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Ecco like features for future SheetPlanner
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Posted by SheetPlanner
Feb 13, 2018 at 09:40 PM
Roger,
Great feedback.
Everything listed will be in 1.0 or if not mist likely 1.1.
The bulk of it is in 1.0.
Thanks
Peter
rogbar wrote:
Hi Peter,
>
>To answer your original question, here’s an incomplete list:
>
>1) the outliner be rock-solid, not prone to crashing (Ecco was
>bullet-proof, and I really pushed it. DevonThink is also crash-free.)
>
>2) the ability to filter an outline based on values in one or more
>columns
>
>3) the columns whose values are filterable would include text,
>numerical, date, drop-down, etc.
>
>4) the drop-down columns should allow the user to select more than one
>choice. This was a hugely useful feature of Ecco, and it’s amazing how
>few other apps have copied this.
>
>5) if an item that satisfies the filter is not a top-level item, the
>filtered outline would show the selected item’s parent items in place,
>but grayed-out. This would preserve the context of the filtered item,
>without making it look like the parent items satisfied the filter also.
>
>6) the filtered item should also include the item’s children. Currently,
>OmniOutliner doesn’t allow this, so if you did, it would be a huge plus.
>
>7) having tabbed views - as you’re planning - is extremely important. In
>other words, the ability to keep different views of the same outline
>visible at all times, switching between them just by clicking on the
>appropriate tab.
>
>8) each tabbed view can have its own column structure, different from
>the others.
>
>9) the ability to save a tabbed view so that when I open a document for
>a particular project, all the different views that I want are
>automatically displayed before me, and I don’t have to manually create
>the layout I created yesterday and need again today.
>
>10) it’s important to be able to name and save filters, so they can be
>easily re-applied
>
>11) the ability to insert image files into items (or notes), and the
>ability to re-size them on the fly. Ecco could do that, OmniOutliner
>can’t.
>
>I’m sure more will occur to me ... but in the meantime, thanks for
>asking, and thanks so much for developing this. Can’t wait to try it
>out.
>
>roger
>
>p.s.: Do you have an email address where I can send you a screenshot or
>two from different Ecco configurations?
>
Posted by SheetPlanner
Feb 13, 2018 at 09:41 PM
Jon,
Thanks for the feedback. I am thinking of doing a web app in the long run (that syncs with the desktop). When we get there it might be an option for you.
Thanks
Peter
Jon Polish wrote:
Agreed, and I am a huge Ecco fan. But for me InfoQube presents freedom
>and capability now lacking in Ecco. While SheetPlanner intrigues me, I
>will not be able to utilize it because it is Apple only.
>
>Jon
>
>Ken wrote:
>>New may be good, but
>>old is not always bad or obsolete, and the wheel does not always need
>to
>>be reinvented.
>>
>>I wish you luck,
>>
>>—Ken
Posted by SheetPlanner
Feb 13, 2018 at 09:42 PM
Roger,
peterdavey29@me.com
Thanks,
Peter
rogbar wrote:
Hi Peter,
>
>To answer your original question, here’s an incomplete list:
>
>1) the outliner be rock-solid, not prone to crashing (Ecco was
>bullet-proof, and I really pushed it. DevonThink is also crash-free.)
>
>2) the ability to filter an outline based on values in one or more
>columns
>
>3) the columns whose values are filterable would include text,
>numerical, date, drop-down, etc.
>
>4) the drop-down columns should allow the user to select more than one
>choice. This was a hugely useful feature of Ecco, and it’s amazing how
>few other apps have copied this.
>
>5) if an item that satisfies the filter is not a top-level item, the
>filtered outline would show the selected item’s parent items in place,
>but grayed-out. This would preserve the context of the filtered item,
>without making it look like the parent items satisfied the filter also.
>
>6) the filtered item should also include the item’s children. Currently,
>OmniOutliner doesn’t allow this, so if you did, it would be a huge plus.
>
>7) having tabbed views - as you’re planning - is extremely important. In
>other words, the ability to keep different views of the same outline
>visible at all times, switching between them just by clicking on the
>appropriate tab.
>
>8) each tabbed view can have its own column structure, different from
>the others.
>
>9) the ability to save a tabbed view so that when I open a document for
>a particular project, all the different views that I want are
>automatically displayed before me, and I don’t have to manually create
>the layout I created yesterday and need again today.
>
>10) it’s important to be able to name and save filters, so they can be
>easily re-applied
>
>11) the ability to insert image files into items (or notes), and the
>ability to re-size them on the fly. Ecco could do that, OmniOutliner
>can’t.
>
>I’m sure more will occur to me ... but in the meantime, thanks for
>asking, and thanks so much for developing this. Can’t wait to try it
>out.
>
>roger
>
>p.s.: Do you have an email address where I can send you a screenshot or
>two from different Ecco configurations?
>
Posted by SheetPlanner
Feb 13, 2018 at 10:01 PM
Ken,
I think you will love SheetPlanner.
We have rows that carry forward when not completed (can be turned on or off per row in the inspector). Integration between the outliner and calendar (month view now, week, day later). You can drag and drop items from the outline to the calendar to change start or finish dates with some pretty good logic that figures out what you are doing. You can move items around in the calendar and the outline updates.
We have custom columns also, links to files in your file system or the cloud, browse web links in a tab, filters that show up like a bookmark in Safari and a timeline view.
