cool web automation services.\nHome - where you can discuss home automation.\nGeneral - for everything else.\n\n\nWhy? I love to automate, I love to help people automate. The website has become my Wikipedia - if I want to find a DEVONThink Workflow then I know where to search, and I know I'll probably find helpful related content too. \nThe forum only has a few posts in it right now - started by me. I hope to see many of you there, asking questions, sharing your automations, and discussing why we automate!\nMy personal posts will still appear here - Automation Orchard is to collect content from around the web, including from here! There will be some blog posts there too - predominantly about the why of automation, you can check out the first post here.\nP.S. Yes, the name is a play on my name and the focus on Apple!",
"tags": "automation orchard"
},
{
"title": "iOS App Review: Sidefari",
"date_published": "2018-04-25T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "ios-app-review-sidefari",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/ios-app-review-sidefari",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/id1046968235?at=1010lumu\"><img title=\"Sidefari - Web browsing companion for Safari\" alt=\"Sidefari - Web browsing companion for Safari\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/f\/c\/a\/2\/3fca2108dd0c86446c7798f5ed989e21e87eea67-sidefari-web-browsing-companion-for-safari.png\" \/><\/a> Sidefari is a small utility which has had a place on my iPad since shortly after it's release. It's a very simple browser which uses the Safari engine, and it's purpose is to allow you to view two different web pages at once. This feature has been built into iOS since Sidefari was released, but it still has it's place for me.<\/p>\n<p>Sidefari wins over the built in Safari split screen for me in two ways: I am not required to have 50\/50 split of the two web pages, and I can take one of those apps to a different space entirely if I wish to do so. This really helps me to work effectively on iOS. You can also use Sidefari as a browser with no tabs - useful if you are trying to avoid being sucked down a rabbit hole.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/id1046968235?at=1010lumu\">Sidefari - Web browsing companion for Safari<\/a> is available for free on the App Store.<\/p>",
"content_text": " Sidefari is a small utility which has had a place on my iPad since shortly after it's release. It's a very simple browser which uses the Safari engine, and it's purpose is to allow you to view two different web pages at once. This feature has been built into iOS since Sidefari was released, but it still has it's place for me.\nSidefari wins over the built in Safari split screen for me in two ways: I am not required to have 50\/50 split of the two web pages, and I can take one of those apps to a different space entirely if I wish to do so. This really helps me to work effectively on iOS. You can also use Sidefari as a browser with no tabs - useful if you are trying to avoid being sucked down a rabbit hole.\nSidefari - Web browsing companion for Safari is available for free on the App Store.",
"tags": "sidefari,productivity,ios app,review"
},
{
"title": "Workflows for Project Planning With Trello and OmniFocus",
"date_published": "2018-04-23T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "workflows-for-project-planning-with-trello-and-omnifocus",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflows-for-project-planning-with-trello-and-omnifocus",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><a href=\"https:\/\/trello.com\/roseorchard\/recommend\">Trello<\/a> is a lovely service which offers Kanban boards for planning - and I often like to plan out projects there, especially ones that need to be done in multiple stages or have many areas of focus. OmniFocus is my task manager of choice though which means I need my tasks to end up in there to have any hope of accomplishing them. To this end I have created a few <a href=\"http:\/\/workflow.is\">Workflow<\/a> workflows to get the data out of Trello and into OmniFocus, they\u2019re not very sophisticated - but they function very well.<\/p>\n<h3>Single Trello List to OmniFocus<\/h3>\n<p><img title=\"Trello List To OmniFocus\" alt=\"Trello List To OmniFocus\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/8\/6\/2\/9\/68629829ebd46cda75b1e8153fcc96a0e36bcc89-workflow-trello-list-to-omnifocus.png\" \/> Maybe you just have one list in Trello and you want to get the tasks and put them in OmniFocus. This workflow does exactly that. <\/p>\n<p>Steps: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Get Trello Items\" alt=\"Get Trello Items\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Trello Items<\/em>: This gets all of your Trello boards.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Choose from List\" alt=\"Choose from List\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <em>Choose from List<\/em>: You choose the board you want to get data from.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Trello Items\" alt=\"Get Trello Items\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Trello Items<\/em>: Then we get all of the lists in the board you just chose.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Choose from List\" alt=\"Choose from List\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <em>Choose from List<\/em>: Now you choose which list you want to grab the cards from.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Trello Items\" alt=\"Get Trello Items\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Trello Items<\/em>: We get all of the cards.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Repeat with Each\" alt=\"Repeat with Each\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <em>Repeat with Each<\/em>: We go through each card.\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <em>Text<\/em>: We format the title and the description of the card to be the name of the text and the note (in TaskPaper format notes are indented on a new line after their task).<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Combine Text\" alt=\"Combine Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <em>Combine Text<\/em>: We put all of the cards together.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" alt=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus<\/em>: The data gets added to OmniFocus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/fc2e1d8c67534fa984a6e58848beb4af\">Trello List To OmniFocus<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Multiple Trello Lists to OmniFocus<\/h3>\n<p><img title=\"Multiple Trello Lists To OmniFocus\" alt=\"Multiple Trello Lists To OmniFocus\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/d\/a\/5\/4\/5da54d5f595ad34519173d638785d4146a2118ac-workflow-multiple-trello-lists-to-omnifocus.png\" \/> If you have several lists on a board you want to get into OmniFocus then this Workflow will allow you to do that. It will create a task or action group for each list with sub tasks for each card in that list in Trello.<\/p>\n<p>Steps: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Get Trello Items\" alt=\"Get Trello Items\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Trello Items<\/em>: Get your Trello boards here.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Choose from List\" alt=\"Choose from List\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <em>Choose from List<\/em>: Choose the Trello board you want to get the lists from.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Trello Items\" alt=\"Get Trello Items\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Trello Items<\/em>: Get the lists.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Choose from List\" alt=\"Choose from List\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <em>Choose from List<\/em>: Choose one or many lists<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Repeat with Each\" alt=\"Repeat with Each\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <em>Repeat with Each<\/em>: With each list\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Set Variable\" alt=\"Set Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <em>Set Variable<\/em>: Set the <code>list<\/code> variable to be the name of the list. Working with multiple repeats can get a bit tricky, hence not using the <code>Repeat Item<\/code> variables here.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Trello Items\" alt=\"Get Trello Items\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Trello Items<\/em>: Get the cards<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Repeat with Each\" alt=\"Repeat with Each\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <em>Repeat with Each<\/em>: For every card\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Set Variable\" alt=\"Set Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <em>Set Variable<\/em>: Set the <code>card<\/code> variable to be the card.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Details of Trello Item\" alt=\"Get Details of Trello Item\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Details of Trello Item<\/em>: Get the name of the Trello card.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Variable\" alt=\"Get Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <em>Get Variable<\/em>: Get the <code>card<\/code> variable back.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Details of Trello Item\" alt=\"Get Details of Trello Item\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Details of Trello Item<\/em>: Get the description of the Trello card<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <em>Text<\/em>: Format this in TaskPaper format.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Combine Text\" alt=\"Combine Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <em>Combine Text<\/em>: Put all of the TaskPaper together<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <em>Text<\/em>: Add the name of the list to the top of this TaskPaper format<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Combine Text\" alt=\"Combine Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <em>Combine Text<\/em>: Put all of the lists of TaskPaper tasks together.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" alt=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus<\/em>: Put it all into OmniFocus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/0f2790c37e314e9eabf722c8fa76b9c8\">Multiple Trello Lists To OmniFocus<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Trello Board to OmniFocus<\/h3>\n<p><img title=\"Trello Board To OmniFocus Project\" alt=\"Trello Board To OmniFocus Project\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/b\/4\/a\/b\/5b4ab00ce7dbceee1293fcffb4d9126f6d000b3a-workflow-trello-board-to-omnifocus-project.png\" \/> If you have planned your whole project in Trello and want to move it over to OmniFocus then this Workflow will help you do so. It makes the whole board into one project, with each list becoming an action group and the cards becoming tasks inside of those. <\/p>\n<p>Steps: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Get Trello Items\" alt=\"Get Trello Items\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Trello Items<\/em>: This gets all of your Trello boards.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Choose from List\" alt=\"Choose from List\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <em>Choose from List<\/em>: You choose the Trello Board you want to make into an OmniFocus project.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Trello Items\" alt=\"Get Trello Items\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Trello Items<\/em>: This gets all of the lists in the Trello Board.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Repeat with Each\" alt=\"Repeat with Each\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <em>Repeat with Each<\/em>: For every list.\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Set Variable\" alt=\"Set Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <em>Set Variable<\/em>: Set the variable to the list - multiple repeats can be a little tricky to follow.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Trello Items\" alt=\"Get Trello Items\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Trello Items<\/em>: Get all of the cards inside of this list.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Repeat with Each\" alt=\"Repeat with Each\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <em>Repeat with Each<\/em>: For each card\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Set Variable\" alt=\"Set Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <em>Set Variable<\/em>: Set the variable to the card.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Details of Trello Item\" alt=\"Get Details of Trello Item\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Details of Trello Item<\/em>: Get the name of the card.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Variable\" alt=\"Get Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <em>Get Variable<\/em>: Get the card back.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Details of Trello Item\" alt=\"Get Details of Trello Item\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Details of Trello Item<\/em>: Get the description of the card<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Variable\" alt=\"Get Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <em>Get Variable<\/em>: Get the card back again<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Details of Trello Item\" alt=\"Get Details of Trello Item\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Get Details of Trello Item<\/em>: Get the due date of the card<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <em>Text<\/em>: Combine the name, due date and the description into TaskPaper format.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Combine Text\" alt=\"Combine Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <em>Combine Text<\/em>: Put all of those tasks together.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <em>Text<\/em>: Put the name of the list together with the cards inside of it.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Combine Text\" alt=\"Combine Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <em>Combine Text<\/em>: Put all of the lists together.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <em>Text<\/em>: Put the name of the board with all of the lists together.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" alt=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/f\/e\/3\/b\/efe3bd86fb1fb7eb3204b178792388e36745ce87-trello.png\" \/> <em>Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus<\/em>: And send everything to OmniFocus<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/d0652dab2cf047408f1c3e3d6ad2ca36\">Trello Board To OmniFocus Project<\/a><\/p>\n<p>These Workflows are very helpful to me - and get more use than I thought they would! I hope you find a use for them too.<\/p>",
"content_text": "Trello is a lovely service which offers Kanban boards for planning - and I often like to plan out projects there, especially ones that need to be done in multiple stages or have many areas of focus. OmniFocus is my task manager of choice though which means I need my tasks to end up in there to have any hope of accomplishing them. To this end I have created a few Workflow workflows to get the data out of Trello and into OmniFocus, they\u2019re not very sophisticated - but they function very well.\nSingle Trello List to OmniFocus\n Maybe you just have one list in Trello and you want to get the tasks and put them in OmniFocus. This workflow does exactly that. \nSteps: \n\n Get Trello Items: This gets all of your Trello boards.\n Choose from List: You choose the board you want to get data from.\n Get Trello Items: Then we get all of the lists in the board you just chose.\n Choose from List: Now you choose which list you want to grab the cards from.\n Get Trello Items: We get all of the cards.\n Repeat with Each: We go through each card.\n\n Text: We format the title and the description of the card to be the name of the text and the note (in TaskPaper format notes are indented on a new line after their task).\n\n Combine Text: We put all of the cards together.\n Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus: The data gets added to OmniFocus.\n\nYou can get the workflow here: Trello List To OmniFocus\nMultiple Trello Lists to OmniFocus\n If you have several lists on a board you want to get into OmniFocus then this Workflow will allow you to do that. It will create a task or action group for each list with sub tasks for each card in that list in Trello.\nSteps: \n\n Get Trello Items: Get your Trello boards here.\n Choose from List: Choose the Trello board you want to get the lists from.\n Get Trello Items: Get the lists.\n Choose from List: Choose one or many lists\n Repeat with Each: With each list\n\n Set Variable: Set the list variable to be the name of the list. Working with multiple repeats can get a bit tricky, hence not using the Repeat Item variables here.\n Get Trello Items: Get the cards\n Repeat with Each: For every card\n\n Set Variable: Set the card variable to be the card.\n Get Details of Trello Item: Get the name of the Trello card.\n Get Variable: Get the card variable back.\n Get Details of Trello Item: Get the description of the Trello card\n Text: Format this in TaskPaper format.\n\n Combine Text: Put all of the TaskPaper together\n Text: Add the name of the list to the top of this TaskPaper format\n\n Combine Text: Put all of the lists of TaskPaper tasks together.\n Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus: Put it all into OmniFocus.\n\nYou can get the workflow here: Multiple Trello Lists To OmniFocus\nTrello Board to OmniFocus\n If you have planned your whole project in Trello and want to move it over to OmniFocus then this Workflow will help you do so. It makes the whole board into one project, with each list becoming an action group and the cards becoming tasks inside of those. \nSteps: \n\n Get Trello Items: This gets all of your Trello boards.\n Choose from List: You choose the Trello Board you want to make into an OmniFocus project.\n Get Trello Items: This gets all of the lists in the Trello Board.\n Repeat with Each: For every list.\n\n Set Variable: Set the variable to the list - multiple repeats can be a little tricky to follow.\n Get Trello Items: Get all of the cards inside of this list.\n Repeat with Each: For each card\n\n Set Variable: Set the variable to the card.\n Get Details of Trello Item: Get the name of the card.\n Get Variable: Get the card back.\n Get Details of Trello Item: Get the description of the card\n Get Variable: Get the card back again\n Get Details of Trello Item: Get the due date of the card\n Text: Combine the name, due date and the description into TaskPaper format.\n\n Combine Text: Put all of those tasks together.\n Text: Put the name of the list together with the cards inside of it.\n\n Combine Text: Put all of the lists together.\n Text: Put the name of the board with all of the lists together.\n Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus: And send everything to OmniFocus\n\nYou can get the workflow here: Trello Board To OmniFocus Project\nThese Workflows are very helpful to me - and get more use than I thought they would! I hope you find a use for them too.",
"tags": "omnifocus,workflow,trello,project planning"
},
{
"title": "Micro Monday Episode 7 Transcript",
"date_published": "2018-04-23T02:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "micro-monday-episode-transcript",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/micro-monday-episode-transcript",
"external_url": "https:\/\/monday.micro.blog\/2018\/04\/29\/042401.html",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>This is the transcript of the episode I recorded with MacGenie for Micro Monday.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/micro-monday-episode-transcript\/'https:\/monday.micro.blog\/2018\/04\/29\/042401.html'\">Read on Micro Monday<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "This is the transcript of the episode I recorded with MacGenie for Micro Monday.\n\nRead on Micro Monday",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Micro Monday Episode 7",
"date_published": "2018-04-23T02:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-08-04T16:13:30+02:00",
"id": "micro-monday-episode-7",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/micro-monday-episode-7",
"external_url": "https:\/\/monday.micro.blog\/2018\/04\/23\/for-this-week.html",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I had the pleasure of chatting with Jean MacDonald for episode 7 of Micro Monday, a podcast in which she interviews members of Micro.Blog.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/elsewhere\/micro-monday-episode-7\/'https:\/monday.micro.blog\/2018\/04\/23\/for-this-week.html'\">Listen on Micro Monday<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "I had the pleasure of chatting with Jean MacDonald for episode 7 of Micro Monday, a podcast in which she interviews members of Micro.Blog.\n\nListen on Micro Monday",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Workflow: Taskpaper to OF",
"date_published": "2018-04-20T20:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "workflow-taskpaper-to-of",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-taskpaper-to-of",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Taskpaper To OF\" alt=\"Taskpaper To OF\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/5\/5\/6\/e\/0556e51dc60b2e43acd336f59d01ea0829dcd427-workflow-taskpaper-to-of.png\" \/> This is a very simple Workflow which allows you to add TaskPaper formatted tasks or projects to your preferred place in OmniFocus<\/p>\n<p>Steps: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Count\" alt=\"Count\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/f\/3\/8\/b\/8f38bd28ee084c7971c89ab17c00006f56c19587-calculator.png\" \/> <code>Count<\/code>: This checks for input.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"If\" alt=\"If\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>If<\/code>: If there is no input...\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Text\" alt=\"Text\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/3\/b\/9\/9\/c3b990fbda6b0837cd8aa58ac8dc29463235ec95-text.png\" \/> <code>Text<\/code>: Show you your clipboard and allow you to edit it.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"If\" alt=\"If\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Else<\/code>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Get Variable\" alt=\"Get Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <code>Get Variable<\/code>: Get the input you provided to the Workflow<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-taskpaper-to-of?cropResize=25\" alt=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" title=\"Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus\" \/> <code>Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus<\/code>: This asks you to choose where you want to add the TaskPaper: Inbox, Projects, Folder, Project, or Task. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/10f57be46f3f4c3da9afca67be329c3d\">Taskpaper To OF<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": " This is a very simple Workflow which allows you to add TaskPaper formatted tasks or projects to your preferred place in OmniFocus\nSteps: \n\n Count: This checks for input.\n If: If there is no input...\n\n Text: Show you your clipboard and allow you to edit it.\n\n Else\n\n Get Variable: Get the input you provided to the Workflow\n\n Add TaskPaper to OmniFocus: This asks you to choose where you want to add the TaskPaper: Inbox, Projects, Folder, Project, or Task. \n\nYou can get the workflow here: Taskpaper To OF",
"tags": "omnifocus,workflow"
},
{
"title": "Using Drafts 5 Taskpaper with OmniFocus",
"date_published": "2018-04-19T22:10:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "using-drafts-5-taskpaper-with-omnifocus",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/using-drafts-5-taskpaper-with-omnifocus",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"OmniFocus Taskpaper Action Group for Drafts\" alt=\"OmniFocus Taskpaper Action Group for Drafts\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/6\/6\/f\/d\/566fd8ac274b7587914a2884cddca11c7107dab4-omnifocus-taskpaper-action-group-drafts5.jpeg\" \/> I have created an action group for Drafts 5 which is meant to help you create Taskpaper formatter projects or tasks and then send it all along to OmniFocus afterwards. <\/p>\n<p>The first thing you will want to do is to create a Draft with the Taskpaper format. This is the last but one action in the action group - the reasoning being you're not likely to need it as often as some of the others! It simply opens a new Drafts with the format set to taskpaper - you can do this yourself by tapping the <code>+<\/code> icon if you're in a Draft, and then using the <code>Aa<\/code> button to set the <em>Syntax Highlighting<\/em> of the current draft to Taskpaper.<\/p>\n<p>The first action in the group is a tab, this is for iPhone users and iPad users without an external keyboard and it simply inserts a tab wherever the cursor currently is. <\/p>\n<p>The next action is Placeholder, if you have text selected it will wrap the text in <code>\u00ab\u00bb<\/code> characters, and if no text is selected it will insert them. This is ideal for dates in templates you will want to update later.<\/p>\n<p>The first Due action takes advantage of the natural language parsing that OmniFocus has available via URL Scheme. Again, if you have text selected it will wrap it in <code>@due()<\/code>, otherwise that will be inserted empty for you to fill in the brackets. <\/p>\n<p>The Defer, Estimate, Tags, and Context actions work the same way as Due. Tags and context are both available so if you're on the OmniFocus 3 beta or simply want to prepare your templates to work for both 2 and 3 you can already.<\/p>\n<p>Tags (suggest) offers a list of tags for you to choose from, allows you to choose more than one of them, and inserts them inside <code>@tag()<\/code>. You will need to edit this script to make it work for you - the <code>\"one\", \"two\", \"three\"<\/code> is the part that needs changing. Bear in mind that a long list of tags will be annoying to look through most likely. If you want any tags to be pre-selected for you (e.g. you usually add the <code>evening<\/code> tag to tasks created via Drafts), you can put that into the <code>[]<\/code> after the tag list. <\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Tag suggest script detail\" alt=\"Tag suggest script detail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/1\/6\/f\/a\/d16fa00d849b469e105afabe4fc7d4e7b5b194ab-tag-suggest-action-detail.jpeg\" \/>;<\/p>\n<p>Autodone asks you if you want the task or project to be automatically completed when the tasks inside of it are completed and inserts <code>@autodone(true)<\/code> or <code>@autodone(false)<\/code>as per your choice.<\/p>\n<p>The Repeat Method allows you to choose how the task should repeat, and inserts <code>@repeat-method(fixed)<\/code>, or whichever the relevant choice is.<\/p>\n<p>The Repeat Rule is very simple, but allows you to choose if a task should be repeated every X days, weeks, months, or years.<\/p>\n<p>Parallel works the same way Autodone does, if the project should be parallel (actions able to be worked on at the same time) then <code>@parallel(true)<\/code> is inserted, if not <code>@parallel(false)<\/code> appears.<\/p>\n<p>Flagged just inserts <code>@flagged<\/code> when it is run - which adds a flag to a task.<\/p>\n<p>Due and Defer are here again - but this time with date and time pickers. This allows you to choose an exact date and time when your task or project is due. I've used European date formatting, but you can modify that to any other date formatting by replacing the <code>\"dd-MM-yyyy hh:mm\"<\/code> (for example in North America you might prefer <code>\"MM\/dd\/yyyy hh:mm\"<\/code>).<\/p>\n<p>Estimate makes another appearance, this time it asks you to choose how many minutes, hours, days or weeks something will take and fills in the <code>@estimate()<\/code> for you.<\/p>\n<p>The final action in this set is Taskpaper to OF. This will ask you where you want to save your Draft (as a new project, a new project in a folder, as tasks in a specifc project, or the inbox), go through any <code>\u00abplaceholders\u00bb<\/code> you have and help you replace them (important <code>cat<\/code> is always going to be replaced with whatever you tell the script when it asks you about it, so make sure you to use unique placeholders where necessary!), and then send everything off to OmniFocus. Once you return if it did have placeholders to replace it offers to make a new Draft, update your current Draft, or do nothing. <\/p>\n<p>This action group is set up as a keyboard group, which should make quick entry easier. You can get the action group from the Draft 5 Action Directory: <a href=\"https:\/\/actions.getdrafts.com\/g\/1F6\">OF Taskpaper<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": " I have created an action group for Drafts 5 which is meant to help you create Taskpaper formatter projects or tasks and then send it all along to OmniFocus afterwards. \nThe first thing you will want to do is to create a Draft with the Taskpaper format. This is the last but one action in the action group - the reasoning being you're not likely to need it as often as some of the others! It simply opens a new Drafts with the format set to taskpaper - you can do this yourself by tapping the + icon if you're in a Draft, and then using the Aa button to set the Syntax Highlighting of the current draft to Taskpaper.\nThe first action in the group is a tab, this is for iPhone users and iPad users without an external keyboard and it simply inserts a tab wherever the cursor currently is. \nThe next action is Placeholder, if you have text selected it will wrap the text in \u00ab\u00bb characters, and if no text is selected it will insert them. This is ideal for dates in templates you will want to update later.\nThe first Due action takes advantage of the natural language parsing that OmniFocus has available via URL Scheme. Again, if you have text selected it will wrap it in @due(), otherwise that will be inserted empty for you to fill in the brackets. \nThe Defer, Estimate, Tags, and Context actions work the same way as Due. Tags and context are both available so if you're on the OmniFocus 3 beta or simply want to prepare your templates to work for both 2 and 3 you can already.\nTags (suggest) offers a list of tags for you to choose from, allows you to choose more than one of them, and inserts them inside @tag(). You will need to edit this script to make it work for you - the \"one\", \"two\", \"three\" is the part that needs changing. Bear in mind that a long list of tags will be annoying to look through most likely. If you want any tags to be pre-selected for you (e.g. you usually add the evening tag to tasks created via Drafts), you can put that into the [] after the tag list. \n;\nAutodone asks you if you want the task or project to be automatically completed when the tasks inside of it are completed and inserts @autodone(true) or @autodone(false)as per your choice.\nThe Repeat Method allows you to choose how the task should repeat, and inserts @repeat-method(fixed), or whichever the relevant choice is.\nThe Repeat Rule is very simple, but allows you to choose if a task should be repeated every X days, weeks, months, or years.\nParallel works the same way Autodone does, if the project should be parallel (actions able to be worked on at the same time) then @parallel(true) is inserted, if not @parallel(false) appears.\nFlagged just inserts @flagged when it is run - which adds a flag to a task.\nDue and Defer are here again - but this time with date and time pickers. This allows you to choose an exact date and time when your task or project is due. I've used European date formatting, but you can modify that to any other date formatting by replacing the \"dd-MM-yyyy hh:mm\" (for example in North America you might prefer \"MM\/dd\/yyyy hh:mm\").\nEstimate makes another appearance, this time it asks you to choose how many minutes, hours, days or weeks something will take and fills in the @estimate() for you.\nThe final action in this set is Taskpaper to OF. This will ask you where you want to save your Draft (as a new project, a new project in a folder, as tasks in a specifc project, or the inbox), go through any \u00abplaceholders\u00bb you have and help you replace them (important cat is always going to be replaced with whatever you tell the script when it asks you about it, so make sure you to use unique placeholders where necessary!), and then send everything off to OmniFocus. Once you return if it did have placeholders to replace it offers to make a new Draft, update your current Draft, or do nothing. \nThis action group is set up as a keyboard group, which should make quick entry easier. You can get the action group from the Draft 5 Action Directory: OF Taskpaper",
"tags": "omnifocus,drafts"
},
{
"title": "Drafts 5 Review",
"date_published": "2018-04-18T15:35:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "drafts-5-review",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/drafts-5-review",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>[TOC]<\/p>\n<h3>Intro<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/drafts-5-capture-act\/id1236254471?mt=8&at=1010lumu\"><img alt=\"Drafts\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/c\/1\/d\/e\/bc1dedf2dc9871b01aeaab83da2801115483b657-drafts.jpeg\" \/><\/a> For those of you not familiar with Drafts, it\u2019s designed as an app which lets you input text and <em>then<\/em> decide what to do with it. Why? Sometimes that message turns into an email, or maybe the quick idea turns into a mind map. Or maybe you just don\u2019t know where the text is going to end up when you start writing. Drafts is designed to let you write and then process the text, removing the need to choose where the text should go first. <\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/7\/2\/5\/e\/a725e094e1073b80605b380cb8eb80673c82409f-drafts5-main-views.png\"><img title=\"Drafts 5 Main Views\" alt=\"Drafts 5 Main Views\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/5\/7\/3\/6\/b5736f1b971e0991bc88a9251143588fb251b08a-drafts5-main-views.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When you open Drafts you get a blank note - automatically. You can set the time out period so that when you return to Drafts you either see your last note or a new note - mine is set to the default of 60 seconds. You can also open the app with force touch which allows you to create a new blank note, create a note from the clipboard, dictate a note, search, or open any one of your 4 most recently edited Drafts. The first three of these options, plus the choice to import a file, appear when you force touch the <code>+<\/code> on an iPhone, or press and hold on an iPad. The great part about the dictation is that unlike regular Siri dictation there\u2019s no timeout, that\u2019s right - you can dictate for as long as you like. David Sparks made a great introduction to Drafts 5 which I highly recommend: <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/263943764\">Drafts 5 Overview<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/1\/8\/0\/c\/9180c800c35453eb9788bf814df6abbbfa218b0a-drafts5-force-touch-icon.jpeg\"><img title=\"Force Touch Options\" alt=\"Force Touch Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/0\/6\/8\/a\/0068ac0a3ff4e418562d1d59f332502ffa21b844-drafts5-force-touch-icon.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/1\/d\/3\/2\/b1d325c339f72c1f34078317ecc276731b900eb8-drafts5-new-drafts-options.jpeg\"><img title=\"New Draft Creation Options\" alt=\"New Draft Creation Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/f\/1\/5\/c\/1f15c907fc170384719069eeda4824638d4d44ec-drafts5-new-drafts-options.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>What Changed?<\/h3>\n<p>Some of you may have used Drafts before, in fact if you\u2019re reading this it\u2019s likely you have so what\u2019s new? First of all the app has been completely rewritten, this means everything is new and shiny - and 100% up to date. There's also lots of new features.<\/p>\n<p>First things first, you can import all of your notes to Drafts and most of your actions. Make sure you're running the latest version of Drafts 4, and then in the settings of Drafts 5, tap \"Migrate from Drafts 4\". You can choose to import your Drafts, and\/or Actions and Keys. You can also export from Drafts 4 into Drafts 5 - there's a special <a href=\"http:\/\/drafts4-actions.agiletortoise.com\/a\/2Nv\">Send to Drafts 5<\/a> for drafts, and inside each action in Drafts 4 you can choose to migrate the action, or add it as a callback so when the action is executed it is done so in Drafts 4 and then returns you to Drafts 5. Not every action which was available in Drafts 4 is available yet in Drafts 5, but Drafts 5 will make a list of the actions that couldn't be imported so you can handle those manually.<\/p>\n<h4>Themes<\/h4>\n<p>Drafts 4 had three theme choices - white, cream and black - and the ability to automatically switch to the black theme at a certain brightness threshold. Drafts 5 has several more colour theme options, and you can specify a day theme and a night theme to work with, which will switch at the brightness level you prefer. Choose the theme is a pro feature, and I've really enjoyed using the dark Solarized theme during the day with black at night. <\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/9\/8\/f\/3\/b98f3f439b1b16e6b1ce8f4512d2b1e0d4825ac3-drafts5-theme-options.jpeg\"><img title=\"Theme Options\" alt=\"Theme Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/7\/3\/a\/3\/573a39f96e89a155dc6bbf036a7cbaeaddbdf5a1-drafts5-theme-options.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Custom Icons<\/h4>\n<p>Choosing app icons is definitely a nice way to make your device yours, and Drafts now offers the ability to choose your app icon. There's a mix of flat images and ones with gradients - I personally picked the purple as that's my favourite colour.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/e\/7\/3\/0\/4e730487a3dcb22f12982792bbf5288f7d7dcf8b-drafts5-app-icons.png\"><img title=\"App Icons\" alt=\"App Icons\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/a\/1\/f\/5\/6a1f5aca8cf4b129bc919007df9cf8e165180619-drafts5-app-icons.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Tagging and Flagging<\/h4>\n<p>Tagging allows you to optionally file your note in multiple places - and helps you to group together notes on a particular topic as well. Tags are shown under a draft in the list of drafts. When adding a tag to a draft you can see a list of your current tags in the keyboard bar, if the one you are looking for doesn't exist then you can type to create it. Tags are lower case - you can type capitals when creating them but they will be formatted for you. This is really useful as it allows you to avoid having <code>Groceries<\/code> and <code>groceries<\/code> by accident.\nFlagging is simple - a draft is flagged, or it is not flagged. You can use it however makes the most sense to you.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/a\/4\/2\/6\/3a426d1a05007ba58947885773f6080796e57f54-drafts5-flagging-tagging-a-draft.jpeg\"><img title=\"Flagging and Tagging a Draft\" alt=\"Flagging and Tagging a Draft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/f\/7\/b\/7\/8f7b7b2fb0c91ebd0e75ca709e6af3ee2e6809fa-drafts5-flagging-tagging-a-draft.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Filtering<\/h4>\n<p>Now we have filters we need to be able to work with them. Filtering allows us to choose combinations of tags to see or not as we want. By tapping the name of a tag in the filter section we add it to include, and by tapping the <i class=\"fas fa-ban\"><\/i> (ban) icon we can add the tag to the omitted list. This means you could include the tags <code>cat<\/code> and <code>dog<\/code>, but disallow <code>spider<\/code>. These tags are combined with an <code>AND<\/code>, so only drafts with <em>all<\/em> of the included tags and <em>none<\/em> of the omitted tags will show up.\nTags are not the only settings however, you can also set how much of a draft you want to see in the list, the sort order, if flagged items should be included or not, specific text to search for and more. <\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/d\/6\/4\/0\/cd64074e336e7f4f573be1291dfdddfc917708ed-drafts5-filters.jpeg\"><img title=\"Filters\" alt=\"Filters\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/3\/7\/0\/7\/13707a25ec2dfb2e6fc9683751704fda84571363-drafts5-filters.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/4\/2\/a\/2\/d42a26d7427e0ac0ff249d7bbfa37fe361a8fad6-drafts5-workspace-options.jpeg\"><img title=\"Filter & Workspace Options\" alt=\"Filter & Workspace Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/f\/5\/7\/9\/6f579ae1eb693a942203f0c1f41a6bfabe867c82-drafts5-workspace-options.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The full documentation for <a href=\"http:\/\/getdrafts.com\/drafts\/listoptions\">filtering in Drafts<\/a> is well worth reading.<\/p>\n<h4>Workspaces<\/h4>\n<p>Workspaces can be created in two ways, from a filter you are currently using, or from scratch. They have the same set up as filters, but as you can name them and set the colour and icon to represent they are easy to keep track of. You can set the order that you would like to view your Workspaces in, and optionally show them, with or without their name, at the bottom of the list of Drafts. Workspaces are ideal for filters you make frequently, or which are more complex to construct.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/6\/8\/2\/6\/66826a0dcab2870b4be18929dd7de5909129bdcd-drafts5-workspaces-overview.jpeg\"><img title=\"Workspaces Overview\" alt=\"Workspaces Overview\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/0\/2\/e\/b\/d02eb6bdff57fe8c84535b022a8fc4636987f58a-drafts5-workspaces-overview.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/9\/1\/5\/4\/99154e9338695db3fe837574bf0823aefcf8b58f-drafts5-workspaces-below-draft-list.jpeg\"><img title=\"Show Workspaces Below Drafts List\" alt=\"Show Workspaces Below Drafts List\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/b\/d\/1\/b\/2bd1b66441c99d1d3c8a6917a546c9ad49a93119-drafts5-workspaces-below-draft-list.jpeg\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/4\/9\/3\/d\/6493d441f97034f482873c4464756a7d57c12116-drafts5-untagged-workspace.jpeg\"><img title=\"Untagged Workspace\" alt=\"Untagged Workspace\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/5\/e\/7\/6\/a5e76e7eeca9a82543c30c1df07a7343c37b7076-drafts5-untagged-workspace.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Focus<\/h4>\n<p>By default Drafts will open to a new draft after a set period of time - which can be adjusted by you. Focus mode allows you to do that by focusing on one particular draft, this means that whenever you open the app - even if that's next month - you'll be back at the draft you had open last. You can enable focus mode in two ways, by tapping the eye icon in the bottom left hand side of the editor when you're not editing a draft, or by opening the Settings and enabling it.<\/p>\n<h4>SiriKit Integration<\/h4>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Hey Siri, make a note in Drafts to investigate buying the llama farm <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>You can now create new Drafts using Siri, it's simple but effective. You can also dictate notes, but that's not new - what's very useful though is that the dictation will not end as it does usually when dictating elsewhere on iOS.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/3\/d\/0\/6\/43d065a279ebb1fe36d4c19113381bf75563f740-drafts5-siri-integration.jpeg\"><img title=\"Siri Integration\" alt=\"Siri Integration\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/2\/9\/e\/5\/529e5e076bfdc5f13b5b82ef5fdc7495f8075418-drafts5-siri-integration.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Editor Options<\/h4>\n<p>In Drafts you can now control a lot of settings with regards to how the editor appears, from paragraph numbers to syntax highlighting, and even whether or not the toolbar or the status bar should show you have plenty of choices. <\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/5\/3\/c\/b\/853cb0892f78926e023f887fb4c7f61b28e782f7-drafts5-syntax-options.jpeg\"><img title=\"Syntax Options\" alt=\"Syntax Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/1\/1\/4\/8\/f114872cf41aa03fa7e512f6b7c0ec3cbd58f0d7-drafts5-syntax-options.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/2\/8\/1\/7\/72817d621bec8d1d68b174c21e37fd34b6d147ca-drafts5-editor-with-without-toolbar.jpeg\"><img title=\"Editor With and Without the Toolbar Showing\" alt=\"Editor With and Without the Toolbar Showing\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/f\/9\/5\/8\/7f958d1e6f69dd1fbd9036f0ede572b778787e80-drafts5-editor-with-without-toolbar.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/b\/9\/a\/8\/fb9a8faa08ab0c173df0571005969937e17eeb3d-drafts5-appearance-options.jpeg\"><img title=\"Appearance Options\" alt=\"Appearance Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/7\/8\/d\/2\/878d2f3668563708e4b915b6774de288fec9ca24-drafts5-appearance-options.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here are some of the options you can choose to set for the editor by tapping the <code>Aa<\/code> button:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Syntax highlighting\n<ul>\n<li>Plain text<\/li>\n<li>Markdown<\/li>\n<li>Simple List<\/li>\n<li>Taskpaper<\/li>\n<li>JavaScript<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li>Font\n<ul>\n<li>Choose from any of the fonts pre-installed on iOS, or ones you have installed yourself.<\/li>\n<li>Select a particular font to use for Monospaced text.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li>Line height<\/li>\n<li>Paragraph spacing<\/li>\n<li>Margins<\/li>\n<li>Paragraph numbers<\/li>\n<li>You can enable or disable\n<ul>\n<li>Autocorrect<\/li>\n<li>Spell check<\/li>\n<li>Smart punctuation\n<ul>\n<li>Quotes<\/li>\n<li>Dashes<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li>Capitalisation\n<ul>\n<li>None or sentences<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li>Portrait, landscape, or any (only on iPhone)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Draft 5 also has an improved arrange mode, Drafts 4 just allowed you to rearrange lines, Drafts 5 lets you edit blocks (separated by two line breaks) or lines, edit sections, and delete or remove them. You can also trigger the arrange mode via the <a href=\"http:\/\/getdrafts.com\/urls\/\">URL scheme<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>There is also a pre-installed Tasks action, which is shown on your keyboard by default. This is very clever, it makes the line that you're on or the text you have selected into a simple bullet checklist by adding <code>- [ ]<\/code> at the beginning of the line. By tapping on the <code>[ ]<\/code> you can mark a task as done <code>[x]<\/code>.<\/p>\n<h4>\u00a0Actions and Keyboard Groups<\/h4>\n<p>For those of you familiar with Workflow, actions are very similar in some ways. An action can contain any number of steps, a number of which are provided for you to use as is. Drafts does not arrive empty, it comes with 5 <a href=\"http:\/\/getdrafts.com\/actions\/examples\/\">example action groups<\/a>, 4 of which are available as keyboard groups for you - you can do what you like with these actions, including delete them. But if you're not familiar with Drafts and it's actions I recommend you swipe across the action from left to write, tap edit, and have a look.\nOne important change between Drafts 4 and Drafts 5 is there is no longer an app wide default as to what to do once an action has been executed, you now set this per action group. This is very useful so if you have a group of \"share\" actions for example, designed to get the text out of Drafts, you could immediately have the draft the action was executed on archived or trashed as you prefer.\nYou can choose to enable an action group on the keyboard, Draft has a row of buttons above the keyboard, and if you have multiple groups of keyboard actions you can swipe up and down on this row to switch between them. As you can assign keyboard shortcuts to actions as well this becomes very powerful very quickly.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/c\/d\/d\/d\/9cddd6d90193a4a5b0487f8689f398fd3d1f9289-drafts5-action-steps.png\"><img title=\"Action Steps\" alt=\"Action Steps\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/0\/b\/e\/c\/20beceb7298f679088a423d744af09a2411930c6-drafts5-action-steps.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Scripting in Drafts<\/h4>\n<p>The most powerful part of Drafts actions is the Script action, this is what it sounds like - you write a script which does things. Drafts uses JavaScript, if you use OmniGroup products they are introducing JavaScript for automation in those too - so learning the language could definitely pay off in the long run.\nThere is <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/agiletortoise\/drafts-documentation\/wiki\">a wiki about Drafts scripting<\/a>, which is definitely worth reading if you intend to use them.\nMy favourite functions that can be included in Scripting is the Prompt - so if you want to ask the user \"cats or dogs\", you could create a prompt which shows \"cats\" and \"dogs\" as buttons, and then depending on which they choose your script would react accordingly. A prompt can have any of the following options<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Title<\/li>\n<li>Message<\/li>\n<li>Text Fields<\/li>\n<li>Date and or Time Fields<\/li>\n<li>Selects - single or multiple choice<\/li>\n<li>Buttons<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/4\/c\/3\/9\/44c39216a677ef991e15935d5d7b28cd7606772a-drafts5-script-prompt.jpeg\"><img title=\"Scripted Prompt Example\" alt=\"Scripted Prompt Example\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/f\/8\/0\/e\/bf80ec529ac89a6c4df996f17b93f96b1ca8585d-drafts5-script-prompt.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here's the script to create that prompt:<\/p>\n<pre><code>var p = Prompt.create();\n\np.title = \"Title\";\np.message = \"Message\";\n\np.addTextField(\"myTextField\", \"Text Field\", \"\");\np.addDatePicker(\"myDate\", \"Date Field\", new Date(), {\n \"mode\": \"date\"\n});\np.addDatePicker(\"myTime\", \"Time Field\", new Date(), {\n \"mode\": \"time\"\n});\np.addDatePicker(\"myDateTime\", \"Date &amp; Time Field\", new Date(), {\n \"mode\": \"dateAndTime\"\n});\np.addSelect(\"mySingleSelect\", \"Single Select Field\", [\"Cat\", \"Dog\", \"Llama\"], [], false);\np.addSelect(\"myMultipleSelect\", \"Multiple Select Field\", [\"Cat\", \"Dog\", \"Llama\"], [], true);\np.addButton(\"Button\");\n\np.show();<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>The cancel button is in a prompt by default, but you can hide it if you wish. The prompt will definitely make an appearance in actions you import from the action directory - if only because it's a great way to get credentials from you which can be used in an action.<\/p>\n<h4>Credentials<\/h4>\n<p>If you want to Tweet with Drafts, save something to Evernote, or add tasks to Todoist, there are two ways to do that. Passing the data to the app on your device and telling it what to do - which is not possible with every app - or by using the API of the service to complete the action. The difficulty with an API is you need a token to access it - similar to needing a username and password to log in. Drafts 5 has a clever way to store these, so that scripts can access them without needing to save the access key in the script itself - so there's no worry that by sharing your Todoist action people can start adding things to <em>your<\/em> Todoist, unless you explicitly want them to do so and share your credential! You can change the credentials saved in Drafts by tapping on the Settings wheel in the bottom right of the editor, and opening Credentials. By choosing the \"forget\" option the credential is deleted, and you can input a new one the next time you run an action that needs it. This system is especially useful as you can share one credential with many scripts - so it doesn't matter if you have 1 or 100 Todoist scripts, they can all access the same key, and you are in charge of it. The <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/agiletortoise\/drafts-documentation\/wiki\/Credential\">documentation for credentials in scripts<\/a> is definitely worth reading if you want to access APIs, and the <a href=\"http:\/\/getdrafts.com\/settings\/credentials\">general documentation<\/a> is also very helpful - especially if you have multiple accounts you want to interact with.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/a\/a\/7\/8\/8aa78459f9fb824119df5880a43b2c9ba6f6a349-drafts5-credentials.jpeg\"><img title=\"Credentials\" alt=\"Credentials\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/9\/1\/2\/0\/d9120a6ec07b3142009bffeadedc50ed1bc975a0-drafts5-credentials.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>\u00a0Price<\/h4>\n<p>Drafts 5 is free. Yes, you read that correctly. For the basic functionality you can get the app for free. If you want to create and edit your own actions, choose your theme(s) and custom icon, use Workspaces, have access to enhanced URL automation and support development you can do so for $1.99 a month, or $19.99 a year. If you're not sure which you need then there is a 7 day trial to let you play with the pro features.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.macsparky.com\/\">David Sparks (MacSparky)<\/a> made a second video for Agile Tortoise showing what's new in version 5: <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/263948739\">Drafts 5: What's New<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Upgraded and Awesome Things<\/h3>\n<p>That's a brief overview of the new things, now onto everything else!<\/p>\n<h4>Widgets<\/h4>\n<p>Drafts 4 had a widget, which allowed quick entry by default and if you enabled \"Show More\" (on the top right) allowed you to see the most recent Drafts. Drafts 5 has 3 widgets - one for quick entry, one for your recent items, and one for your workspaces. This allows you to enable and disable the ones you want on different devices, and with the workspaces go straight to the collection of Drafts you need. <\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/e\/7\/a\/a\/ae7aa352edbf4cfb59438307494c8f1da4a5eae6-drafts5-basic-widget.jpeg\"><img title=\"Basic Widget\" alt=\"Basic Widget\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/0\/4\/c\/6\/704c68b861f749e165b2813bec4172cb4e34d72d-drafts5-basic-widget.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/d\/6\/3\/1\/dd6310aa12ba72f17113e0adf20c020f0a0871bf-drafts5-recent-widget-sizes.png\"><img title=\"Recent Drafts Widget\" alt=\"Recent Drafts Widget\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/c\/e\/e\/7\/9cee794cd5d30d667aaafdedd69de0731696a0e0-drafts5-recent-widget-sizes.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/8\/6\/0\/6\/686061c0c9cca9e94b3eb975e343164df1ec704b-drafts5-workspaces-widget-options.png\"><img title=\"Workspaces Drafts Widget\" alt=\"Workspaces Drafts Widget\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/0\/f\/b\/c\/f0fbccd4670b1c8b606dc0f115e76a8deb1b9c38-drafts5-workspaces-widget-options.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Backup and Export<\/h4>\n<p>Your data is important, and there are backup options in Drafts which allow you to backup your drafts themselves, and\/or your actions. These options were there before, but are now unified onto one screen. You can also export your drafts with the option to add a filter - so you could export all of your Drafts with the tag \"cake recipe\" if you wanted - for example to send them to me.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/5\/4\/4\/4\/154443215563541cadc3be1682b9678bc03a0911-drafts5-backup-options.jpeg\"><img title=\"Backup Options\" alt=\"Backup Options\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/4\/0\/f\/1\/a40f169f7ca07905c20febe7b1f1215f8fc5333b-drafts5-backup-options.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/8\/a\/1\/c\/d8a1c20c7854248333b3a4b958276fb35ded361c-drafts5-export-drafts.jpeg\"><img title=\"Export Drafts\" alt=\"Export Drafts\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/b\/3\/1\/1\/db31168754048d657203fc56a5a69b89aed0f6f1-drafts5-export-drafts.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Reminders Import<\/h4>\n<p>Reminders import was present in version 4 too, but now you can add a tag when the reminders are imported - which is very helpful for filtering for them later.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/6\/8\/d\/4\/668d4484c11c4ddb07186b38a0520b823449c4f6-drafts5-reminders-import.jpeg\"><img title=\"Reminders Import\" alt=\"Reminders Import\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/c\/5\/7\/e\/2c57e15dd04c7f19f3d294207bf2d01b7027ab92-drafts5-reminders-import.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>After Action Success<\/h4>\n<p>This setting used to be global which could be overridden on a per action basis. You can now set this option for each action group, and you can still override it for an action if you wish. This is extremely helpful for the keyboard action groups as you're unlikely to want most of those actions to archive or trash your Draft when use them. <\/p>\n<h3>Drafts Forums<\/h3>\n<p>Agile Tortoise have set up forums where Drafts users can talk to one another, help each other create actions, request features, and more - I've already signed up and am checking it regularly to see what I can learn from everywhere else. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forums.getdrafts.com\/\">Drafts Forums<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>I've been using Drafts 5 instead of Drafts 4 for quite some time now, and I'm very happy with it. It has been my go to \"text starts here\" application ever since I bought it after hearing it mentioned on an episode of the Mac Power Users at some point - and it has become more than that over time. With the scripts and actions I can now write entire blog posts in Drafts, and could even upload them to the server and post them immediately if I wanted. This app has more than earnt it's position in my dock and will be there for the foreseeable future. <\/p>\n<h3>Other Reviews<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Tim Nahumck has written a much longer and more in depth review over on MacStories: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macstories.net\/reviews\/drafts-5-the-macstories-review\/\">Drafts 5: The MacStories Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Colin Walker has a nice overview from the perspective of someone who has been using Drafts for many versions: <a href=\"https:\/\/colinwalker.blog\/welcome-drafts-5\/\">Welcome Drafts 5<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Christopher Lawley has a video: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=t932yYzE1gQ&amp%3Bfeature=youtu.be\">Drafts 5: A Powerful Text Editor and Automation Tool for the iPad &amp; iPhone<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Josh Ginter on the Sweet Setup tells you about all the new features: <a href=\"https:\/\/thesweetsetup.com\/drafts-5-launches-with-new-design-drafts-pro-workspaces-advanced-scripting-functionality-and-much-more\/\">Drafts 5 launches with tagging, workspaces, advanced scripting functionality, and much more<\/a><\/li>\n<li>MacSparky tells you about how he uses it: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macsparky.com\/blog\/2018\/4\/big-update-for-drafts\">Big Update for Drafts<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Andre at Digitally Speaking Lab gives us <a href=\"https:\/\/digitallyspeakinglab.wordpress.com\/2018\/04\/18\/a-brief-overview-drafts-5-for-ios\/\">a brief overview: Drafts 5 for iOS<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Mac Rumors: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/2018\/04\/19\/drafts-5-overhauls-note-taking-app-with-new-themes-editor-options-and-action-features\/\">Drafts 5 Overhauls Note-Taking App With New Themes, Editor Options and Action Features<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Get The App<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/drafts-5-capture-act\/id1236254471?mt=8&at=1010lumu\">Drafts 5<\/a> is available in the App Store from today.<\/p>",
"content_text": "[TOC]\nIntro\n For those of you not familiar with Drafts, it\u2019s designed as an app which lets you input text and then decide what to do with it. Why? Sometimes that message turns into an email, or maybe the quick idea turns into a mind map. Or maybe you just don\u2019t know where the text is going to end up when you start writing. Drafts is designed to let you write and then process the text, removing the need to choose where the text should go first. \n\nWhen you open Drafts you get a blank note - automatically. You can set the time out period so that when you return to Drafts you either see your last note or a new note - mine is set to the default of 60 seconds. You can also open the app with force touch which allows you to create a new blank note, create a note from the clipboard, dictate a note, search, or open any one of your 4 most recently edited Drafts. The first three of these options, plus the choice to import a file, appear when you force touch the + on an iPhone, or press and hold on an iPad. The great part about the dictation is that unlike regular Siri dictation there\u2019s no timeout, that\u2019s right - you can dictate for as long as you like. David Sparks made a great introduction to Drafts 5 which I highly recommend: Drafts 5 Overview\n\n\nWhat Changed?\nSome of you may have used Drafts before, in fact if you\u2019re reading this it\u2019s likely you have so what\u2019s new? First of all the app has been completely rewritten, this means everything is new and shiny - and 100% up to date. There's also lots of new features.\nFirst things first, you can import all of your notes to Drafts and most of your actions. Make sure you're running the latest version of Drafts 4, and then in the settings of Drafts 5, tap \"Migrate from Drafts 4\". You can choose to import your Drafts, and\/or Actions and Keys. You can also export from Drafts 4 into Drafts 5 - there's a special Send to Drafts 5 for drafts, and inside each action in Drafts 4 you can choose to migrate the action, or add it as a callback so when the action is executed it is done so in Drafts 4 and then returns you to Drafts 5. Not every action which was available in Drafts 4 is available yet in Drafts 5, but Drafts 5 will make a list of the actions that couldn't be imported so you can handle those manually.\nThemes\nDrafts 4 had three theme choices - white, cream and black - and the ability to automatically switch to the black theme at a certain brightness threshold. Drafts 5 has several more colour theme options, and you can specify a day theme and a night theme to work with, which will switch at the brightness level you prefer. Choose the theme is a pro feature, and I've really enjoyed using the dark Solarized theme during the day with black at night. \n\nCustom Icons\nChoosing app icons is definitely a nice way to make your device yours, and Drafts now offers the ability to choose your app icon. There's a mix of flat images and ones with gradients - I personally picked the purple as that's my favourite colour.\n\nTagging and Flagging\nTagging allows you to optionally file your note in multiple places - and helps you to group together notes on a particular topic as well. Tags are shown under a draft in the list of drafts. When adding a tag to a draft you can see a list of your current tags in the keyboard bar, if the one you are looking for doesn't exist then you can type to create it. Tags are lower case - you can type capitals when creating them but they will be formatted for you. This is really useful as it allows you to avoid having Groceries and groceries by accident.\nFlagging is simple - a draft is flagged, or it is not flagged. You can use it however makes the most sense to you.\n\nFiltering\nNow we have filters we need to be able to work with them. Filtering allows us to choose combinations of tags to see or not as we want. By tapping the name of a tag in the filter section we add it to include, and by tapping the (ban) icon we can add the tag to the omitted list. This means you could include the tags cat and dog, but disallow spider. These tags are combined with an AND, so only drafts with all of the included tags and none of the omitted tags will show up.\nTags are not the only settings however, you can also set how much of a draft you want to see in the list, the sort order, if flagged items should be included or not, specific text to search for and more. \n\n\nThe full documentation for filtering in Drafts is well worth reading.\nWorkspaces\nWorkspaces can be created in two ways, from a filter you are currently using, or from scratch. They have the same set up as filters, but as you can name them and set the colour and icon to represent they are easy to keep track of. You can set the order that you would like to view your Workspaces in, and optionally show them, with or without their name, at the bottom of the list of Drafts. Workspaces are ideal for filters you make frequently, or which are more complex to construct.\n\n\n\nFocus\nBy default Drafts will open to a new draft after a set period of time - which can be adjusted by you. Focus mode allows you to do that by focusing on one particular draft, this means that whenever you open the app - even if that's next month - you'll be back at the draft you had open last. You can enable focus mode in two ways, by tapping the eye icon in the bottom left hand side of the editor when you're not editing a draft, or by opening the Settings and enabling it.\nSiriKit Integration\n\nHey Siri, make a note in Drafts to investigate buying the llama farm \n\nYou can now create new Drafts using Siri, it's simple but effective. You can also dictate notes, but that's not new - what's very useful though is that the dictation will not end as it does usually when dictating elsewhere on iOS.\n\nEditor Options\nIn Drafts you can now control a lot of settings with regards to how the editor appears, from paragraph numbers to syntax highlighting, and even whether or not the toolbar or the status bar should show you have plenty of choices. \n\n\n\nHere are some of the options you can choose to set for the editor by tapping the Aa button:\n\nSyntax highlighting\n\nPlain text\nMarkdown\nSimple List\nTaskpaper\nJavaScript\n\nFont\n\nChoose from any of the fonts pre-installed on iOS, or ones you have installed yourself.\nSelect a particular font to use for Monospaced text.\n\nLine height\nParagraph spacing\nMargins\nParagraph numbers\nYou can enable or disable\n\nAutocorrect\nSpell check\nSmart punctuation\n\nQuotes\nDashes\n\nCapitalisation\n\nNone or sentences\n\n\nPortrait, landscape, or any (only on iPhone)\n\nDraft 5 also has an improved arrange mode, Drafts 4 just allowed you to rearrange lines, Drafts 5 lets you edit blocks (separated by two line breaks) or lines, edit sections, and delete or remove them. You can also trigger the arrange mode via the URL scheme. \nThere is also a pre-installed Tasks action, which is shown on your keyboard by default. This is very clever, it makes the line that you're on or the text you have selected into a simple bullet checklist by adding - [ ] at the beginning of the line. By tapping on the [ ] you can mark a task as done [x].\n\u00a0Actions and Keyboard Groups\nFor those of you familiar with Workflow, actions are very similar in some ways. An action can contain any number of steps, a number of which are provided for you to use as is. Drafts does not arrive empty, it comes with 5 example action groups, 4 of which are available as keyboard groups for you - you can do what you like with these actions, including delete them. But if you're not familiar with Drafts and it's actions I recommend you swipe across the action from left to write, tap edit, and have a look.\nOne important change between Drafts 4 and Drafts 5 is there is no longer an app wide default as to what to do once an action has been executed, you now set this per action group. This is very useful so if you have a group of \"share\" actions for example, designed to get the text out of Drafts, you could immediately have the draft the action was executed on archived or trashed as you prefer.\nYou can choose to enable an action group on the keyboard, Draft has a row of buttons above the keyboard, and if you have multiple groups of keyboard actions you can swipe up and down on this row to switch between them. As you can assign keyboard shortcuts to actions as well this becomes very powerful very quickly.\n\nScripting in Drafts\nThe most powerful part of Drafts actions is the Script action, this is what it sounds like - you write a script which does things. Drafts uses JavaScript, if you use OmniGroup products they are introducing JavaScript for automation in those too - so learning the language could definitely pay off in the long run.\nThere is a wiki about Drafts scripting, which is definitely worth reading if you intend to use them.\nMy favourite functions that can be included in Scripting is the Prompt - so if you want to ask the user \"cats or dogs\", you could create a prompt which shows \"cats\" and \"dogs\" as buttons, and then depending on which they choose your script would react accordingly. A prompt can have any of the following options\n\nTitle\nMessage\nText Fields\nDate and or Time Fields\nSelects - single or multiple choice\nButtons\n\n\nHere's the script to create that prompt:\nvar p = Prompt.create();\n\np.title = \"Title\";\np.message = \"Message\";\n\np.addTextField(\"myTextField\", \"Text Field\", \"\");\np.addDatePicker(\"myDate\", \"Date Field\", new Date(), {\n \"mode\": \"date\"\n});\np.addDatePicker(\"myTime\", \"Time Field\", new Date(), {\n \"mode\": \"time\"\n});\np.addDatePicker(\"myDateTime\", \"Date &amp; Time Field\", new Date(), {\n \"mode\": \"dateAndTime\"\n});\np.addSelect(\"mySingleSelect\", \"Single Select Field\", [\"Cat\", \"Dog\", \"Llama\"], [], false);\np.addSelect(\"myMultipleSelect\", \"Multiple Select Field\", [\"Cat\", \"Dog\", \"Llama\"], [], true);\np.addButton(\"Button\");\n\np.show();\nThe cancel button is in a prompt by default, but you can hide it if you wish. The prompt will definitely make an appearance in actions you import from the action directory - if only because it's a great way to get credentials from you which can be used in an action.\nCredentials\nIf you want to Tweet with Drafts, save something to Evernote, or add tasks to Todoist, there are two ways to do that. Passing the data to the app on your device and telling it what to do - which is not possible with every app - or by using the API of the service to complete the action. The difficulty with an API is you need a token to access it - similar to needing a username and password to log in. Drafts 5 has a clever way to store these, so that scripts can access them without needing to save the access key in the script itself - so there's no worry that by sharing your Todoist action people can start adding things to your Todoist, unless you explicitly want them to do so and share your credential! You can change the credentials saved in Drafts by tapping on the Settings wheel in the bottom right of the editor, and opening Credentials. By choosing the \"forget\" option the credential is deleted, and you can input a new one the next time you run an action that needs it. This system is especially useful as you can share one credential with many scripts - so it doesn't matter if you have 1 or 100 Todoist scripts, they can all access the same key, and you are in charge of it. The documentation for credentials in scripts is definitely worth reading if you want to access APIs, and the general documentation is also very helpful - especially if you have multiple accounts you want to interact with.\n\n\u00a0Price\nDrafts 5 is free. Yes, you read that correctly. For the basic functionality you can get the app for free. If you want to create and edit your own actions, choose your theme(s) and custom icon, use Workspaces, have access to enhanced URL automation and support development you can do so for $1.99 a month, or $19.99 a year. If you're not sure which you need then there is a 7 day trial to let you play with the pro features.\nDavid Sparks (MacSparky) made a second video for Agile Tortoise showing what's new in version 5: Drafts 5: What's New\nUpgraded and Awesome Things\nThat's a brief overview of the new things, now onto everything else!\nWidgets\nDrafts 4 had a widget, which allowed quick entry by default and if you enabled \"Show More\" (on the top right) allowed you to see the most recent Drafts. Drafts 5 has 3 widgets - one for quick entry, one for your recent items, and one for your workspaces. This allows you to enable and disable the ones you want on different devices, and with the workspaces go straight to the collection of Drafts you need. \n\n\n\nBackup and Export\nYour data is important, and there are backup options in Drafts which allow you to backup your drafts themselves, and\/or your actions. These options were there before, but are now unified onto one screen. You can also export your drafts with the option to add a filter - so you could export all of your Drafts with the tag \"cake recipe\" if you wanted - for example to send them to me.\n\n\nReminders Import\nReminders import was present in version 4 too, but now you can add a tag when the reminders are imported - which is very helpful for filtering for them later.\n\nAfter Action Success\nThis setting used to be global which could be overridden on a per action basis. You can now set this option for each action group, and you can still override it for an action if you wish. This is extremely helpful for the keyboard action groups as you're unlikely to want most of those actions to archive or trash your Draft when use them. \nDrafts Forums\nAgile Tortoise have set up forums where Drafts users can talk to one another, help each other create actions, request features, and more - I've already signed up and am checking it regularly to see what I can learn from everywhere else. \nDrafts Forums\nConclusion\nI've been using Drafts 5 instead of Drafts 4 for quite some time now, and I'm very happy with it. It has been my go to \"text starts here\" application ever since I bought it after hearing it mentioned on an episode of the Mac Power Users at some point - and it has become more than that over time. With the scripts and actions I can now write entire blog posts in Drafts, and could even upload them to the server and post them immediately if I wanted. This app has more than earnt it's position in my dock and will be there for the foreseeable future. \nOther Reviews\n\nTim Nahumck has written a much longer and more in depth review over on MacStories: Drafts 5: The MacStories Review\nColin Walker has a nice overview from the perspective of someone who has been using Drafts for many versions: Welcome Drafts 5\nChristopher Lawley has a video: Drafts 5: A Powerful Text Editor and Automation Tool for the iPad &amp; iPhone\nJosh Ginter on the Sweet Setup tells you about all the new features: Drafts 5 launches with tagging, workspaces, advanced scripting functionality, and much more\nMacSparky tells you about how he uses it: Big Update for Drafts\nAndre at Digitally Speaking Lab gives us a brief overview: Drafts 5 for iOS\nMac Rumors: Drafts 5 Overhauls Note-Taking App With New Themes, Editor Options and Action Features\n\nGet The App\nDrafts 5 is available in the App Store from today.",
"tags": "review,drafts"
},
{
"title": "TaskPaper to OmniFocus Project in a Folder with Editorial",
"date_published": "2018-04-17T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "taskpaper-to-omnifocus-project-in-a-folder-with-editorial",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/taskpaper-to-omnifocus-project-in-a-folder-with-editorial",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>When OmniGroup first added Taskpaper support to OmniFocus they published an Editorial workflow which allows you to create new project - in the Mac Power Users Facebook Group someone asked if you could specify which folder the project should go into, a few minimal tweaks later and here is the solution! The key changes were:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ask the user which folder they want to save the project in.<\/li>\n<li>URL encode the folder name.<\/li>\n<li>Modify the X-Callback URL so the project would be saved to the specified folder.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can get OmniGroup's original Editorial workflow from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omnigroup.com\/blog\/omnifocus-for-ios-now-automation-ready\">their blog post here<\/a>, and the modification to allow you to add directly to a folder is available here: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.editorial-workflows.com\/workflow\/5903282794921984\/B7PmEGtLdT8\">New OmniFocus Project in Folder<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": "When OmniGroup first added Taskpaper support to OmniFocus they published an Editorial workflow which allows you to create new project - in the Mac Power Users Facebook Group someone asked if you could specify which folder the project should go into, a few minimal tweaks later and here is the solution! The key changes were:\n\nAsk the user which folder they want to save the project in.\nURL encode the folder name.\nModify the X-Callback URL so the project would be saved to the specified folder.\n\nYou can get OmniGroup's original Editorial workflow from their blog post here, and the modification to allow you to add directly to a folder is available here: New OmniFocus Project in Folder",
"tags": "omnifocus,editorial,automation"
},
{
"title": "I\u2019m Going to Be on Learn OmniFocus May 23rd",
"date_published": "2018-04-12T07:30:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "announce-learn-omnifocus",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/announce-learn-omnifocus",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img alt=\"Learn OmniFocus Logo\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/0\/0\/6\/9\/50069715497b2ac9272e57ee2d8ab60585a80b7c-learn-omnifocus.png\" \/>\nI\u2019m very honoured to have been invited to present my OmniFocus workflows on <a href=\"https:\/\/learnomnifocus.com\/?ref=16\">Learn OmniFocus<\/a> with Tim Stringer. The session will be live on May 23rd, and you can <a href=\"https:\/\/learnomnifocus.com\/live\/2018-05-23-omnifocus-workflows-with-rose-orchard\/?ref=16\">sign up for it now<\/a>. As well as showing how I use OmniFocus I\u2019ll also be demonstrating some of my <a href=\"https:\/\/rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/tag:workflow\">Workflow workflows<\/a> and automation that I use every day. <\/p>\n<p>For those of you not familiar with Learn OmniFocus, it\u2019s a great site with <a href=\"https:\/\/learnomnifocus.com\/articles\/?ref=16\">articles<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/learnomnifocus.com\/videos\/?ref=16\">videos<\/a> and more which will help you learn about OmniFocus. You can see some examples from <a href=\"https:\/\/learnomnifocus.com\/recordings\/omnifocus-workflow-guests\/?ref=16\">previous workflow guests<\/a> if you want to get an idea of what my session will be like. If you\u2019re a member there\u2019s plenty of extra goodies too like AppleScripts - including the ability to watch my session live and chat with everyone before and after but the chat sessions won\u2019t be included.<\/p>\n<p>I hope to see some of you there!<\/p>",
"content_text": "\nI\u2019m very honoured to have been invited to present my OmniFocus workflows on Learn OmniFocus with Tim Stringer. The session will be live on May 23rd, and you can sign up for it now. As well as showing how I use OmniFocus I\u2019ll also be demonstrating some of my Workflow workflows and automation that I use every day. \nFor those of you not familiar with Learn OmniFocus, it\u2019s a great site with articles, videos and more which will help you learn about OmniFocus. You can see some examples from previous workflow guests if you want to get an idea of what my session will be like. If you\u2019re a member there\u2019s plenty of extra goodies too like AppleScripts - including the ability to watch my session live and chat with everyone before and after but the chat sessions won\u2019t be included.\nI hope to see some of you there!",
"tags": "omnifocus,learn omnifocus"
},
{
"title": "Review: MacSparky iPhone Field Guide",
"date_published": "2018-04-11T22:30:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "review-macsparky-iphone-field-guide",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/review-macsparky-iphone-field-guide",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/review-macsparky-iphone-field-guide\/(https:\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/book\/id1366611031?at=1010lumu%29\" class=\"image-right\"><img alt=\"MacSparky iPhone Field Guide\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/d\/c\/b\/2\/adcb286cefdb56c2def752c7489ea77462455390-macsparky-iphone-field-guide.png\" \/><\/a> I was fortunate enough to get a quick look at David Sparks\u2019 new field guide in Chicago earlier this year and was impressed - and then David kindly sent me a copy of the book to beta test! I expect you all think of me as a power user, and I class myself in that category as well, but I was <em>very<\/em> pleasantly surprised to find how many tricks I was missing on my iPhone! <\/p>\n<p>For those of you not familiar with a MacSparky field guide be prepared, this is not just a book. In fact, I would say it\u2019s a \"Beauty and the Beast\" book - though without the singing. This book has videos embedded in it, over two hours of them where David demonstrates these features. The book is split into 44 chapters, and multiple sections within each chapter. A chapter tends to be an area such as Email, with sections being a look at the apps available. You even get tips and tricks such as how to use Fantastical's natural language parser to add an alert to an event when creating it, or which calculator application has an augmented reality mode in it. You can see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macsparky.com\/iphone\">full chapter list here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>David\u2019s done a great job here; the whole book is jam-packed full of knowledge - even for power users. I\u2019m going to be buying a few copies for my family and best of all these tips and tricks can be used to enhance your iPad usage too. The only thing you should be aware of is that you'll most likely buy at least one app because of this book! <\/p>\n<p>Get your copy of the <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/book\/id1366611031?at=1010lumu\">iPhone Field Guide<\/a> now.<\/p>\n<p>The current price is introductory so grab it while you can!<\/p>",
"content_text": " I was fortunate enough to get a quick look at David Sparks\u2019 new field guide in Chicago earlier this year and was impressed - and then David kindly sent me a copy of the book to beta test! I expect you all think of me as a power user, and I class myself in that category as well, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find how many tricks I was missing on my iPhone! \nFor those of you not familiar with a MacSparky field guide be prepared, this is not just a book. In fact, I would say it\u2019s a \"Beauty and the Beast\" book - though without the singing. This book has videos embedded in it, over two hours of them where David demonstrates these features. The book is split into 44 chapters, and multiple sections within each chapter. A chapter tends to be an area such as Email, with sections being a look at the apps available. You even get tips and tricks such as how to use Fantastical's natural language parser to add an alert to an event when creating it, or which calculator application has an augmented reality mode in it. You can see the full chapter list here.\nDavid\u2019s done a great job here; the whole book is jam-packed full of knowledge - even for power users. I\u2019m going to be buying a few copies for my family and best of all these tips and tricks can be used to enhance your iPad usage too. The only thing you should be aware of is that you'll most likely buy at least one app because of this book! \nGet your copy of the iPhone Field Guide now.\nThe current price is introductory so grab it while you can!",
"tags": "review"
},
{
"title": "Workflow: Clearing Out Your Camera Roll",
"date_published": "2018-04-04T17:30:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "workflow-clearing-out-your-camera-roll",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-clearing-out-your-camera-roll",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Clear The Camera Roll\" alt=\"Clear The Camera Roll\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/b\/7\/e\/2\/cb7e28faed1c791d43166029e461128a4e0a3f0d-workflow-clear-the-camera-roll.png\" \/> Sometimes you take screenshots, lots of screenshots. And sometimes you use built in screen recording to capture what's happening on a device. You probably use these features even more frequently if you\u2019re beta testing an app - and that\u2019s how this Workflow came to be. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/nostodnayr\">Ryan<\/a> mentioned in the OmniFocus Beta Slack that his camera roll was suffering with all the screenshots he\u2019s been taking. Challenge accepted. This workflow will help you delete <em>both<\/em> screenshots and screencasts you\u2019ve taken on your devices.<\/p>\n<p>Steps: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Number\" alt=\"Number\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/f\/3\/8\/b\/8f38bd28ee084c7971c89ab17c00006f56c19587-calculator.png\" \/> <code>Number<\/code>: Set this number to be the number of screenshots and screencasts you want to go through.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Latest Screenshots\" alt=\"Get Latest Screenshots\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/2\/b\/f\/4\/b2bf484c70a0b121b7fed0e1b0f99c257e90f42d-photos.png\" \/> <code>Get Latest Screenshots<\/code>: This fetches the number of screenshots chosen above.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Choose from List\" alt=\"Choose from List\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Choose from List<\/code>: You select which screenshots you want to delete. <\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Delete Photos\" alt=\"Delete Photos\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/2\/b\/f\/4\/b2bf484c70a0b121b7fed0e1b0f99c257e90f42d-photos.png\" \/> <code>Delete Photos<\/code>: The photos are deleted.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Latest Videos\" alt=\"Get Latest Videos\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/e\/6\/4\/7\/0e647b31acadbc6b99a154c57f3931e0aeeae500-videos.png\" \/> <code>Get Latest Videos<\/code>: This gets X number of the most recent videos, X being the number right at the top of the Workflow.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Repeat with Each\" alt=\"Repeat with Each\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Repeat with Each<\/code>: It checks every picture.\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Get Name\" alt=\"Get Name\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Get Name<\/code><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"If\" alt=\"If\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>If<\/code>: If the name of the photo contains \"Screen\"... (Screen recording videos are called something like <code>ScreenRecording_04-04-2018 15-17-54<\/code>.)\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Get Variable\" alt=\"Get Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <code>Get Variable<\/code>: Get the actual video, otherwise you just have the name.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Add to Variable\" alt=\"Add to Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <code>Add to Variable<\/code>: Add the video to a variable called <code>Screen Recordings<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"If\" alt=\"Else\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Else<\/code>: It\u2019a not got \"Screen\" in the name\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Nothing\" alt=\"Nothing\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Nothing<\/code>: We don\u2019t want these videos to be included here.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Get Variable\" alt=\"Get Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <code>Get Variable<\/code>: Get all those screen recordings.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Choose from List\" alt=\"Choose from List\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Choose from List<\/code>: Choose which screen recordings you want to delete.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Delete Photos\" alt=\"Delete Photos\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/2\/b\/f\/4\/b2bf484c70a0b121b7fed0e1b0f99c257e90f42d-photos.png\" \/> <code>Delete Photos<\/code>: Delete the screen recordings. We\u2019re using this action rather than \"Delete Files\" because the Videos actions outputs a \"photo like object\".<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/7573d4ee1c4b44dd80bb5c4be0c431d8\">Clear The Camera Roll<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Enjoy clearing your camera roll!<\/p>",
"content_text": " Sometimes you take screenshots, lots of screenshots. And sometimes you use built in screen recording to capture what's happening on a device. You probably use these features even more frequently if you\u2019re beta testing an app - and that\u2019s how this Workflow came to be. Ryan mentioned in the OmniFocus Beta Slack that his camera roll was suffering with all the screenshots he\u2019s been taking. Challenge accepted. This workflow will help you delete both screenshots and screencasts you\u2019ve taken on your devices.\nSteps: \n\n Number: Set this number to be the number of screenshots and screencasts you want to go through.\n Get Latest Screenshots: This fetches the number of screenshots chosen above.\n Choose from List: You select which screenshots you want to delete. \n Delete Photos: The photos are deleted.\n Get Latest Videos: This gets X number of the most recent videos, X being the number right at the top of the Workflow.\n Repeat with Each: It checks every picture.\n\n Get Name\n If: If the name of the photo contains \"Screen\"... (Screen recording videos are called something like ScreenRecording_04-04-2018 15-17-54.)\n\n Get Variable: Get the actual video, otherwise you just have the name.\n Add to Variable: Add the video to a variable called Screen Recordings.\n\n Else: It\u2019a not got \"Screen\" in the name\n\n Nothing: We don\u2019t want these videos to be included here.\n\n\n Get Variable: Get all those screen recordings.\n Choose from List: Choose which screen recordings you want to delete.\n Delete Photos: Delete the screen recordings. We\u2019re using this action rather than \"Delete Files\" because the Videos actions outputs a \"photo like object\".\n\nYou can get the workflow here: Clear The Camera Roll\nEnjoy clearing your camera roll!",
"tags": "workflow"
},
{
"title": "Workflow: Mac Power Users &amp; Podcast Show Notes",
"date_published": "2018-03-21T08:00:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "workflow-mac-power-users-show-notes",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-mac-power-users-show-notes",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Mac Power Users\" alt=\"Mac Power Users\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/7\/f\/e\/7\/67fe7999716abdff50b3b5f3c3f2aac3681ba52b-workflow-mac-power-users.png\" \/> This is a very simple Workflow I use to get the show notes for the Mac Power Users podcast, I use it when I\u2019m listening on another device and I don\u2019t want to grab it or interrupt what I\u2019m doing. It\u2019s quite simple, just 3 steps in fact.<\/p>\n\n<h4>Steps:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Scripting\" alt=\"Scripting\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: This asks you for the episode number.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"URL\" alt=\"URL\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/9\/1\/d\/e\/e91de28d963c7f957be2ac3b7401ae74ec5d9956-url.png\" \/> <code>URL<\/code> This creates the URL for the show notes.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Web\" alt=\"Web\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/a\/d\/4\/3\/7ad43a514dca5f3ec38d17d9e4a0f0dbed426f67-web.png\" \/> <code>Open URLs<\/code> And this opens the above URL.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/4cf72716fa3d4c79bdb36eccc9dabf13\">Mac Power Users Show Notes<\/a>. It\u2019s designed to run in the today widget.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Podcast Show Notes\" alt=\"Podcast Show Notes\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/d\/5\/d\/1\/cd5d1f904fa27116c9eb5127ecca216b61a17e13-workflow-podcast-show-notes.png\" \/> Now, you might listen to more than one podcast (<code>dramatic music<\/code>) - and you probably don\u2019t want one of these for every podcast you listen to, that\u2019s just not manageable. But with some help from the dictionary action you can make it much easier. <\/p>\n<h4>Steps:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><img title=\"Scripting\" alt=\"Scripting\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Dictionary<\/code>: This is where you store the list of the friendly name for the podcast and the URL which comes before the show number, so in the case of the Mac Power Users podcast, that is <code>http:\/\/www.relay.fm\/mpu\/<\/code> - attaching an episode number (such as 318) gives you a link directly to the show notes.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Scripting\" alt=\"Scripting\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Ask for Input<\/code>: This asks you for the episode number.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Variable\" alt=\"Variable\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/e\/4\/a\/dfe4a64988ef96b2ba76ebf818f1e26e1dbcd368-variable.png\" \/> <code>Get Variable<\/code>: This grabs the dictionary from above.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Scripting\" alt=\"Scripting\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/5\/5\/e\/2\/955e28b8fdf6fa949a747d562643812300432da0-scripting.png\" \/> <code>Choose from List<\/code>: Here\u2019s where you choose the podcast you\u2019re listening to.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"URL\" alt=\"URL\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/9\/1\/d\/e\/e91de28d963c7f957be2ac3b7401ae74ec5d9956-url.png\" \/> <code>URL<\/code> This creates the URL for the show notes.<\/li>\n<li><img title=\"Web\" alt=\"Web\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/a\/d\/4\/3\/7ad43a514dca5f3ec38d17d9e4a0f0dbed426f67-web.png\" \/> <code>Open URLs<\/code> And this opens the above URL.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can get the workflow here: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/6faf80b0404e4b6eb1b5fa3f5de3f9e2\">Podcast Show Notes<\/a><\/p>",
"content_text": " This is a very simple Workflow I use to get the show notes for the Mac Power Users podcast, I use it when I\u2019m listening on another device and I don\u2019t want to grab it or interrupt what I\u2019m doing. It\u2019s quite simple, just 3 steps in fact.\n\nSteps:\n\n Ask for Input: This asks you for the episode number.\n URL This creates the URL for the show notes.\n Open URLs And this opens the above URL.\n\nYou can get the workflow here: Mac Power Users Show Notes. It\u2019s designed to run in the today widget.\n Now, you might listen to more than one podcast (dramatic music) - and you probably don\u2019t want one of these for every podcast you listen to, that\u2019s just not manageable. But with some help from the dictionary action you can make it much easier. \nSteps:\n\n Dictionary: This is where you store the list of the friendly name for the podcast and the URL which comes before the show number, so in the case of the Mac Power Users podcast, that is http:\/\/www.relay.fm\/mpu\/ - attaching an episode number (such as 318) gives you a link directly to the show notes.\n Ask for Input: This asks you for the episode number.\n Get Variable: This grabs the dictionary from above.\n Choose from List: Here\u2019s where you choose the podcast you\u2019re listening to.\n URL This creates the URL for the show notes.\n Open URLs And this opens the above URL.\n\nYou can get the workflow here: Podcast Show Notes",
"tags": "workflow,mac power users"
},
{
"title": "Omnifocus 3 Sneak Peak",
"date_published": "2018-03-18T22:30:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:53+02:00",
"id": "omnifocus-3-sneak-peak",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/omnifocus-3-sneak-peak",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"OmniFocus 3 Temp Logo\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3 Temp Logo\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/b\/d\/6\/2\/8bd625637534ed81a0f0487953b7601088d1586f-omnifocus-3-temp-logo.png\" \/>\nI'm fortunate enough to have been let into the very early OmniFocus 3 Beta. The app isn't finished yet, but here are some of the features which you might enjoy. To make things clear, I have the dark theme on OF3, and the light theme in OF2 - and I've tried to do screenshots to let you compare the two easily. <\/p>\n<h3>Multi Pane Views<\/h3>\n<p>You can now have a multipane view, this means you can have the traditional Home Screen on the left, tasks in the middle, and the inspector (detailed view of a task, project or tag) on the right - or you can have any combination of these three.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/c\/f\/5\/2\/2cf52091fee8a34070c7141778f855a8aeda5e24-omnifocus-3-inspector-right-multiple-tags.png\"><img title=\"Inspector right, multiple tags\" alt=\"Inspector right, multiple tags\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/c\/b\/0\/8\/0cb0882f0bb72564c1902dac97722bcfbcebee6d-omnifocus-3-inspector-right-multiple-tags.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/e\/4\/5\/a\/ee45a24a1cf3044f2f48ad9e5f5157366d1bc7da-omnifocus-3-inspector-floating-sidebar-pinned.png\"><img title=\"Inspector floating, sidebar pinned\" alt=\"Inspector floating, sidebar pinned\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/a\/7\/9\/7\/fa797e5b644b2672abe0c88674074a2ac3bcd0ef-omnifocus-3-inspector-floating-sidebar-pinned.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/b\/b\/4\/7\/8bb47fe277643ef19c7aa4b20a091eb95d7002c3-omnifocus-3-three-pane-view.png\"><img title=\"Three pane view\" alt=\"Three pane view\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/d\/6\/3\/a\/0d63a41614881ade4f4ab01472252c57cd74991d-omnifocus-3-three-pane-view.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Forecast View<\/h3>\n<p>There have been some changes to the Forecast view as well - primarily the interleaving of tasks and calendar events. This is purely based on the due time of a task and the time of the calendar event.\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/7\/9\/3\/3\/d79336147773ed24eede07629ea40acb52cf2d3b-omnifocus-3-today-view.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 3 Today View iPad\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3 Today View iPad\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/6\/0\/9\/2\/0609276c5245c9967da9d0191bf032f06ef77ca4-omnifocus-3-today-view.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/2\/3\/3\/e\/7233e1c7125cd1bc9734cb624f99a39bbf792e82-omnifocus-2-today-view.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 2 Today View iPad\" alt=\"OmniFocus 2 Today View iPad\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/7\/e\/2\/1\/d7e21faacdb454907512f0718ed047ef069c7e24-omnifocus-2-today-view.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/b\/8\/0\/d\/cb80ddba9c02fb4a88bc72ffd482862391f0f07b-omnifocus-3-forecast-view-iphone.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 3 Forecast View iPhone\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3 Forecast View iPhone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/1\/a\/f\/e\/11afecfdf2a8adb58b5bb4123a0a7c7bf833ae51-omnifocus-3-forecast-view-iphone.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/4\/1\/b\/f\/541bf461c510f0cd2bbab755da9b2256b8e0361e-omnifocus-2-forecast-view-iphone.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 2 Forecast View iPhone\" alt=\"OmniFocus 2 Forecast View iPhone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/3\/5\/b\/6\/935b67957c80b16e0e269d83220fce8b1bb1dac5-omnifocus-2-forecast-view-iphone.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A new feature is the ability to have <strong>a<\/strong> tag displayed in the forecast view. This might be very handy if you have lots of <code>#waiting on<\/code> tasks which you need to be on top of, or if there's a particular area you need to focus on. Of course, if you want multiple tags that's what perspectives are for.\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/1\/1\/9\/2\/e1192172da82ff752cb787111d0ac695a93d9b5a-showing-tags-in-the-today-view.png\"><img title=\"Showing tags in the today view\" alt=\"Showing tags in the today view\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/7\/2\/4\/f\/e724fff6509a885938d8b0b30e90152d8657a206-showing-tags-in-the-today-view.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>The Inspector<\/h3>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/3\/4\/c\/1\/e34c1d8025d76282975847ede225ff1baaab8cc1-omnifocus-3-customising-the-inspector.jpeg\"><img title=\"Customising the Inspector\" alt=\"Customising the Inspector\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/5\/2\/5\/a\/a525a1193838e389ef8812139edc779e75a86e02-omnifocus-3-customising-the-inspector.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\nThe inspector for tasks, tags, and projects has received some updates. You can set what you want to see and hide by default - so if you never use locations in tags (or contexts as they are in OF2) you can hide them.<\/p>\n<h4>The Project Inspector<\/h4>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/6\/5\/f\/7\/365f7200f61392a6e8f240cdcaf5cab5555fac04-project-inspector-default.png\"><img title=\"Project Inspector Default\" alt=\"Project inspector Default\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/8\/9\/6\/e\/f896e472322989a50e492ac66bd04938274c6f54-project-inspector-default.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/8\/6\/a\/f\/b86afdf78816e1439a4741eba3d3b0a4a7ba9f18-project-inspector-default-extended.png\"><img title=\"Project inspector default extended\" alt=\"Project inspector default extended\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/c\/8\/1\/3\/9c81319b90a06d21dfed10724ff4b3f673193874-project-inspector-default-extended.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/6\/e\/f\/1\/96ef181b80146202c8f38d5c8e00edb45396cf8a-customising-the-project-inspector.png\"><img title=\"Customising the project inspector\" alt=\"Customising the project inspector\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/e\/7\/7\/f\/ce77ffc405134e47ebd4f758700111ccbbfce9e1-customising-the-project-inspector.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>The Tag Inspector<\/h4>\n<p><img title=\"Tag inspector default\" alt=\"Tag inspector default\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/0\/3\/2\/2\/30322c54cb0c348a28e793d10ffa2c594c3d2e80-tag-inspector-default.png?lightbox=1024\" \/>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/4\/0\/2\/2\/24022046c54c0cd7d895f8e3f29774c2de97433a-tag-inspector-default-extended.png\"><img title=\"Tag inspector default extended\" alt=\"Tag inspector default extended\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/6\/f\/0\/4\/a6f04722047386a977fe81e5ee1c4b11cf385aca-tag-inspector-default-extended.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/b\/7\/f\/d\/fb7fd500bfd787b74aee8f6ff37a991cc3533dc3-customising-the-tag-inspector.png\"><img title=\"Customising the tag inspector\" alt=\"Customising the tag inspector\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/b\/0\/5\/a\/6b05a46377e772a705b430d391e8a8582697bc76-customising-the-tag-inspector.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>The Task Inspector<\/h4>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/1\/5\/d\/c\/015dcf371775bef4a5edafe8000e01828780aa8b-task-inspector-default.png\"><img title=\"Task inspector default\" alt=\"Task inspector default\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/9\/b\/0\/6\/99b06e04ec9d73f95cc5c2f408da16eb99eb7236-task-inspector-default.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/1\/7\/d\/0\/d17d08590c9e4289bf57a68708291a4013e31767-task-inspector-default-extended.png\"><img title=\"Task inspector default extended\" alt=\"Task inspector default extended\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/a\/2\/c\/a\/3a2caa144e0bb777655eebf861c9d0820fcbe6df-task-inspector-default-extended.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/f\/3\/c\/7\/5f3c77f7261f5cd37ee52b792a0538c8d000c0b8-customising-the-task-inspector.png\"><img title=\"Customising the task inspector\" alt=\"Customising the task inspector\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/b\/a\/c\/9\/ebac94ce2ab7a9dbeae6eabb6562bb14b175c196-customising-the-task-inspector.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And of course these changes are present on the iPad as well. <\/p>\n<h3>Search<\/h3>\n<p>Search can now happen from any view, just by pulling down on the tasks list. Previously it was in the bar at the top. <\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/8\/e\/c\/5\/d8ec5682a9dec13eec0df77f34db89b680442e73-omnifocus-3-search-in-any-view.png\"><img title=\"Search in any view\" alt=\"Search in any view\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/f\/3\/c\/0\/bf3c034a632d6620c99bdc8593a78cefe3322153-omnifocus-3-search-in-any-view.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/9\/7\/4\/4\/b97440817d71e7f7752bfb008cab8b8699248329-omnifocus-2-search.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 2 search\" alt=\"OmniFocus 2 search\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/b\/b\/5\/8\/bbb58daadc61281a3f922203a7ab494bd2528e22-omnifocus-2-search.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Location Based Notifications<\/h3>\n<p>The notifications have had some changes made to them as well. Here on the top you see OmniFocus 3, and below it you see OmniFocus 2. Omnifocus 2 shows you the name of the context, the first task, and the number of other tasks available. OmniFocus 3 shows you the name of the tag, and how many tasks are available to you. <\/p>\n<p><img title=\"OmniFocus iPhone notifications\" alt=\"OmniFocus iPhone notifications\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/c\/9\/8\/1\/ac981fff8be4038249d14daa710c266ff3c66228-omnifocus-iphone-notifications.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The watch notifications are exactly the same. At first glance this seems like it is less information - but force touching or 3D touching the notification (depending on which device you're on) gives us a lot more choice.\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/1\/5\/7\/8\/015780330599bcb2da99333173e296b66c14a12b-omnifocus-3-watch-notification.jpeg\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 3 Watch notification\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3 Watch notification\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/4\/0\/4\/4\/f40440e63a6aa2a3c72039388db517da5ee4e683-omnifocus-3-watch-notification.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/6\/3\/3\/0\/963303a50fe27284d2fd41427d5a2ddce443ae65-omnifocus-2-watch-notification.jpeg\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 2 Watch Notification\" alt=\"OmniFocus 2 Watch Notification\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/d\/5\/6\/b\/5d56bc4c5ab4cced34a63d011b7319a70aa1ebfc-omnifocus-2-watch-notification.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>OmniFocus 3 here lets me View Location, or View Actions. OmniFocus 2 lets me dismiss the notification. <\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/e\/5\/c\/9\/8e5c9eb209ba73008bd8a8ca2c82de9d373cc22a-omnifocus-3-watch-notification-detail.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 3 Watch notification detail\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3 Watch notification detail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/3\/6\/7\/1\/b36714d0fbf9bbae5dd312f7341e19860624f5cd-omnifocus-3-watch-notification-detail.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/5\/4\/2\/e\/8542e2c08fc22fb39e70e621087cf8001921a234-omnifocus-2-watch-notification-detail.jpeg\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 2 Watch notification detail\" alt=\"OmniFocus 2 Watch notification detail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/0\/9\/d\/f\/b09df0e8a7c34e687820a783bdecd84545e307be-omnifocus-2-watch-notification-detail.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Notifications<\/h3>\n<p>Notifications have had an overhaul - gone are the days where you get pinged as something goes from \"hell being about to break loose\" to \"apocalypse\", you can now set up a series of notifications for a task. If your task has a due date you can set reminders to happen X amount of time before it becomes due by adding minutes, hours, or days. Whether or not your task has a due date you can set a custom or fixed notification which will happen at the date and time you specify - very helpful. These notifications are one off, but the customisability is definitely something I'll be using frequently. <\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/2\/1\/a\/6\/421a699a4cea7ebb2aa82473ef1d927f4b72e82d-omnifocus-reminders-for-tasks.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus Reminders for tasks\" alt=\"OmniFocus Reminders for tasks\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/5\/c\/8\/e\/55c8e8b6d962f31bdecd69df8bb427fb5ddba549-omnifocus-reminders-for-tasks.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/1\/e\/a\/a\/b1eaa2a1c107b1585b9c79af41c3d3049a74b673-omnifocus-3-before-due-notifications.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 3 before due notifications\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3 before due notifications\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/2\/3\/2\/c\/2232cbe30842e74669e516823182065aff44b9ec-omnifocus-3-before-due-notifications.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/2\/2\/7\/5\/822756853d78d03bfcdb57ea304c9acbc689a28f-omnifocus-3-fixed-notification.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 3 fixed notification\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3 fixed notification\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/6\/f\/b\/0\/46fb0a03cc2ef0888f5ea9352b9d061539aaa4cb-omnifocus-3-fixed-notification.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Flagging<\/h3>\n<p>A task or project is flagged or isn't flagged. A task can inherit a tag from the project or task it belongs to - and none of this has changed in OmniFocus 3. What has changed is how you tag things. You can simply swipe from left to right on a task or project, and tap to flag it.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/3\/e\/e\/0\/73ee0739c2e95c2f38034ee535dec9b9a45df481-omnifocus-3-quick-flagging-and-unflagging-tasks.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 3 quick flagging and unflagging tasks\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3 quick flagging and unflagging tasks\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/6\/0\/3\/c\/e603cd99d8d10a43073776b6833edf24aba7ac06-omnifocus-3-quick-flagging-and-unflagging-tasks.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You can also see very easily when a task is flagged because its parent is flagged which is very nice.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/0\/1\/9\/2\/30192b0740187695e7f76c9f7a762be21a11c711-parent-is-flagged.jpeg\"><img title=\"Parent is flagged\" alt=\"Parent is flagged\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/8\/8\/6\/6\/78866424cd4251eec06d44d1f1eddd1be0a46479-parent-is-flagged.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Quick Editing<\/h3>\n<p>So swiping from left to right lets you flag or unflag, swiping in the other direction allows you to delete the task, or if you tap more you can schedule it - for today or tomorrow. <\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/a\/1\/b\/3\/1a1b3bd88df5b5dd7cda0e42f9edeccc679098c7-omnifocus-3-swipe-to-delete.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 3 swipe to delete\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3 swipe to delete\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/9\/b\/8\/f\/09b8fbff7d703955cb4a292e6f4e15da2d168479-omnifocus-3-swipe-to-delete.png\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/f\/a\/4\/a\/bfa4ab5d5dcd2a36cf32d692ceebc0ed64a6d1ae-omnifocus-3-quick-schedule.png\"><img title=\"OmniFocus 3 quick schedule\" alt=\"OmniFocus 3 quick schedule\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/8\/a\/a\/0\/08aa04388eb461a1d73a894f7aee7ec93ddf949b-omnifocus-3-quick-schedule.png\" \/><\/a> <\/p>\n<h3>Batch Task Editing<\/h3>\n<p>It's now possible to edit multiple tasks at once as well - this is hard to explain in screenshots so I've created a very short video for you.<\/p>\n<div class=\"grav-youtube\">\n <iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/CZhEAUf5jKM?color=white?enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>To summarise, I absolutely love the beta of OmniFocus 3. There are things planned for this iOS app which haven't yet arrived, and many exciting new possibilities. I'm going to really have to dig into tags to see mysq<\/p>\n<p>A quick note about the icon:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">When you get your OmniFocus 3 TestFlight invitation, don't worry: this is _not_ our final icon. (It's our \"this build is a work-in-progress, use with caution\" icon.) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MmNVSX2SrM\">pic.twitter.com\/MmNVSX2SrM<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Ken Case (@kcase) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kcase\/status\/970840191207333888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 6, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote>",
"content_text": "\nI'm fortunate enough to have been let into the very early OmniFocus 3 Beta. The app isn't finished yet, but here are some of the features which you might enjoy. To make things clear, I have the dark theme on OF3, and the light theme in OF2 - and I've tried to do screenshots to let you compare the two easily. \nMulti Pane Views\nYou can now have a multipane view, this means you can have the traditional Home Screen on the left, tasks in the middle, and the inspector (detailed view of a task, project or tag) on the right - or you can have any combination of these three.\n\n\n\nForecast View\nThere have been some changes to the Forecast view as well - primarily the interleaving of tasks and calendar events. This is purely based on the due time of a task and the time of the calendar event.\n\n\n\n\nA new feature is the ability to have a tag displayed in the forecast view. This might be very handy if you have lots of #waiting on tasks which you need to be on top of, or if there's a particular area you need to focus on. Of course, if you want multiple tags that's what perspectives are for.\n\nThe Inspector\n\nThe inspector for tasks, tags, and projects has received some updates. You can set what you want to see and hide by default - so if you never use locations in tags (or contexts as they are in OF2) you can hide them.\nThe Project Inspector\n\n\n\nThe Tag Inspector\n\n\n\nThe Task Inspector\n\n\n\nAnd of course these changes are present on the iPad as well. \nSearch\nSearch can now happen from any view, just by pulling down on the tasks list. Previously it was in the bar at the top. \n\n\nLocation Based Notifications\nThe notifications have had some changes made to them as well. Here on the top you see OmniFocus 3, and below it you see OmniFocus 2. Omnifocus 2 shows you the name of the context, the first task, and the number of other tasks available. OmniFocus 3 shows you the name of the tag, and how many tasks are available to you. \n\nThe watch notifications are exactly the same. At first glance this seems like it is less information - but force touching or 3D touching the notification (depending on which device you're on) gives us a lot more choice.\n\n\nOmniFocus 3 here lets me View Location, or View Actions. OmniFocus 2 lets me dismiss the notification. \n\n\nNotifications\nNotifications have had an overhaul - gone are the days where you get pinged as something goes from \"hell being about to break loose\" to \"apocalypse\", you can now set up a series of notifications for a task. If your task has a due date you can set reminders to happen X amount of time before it becomes due by adding minutes, hours, or days. Whether or not your task has a due date you can set a custom or fixed notification which will happen at the date and time you specify - very helpful. These notifications are one off, but the customisability is definitely something I'll be using frequently. \n\n\n\nFlagging\nA task or project is flagged or isn't flagged. A task can inherit a tag from the project or task it belongs to - and none of this has changed in OmniFocus 3. What has changed is how you tag things. You can simply swipe from left to right on a task or project, and tap to flag it.\n\nYou can also see very easily when a task is flagged because its parent is flagged which is very nice.\n\nQuick Editing\nSo swiping from left to right lets you flag or unflag, swiping in the other direction allows you to delete the task, or if you tap more you can schedule it - for today or tomorrow. \n\n \nBatch Task Editing\nIt's now possible to edit multiple tasks at once as well - this is hard to explain in screenshots so I've created a very short video for you.\n\n \n\nTo summarise, I absolutely love the beta of OmniFocus 3. There are things planned for this iOS app which haven't yet arrived, and many exciting new possibilities. I'm going to really have to dig into tags to see mysq\nA quick note about the icon:\nWhen you get your OmniFocus 3 TestFlight invitation, don't worry: this is _not_ our final icon. (It's our \"this build is a work-in-progress, use with caution\" icon.) pic.twitter.com\/MmNVSX2SrM\u2014 Ken Case (@kcase) March 6, 2018",
"tags": "omnifocus,app beta"
},
{
"title": "Tile: Finding the Things I Lose",
"date_published": "2018-03-08T06:00:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:52+02:00",
"id": "tile-finding-the-things-i-lose",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/tile-finding-the-things-i-lose",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I am a forgetful person, not necessarily disorganised, but forgetful. And the more I have to do the more forgetful I tend to be - which results in things like misplaced keys, purses, ID cards - and naturally at the most inconvenient of moments. I heard about <a href=\"http:\/\/ssqt.co\/mEdevMh\">Tile<\/a> a long time ago, but the thought of not being able to replace the battery or recharge the device seemed wasteful.<\/p>\n<p>Not too long ago, KeySmart, a company who makes Swiss army style covers for keys, came out with the <a href=\"https:\/\/getkeysmart.com\/products\/keysmart-pro-with-tile-smart-location-tracking\">KeySmart Pro<\/a> - which has built in Tile technology, and a micro USB port. So now once every 2 months or so I need to charge my keys, but when I misplace them I can open the app on my phone, and make them ring. I\u2019be had this since November, and actually ordered two as I have the keys to my parents house - which I don\u2019t need the vast majority of the time, so am more likely to misplace. <\/p>\n<p><img title=\"KeySmart Pro on charge\" alt=\"KeySmart Pro on charge\" class=\"image-left\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/2\/3\/6\/9\/c2369e3d8b7866a0a8977893e491d58849bd7206-keysmart-pro-charging.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After a while of having the ability to find my keys (though summoning them Harry Potter style is not yet possible, sadly) I realised that being able to locate my work ID and keys, or my purse would also be handy. This week I picked up a set of the Tile Mate and Slim. The slim is about the thickness of 2 credit cards, and the same height as one, I put one in my passport holder, and another in my purse (having managed to pack my purse in my checked luggage and spending an hour looking for it last week really pushed me here!). The Tile Mates will go on my work keys once I get home, and then I have a spare - purpose to be determined.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Tile Mate and Slim, dollar bill and purse for scale\" alt=\"Tile Mate and Slim, dollar bill and purse for scale\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/1\/6\/9\/2\/41692f8b5b9be687c084ceb8bed5023bad30c3e3-tile-mate-slim.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>One of the deciding factors for me when getting my first Tile though, was a story of a woman in Australia who had lost her keys. She marked them as lost in the TIle app and a few months later got a push notification that they had been found - someone had walked past the lost property area where her keys were and the Tile app on their device registered that her keys were present. While this <em>sounds<\/em> creepy, you can\u2019t see anyone else\u2019s devices unless they choose to share them with you - so your phone scans for the locations, and reports them back to Tile, but you don\u2019t ever see the data yourself. The brilliance of this is helping others - maybe today I have all of my possessions where I expect them to be, but if\/when I misplace one of my things it\u2019s comforting to know that other people are helping me look, and they don\u2019t have to lift a finger to do so.<\/p>\n<p>The advantages of Tile are simple:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They will recycle dead devices and give you a voucher towards your next Tile, called <a href=\"https:\/\/support.thetileapp.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/200550678-What-is-reTile-\">ReTile<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>There\u2019s a large network of users, which means if you can\u2019t find your propery then maybe someone else can.<\/li>\n<li>It works.<\/li>\n<li>The KeySmart Pro is rechargeable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Unfortunately there are some disadvantages to Tile:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You can\u2019t recharge most of their devices.<\/li>\n<li>The white does discolour, depending on where you keep your items and how much you handle them this may be quick or slow, but the white will probably turn grey sooner or later.<\/li>\n<li>There are no notifications for leaving something behind. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That said, for me the advantages well outweigh the disadvantages - and I\u2019m very happy with my new system. I use my Apple Watch to ping my iPhone, and my iPhone to ping whatever is missing.<\/p>",
"content_text": "I am a forgetful person, not necessarily disorganised, but forgetful. And the more I have to do the more forgetful I tend to be - which results in things like misplaced keys, purses, ID cards - and naturally at the most inconvenient of moments. I heard about Tile a long time ago, but the thought of not being able to replace the battery or recharge the device seemed wasteful.\nNot too long ago, KeySmart, a company who makes Swiss army style covers for keys, came out with the KeySmart Pro - which has built in Tile technology, and a micro USB port. So now once every 2 months or so I need to charge my keys, but when I misplace them I can open the app on my phone, and make them ring. I\u2019be had this since November, and actually ordered two as I have the keys to my parents house - which I don\u2019t need the vast majority of the time, so am more likely to misplace. \n\nAfter a while of having the ability to find my keys (though summoning them Harry Potter style is not yet possible, sadly) I realised that being able to locate my work ID and keys, or my purse would also be handy. This week I picked up a set of the Tile Mate and Slim. The slim is about the thickness of 2 credit cards, and the same height as one, I put one in my passport holder, and another in my purse (having managed to pack my purse in my checked luggage and spending an hour looking for it last week really pushed me here!). The Tile Mates will go on my work keys once I get home, and then I have a spare - purpose to be determined.\n\nOne of the deciding factors for me when getting my first Tile though, was a story of a woman in Australia who had lost her keys. She marked them as lost in the TIle app and a few months later got a push notification that they had been found - someone had walked past the lost property area where her keys were and the Tile app on their device registered that her keys were present. While this sounds creepy, you can\u2019t see anyone else\u2019s devices unless they choose to share them with you - so your phone scans for the locations, and reports them back to Tile, but you don\u2019t ever see the data yourself. The brilliance of this is helping others - maybe today I have all of my possessions where I expect them to be, but if\/when I misplace one of my things it\u2019s comforting to know that other people are helping me look, and they don\u2019t have to lift a finger to do so.\nThe advantages of Tile are simple:\n\nThey will recycle dead devices and give you a voucher towards your next Tile, called ReTile.\nThere\u2019s a large network of users, which means if you can\u2019t find your propery then maybe someone else can.\nIt works.\nThe KeySmart Pro is rechargeable.\n\nUnfortunately there are some disadvantages to Tile:\n\nYou can\u2019t recharge most of their devices.\nThe white does discolour, depending on where you keep your items and how much you handle them this may be quick or slow, but the white will probably turn grey sooner or later.\nThere are no notifications for leaving something behind. \n\nThat said, for me the advantages well outweigh the disadvantages - and I\u2019m very happy with my new system. I use my Apple Watch to ping my iPhone, and my iPhone to ping whatever is missing.",
"tags": "gadgets"
},
{
"title": "Apple Store Opening, Vienna",
"date_published": "2018-02-24T09:30:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:52+02:00",
"id": "apple_store_opening_vienna",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/apple_store_opening_vienna",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img title=\"Apple Store Vienna, Grand Opening\" alt=\"Apple Store Vienna, Grand Opening\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/0\/9\/3\/6\/c0936cfbe6067e76998d14251b901a8263fa2b3f-viennaapplestoreopening0.jpeg\" \/> The first Apple Store in Austria opened today, and it happened to be the 501st Apple Store. I attended the opening and was lucky enough not to be too far back in the line - lots of people seem to have arrived before midnight, including one man from China who arrived at 2pm the day before! At it was cold I <em>only<\/em> got there at 7am.<\/p>\n<p>This store matches Apple's new style with plants indoors, but they're using Genius tables and the grove is outside. All of the employees were there today and seemed to be really enjoying it - everyone I spoke to was enthusiastic and friendly, a few looked a little overwhelmed but that is to be expected!<\/p>\n<h2>The Day Before<\/h2>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/7\/8\/2\/7\/778277a1344badfc56da9c7f4d442aad80ad7c80-viennaapplestoreopening2.jpeg\"><img title=\"The first person in line - from 2pm the day before\" alt=\"The first person in line - from 2pm the day before\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/a\/0\/a\/c\/9a0ac21c1c810f34439bae8a0d7038771eab1e85-viennaapplestoreopening2.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/7\/b\/b\/5\/17bb50fc18d58fdf3d79b3c6ac3deacfaba5c844-viennaapplestoreopening1.jpeg\"><img title=\"The Grove is outside\" alt=\"The Grove is outside\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/1\/e\/0\/7\/d1e0700ddd401194988185c30761b0c94d5d15fa-viennaapplestoreopening1.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/a\/1\/8\/5\/7a18514fb2fbf31160d5b01df1320f592978634b-viennaapplestoreopening3.jpeg\"><img title=\"A stone staircase - in keeping with the style of the building\" alt=\"A stone staircase - in keeping with the style of the building\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/3\/f\/2\/b\/b3f2b202d0cf0df5ae713ddf0f6fdaf97b737ab9-viennaapplestoreopening3.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/f\/9\/4\/a\/df94ae0398d8c173aaf455f195836ab0ee2a4fe1-viennaapplestoreopening4.jpeg\"><img title=\"Staff watching a presentation the evening before the store opens\" alt=\"Staff watching a presentation the evening before the store opens\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/9\/2\/f\/8\/c92f8b5bddc2edfa4129c10c8c3685f9e6cfafe1-viennaapplestoreopening4.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/2\/2\/5\/4\/d22540779014fc2b47edf59017953c65048a7021-viennaapplestoreopening5.jpeg\"><img title=\"Last minute adjustments to the power cables\" alt=\"Last minute adjustments to the power cables\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/1\/c\/5\/8\/91c5863447aa0c2fed3dac7c858015b2b5b11e43-viennaapplestoreopening5.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Opening Day<\/h2>\n<p>When I got to the store the queue was just going past the end of the barrier. Due to the width of the street and the fact that it can be used for delivery vehicles Apple had prepared further waiting areas towards the other side of the street. The few of us tailing past the end of the ropes were asked to move to the middle and remain in order. Once that area filled up they moved on to the next and further on. Of course this meant there were lots of people milling around between the queues - but Apple had thought of that. When each queue was allowed to progress to the next one every person was given a card. You had to show this to enter the next queue, and then hand it over when exiting the queue or just before entering the store. This was a very simple but efficient system and prevented queue jumping. <\/p>\n<p>Thankfully the security managing the queues were multi lingual and friendly enough to allow you to make a quick bathroom or coffee run - assuming the people standing next to you in the queue were happy to hold your spot that was, they did stop allowing that at 9am though (30 minutes before the store opened). While we were in the queue four employees came through to photograph everyone and get permission to use your photo in their marketing material. If you didn't want to be featured they did request permission to take a photo anyway so they could work on an exclusion basis rather than an inclusion basis. At around 8:30am staff brought out coffee for people in the queue which was very much appreciated.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/6\/a\/a\/3\/46aa3ec3b35e8f8f4e6e94def21cb55d94084774-viennaapplestoreopening6.jpeg\"><img title=\"There are just two lines allowed next to the Apple Store\" alt=\"There are just two lines allowed next to the Apple Store\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/2\/a\/4\/8\/72a489d44debd2bd59a7a4ed21ec146b6b22cf81-viennaapplestoreopening6.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/8\/f\/c\/d\/f8fcd5a2bc14f764ef51d9b01a8165b16545b251-viennaapplestoreopening7.jpeg\"><img title=\"There are three further lines of the queue in the middle of the street\" alt=\"There are three further lines of the queue in the middle of the street\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/d\/7\/0\/b\/2d70b19ec2b4a9ee6ff370364fed90666f2644b8-viennaapplestoreopening7.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/4\/d\/1\/2\/24d1273e69a2cdc2a6f7cea87eb804a4c595265e-viennaapplestoreopening8.jpeg\"><img title=\"The queue\" alt=\"The queue\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/d\/5\/8\/7\/5d587dd24959a19d9955ed987a71607c906ed116-viennaapplestoreopening8.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/9\/6\/7\/7\/b96771bcf7cd5f49e0c44ceb32b36a759328885a-viennaapplestoreopening9.jpeg\"><img title=\"It's a bit like a reverse zoo\" alt=\"It's a bit like a reverse zoo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/9\/3\/7\/1\/993714d9ac4d4925d860a1ff8181367098d7d7da-viennaapplestoreopening9.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/0\/1\/5\/9\/001596cd5d34dca04b2cdb2af94b073d1162d0e1-viennaapplestoreopening10.jpeg\"><img title=\"Making new friends in line!\" alt=\"Making new friends in line!\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/4\/6\/7\/2\/246725cad1a0199b28efd5b3b2b5ffe8f3d56bd9-viennaapplestoreopening10.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/c\/0\/4\/3\/1c043002400aaa0d30feb7ffd91e99129dc9eb0b-viennaapplestoreopening11.jpeg\"><img title=\"Queue pass\" alt=\"Queue pass\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/0\/5\/8\/1\/d0581ce2d83fff8ef80ddd0666b99ac1563fbc86-viennaapplestoreopening11.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/f\/7\/3\/e\/3f73ed374f1729e93d39fe22a52f661628a1abb4-viennaapplestoreopening12.jpeg\"><img title=\"Exercise Rings\" alt=\"Exercise Rings\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/7\/7\/a\/6\/f77a6ecffa4f474643ed32ee5c5bedf7939b2e94-viennaapplestoreopening12.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/f\/d\/6\/9\/ffd69366383457715301ff568792ac8ff7f584c4-viennaapplestoreopening13.jpeg\"><img title=\"A purchase and set up\" alt=\"A purchase and set up\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/a\/e\/2\/4\/cae24684d77c3a513b464e11c23a61c66889f93b-viennaapplestoreopening13.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/0\/8\/8\/9\/008892818de4342dcac166e3f204d6a0112c912c-viennaapplestoreopening14.jpeg\"><img title=\"Sockets embedded between the seats and the windowsills\" alt=\"Sockets embedded between the seats and the windowsills\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/e\/1\/5\/4\/de154294a3c4e9a4293ebee649a4f7ce0d0e5970-viennaapplestoreopening14.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/a\/8\/e\/5\/ca8e5d15090206b11860ecd875567408fa08bab5-viennaapplestoreopening15.jpeg\"><img title=\"Plants on the wall\" alt=\"Plants on the wall\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/1\/8\/c\/4\/318c49a6de115204aa91cbe156f07a8567b2d68d-viennaapplestoreopening15.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/a\/7\/c\/c\/fa7cc1dfa67026294eab8d04242bb9e91041f21f-viennaapplestoreopening16.jpeg\"><img title=\"HomeKit Corner\" alt=\"HomeKit Corner\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/e\/d\/1\/8\/9ed1873c37c604df79f02d151efac19a41729e16-viennaapplestoreopening16.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/6\/5\/b\/5\/f65b5a5a21ef13a2b52f55ab64d96035934640cf-viennaapplestoreopening17.jpeg\"><img title=\"Upstairs\" alt=\"Upstairs\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/d\/d\/9\/c\/fdd9cd4b0b0968df12902d7514db5c9a925ba7e8-viennaapplestoreopening17.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/4\/4\/e\/4\/544e4e49c39ccf768822d3b28332f618ccd9ec3e-viennaapplestoreopening18.jpeg\"><img title=\"The queue from the window\" alt=\"The queue from the window\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/6\/e\/9\/5\/a6e95df2ae57cc4fa339a93bf06cab39ccaacfff-viennaapplestoreopening18.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/e\/6\/5\/8\/2e6588d0f7bf83ccf55b497f467e693e27af2f73-viennaapplestoreopening19.jpeg\"><img title=\"Downstairs\" alt=\"Downstairs\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/5\/d\/4\/b\/55d4bbd12c32df4bcc4ff21df769a24e5d26044a-viennaapplestoreopening19.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/5\/c\/5\/f\/05c5fd8346cc5ee6e12ed3547217840b31f8681e-viennaapplestoreopening20.jpeg\"><img title=\"Seating near the screen\" alt=\"Seating near the screen\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/5\/8\/6\/9\/258691d99fd2228ce5ab4dd46d82ae9b9d04eb66-viennaapplestoreopening20.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Postcards and a pin<\/h2>\n<p>Instead of giving out t-shirts we were given postcards and a commemorative pin. The postcards are on lovely thick, cream card stock, and the design is raised on the front with a slight gloss. I've scanned them in to show you - but the designs do belong to Apple. These images are animated and shown on the screen at the back of the store on the ground floor.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/7\/7\/0\/0\/d770006868a13766fd314f70b8ca011b0e38b1a4-viennaapplestoreopening21.jpeg\"><img title=\"Pin & postcard pack\" alt=\"Pin & postcard pack\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/1\/4\/7\/8\/f147870e804647aa030d23c1d72b1cd8672ff4d8-viennaapplestoreopening21.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/e\/9\/d\/a\/ce9da7f1e055864d2ef9e88603daaaf88ce3b9bf-viennaapplestoreopening22.jpeg\"><img title=\"Pin closeup\" alt=\"Pin closeup\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/3\/0\/2\/4\/a302484ab620763701c24d099d2be05dd3b57932-viennaapplestoreopening22.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/b\/a\/0\/b\/a\/ba0bac83b46ce631955ee4955568ec35d55a69c7-viennaapplestoreopening23.jpeg\"><img title=\"Postcard pack closeup front\" alt=\"Postcard pack closeup front\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/d\/c\/1\/b\/6dc1b6e9b89a03b1e3b7cb7213696facf99cd891-viennaapplestoreopening23.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/a\/9\/d\/0\/3a9d01d35a4933b0c7f3db793a7aba3fc09b2f88-viennaapplestoreopening24.jpeg\"><img title=\"Postcard pack closeup back\" alt=\"Postcard pack closeup back\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/8\/6\/6\/d\/a866d5974ae1c904f8f7145fa499db32597e9013-viennaapplestoreopening24.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/f\/c\/e\/2\/5fce2d3fa631bdef9f4848774105bb6f478de87b-applestoreviennapostcard1.jpeg\"><img title=\"Postcard 1: Pencils\" alt=\"Postcard 1: Pencils\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/2\/4\/5\/a\/7245a8adf75eceb89367bb1901842c2108408cc1-applestoreviennapostcard1.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/1\/7\/b\/e\/1\/17be1f6f521fe7786ee812618bc57e6fca1a3e6c-applestoreviennapostcard2.jpeg\"><img title=\"Postcard 2: Birds\" alt=\"Postcard 2: Birds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/6\/e\/d\/a\/46eda0aa96352fccad043dfbfc223b697473e260-applestoreviennapostcard2.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/5\/3\/4\/5\/f5345378a89751e9fe5b19f996da2aa4985fd9f1-applestoreviennapostcard3.jpeg\"><img title=\"Postcard 3: Chevron\" alt=\"Postcard 3: Chevron\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/e\/e\/e\/6\/9eee6ee2d3d84b2826c8c88eff2e0926bcae3617-applestoreviennapostcard3.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/8\/e\/c\/5\/3\/8ec53618898441ef8436de9cf9b626ecebd5816f-applestoreviennapostcard4.jpeg\"><img title=\"Postcard 4: Abstract\" alt=\"Postcard 4: Abstract\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/3\/c\/c\/d\/d3ccd19f048eaed108cbd1a77898b170b6d6eb1c-applestoreviennapostcard4.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/c\/0\/4\/6\/fc046ba0a7ef3eb0cdecb63dfe6021bac3c6d23f-applestoreviennapostcard5.jpeg\"><img title=\"Postcard 5: Sound wave\" alt=\"Postcard 5: Sound wave\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/b\/2\/b\/a\/7b2ba971d42723ae6efc81220389640d36997844-applestoreviennapostcard5.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/7\/c\/3\/0\/57c301d7a82dc419b96af78ec0c042d52a95c59f-applestoreviennapostcard6.jpeg\"><img title=\"Postcard 6: Cameras\" alt=\"Postcard 6: Cameras\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/d\/0\/4\/e\/ad04e741ef4eeb0692d078274f0888d131ff0793-applestoreviennapostcard6.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When I left the store at just after 11am they were still letting people in - with the cheering still at full volume and enthusiasm. I'm really looking forward to shopping in my local Apple Store.<\/p>",
"content_text": " The first Apple Store in Austria opened today, and it happened to be the 501st Apple Store. I attended the opening and was lucky enough not to be too far back in the line - lots of people seem to have arrived before midnight, including one man from China who arrived at 2pm the day before! At it was cold I only got there at 7am.\nThis store matches Apple's new style with plants indoors, but they're using Genius tables and the grove is outside. All of the employees were there today and seemed to be really enjoying it - everyone I spoke to was enthusiastic and friendly, a few looked a little overwhelmed but that is to be expected!\nThe Day Before\n\n\n\n\n\nOpening Day\nWhen I got to the store the queue was just going past the end of the barrier. Due to the width of the street and the fact that it can be used for delivery vehicles Apple had prepared further waiting areas towards the other side of the street. The few of us tailing past the end of the ropes were asked to move to the middle and remain in order. Once that area filled up they moved on to the next and further on. Of course this meant there were lots of people milling around between the queues - but Apple had thought of that. When each queue was allowed to progress to the next one every person was given a card. You had to show this to enter the next queue, and then hand it over when exiting the queue or just before entering the store. This was a very simple but efficient system and prevented queue jumping. \nThankfully the security managing the queues were multi lingual and friendly enough to allow you to make a quick bathroom or coffee run - assuming the people standing next to you in the queue were happy to hold your spot that was, they did stop allowing that at 9am though (30 minutes before the store opened). While we were in the queue four employees came through to photograph everyone and get permission to use your photo in their marketing material. If you didn't want to be featured they did request permission to take a photo anyway so they could work on an exclusion basis rather than an inclusion basis. At around 8:30am staff brought out coffee for people in the queue which was very much appreciated.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPostcards and a pin\nInstead of giving out t-shirts we were given postcards and a commemorative pin. The postcards are on lovely thick, cream card stock, and the design is raised on the front with a slight gloss. I've scanned them in to show you - but the designs do belong to Apple. These images are animated and shown on the screen at the back of the store on the ground floor.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWhen I left the store at just after 11am they were still letting people in - with the cheering still at full volume and enthusiasm. I'm really looking forward to shopping in my local Apple Store.",
"tags": "apple store opening"
},
{
"title": "Controlling a Raspberry Pi via SSH",
"date_published": "2018-02-21T20:00:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:51+02:00",
"id": "remote-control-raspberry-pi",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/remote-control-raspberry-pi",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I have a Raspberry Pi 3 running <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/nfarina\/homebridge\">HomeBridge<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/home-assistant.io\">HomeAssistant<\/a>, and a few other services. It has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raspberrypi.org\/products\/raspberry-pi-touch-display\/\">7\" touchscreen display<\/a> attached which is lovely - but bright. I prefer to turn the screen on and off when I want to use it instead of relying on the energy saver preferences (as I inevitably use the device just before I want to sleep) - however typing the terminal commands to do it is rather old fashioned.<\/p>\n<p><img title=\"Dictionary of actions in Workflow\" alt=\"Dictionary of actions in Workflow\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/1\/f\/b\/1\/51fb1e17f75e015db5b7f218f4c182c30f68637c-raspberry-pi-workflow-dictionary.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The first action is a dictionary - so every ssh command I run has a name which I look at when running the Workflow. You can have anything here of course - providing it's a valid SSH command. My commands are as follows:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Screen On<\/strong>\n<code>sudo bash -c \"echo 0 &gt; \/sys\/class\/backlight\/rpi_backlight\/bl_power\"<\/code><\/p>\n<p><strong>Screen Off<\/strong>\n<code>sudo bash -c \"echo 1 &gt; \/sys\/class\/backlight\/rpi_backlight\/bl_power\"<\/code><\/p>\n<p><strong>Restart HomeBridge<\/strong>\n<code>sudo systemctl restart homebridge<\/code><\/p>\n<p><strong>Restart HomeAssistant<\/strong>\n<code>sudo systemctl restart home-assistant@homeassistant<\/code><\/p>\n<p>Then Workflow asks you to choose an action to execute, and executes it. Finally you see the result of the SSH command returned to you - which is useful if there is output.<\/p>\n<p>You can <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/bfd213edebfd4f9597cad6150a586e08\">download the Workflow here<\/a>. You'll need to know the IP address of your Raspberry Pi, the username (default <code>pi<\/code>), and password (default <code>raspberry<\/code>). If your username and password are the default ones I recommend you change them.<\/p>",
"content_text": "I have a Raspberry Pi 3 running HomeBridge, HomeAssistant, and a few other services. It has a 7\" touchscreen display attached which is lovely - but bright. I prefer to turn the screen on and off when I want to use it instead of relying on the energy saver preferences (as I inevitably use the device just before I want to sleep) - however typing the terminal commands to do it is rather old fashioned.\n\nThe first action is a dictionary - so every ssh command I run has a name which I look at when running the Workflow. You can have anything here of course - providing it's a valid SSH command. My commands are as follows:\nScreen On\nsudo bash -c \"echo 0 &gt; \/sys\/class\/backlight\/rpi_backlight\/bl_power\"\nScreen Off\nsudo bash -c \"echo 1 &gt; \/sys\/class\/backlight\/rpi_backlight\/bl_power\"\nRestart HomeBridge\nsudo systemctl restart homebridge\nRestart HomeAssistant\nsudo systemctl restart home-assistant@homeassistant\nThen Workflow asks you to choose an action to execute, and executes it. Finally you see the result of the SSH command returned to you - which is useful if there is output.\nYou can download the Workflow here. You'll need to know the IP address of your Raspberry Pi, the username (default pi), and password (default raspberry). If your username and password are the default ones I recommend you change them.",
"tags": "raspberry pi,workflow"
},
{
"title": "Mac Power Users 418: I&#039;m A Guest!",
"date_published": "2018-02-19T08:00:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:51+02:00",
"id": "mac-power-users-418",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/mac-power-users-418",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p><img alt=\"Mac Power Users 418\" class=\"image-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/b\/8\/5\/1\/9b8518a9b3d6657a931c19795d82be4ab1739945-mac-power-users-418.jpeg\" \/> I am honoured to be a guest on the fabulous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/mpu\">Mac Power Users podcast<\/a> this week. I've been listening to the show for years and help to moderate the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/macpowerusers\/\">Facebook Group<\/a> - which is one of the nicest places to hang out on the internet. <\/p>\n<p>As mentioned briefly in the show I'll be at the Chicago meet up in just over 2 weeks, for details of that listen to the start of episode <a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/mpu\/416\">416<\/a>. If you have any suggestions on places to go or food to eat in Chicago then send me the recommendation on Twitter or via the contact page here!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/mpu\/418\">Here is the episode<\/a> - thanks to David and Katie for the great interview, and to the wonderful editor for making me sound coherent!<\/p>",
"content_text": " I am honoured to be a guest on the fabulous Mac Power Users podcast this week. I've been listening to the show for years and help to moderate the Facebook Group - which is one of the nicest places to hang out on the internet. \nAs mentioned briefly in the show I'll be at the Chicago meet up in just over 2 weeks, for details of that listen to the start of episode 416. If you have any suggestions on places to go or food to eat in Chicago then send me the recommendation on Twitter or via the contact page here!\nHere is the episode - thanks to David and Katie for the great interview, and to the wonderful editor for making me sound coherent!",
"tags": "mac power users,podcast"
},
{
"title": "Good Morning Computer",
"date_published": "2018-02-13T20:00:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:52+02:00",
"id": "good-morning-computer",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/good-morning-computer",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>A while ago in the Mac Power Users Facebook Group I was challenged to make a Workflow which would tell the user about their upcoming day. When it runs Workflow will say something like this:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Good morning Rose, it is 07:38.\nIn Vienna the weather will be mixed precipitation throughout the week, with temperatures rising to 6\u00b0C on Friday..\nThe current temperature is 0 degrees celcius.\nThere is a 11% chance of rain.\nYour iPad has 80% battery.\nYour calendar events for today are Shrove Tuesday, Work.\nThe top news headlines for today are:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Here is some of your favourite music:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>After it speaks this it then plays some of my favourite music (shuffling from a playlist I chose). <\/p>\n<p>So, how does this all work? <\/p>\n<p>When you import the Workflow it asks you three questions, what you name is, your Dark Sky Weather API, and the RSS feed of your favourite news source.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Workflow Import Questions\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/f\/0\/3\/0\/3f030c7ab1309af0b8fc137c518e1b44727d7244-workflowimportquestions.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can get your <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.net\/dev\/docs\">API Key from Dark Sky<\/a>, on the free plan you get up to 1000 calls per day - more than enough for our Workflow.<\/p>\n<p>Next the Workflow gets the data we need:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the date<\/li>\n<li>the titles of the last 6 items from the RSS feed<\/li>\n<li>the current location and the name of it<\/li>\n<li>the weather for your current location<\/li>\n<li>the kind of device you're using<\/li>\n<li>the battery level of the device you're using<\/li>\n<li>your calendar events for today<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Then this information is inserted into the text, let's look at that again.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Good morning <strong>Name<\/strong>, it is <strong>Current Time<\/strong>.\nIn <strong>City<\/strong> the weather will be <strong>Weather Summary<\/strong>.\nThe current temperature is <strong>Temperature degrees celcius<\/strong>.\nThere is a <strong>Rain %<\/strong>% chance of rain.\nYour <strong>Device Model<\/strong> has <strong>Battery Level<\/strong>% battery.\n<strong>Calendar Events.<\/strong>\nThe top news headlines for today are <strong>Headlines<\/strong>.\nHere is some of your favourite music:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Everything in bold is a variable, replaced with data we either fetched from the internet, or collected from the device. After this text all that Workflow has to do is use the speak text action, and the play music action. <\/p>\n<p>There are two current versions of the Workflow, <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/94ba7b07407948bdbabccfdb4c1d63fa\">an imperial version for those who prefer Farenheit<\/a> and a <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/c9964e848eee49c6a3b4290f00338322\">metric version for those who prefer Celsius<\/a>. If you download either of these you can have your device talk to you in the morning, and tell you about your day. <\/p>",
"content_text": "A while ago in the Mac Power Users Facebook Group I was challenged to make a Workflow which would tell the user about their upcoming day. When it runs Workflow will say something like this:\n\nGood morning Rose, it is 07:38.\nIn Vienna the weather will be mixed precipitation throughout the week, with temperatures rising to 6\u00b0C on Friday..\nThe current temperature is 0 degrees celcius.\nThere is a 11% chance of rain.\nYour iPad has 80% battery.\nYour calendar events for today are Shrove Tuesday, Work.\nThe top news headlines for today are:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHere is some of your favourite music:\n\nAfter it speaks this it then plays some of my favourite music (shuffling from a playlist I chose). \nSo, how does this all work? \nWhen you import the Workflow it asks you three questions, what you name is, your Dark Sky Weather API, and the RSS feed of your favourite news source.\n\nYou can get your API Key from Dark Sky, on the free plan you get up to 1000 calls per day - more than enough for our Workflow.\nNext the Workflow gets the data we need:\n\nthe date\nthe titles of the last 6 items from the RSS feed\nthe current location and the name of it\nthe weather for your current location\nthe kind of device you're using\nthe battery level of the device you're using\nyour calendar events for today\n\nThen this information is inserted into the text, let's look at that again.\n\nGood morning Name, it is Current Time.\nIn City the weather will be Weather Summary.\nThe current temperature is Temperature degrees celcius.\nThere is a Rain %% chance of rain.\nYour Device Model has Battery Level% battery.\nCalendar Events.\nThe top news headlines for today are Headlines.\nHere is some of your favourite music:\n\nEverything in bold is a variable, replaced with data we either fetched from the internet, or collected from the device. After this text all that Workflow has to do is use the speak text action, and the play music action. \nThere are two current versions of the Workflow, an imperial version for those who prefer Farenheit and a metric version for those who prefer Celsius. If you download either of these you can have your device talk to you in the morning, and tell you about your day. ",
"tags": "workflow"
},
{
"title": "Creating My Own Raspberry Pi HomeKit Controlled Light",
"date_published": "2018-02-05T11:58:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:51+02:00",
"id": "creating_my_own_raspberry_pi_homekit_controlled_light",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/creating_my_own_raspberry_pi_homekit_controlled_light",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I recently bought a <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.pimoroni.com\/products\/mood-light-pi-zero-w-project-kit\">Raspberry Pi Zero W mood light kit<\/a> on Pimoroni. I've been looking for a project to practice my python and thought playing with lights would be fun. After <a href=\"https:\/\/learn.pimoroni.com\/tutorial\/sandyj\/assembling-mood-light\">assembling said light<\/a> (I recommend the <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.pimoroni.com\/products\/gpio-hammer-header\">solderless set<\/a> by the way, unless you <em>really<\/em> like soldering) and playing with it, I wanted to control it along with the Philips Hue lights which are around my desk - via HomeKit.<\/p>\n<p>Pimoroni has a <a href=\"https:\/\/learn.pimoroni.com\/tutorial\/sandyj\/using-mote-with-homekit-and-siri\">guide to set up Mote lights via HomeKit<\/a>, so with some tweaking I got it running.<\/p>\n<p>Make sure you <a href=\"https:\/\/learn.pimoroni.com\/tutorial\/sandyj\/getting-started-with-unicorn-phat\">install the software<\/a> first. Then I had to modify their code - I don't have Mote lights, but I have the Unicorn pHAT. So instead of importing <code>mote<\/code> I had to import <code>unicornhat<\/code>, and very importantly I had to change the dimension of the lights - if you try to set lights that don't exist on the unicorn pHAT then it won't work. Despite doing this I had some problems with floats being returned instead of integers, so I changed all the division to use <code>\/\/<\/code> instead of <code>\/<\/code> which resolved that issue nicely. Here's the code for the API: <\/p>\n<pre><code>#!\/usr\/bin\/env python\nfrom colorsys import hsv_to_rgb, rgb_to_hsv\nimport unicornhat as unicorn\nfrom flask import Flask, jsonify, make_response\n\napp = Flask(__name__)\nunicorn.set_layhout(unicorn.PHAT)\nunicorn.brightness(0.5)\nwidth, height = unicorn.get_shape()\n\ncolour = 'FFFFFF'\nstatus = 0\n\ndef hex_to_rgb(value):\n value = value.lstrip('#')\n length = len(value)\n return tuple(int(value[i:i + length \/\/ 3], 16) for i in range(0, length, length \/\/ 3))\n\ndef unicorn_on(c):\n r, g, b = hex_to_rgb(c)\n for channel in range(width):\n for pixel in range(height):\n unicorn.set_pixel(channel, pixel, int(r), int(g), int(b))\n unicorn.show()\n return True\n\ndef unicorn_off():\n unicorn.clear()\n unicorn.show()\n return True\n\ndef get_status():\n global status\n for channel in range(width):\n for pixel in range(height):\n if unicorn.get_pixel(channel, pixel) != (0, 0, 0):\n status = 1\n return status\n\n@app.route('\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/&lt;string:st&gt;', methods=['GET'])\ndef set_status(st):\n global status, colour\n if st == 'on':\n status = 1\n unicorn_on(colour)\n elif st == 'off':\n status = 0\n unicorn_off()\n elif st == 'status':\n status = get_status()\n return jsonify({'status': status, 'colour': colour})\n\n@app.route('\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/set', methods=['GET'])\ndef get_colour():\n global colour\n return jsonify({'status': status, 'colour': colour})\n\n@app.route('\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/set\/&lt;string:c&gt;', methods=['GET'])\ndef set_colour(c):\n global status, colour\n colour = c\n if status != 0:\n unicorn_on(colour)\n status = 1\n return jsonify({'status': status, 'colour': colour})\n\n@app.errorhandler(404)\ndef not_found(error):\n return make_response(jsonify({'error': 'Not found'}), 404)\n\nif __name__ == '__main__':\n unicorn_off()\n app.run(host='0.0.0.0', debug=True)<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>(I can't claim any credit here, I just modified their example to work for the unicorn pHAT instead of Mote.)<\/p>\n<p>Next I had to add the light to my HomeBridge installation. I ran <code>sudo npm install -g homebridge-better-http-rgb<\/code>, added the following configuration and restarted HomeBridge. Make sure to replace the IP address with your light, or with <code>localhost<\/code> if you're running HomeBridge on the same machine as your light.<\/p>\n<pre><code> {\n \"accessory\": \"HTTP-RGB\",\n \"name\": \"MoodLight\",\n\n \"switch\": {\n \"status\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/status\",\n \"powerOn\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/on\",\n \"powerOff\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/off\"\n },\n\n \"brightness\": {\n \"status\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/brightness\",\n \"url\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/brightness\/%s\"\n },\n\n \"color\": {\n \"status\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/set\",\n \"url\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/set\/%s\",\n \"brightness\": true\n }\n }<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>Here's a video of the light in action.<\/p>\n<div class=\"grav-youtube\">\n <iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/ciWX-mXVaME?color=white?enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>",
"content_text": "I recently bought a Raspberry Pi Zero W mood light kit on Pimoroni. I've been looking for a project to practice my python and thought playing with lights would be fun. After assembling said light (I recommend the solderless set by the way, unless you really like soldering) and playing with it, I wanted to control it along with the Philips Hue lights which are around my desk - via HomeKit.\nPimoroni has a guide to set up Mote lights via HomeKit, so with some tweaking I got it running.\nMake sure you install the software first. Then I had to modify their code - I don't have Mote lights, but I have the Unicorn pHAT. So instead of importing mote I had to import unicornhat, and very importantly I had to change the dimension of the lights - if you try to set lights that don't exist on the unicorn pHAT then it won't work. Despite doing this I had some problems with floats being returned instead of integers, so I changed all the division to use \/\/ instead of \/ which resolved that issue nicely. Here's the code for the API: \n#!\/usr\/bin\/env python\nfrom colorsys import hsv_to_rgb, rgb_to_hsv\nimport unicornhat as unicorn\nfrom flask import Flask, jsonify, make_response\n\napp = Flask(__name__)\nunicorn.set_layhout(unicorn.PHAT)\nunicorn.brightness(0.5)\nwidth, height = unicorn.get_shape()\n\ncolour = 'FFFFFF'\nstatus = 0\n\ndef hex_to_rgb(value):\n value = value.lstrip('#')\n length = len(value)\n return tuple(int(value[i:i + length \/\/ 3], 16) for i in range(0, length, length \/\/ 3))\n\ndef unicorn_on(c):\n r, g, b = hex_to_rgb(c)\n for channel in range(width):\n for pixel in range(height):\n unicorn.set_pixel(channel, pixel, int(r), int(g), int(b))\n unicorn.show()\n return True\n\ndef unicorn_off():\n unicorn.clear()\n unicorn.show()\n return True\n\ndef get_status():\n global status\n for channel in range(width):\n for pixel in range(height):\n if unicorn.get_pixel(channel, pixel) != (0, 0, 0):\n status = 1\n return status\n\n@app.route('\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/&lt;string:st&gt;', methods=['GET'])\ndef set_status(st):\n global status, colour\n if st == 'on':\n status = 1\n unicorn_on(colour)\n elif st == 'off':\n status = 0\n unicorn_off()\n elif st == 'status':\n status = get_status()\n return jsonify({'status': status, 'colour': colour})\n\n@app.route('\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/set', methods=['GET'])\ndef get_colour():\n global colour\n return jsonify({'status': status, 'colour': colour})\n\n@app.route('\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/set\/&lt;string:c&gt;', methods=['GET'])\ndef set_colour(c):\n global status, colour\n colour = c\n if status != 0:\n unicorn_on(colour)\n status = 1\n return jsonify({'status': status, 'colour': colour})\n\n@app.errorhandler(404)\ndef not_found(error):\n return make_response(jsonify({'error': 'Not found'}), 404)\n\nif __name__ == '__main__':\n unicorn_off()\n app.run(host='0.0.0.0', debug=True)\n(I can't claim any credit here, I just modified their example to work for the unicorn pHAT instead of Mote.)\nNext I had to add the light to my HomeBridge installation. I ran sudo npm install -g homebridge-better-http-rgb, added the following configuration and restarted HomeBridge. Make sure to replace the IP address with your light, or with localhost if you're running HomeBridge on the same machine as your light.\n {\n \"accessory\": \"HTTP-RGB\",\n \"name\": \"MoodLight\",\n\n \"switch\": {\n \"status\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/status\",\n \"powerOn\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/on\",\n \"powerOff\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/off\"\n },\n\n \"brightness\": {\n \"status\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/brightness\",\n \"url\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/brightness\/%s\"\n },\n\n \"color\": {\n \"status\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/set\",\n \"url\": \"http:\/\/10.0.0.116:5000\/unicorn\/api\/v1.0\/set\/%s\",\n \"brightness\": true\n }\n }\nHere's a video of the light in action.\n\n \n",
"tags": "raspberry pi,homekit"
},
{
"title": "iPad Diaries: Transmit Replacements and FTP Clients \u2013 MacStories",
"date_published": "2018-01-19T14:01:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:51+02:00",
"id": "ipad_diaries_transmit_replacements_and_ftp_clients_macstories",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/ipad_diaries_transmit_replacements_and_ftp_clients_macstories",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.macstories.net\/ios\/ipad-diaries-transmit-replacements-and-ftp-clients\/",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>Being a regular user of Transmit, this is a must read!<\/p>",
"content_text": "Being a regular user of Transmit, this is a must read!",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Get Slack-style emoji everywhere with Rocket - Six Colors",
"date_published": "2018-01-15T14:01:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "get_slack-style_emoji_everywhere_with_rocket_six_colors",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/get_slack-style_emoji_everywhere_with_rocket_six_colors",
"external_url": "https:\/\/sixcolors.com\/post\/2018\/01\/get-slack-style-emoji-everywhere-with-rocket\/",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>The tool I didn't know I needed, but will be being installed - I constantly struggle with emoji on the Mac, which isn't helped by some applications automatically replacing :) with \ud83d\ude00<\/p>",
"content_text": "The tool I didn't know I needed, but will be being installed - I constantly struggle with emoji on the Mac, which isn't helped by some applications automatically replacing :) with \ud83d\ude00",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Satechi&#039;s Multiport Travel Charging station is going to make your life so much easier | iMore",
"date_published": "2018-01-14T14:01:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "satechi's_multiport_travel_charging_station_is_going_to_make_your_life_so_much_easier",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/satechi%27s_multiport_travel_charging_station_is_going_to_make_your_life_so_much_easier",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.imore.com\/satechis-multiport-travel-charging-station-going-make-your-life-so-much-easier",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I've got an Anker 5 port hub which has a USB C port with power delivery on it. It's great for a MacBook adorable or fast charging an iPhone or iPad, but it wouldn't do a great job on a MacBook Pro. I'm glad to see more of these devices coming to the market as they are absolutely perfect for travel!<\/p>",
"content_text": "I've got an Anker 5 port hub which has a USB C port with power delivery on it. It's great for a MacBook adorable or fast charging an iPhone or iPad, but it wouldn't do a great job on a MacBook Pro. I'm glad to see more of these devices coming to the market as they are absolutely perfect for travel!",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "5K iMac vs. iMac Pro: The pro&#039;s silent fans made a fan out of me | iMore",
"date_published": "2018-01-13T14:01:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "5k_imac_vs_imac_pro_the_pros_silent_fans_made_a_fan_out_of_me",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/5k_imac_vs_imac_pro_the_pros_silent_fans_made_a_fan_out_of_me",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.imore.com\/imac-pro-vs-imac-5k",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>Stephen Hackett did exactly what I would have done - calculated that the top of the range iMac would do it, bought it, and regretted it. I'm not in the market for an iMac right now but his experience here is one I'll keep in mind. For now my 2011 Mac Mini Server is still running well enough - hopefully that will remain the case until Apple finally release a new model.<\/p>",
"content_text": "Stephen Hackett did exactly what I would have done - calculated that the top of the range iMac would do it, bought it, and regretted it. I'm not in the market for an iMac right now but his experience here is one I'll keep in mind. For now my 2011 Mac Mini Server is still running well enough - hopefully that will remain the case until Apple finally release a new model.",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "A Roundup of CES Home Automation and Apple Accessory Announcements \u2013 MacStories",
"date_published": "2018-01-12T14:01:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "a_roundup_of_ces_home_automation_and_apple_accessory_announcements",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/a_roundup_of_ces_home_automation_and_apple_accessory_announcements",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.macstories.net\/news\/a-roundup-of-ces-home-automation-and-apple-accessory-announcements\/",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>There are several products in this roundup that I'm interested in, the power sleeve is a great idea and would have been ideal for me in a past life, and the HyperDrive is something I would love on my desk at work now. What I'm most interested in though is how long these items take to make their way to Europe - Fibaro are usually good there at least.<\/p>",
"content_text": "There are several products in this roundup that I'm interested in, the power sleeve is a great idea and would have been ideal for me in a past life, and the HyperDrive is something I would love on my desk at work now. What I'm most interested in though is how long these items take to make their way to Europe - Fibaro are usually good there at least.",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "&quot;Wireless&quot; charging standardises",
"date_published": "2018-01-11T14:01:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "wireless_charging_standardises",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/wireless_charging_standardises",
"external_url": "https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2018\/1\/8\/16862244\/powermat-wireless-power-consortium-qi-charging",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>It was clear as soon as Apple announced they were going with Qi charging that the other standards would likely die, hopefully the resources from creating the different standards will go a long way - greater range, for one, would be appreciated.<\/p>",
"content_text": "It was clear as soon as Apple announced they were going with Qi charging that the other standards would likely die, hopefully the resources from creating the different standards will go a long way - greater range, for one, would be appreciated.",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Goodbye to Transmit",
"date_published": "2018-01-10T14:01:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "goodbye_to_transmit",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/goodbye_to_transmit",
"external_url": "https:\/\/512pixels.net\/2018\/01\/development-of-transmit-for-ios-ended\/",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I'm very sad to hear that Panic are discontinuing another app - I found out about Status Board too late, but have been a heavy user of Transmit for the last few months. <\/p>\n<p>I can't fault a company for cutting products which aren't money makers - but the App Store needs to change so that apps like these become money makers. Is it a niche product? Yes. Is it rock solid and high quality? Definitely. <\/p>\n<p>I won't stop using Transmit right away - I will look out for other products and if I find a good alternative I'll switch. I just hope whatever it is has Workflow integration like Transmit did.<\/p>",
"content_text": "I'm very sad to hear that Panic are discontinuing another app - I found out about Status Board too late, but have been a heavy user of Transmit for the last few months. \nI can't fault a company for cutting products which aren't money makers - but the App Store needs to change so that apps like these become money makers. Is it a niche product? Yes. Is it rock solid and high quality? Definitely. \nI won't stop using Transmit right away - I will look out for other products and if I find a good alternative I'll switch. I just hope whatever it is has Workflow integration like Transmit did.",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Daring Fireball: Pressing the Side Button to Confirm Payments on iPhone X",
"date_published": "2018-01-09T14:01:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "daring_fireball_pressing_the_side_button_to_confirm_payments_on_iphone_x",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/daring_fireball_pressing_the_side_button_to_confirm_payments_on_iphone_x",
"external_url": "https:\/\/daringfireball.net\/2017\/12\/side_button_to_confirm_payments_on_iphone_x",
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<blockquote>\n<p>I think Apple needs to come up with a better indication -- perhaps something more explicit, the first time you encounter it -- that you need to click the hardware button, not tap something on screen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I have to agree, I did not \"get\" how to purchase apps to start with (one of the first things I did with my iPhone X), once I knew how to do it then it was obvious - so I would guess the physical action came first and the animation later, when everyone testing it knew how to use it.<\/p>",
"content_text": "\nI think Apple needs to come up with a better indication -- perhaps something more explicit, the first time you encounter it -- that you need to click the hardware button, not tap something on screen.\n\nI have to agree, I did not \"get\" how to purchase apps to start with (one of the first things I did with my iPhone X), once I knew how to do it then it was obvious - so I would guess the physical action came first and the animation later, when everyone testing it knew how to use it.",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "AirPods - A Year On",
"date_published": "2018-01-02T08:00:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "airpods-a-year-on",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/airpods-a-year-on",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>Just over a year ago I walked into the Apple Store and picked up my AirPods - I was lucky enough to get a pair on launch day, but wasn't really sure if I'd like them. Over the next few days I got used to them and found that unlike EarPods they didn't cause my ears to ache - or constantly fall out. <\/p>\n<p>A year later I use my AirPods most of the time without thinking about it. They have become something I take with me almost everywhere without thinking about it. From my smallest handbag, to the side of the pool, to flights across the Atlantic Ocean they have gone on every trip I've made. They're not perfect - if they had noise cancelling built in then I would use them even more instead of getting my over ear headphones out to block loud conversations and screaming children. But if I'm commuting to work these are what I reach for - and they're wonderful.<\/p>\n<p>Since the release of iOS 11 you can <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2017\/07\/12\/ios-11-how-to-customize-airpods-controls\/\">customise the controls on the AirPods<\/a> independently of one another. I set my right ear to play\/pause, and the left ear to skip the track. I rarely use the play\/pause option to be honest - removing an AirPod is usually what I do, and the auto resume when you put it back in your ear has been flawless for me. <\/p>\n<p>The case for my AirPods is showing a few marks and dents where it has slipped out of my hand onto the pavement a few times, however as Apple have said they will be selling a case with Qi charging built in I'm not too worried - the Qi charging will allow me to top up the case regularly without really thinking about it. <\/p>\n<p>I love my AirPods - a lot more than I thought I would.<\/p>",
"content_text": "Just over a year ago I walked into the Apple Store and picked up my AirPods - I was lucky enough to get a pair on launch day, but wasn't really sure if I'd like them. Over the next few days I got used to them and found that unlike EarPods they didn't cause my ears to ache - or constantly fall out. \nA year later I use my AirPods most of the time without thinking about it. They have become something I take with me almost everywhere without thinking about it. From my smallest handbag, to the side of the pool, to flights across the Atlantic Ocean they have gone on every trip I've made. They're not perfect - if they had noise cancelling built in then I would use them even more instead of getting my over ear headphones out to block loud conversations and screaming children. But if I'm commuting to work these are what I reach for - and they're wonderful.\nSince the release of iOS 11 you can customise the controls on the AirPods independently of one another. I set my right ear to play\/pause, and the left ear to skip the track. I rarely use the play\/pause option to be honest - removing an AirPod is usually what I do, and the auto resume when you put it back in your ear has been flawless for me. \nThe case for my AirPods is showing a few marks and dents where it has slipped out of my hand onto the pavement a few times, however as Apple have said they will be selling a case with Qi charging built in I'm not too worried - the Qi charging will allow me to top up the case regularly without really thinking about it. \nI love my AirPods - a lot more than I thought I would.",
"tags": "gadgets"
},
{
"title": "Creating Rich Contacts on iOS",
"date_published": "2017-07-26T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "creating-rich-contacts-on-ios",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/creating-rich-contacts-on-ios",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I recently discovered a little trick from the Map app in iOS - that you can add a rich contact to your contact, complete with map.<\/p>\n<p>1. The first step is finding the place on the map - Apple Maps has got much better over the years so points of interest and useful places like doctors surgeries are often searchable by name.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Map\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/7\/f\/e\/7\/97fe7d142368e572441aaedd2f0e998b39f640d3-map.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Information About a Location\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/e\/8\/4\/f\/ae84f0b2c8eb25245d21c50cdce1f2875ade3110-informationaboutalocation.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>2. Then you need to choose to either add a new contact, or add this information to an existing contact.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Create enhance contact\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/a\/b\/2\/b\/6\/ab2b6bbd4fc450dbaf05d156317dbdff6092341a-createenhancecontact.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Contact information from map\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/2\/b\/a\/4\/72ba49b3fb99d9fcc93b185066ee6e84a4d66530-contactinformationfrommap.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>3. Once this is done you have an enhanced contact - complete with mini map, and any other information that is attached to that place in Maps - so here we have opening hours and more.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Contact from map\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/2\/2\/7\/2\/c2272a407a351cc2bd7281c9b6f52ba2a1c4ef7b-contactfrommap.jpeg\" \/><\/p>",
"content_text": "I recently discovered a little trick from the Map app in iOS - that you can add a rich contact to your contact, complete with map.\n1. The first step is finding the place on the map - Apple Maps has got much better over the years so points of interest and useful places like doctors surgeries are often searchable by name.\n\n\n2. Then you need to choose to either add a new contact, or add this information to an existing contact.\n\n\n3. Once this is done you have an enhanced contact - complete with mini map, and any other information that is attached to that place in Maps - so here we have opening hours and more.\n",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Airmail Custom Actions",
"date_published": "2017-07-19T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "airmail-custom-actions",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/airmail-custom-actions",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I've been experimenting more with <a href=\"http:\/\/airmailapp.com\">Airmail<\/a> on iOS recently, specifically the <a href=\"http:\/\/docs.airmailapp.com\/airmail-for-ios\/custom-actions-airmail-for-iphone\">custom actions<\/a>. Being a regular user of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/tag:workflow\">Workflow<\/a> I'm very familiar with the concept - but Airmail does things a little differently.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/airmailapp.com\/ios\"><img alt=\"Airmail App Icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/2\/7\/6\/6\/c2766f30d61535c171ef6e669868222b114cc08d-airmailappicon.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>To get started with the custom actions you first need to enable integration with the apps you want to work with - for me this is primarily OmniFocus and Workflow, but not exclusively, this is done in the Services section - and there's everything from Dropbox to Instapaper, and even GitHub.<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/airmail-custom-actions\/Airmail_services.png?forceResize=600\" alt=\"Airmail Services\" \/> <\/p>\n<p>So, what is the purpose of an action? An Airmail action allows you to chain multiple steps together - these can be purely email steps (e.g. forward an email, add a label, archive it), or involving external applications. I'll go through some of mine for you. <\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Airmail Custom Actions\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/6\/7\/7\/0\/d67702cb0be5ce71dec22fab30e2a79ad15a494a-airmail-custom-actions.png\" \/> <\/p>\n<h2>Receipts<\/h2>\n<p><img alt=\"Receipts Action\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/e\/8\/6\/0\/e\/e860e04d9ad227f06ea870b1d90cf8b7221de742-receipts-airmail-custom-action.png\" \/><br \/>\nI prefer to handle receipts as PDFs on my Mac - or to be precise, I let Hazel handle my receipts on my Mac. This means I need to get my receipts to somewhere on my Mac Hazel is watching. I have a Workflow which I usually share a PDF directly to - and Airmail has an option to share the message as a PDF to Workflow, along with a whole host of other options.<br \/>\n<img alt=\"Airmail Workflow Actions\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/6\/5\/e\/2\/e\/65e2ea17a5139bacac18102d55d9462da132d1ce-airmail-workflow-actions.jpeg\" \/><br \/>\nThe only catch is that Airmail shares a link to the PDF - but it can override the choice you previously made in Workflow to only accept certain document types. As such I added an If - and if the input is a URL I get the contents of it, and then have Workflow file the receipt in my chosen folder in Dropbox. You can get my <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/3b0ca2be8e614dd19f5c48ad7e5e7dcc\">Web Receipts Workflow here<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Once the receipt has been saved as a PDF and filed I have Airmail delete the Workflow and that's it! One less email in my inbox. <\/p>\n<h2>Travel<\/h2>\n<p><img alt=\"Travel Action\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/9\/7\/7\/6\/59776f1a9a91968977cd0139ddc0a4e9262f4fb1-travel-airmail-custom-action.png\" \/><br \/>\nI use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tripit.com\">TripIt<\/a> to organise my travel - and TripIt is very good at parsing booking emails for the right data. While they do have an option to scan your inbox, I get enough bookings forwarded to me from my family and friends that this isn't a great option - otherwise I'd be in two places at once and permanently on holiday! (Unless I did a lot of manual management in Tripit.) My preferred solution then is to forward emails to TripIt myself - I then apply my travel label and archive the message. With this custom action I just have to confirm the forwarding of the message and Airmail does the rest for me. <\/p>\n<h2>Waiting On<\/h2>\n<p><img alt=\"Waiting On Action\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/d\/0\/3\/0\/0d030ad844f509fe3b2924d80f0c3cac09283e83-waiting-on-airmail-custom-action.png\" \/><br \/>\nWaiting on is used a lot in <a href=\"http:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\">Getting Things Done<\/a>, essentially it's a list of things you're waiting on other people for - simple enough. However most of my waiting on 'tasks' come via my email inbox. I send Workflow the title and the link to the email, have it parse that and then add the resulting task to OmniFocus. You can get my <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/a34e6dbcbb1a4e008a8d751d5dfd69ad\">Airmail Waiting On Workflow here<\/a>. <\/p>\n<h2>Link to Clipboard<\/h2>\n<p><img alt=\"Link to Clipboard Action\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/4\/a\/5\/e\/2\/4a5e2ca276b7f4bac7ef454fa358e03d8a4d7f33-link-to-clipboard-airmail-custom-action.png\" \/><br \/>\nAirmail actually has a built in action for this, but I use it in parts of other custom actions and it's very handy to know how to get a link to an email as part of a custom action. All I do is use the Workflow action to send the mail link to a Workflow called <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/7c537bb994a7486a8ee0dd6b895af03d\">Copy to Clipboard<\/a> which has exactly one action - it takes whatever the input is and copies it to my clipboard. (I have this purely for the times when something is being difficult and the copy button is either not available or not working because I'm running a beta iOS). <\/p>\n<h2>Track Deliveries<\/h2>\n<p><img alt=\"Track Deliveries Action\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/a\/5\/a\/2\/3a5a205db8ec77bf0c8e1ecd9509dca82f2cb20d-track-deliveries-airmail-custom-action.png\" \/><br \/>\nLast for now is Track Delivieries, I use the <a href=\"https:\/\/appsto.re\/gb\/DGbwr.i\">Deliveries App by Junecloud<\/a>, and Airmail can either share a message to it directly, or as part of a custom action. I start by sharing to Deliveries, then use my Waiting On workflow from above, add an extra label of packages, and then archive the message. This way I can track my package, as well as see in OmniFocus I'm waiting on something. <\/p>",
"content_text": "I've been experimenting more with Airmail on iOS recently, specifically the custom actions. Being a regular user of Workflow I'm very familiar with the concept - but Airmail does things a little differently.\n\nTo get started with the custom actions you first need to enable integration with the apps you want to work with - for me this is primarily OmniFocus and Workflow, but not exclusively, this is done in the Services section - and there's everything from Dropbox to Instapaper, and even GitHub.\n \nSo, what is the purpose of an action? An Airmail action allows you to chain multiple steps together - these can be purely email steps (e.g. forward an email, add a label, archive it), or involving external applications. I'll go through some of mine for you. \n \nReceipts\n\nI prefer to handle receipts as PDFs on my Mac - or to be precise, I let Hazel handle my receipts on my Mac. This means I need to get my receipts to somewhere on my Mac Hazel is watching. I have a Workflow which I usually share a PDF directly to - and Airmail has an option to share the message as a PDF to Workflow, along with a whole host of other options.\n\nThe only catch is that Airmail shares a link to the PDF - but it can override the choice you previously made in Workflow to only accept certain document types. As such I added an If - and if the input is a URL I get the contents of it, and then have Workflow file the receipt in my chosen folder in Dropbox. You can get my Web Receipts Workflow here. \nOnce the receipt has been saved as a PDF and filed I have Airmail delete the Workflow and that's it! One less email in my inbox. \nTravel\n\nI use TripIt to organise my travel - and TripIt is very good at parsing booking emails for the right data. While they do have an option to scan your inbox, I get enough bookings forwarded to me from my family and friends that this isn't a great option - otherwise I'd be in two places at once and permanently on holiday! (Unless I did a lot of manual management in Tripit.) My preferred solution then is to forward emails to TripIt myself - I then apply my travel label and archive the message. With this custom action I just have to confirm the forwarding of the message and Airmail does the rest for me. \nWaiting On\n\nWaiting on is used a lot in Getting Things Done, essentially it's a list of things you're waiting on other people for - simple enough. However most of my waiting on 'tasks' come via my email inbox. I send Workflow the title and the link to the email, have it parse that and then add the resulting task to OmniFocus. You can get my Airmail Waiting On Workflow here. \nLink to Clipboard\n\nAirmail actually has a built in action for this, but I use it in parts of other custom actions and it's very handy to know how to get a link to an email as part of a custom action. All I do is use the Workflow action to send the mail link to a Workflow called Copy to Clipboard which has exactly one action - it takes whatever the input is and copies it to my clipboard. (I have this purely for the times when something is being difficult and the copy button is either not available or not working because I'm running a beta iOS). \nTrack Deliveries\n\nLast for now is Track Delivieries, I use the Deliveries App by Junecloud, and Airmail can either share a message to it directly, or as part of a custom action. I start by sharing to Deliveries, then use my Waiting On workflow from above, add an extra label of packages, and then archive the message. This way I can track my package, as well as see in OmniFocus I'm waiting on something. ",
"tags": "workflow,airmail,ios automation"
},
{
"title": "WWDC Keynote Games",
"date_published": "2017-06-05T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "wwdc-keynote-games",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/wwdc-keynote-games",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>Today is the day, Apple fans are perhaps a little too excited but that's par for the course. We've had plenty of \"pre-announcements\" and speculation that these have come over the last week because they're running short of time in the Keynote. There's even been an apparent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/apple\/comments\/6ezhwm\/iama_foxconn_insider_with_information_on_next_12\/\">supply chain leak<\/a> on Reddit (and a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/apple\/comments\/6f21c7\/everything_ufoxconninsider_reported_today\/\">handy summary<\/a> if you don't feel like wading through all those comments).<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Connected Happy-o-meter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/f\/e\/4\/3\/2\/fe432825725044789db3155585c7c387a97030a5-connectedhappy-o-meter.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n\n<p>There are a few WWDC games you can play along with during the keynote (useful if it's 3am your time and you're tired!), so I made a short roundup:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/upgrade\/143\">Upgrade #143<\/a>: Myke or Jason? Who gets more points? There's a PDF scorecard in the comments, and you can listen to their episode afterwards discussing the event and dishing out scores (they have an independent judge incase they can't agree!).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/apple\/comments\/6f7dkr\/for_the_first_time_in_2017_back_again_its_apple\/?st=J3IRCB7T&sh=4a5baabf\">WWDC 2017 Keynote Bingo<\/a>: From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/user\/TheMechanoids\">\/u\/TheMechanoids<\/a> on Reddit. I appreciate the fact that \"one more thing...\" is right in the middle - and I hope we get a full house!<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/connected\/144\">Connected #144<\/a>: Federico, Stephen and Myke decided not to score but to decide who would be happier, Federico suggested the Happy-o-meter, and I <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rosemaryorchard\/status\/869961982740398080\">threw one together<\/a>, there was a positive reaction on Twitter so <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/wwdc-keynote-games\/Connected_Happy-o-meter.pdf\">here it is in PDF<\/a> for you if you prefer that to an image.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Have fun, and remember - even if you don't get what you thought you wanted you might well get something much better.<\/p>\n<p>Personally I've even thrown a WWDC 2017 wallpaper on my watch ;) (Wallpaper available from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.macerkopf.de\/2017\/02\/22\/wwdc-2017-wallpaper-hintergrundbilder-als-download\/\">macerkopf.de<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"WWDC 2017 Watch Face\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/4\/7\/e\/4\/947e41d6b62ce4eced9f163fd25b50bc92917255-wwdc-2017-watch-face.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Oh, and if you're planning on installing the developer betas don't forget to do an encrypted backup first.<\/p>",
"content_text": "Today is the day, Apple fans are perhaps a little too excited but that's par for the course. We've had plenty of \"pre-announcements\" and speculation that these have come over the last week because they're running short of time in the Keynote. There's even been an apparent supply chain leak on Reddit (and a handy summary if you don't feel like wading through all those comments).\n\n\nThere are a few WWDC games you can play along with during the keynote (useful if it's 3am your time and you're tired!), so I made a short roundup:\n\n\nUpgrade #143: Myke or Jason? Who gets more points? There's a PDF scorecard in the comments, and you can listen to their episode afterwards discussing the event and dishing out scores (they have an independent judge incase they can't agree!).\n\n\nWWDC 2017 Keynote Bingo: From \/u\/TheMechanoids on Reddit. I appreciate the fact that \"one more thing...\" is right in the middle - and I hope we get a full house!\n\nConnected #144: Federico, Stephen and Myke decided not to score but to decide who would be happier, Federico suggested the Happy-o-meter, and I threw one together, there was a positive reaction on Twitter so here it is in PDF for you if you prefer that to an image.\n\nHave fun, and remember - even if you don't get what you thought you wanted you might well get something much better.\nPersonally I've even thrown a WWDC 2017 wallpaper on my watch ;) (Wallpaper available from macerkopf.de).\n\nOh, and if you're planning on installing the developer betas don't forget to do an encrypted backup first.",
"tags": "wwdc"
},
{
"title": "WWDC 2017 hopes, wishes and predictions",
"date_published": "2017-05-31T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "wwdc-2017-hopes-wishes-and-predictions",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/wwdc-2017-hopes-wishes-and-predictions",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>With just 5 days to go before Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference everyone's getting in on the prediction\/wish list action! <\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"WWDC 2017 Logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/7\/7\/1\/9\/d\/7719d5a263d71575911857bc1467b4c37cf4410c-wwdc-2017-logo.jpeg\" \/> <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.macstories.net\/stories\/ios-11-ipad-wishes-and-concept-video\">MacStories<\/a>'s Federico Viticci along with Sam Beckett did a brilliant video of an iOS 11 concept - I especially like the Shelf, it feels very Apple like and I could see myself using it a lot. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/upgrade\/143\">The Upgrade WWDC Keynote Draft<\/a> had Myke and Jason make 10 picks each that they think or hope will happen - I'm looking forward to the post-keynote scoring episode! I'm also crossing my fingers for another #mykewasright and that a 10.5\" iPad Pro is announced - as much as I love my 12.9\", if the iPad Mini is indeed dead I would like to consolidate to one device and 12.9\" is too large whilst the 9.7\" is too small really. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/canvas\/36\">Canvas made wishes<\/a>, Federico and Fraser got Merlin Mann on as a guest (making the episode even more fun) - Fraser and Merlin made an excellent suggestion that it would be good if you could find apps you've not used in a long time or which haven't been updated for a while. We currently have the ability to find the 32 Bit apps (under Settings &gt; General&gt; About &gt; Applications), but that alone isn't that helpful. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img alt=\"My 32 Bit Apps\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/f\/9\/c\/3\/3f9c3faf423a32460b80d5554d48d884409ade44-32-bit-apps-on-ios.jpeg\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Bye bye to Pirates!<\/em> <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/joe-steel.com\/2017-05-26-WWDC-2017-Wish-List-tvOS.html\">Joe Steel<\/a> made some excellent comments on tvOS. I particularly like the picture in picture suggestion, and the change away from the Rolodex view. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, with all of the above, I have a few of my own wishes: <\/p>\n<h2>macOS<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>I would really like them to Sherlock <a href=\"http:\/\/eternalstorms.at\/yoink\/Yoink_-_Simplify_and_Improve_Drag_and_Drop_on_your_Mac\/Yoink_-_Simplify_drag_and_drop_on_your_Mac.html\">Yoink<\/a> - it's a great concept and I love it. Unfortunately my parents and many less technical folk don't see the point of paying for things like this when they can do it the more difficult way for free. \n<h2>iOS<\/h2><\/li>\n<li>iPad Splitscreen improvements - basically the current system is only workable if you spend a lot of time making it work. For a machine to be ideal it needs to work for you - and right now I'm working for it. <\/li>\n<li>Being able to set default contact methods for different contacts. I have friends in multiple countries, if I want to call them I am almost never going to use the phone app - it'll be via FaceTime, WhatsApp, Telegram or Skype. Currently I have to remember which method I use and use it specifically. \n<h2>watchOS<\/h2><\/li>\n<li>More flexible watch faces. I would like to have a few completely customisable faces, think of a modular face with 9 boxes, you can choose to merge any boxes next to each other - allowing you to make complications of various sizes. \n<h2>tvOS<\/h2><\/li>\n<li>Adding local media storage and apps like Infuse to the TV app. I have all this content, but I need to visit multiple different apps to find all my content. <\/li>\n<li>Speaking of which: the TV app needs to be available outside of the USA\/North America. \n<h2>siriOS<\/h2><\/li>\n<li>I get it, Siri isn't an operating system. But it would be good if Siri could work (mostly) the same way across all platforms. I can't create a note on my watch - but I can on my phone. Consistency, and a shared brain would be excellent. Not needing to set up who my family is on every device would be a good start.<\/li>\n<\/ul>",
"content_text": "With just 5 days to go before Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference everyone's getting in on the prediction\/wish list action! \n \n\n\nMacStories's Federico Viticci along with Sam Beckett did a brilliant video of an iOS 11 concept - I especially like the Shelf, it feels very Apple like and I could see myself using it a lot. \n\n\nThe Upgrade WWDC Keynote Draft had Myke and Jason make 10 picks each that they think or hope will happen - I'm looking forward to the post-keynote scoring episode! I'm also crossing my fingers for another #mykewasright and that a 10.5\" iPad Pro is announced - as much as I love my 12.9\", if the iPad Mini is indeed dead I would like to consolidate to one device and 12.9\" is too large whilst the 9.7\" is too small really. \n\nCanvas made wishes, Federico and Fraser got Merlin Mann on as a guest (making the episode even more fun) - Fraser and Merlin made an excellent suggestion that it would be good if you could find apps you've not used in a long time or which haven't been updated for a while. We currently have the ability to find the 32 Bit apps (under Settings &gt; General&gt; About &gt; Applications), but that alone isn't that helpful. \n\n\nBye bye to Pirates! \n\nJoe Steel made some excellent comments on tvOS. I particularly like the picture in picture suggestion, and the change away from the Rolodex view. \n\nSo, with all of the above, I have a few of my own wishes: \nmacOS\n\nI would really like them to Sherlock Yoink - it's a great concept and I love it. Unfortunately my parents and many less technical folk don't see the point of paying for things like this when they can do it the more difficult way for free. \niOS\niPad Splitscreen improvements - basically the current system is only workable if you spend a lot of time making it work. For a machine to be ideal it needs to work for you - and right now I'm working for it. \nBeing able to set default contact methods for different contacts. I have friends in multiple countries, if I want to call them I am almost never going to use the phone app - it'll be via FaceTime, WhatsApp, Telegram or Skype. Currently I have to remember which method I use and use it specifically. \nwatchOS\nMore flexible watch faces. I would like to have a few completely customisable faces, think of a modular face with 9 boxes, you can choose to merge any boxes next to each other - allowing you to make complications of various sizes. \ntvOS\nAdding local media storage and apps like Infuse to the TV app. I have all this content, but I need to visit multiple different apps to find all my content. \nSpeaking of which: the TV app needs to be available outside of the USA\/North America. \nsiriOS\nI get it, Siri isn't an operating system. But it would be good if Siri could work (mostly) the same way across all platforms. I can't create a note on my watch - but I can on my phone. Consistency, and a shared brain would be excellent. Not needing to set up who my family is on every device would be a good start.\n",
"tags": "wwdc"
},
{
"title": "JSON Feed",
"date_published": "2017-05-24T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "json-feed",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/json-feed",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>Everyone's been talking about <a href=\"https:\/\/jsonfeed.org\" title=\"JSON Feed\">JSON feed<\/a> recently, or at least that's how it seems! As said by <a href=\"https:\/\/daringfireball.net\/linked\/2017\/05\/17\/json-feed\" title=\"John Gruber at Daring Fireball\">John Gruber<\/a>, it's written for real humans. JSON is everywhere nowadays, and it's very easy to parse! <\/p>\n<p>As such I thought it would be nice to implement JSON feed here on this blog. Unfortunately there isn't yet a JSON feed plugin for <a href=\"https:\/\/getgrav.org\" title=\"Grav, Content Management System\">Grav<\/a>, however there is a <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/getgrav\/grav-plugin-feed\" title=\"Grav Feed Plugin\">feed plugin<\/a> - which I was already using to provide RSS. As such I decided to do a bit of playing with it, and a <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/getgrav\/grav-plugin-feed\/pull\/21\" title=\"My GitHub pull requests for Grav Feed Plugin\">pull request<\/a> or two later there will be a JSON feed! In the mean time I've already implemented it locally.<\/p>\n<p>And just for fun, I made a workflow where you can read JSON feeds: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/527a5cac66ee40ce9899b642cf84eb94\" title=\"JSON Feed Reader Workflow\">JSON Feed Reader<\/a>, to keep the Workflow from getting too long (and because it was just a proof of concept), the article you select is opened in the in app Safari window and there's no tracking which articles you have or haven't read.<\/p>",
"content_text": "Everyone's been talking about JSON feed recently, or at least that's how it seems! As said by John Gruber, it's written for real humans. JSON is everywhere nowadays, and it's very easy to parse! \nAs such I thought it would be nice to implement JSON feed here on this blog. Unfortunately there isn't yet a JSON feed plugin for Grav, however there is a feed plugin - which I was already using to provide RSS. As such I decided to do a bit of playing with it, and a pull request or two later there will be a JSON feed! In the mean time I've already implemented it locally.\nAnd just for fun, I made a workflow where you can read JSON feeds: JSON Feed Reader, to keep the Workflow from getting too long (and because it was just a proof of concept), the article you select is opened in the in app Safari window and there's no tracking which articles you have or haven't read.",
"tags": "workflow,json feed,api"
},
{
"title": "Migrating Wunderlist to Trello",
"date_published": "2017-05-08T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "migrating-wunderlist-to-trello",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/migrating-wunderlist-to-trello",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2017\/04\/19\/microsoft-to-shut-down-wunderlist-in-favor-of-its-new-app-to-do\/\">Wunderlist is sadly shutting down<\/a>, I decided that I would move before I was pushed - so after some evaluation of my uses (shared lists primarily, and nothing that would end up in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/tag:omnifocus\">OmniFocus<\/a>) I decided on <a href=\"https:\/\/trello.com\/roseorchard\/recommend\">Trello<\/a>. They have optional Trello Gold which means I can pay them and make them more likely to stick around - ideal!<\/p>\n<p>Then there was the challenge: \"how do I move my data from Wunderlist to Trello?\". There are a few paid tools out there, but as much as I'm happy to pay for a good service - I do love free! As such I decided to do it myself.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Exporting Wunderlist Data\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/9\/7\/2\/5\/7\/9725706b2df4fb78d6a375bfda14d1360d90421e-wunderlist-export.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The first step was exporting all of my data from Wunderlist. Inside of the Wunderlist web app, inside of your account settings you can create a backup. Unfortunately this brought me to my first problem. <\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"What is this file?\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/b\/c\/b\/9\/3bcb912788f4d0cf90320ed031ca21373869b78a-unknown-file.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I suspect that Wunderlist doesn't play nicely with Safari, but giving me a file called \"Unknown\" with no extension wasn't very nice either way. Thankfully a quick Google told me that this is in JSON format and so I renamed it, and put it in my Workflow folder in iCloud.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Yes, I do want it to be a JSON!\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/d\/d\/1\/c\/9\/dd1c9195d2c1624545e7bf32ae0e771f7af71aca-change-to-json.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>That done it was time to get started! The first thing to do was to poke around at the data and see what it was like. Workflow's \"Get Dictionary from Input\" was immensely helpful here, and I quickly managed to isolate the lists and tasks. I ended up creating two Workflows here, one which turns each Wunderlist list into a board, with a list - both of which have the name of the Wunderlist list, and then one which fetches all the tasks and puts them onto said list on the correct board.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/f1f2ce60833b4f8597d39c6a9e72b321\">Wunderlist to Trello Boards and Lists<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/e37a39a91c194782bbe56a5519d621ac\">Wunderlist To Trello Tasks<\/a> are the two Workflows here - I separated them to allow you to modify them separately more easily. Simply run the first one, and then the second one and off you go!<\/p>",
"content_text": "As Wunderlist is sadly shutting down, I decided that I would move before I was pushed - so after some evaluation of my uses (shared lists primarily, and nothing that would end up in OmniFocus) I decided on Trello. They have optional Trello Gold which means I can pay them and make them more likely to stick around - ideal!\nThen there was the challenge: \"how do I move my data from Wunderlist to Trello?\". There are a few paid tools out there, but as much as I'm happy to pay for a good service - I do love free! As such I decided to do it myself.\n\nThe first step was exporting all of my data from Wunderlist. Inside of the Wunderlist web app, inside of your account settings you can create a backup. Unfortunately this brought me to my first problem. \n\nI suspect that Wunderlist doesn't play nicely with Safari, but giving me a file called \"Unknown\" with no extension wasn't very nice either way. Thankfully a quick Google told me that this is in JSON format and so I renamed it, and put it in my Workflow folder in iCloud.\n\nThat done it was time to get started! The first thing to do was to poke around at the data and see what it was like. Workflow's \"Get Dictionary from Input\" was immensely helpful here, and I quickly managed to isolate the lists and tasks. I ended up creating two Workflows here, one which turns each Wunderlist list into a board, with a list - both of which have the name of the Wunderlist list, and then one which fetches all the tasks and puts them onto said list on the correct board.\nWunderlist to Trello Boards and Lists and Wunderlist To Trello Tasks are the two Workflows here - I separated them to allow you to modify them separately more easily. Simply run the first one, and then the second one and off you go!",
"tags": "workflow,wunderlist,trello"
},
{
"title": "Omnifocus resources",
"date_published": "2017-05-03T08:00:00+02:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "omnifocus-resources",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/omnifocus-resources",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I've been using OmniFocus ask my task manager for a good few years now, and I frequently like to search out articles about how other people use it to glean some ideas - and I frequently pick up tips. <\/p>\n<p>As such I have a collection of articles below, most being pages which link to many more articles on that site! I also saved not just the links below, but also articles from the <em>lists of posts<\/em> websites that I particularly enjoyed or found useful on <a href=\"https:\/\/pinboard.in\/u:RosemaryJayne\/t:omnifocus\/\">Pinboard<\/a> - hopefully this will help you on your OmniFocus journey!<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"OmniFocus Links\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/4\/e\/4\/e\/24e4e0afdcdd9976ae39e9d02748c2442aa18aa2-omnifocus-links.png\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/learnomnifocus.com\/articles\/\">Learn OmniFocus Articles -\u00a0Learn OmniFocus<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.omnigroup.com\/documentation\">Support - The Omni Group<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/inside.omnifocus.com\/\">Workflows - Inside OmniFocus<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/simplicitybliss.com\/essential-omnifocus-posts-cb5d7fd4bbd6\">Essential OmniFocus Resources \u2013 simplicitybliss<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/workingwithomnifocus.com\/?pa=727C158523\">Working With OmniFocus \u2013 A repository of videos about OmniFocus<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/learnomnifocus.com\/videos\/beyond-basics\/\">Beyond the Basics -\u00a0Learn OmniFocus<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gumroad.com\/l\/creating_flow_with_omnifocus\">Creating Flow with OmniFocus - Second Edition<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.macsparky.com\/omnifocus\/\">OmniFocus \u2014 MacSparky<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.macsparky.com\/?tag=omnifocus#show-archive\">MacSparky<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lynda.com\/OmniFocus-tutorials\/OmniFocus-iOS-Essential-Training\/386384-2.html\">OmniFocus for iOS Essential Training<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lynda.com\/OmniFocus-tutorials\/OmniFocus-Mac-Essential-Training\/386383-2.html\">OmniFocus for Mac Essential Training<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rcardigan.com\/blog\/2016\/7\/8\/omnibulk-entry-messy-way\">OmniFocus Bulk Entry from a PC (The Messy way) \u2014 RubIn Cardigan<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.asianefficiency.com\/omnifocus\/\">OmniFocus Tips, Articles, Tricks and Tutorials<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/joebuhlig.com\/tag\/omnifocus\/\">Joe Buhlig | leverage the digital and welcome real life<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/computers.tutsplus.com\/tutorials\/the-ultimate-guide-to-omnifocus-2--cms-20913\">The Ultimate Guide to OmniFocus 2<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/omnifocus\/\">OmniFocus Community on Reddit<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.macstories.net\/tag\/omnifocus\/\">MacStories - Omnifocus<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/productivityist.com\/omnifocus-next-level\/\">Productivityist - OmniFocus, next level<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/brettterpstra.com\/topic\/omnifocus\/\">Brett Terpstra - OmniFocus<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/brettterpstra.com\/search\/?q=OmniFocus\">Brett Terpstra - More OmniFocus<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>",
"content_text": "I've been using OmniFocus ask my task manager for a good few years now, and I frequently like to search out articles about how other people use it to glean some ideas - and I frequently pick up tips. \nAs such I have a collection of articles below, most being pages which link to many more articles on that site! I also saved not just the links below, but also articles from the lists of posts websites that I particularly enjoyed or found useful on Pinboard - hopefully this will help you on your OmniFocus journey!\n\n\nLearn OmniFocus Articles -\u00a0Learn OmniFocus \nSupport - The Omni Group \nWorkflows - Inside OmniFocus \nEssential OmniFocus Resources \u2013 simplicitybliss \nWorking With OmniFocus \u2013 A repository of videos about OmniFocus \nBeyond the Basics -\u00a0Learn OmniFocus \nCreating Flow with OmniFocus - Second Edition \nOmniFocus \u2014 MacSparky \nMacSparky \nOmniFocus for iOS Essential Training \nOmniFocus for Mac Essential Training \nOmniFocus Bulk Entry from a PC (The Messy way) \u2014 RubIn Cardigan \nOmniFocus Tips, Articles, Tricks and Tutorials \nJoe Buhlig | leverage the digital and welcome real life \nThe Ultimate Guide to OmniFocus 2 \nOmniFocus Community on Reddit \nMacStories - Omnifocus \nProductivityist - OmniFocus, next level \nBrett Terpstra - OmniFocus \nBrett Terpstra - More OmniFocus\n",
"tags": "omnifocus,link resources"
},
{
"title": "Mac Power Users Meeting",
"date_published": "2017-03-17T08:00:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "mac-power-users-meeting",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/mac-power-users-meeting",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>This week the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/mpu\">Mac Power Users podcast<\/a> hosted a meet up in Chicago. The event was sponsored by <a href=\"http:\/\/macpaw.com\">MacPaw<\/a> (delicious food, thanks guys!), and it was a lot of fun. <\/p>\n<p>Along with meeting <a href=\"https:\/\/katiefloyd.com\">Katie<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macsparky.com\">David<\/a>, I also met <a href=\"http:\/\/ilc.com\">Tom Siko<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/mcnary.me\">Joshua McNary<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.themactutor.com\">Tony Marengo<\/a>, and many others. <a href=\"http:\/\/leancrew.com\">Dr Drang<\/a> was apparently in the room too, however as he was anonymous I couldn't say how much I appreciate his script sharing on his blog. <\/p>\n<p>I didn't go just for the appetisers of course, it was lots of fun to meet everyone, and I even got a t-shirt! <\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"t-shirt\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/3\/7\/f\/2\/b\/37f2b4701638932d798e2dfe1dd004789f8eba7c-t-shirt.jpeg\" \/><\/p>",
"content_text": "This week the Mac Power Users podcast hosted a meet up in Chicago. The event was sponsored by MacPaw (delicious food, thanks guys!), and it was a lot of fun. \nAlong with meeting Katie and David, I also met Tom Siko, Joshua McNary, Tony Marengo, and many others. Dr Drang was apparently in the room too, however as he was anonymous I couldn't say how much I appreciate his script sharing on his blog. \nI didn't go just for the appetisers of course, it was lots of fun to meet everyone, and I even got a t-shirt! \n",
"tags": ""
},
{
"title": "Charging Tech While Travelling",
"date_published": "2017-03-08T08:00:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "charging-tech-while-travelling",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/charging-tech-while-travelling",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>Whenever you're on the go you always seem to end up needing to charge more gadgets simultaneously than at home - or at least you do if you're me. Along with the standard devices there are backup battery packs, and of course, if there are any long journeys you want everything fully charged before you depart! One handy little thing I've been carrying in my travel bag for over a year now is the <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2mstaYN\">AUKEY 5-Port USB Charger<\/a>. As the name implies it has 5 ports, and each of them should charger at 10A (the power of the old iPad chargers). While it's not perfect - it certainly won't charge my massive 12.9\" iPad Pro in a hurry, it's more than good enough for nearly everything else. I can charge my phone, both iPads, headphones and a battery pack simultaneously - and if I plug in the behemoth of the iPad Pro overnight it'll be 100% come morning too.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2mstaYN\"><img alt=\"AUKEY 5-Port USB Charger\" class=\"image-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/c\/d\/a\/d\/7\/cdad7dae99b7e11822412f35fce091c230b020be-aukey-5-port-usb-charger.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The best part of this though, at least for me, is that it uses a standard figure of eight lead - the same ones used on Apple's Airport range, the Mac Mini and the Apple TV - plus a plethora of other gadgets. This means you can buy alternative cables easily. As it's 110V-240V it will work around the world, all you need to do is plug it in. I personally prefer having different cables to take with me vs a regular cable and an adaptor - it takes up less space. Additionally in some places I visit frequently, I have a spare cable there - just to reduce on packing a little. <\/p>\n<p>Of course, this isn't the only charging solution I carry. As mentioned above I have battery packs, and as well as that I have the 29W USB C charger from Apple with the Lightning to USB C cable, and a standard Apple iPhone charger. These come in handy when plugs are inconveniently placed, more gadgets need charging, or I need to use my iPad Pro whilst charging it (it usually maintains battery life on the Aukey charger, but it certainly won't increase). Both Apple chargers are also ideal for use on a plane which has a charging socket too.<\/p>\n<p>I hope that at some point soon Anker will come out with a charging block with a well powered USB C port on it which will allow me to ditch the 29W adapter when travelling at least. <\/p>",
"content_text": "Whenever you're on the go you always seem to end up needing to charge more gadgets simultaneously than at home - or at least you do if you're me. Along with the standard devices there are backup battery packs, and of course, if there are any long journeys you want everything fully charged before you depart! One handy little thing I've been carrying in my travel bag for over a year now is the AUKEY 5-Port USB Charger. As the name implies it has 5 ports, and each of them should charger at 10A (the power of the old iPad chargers). While it's not perfect - it certainly won't charge my massive 12.9\" iPad Pro in a hurry, it's more than good enough for nearly everything else. I can charge my phone, both iPads, headphones and a battery pack simultaneously - and if I plug in the behemoth of the iPad Pro overnight it'll be 100% come morning too.\n\nThe best part of this though, at least for me, is that it uses a standard figure of eight lead - the same ones used on Apple's Airport range, the Mac Mini and the Apple TV - plus a plethora of other gadgets. This means you can buy alternative cables easily. As it's 110V-240V it will work around the world, all you need to do is plug it in. I personally prefer having different cables to take with me vs a regular cable and an adaptor - it takes up less space. Additionally in some places I visit frequently, I have a spare cable there - just to reduce on packing a little. \nOf course, this isn't the only charging solution I carry. As mentioned above I have battery packs, and as well as that I have the 29W USB C charger from Apple with the Lightning to USB C cable, and a standard Apple iPhone charger. These come in handy when plugs are inconveniently placed, more gadgets need charging, or I need to use my iPad Pro whilst charging it (it usually maintains battery life on the Aukey charger, but it certainly won't increase). Both Apple chargers are also ideal for use on a plane which has a charging socket too.\nI hope that at some point soon Anker will come out with a charging block with a well powered USB C port on it which will allow me to ditch the 29W adapter when travelling at least. ",
"tags": "gadgets,travel"
},
{
"title": "Tracking Exchange Rates When Travelling",
"date_published": "2017-03-01T08:00:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "tracking-exchange-rates-when-travelling",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/tracking-exchange-rates-when-travelling",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I've recently been travelling a lot (which as my family is well aware, is a normal state!) and wanted to be able to easily keep track of the exchange rate, plus be able to calculate the prices including tax - as well as find out how much it would be in my normal currency.<\/p>\n<p>Step 1 was finding an API I could use. I'm a big fan of free - and when that's nor possible affordable. Naturally <a href=\"http:\/\/xe.com\">XE Currency<\/a> was my first port of call but that was a little out of my price range. A little Googling found <a href=\"http:\/\/fixer.io\">Fixer.io<\/a> which is free, and while not giving the identical rates to xe.com or my card company, close enough to give me a very good approximation. <\/p>\n<p>The first step was creating a Workflow which would get me the current exchange rate, and save it to a file so I could use it offline. A simple GET command and some RegEx was all that was needed to extract the exchange rate, then it was a simple matter of saving the file for later retrieval - and I added an alert at the end.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/c529e275a5ca4e5aa845520b92b1e257\"><img alt=\"Get USD Exchange Rate\" class=\"float-left\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/5\/a\/4\/3\/05a43f1ce09f13e89edac519697e08ec3d1c2204-get-usd-exchange-rate.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/c529e275a5ca4e5aa845520b92b1e257\">Get the Workflow<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>The next part of the puzzle was to create a Workflow to ask me what the price is, and then calculate the price including sales tax, then display the original price, price including tax, and price in \u20ac (my usual currency). This fetches the saved exchange rate from the first Workflow - allowing the Workflow to run offline. <em>(At one point I had an idea of not having data during the trip, but considering my poor sense of direction and unfamiliarity with my destination I did the smart thing and ordered a SIM card - regardless though, the data only changes once per day. Especially as this is a free service, reducing load on their servers seemed like a nice thing to do.)<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/a5b93cbbd95345deb0235483523e2476\"><img alt=\"Input the price\" class=\"float-left\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/2\/e\/8\/2\/d\/2e82d7b127227e18b7ee3a4b3eb4d7b3229b06f4-input-the-price.jpeg\" \/><\/a>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/a5b93cbbd95345deb0235483523e2476\"><img alt=\"How much is it?\" class=\"float-right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/2\/2\/4\/3\/022430dee54da15dc371ea307811f5cf39dcda03-how-much-is-it.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/c529e275a5ca4e5aa845520b92b1e257\">Get the Workflow<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>My final touch was to use <a href=\"https:\/\/contrast.co\/launch-center-pro\/\">Launch Center Pro<\/a> to create a location based reminder for my hotel to update the exchange rate. I could have used a time based one (recurring daily), but then I would have to remember to disable it when I leave - this way if I forget it won't be prompting me unnecessarily. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/fixer.io\">Fixer.io<\/a> is a Euro based API, which is handy for anyone based in the Eurozone or travelling here. Of course, you could theoretically also use it to convert one currency to another via the Euro, but the accuracy could well be off so I wouldn't necessarily recommend that. The only note I'll add, is that if you're travelling to Europe and intend to use this, is to skip the tax - our prices include it!<\/p>",
"content_text": "I've recently been travelling a lot (which as my family is well aware, is a normal state!) and wanted to be able to easily keep track of the exchange rate, plus be able to calculate the prices including tax - as well as find out how much it would be in my normal currency.\nStep 1 was finding an API I could use. I'm a big fan of free - and when that's nor possible affordable. Naturally XE Currency was my first port of call but that was a little out of my price range. A little Googling found Fixer.io which is free, and while not giving the identical rates to xe.com or my card company, close enough to give me a very good approximation. \nThe first step was creating a Workflow which would get me the current exchange rate, and save it to a file so I could use it offline. A simple GET command and some RegEx was all that was needed to extract the exchange rate, then it was a simple matter of saving the file for later retrieval - and I added an alert at the end.\n\n\nGet the Workflow \n\nThe next part of the puzzle was to create a Workflow to ask me what the price is, and then calculate the price including sales tax, then display the original price, price including tax, and price in \u20ac (my usual currency). This fetches the saved exchange rate from the first Workflow - allowing the Workflow to run offline. (At one point I had an idea of not having data during the trip, but considering my poor sense of direction and unfamiliarity with my destination I did the smart thing and ordered a SIM card - regardless though, the data only changes once per day. Especially as this is a free service, reducing load on their servers seemed like a nice thing to do.)\n\n\n\nGet the Workflow \n\nMy final touch was to use Launch Center Pro to create a location based reminder for my hotel to update the exchange rate. I could have used a time based one (recurring daily), but then I would have to remember to disable it when I leave - this way if I forget it won't be prompting me unnecessarily. \nFixer.io is a Euro based API, which is handy for anyone based in the Eurozone or travelling here. Of course, you could theoretically also use it to convert one currency to another via the Euro, but the accuracy could well be off so I wouldn't necessarily recommend that. The only note I'll add, is that if you're travelling to Europe and intend to use this, is to skip the tax - our prices include it!",
"tags": "workflow,travel"
},
{
"title": "Podcast Appearance - The Hitchhiker&#039;s guide to the Plannerverse",
"date_published": "2017-02-23T08:00:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "philofaxy-podcast-appearance",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/philofaxy-podcast-appearance",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>This week I was a guest on the Philofaxy podcast, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Plannerverse - Episode 51. I had a great time talking to Steve (as always!), as we delved into how I plan and my systems.<\/p>\n\n<p>We touched on the following topics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First encounters with planners<\/li>\n<li>Parental influence on planning<\/li>\n<li>Current style of planning<\/li>\n<li>Work Planning<\/li>\n<li>What I like most about paper planning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/philofaxy.blogspot.com\/2017\/02\/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-plannerverse_23.html\">Listen on the Philofaxy website<\/a>.<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/philofaxy.blogspot.com\/2017\/02\/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-plannerverse_23.html\"><img alt=\"Philofaxy Hitchhiker's Guide to the Plannerverse\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/5\/5\/9\/2\/b\/5592b0d5732415a55360b8a1663ae93eecd4d9eb-podcast-art.png\" \/><\/a> <\/p>\n<hr \/>",
"content_text": "This week I was a guest on the Philofaxy podcast, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Plannerverse - Episode 51. I had a great time talking to Steve (as always!), as we delved into how I plan and my systems.\n\nWe touched on the following topics:\n\nFirst encounters with planners\nParental influence on planning\nCurrent style of planning\nWork Planning\nWhat I like most about paper planning\n\n\nListen on the Philofaxy website.\n \n",
"tags": "Podcast"
},
{
"title": "Workflow: What\u2019s the weather like today?",
"date_published": "2017-02-15T08:00:00+01:00",
"date_modified": "2018-07-05T11:12:50+02:00",
"id": "workflow-daily-dark-sky-weather",
"url": "https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/blog\/workflow-daily-dark-sky-weather",
"external_url": null,
"author": {
"name": "Rosemary Orchard"
},
"content_html": "<p>I\u2019ve been exploring APIs quite a bit recently and came across the <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.net\/dev\/docs\">Dark Sky API<\/a> (free for up to 1000 calls a day). The possibilities with this API, like most, are many - and my immediate thought was I could use it to tell me at the start of the day what the weather will be like for the day - regardless of where I am.<\/p>\n\n<p>I\u2019ve experimented with IFTTT to tell me automatically at X time, but the problem with IFTTT is your location is static - you have to log into the website every time you need to change it. It also tells me at the same time <em>every<\/em> day and my schedule can vary somewhat.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, on to the Workflow! I wanted to get the max and min temperature for the day, plus humidity and a rough summary of the next few days, all of these are possible in the API. I also decided that regardless of where I am in the world I would like the units to be metric (standard international, to be precise). I explored the <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.net\/dev\/docs\/forecast\">very thorough API documentation<\/a> and realised I could exclude current, minute, hourly, alerts and flags data, and did so.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Here is the Workflow: <a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/f820044097a9467a8879795058e0f887\">Daily Dark Sky Forecast<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/workflow.is\/workflows\/f820044097a9467a8879795058e0f887\"><img alt=\"Display of alert result of the Workflow\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rosemaryorchard.com\/images\/0\/b\/f\/1\/c\/0bf1cc24724196fb03f15a1c47564c05da75afcc-workflow-daily-dark-sky-forecast.jpeg\" \/><\/a> <\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>It\u2019s a today widget, it will likely take a little while to run as it gets your GPS location - if you don\u2019t travel much or at all then it might be worth finding out your latitude and longitude and hard coding them in. The emojis in the top dictionary can be modified of course - they're just there to represent the icon which is available in the API.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, if you like Dark Sky it's well worth buying the app!<\/p>",
"content_text": "I\u2019ve been exploring APIs quite a bit recently and came across the Dark Sky API (free for up to 1000 calls a day). The possibilities with this API, like most, are many - and my immediate thought was I could use it to tell me at the start of the day what the weather will be like for the day - regardless of where I am.\n\nI\u2019ve experimented with IFTTT to tell me automatically at X time, but the problem with IFTTT is your location is static - you have to log into the website every time you need to change it. It also tells me at the same time every day and my schedule can vary somewhat.\nAnyway, on to the Workflow! I wanted to get the max and min temperature for the day, plus humidity and a rough summary of the next few days, all of these are possible in the API. I also decided that regardless of where I am in the world I would like the units to be metric (standard international, to be precise). I explored the very thorough API documentation and realised I could exclude current, minute, hourly, alerts and flags data, and did so.\n\nHere is the Workflow: Daily Dark Sky Forecast\n \n\nIt\u2019s a today widget, it will likely take a little while to run as it gets your GPS location - if you don\u2019t travel much or at all then it might be worth finding out your latitude and longitude and hard coding them in. The emojis in the top dictionary can be modified of course - they're just there to represent the icon which is available in the API.\nOf course, if you like Dark Sky it's well worth buying the app!",
"tags": "workflow"
}
]
}
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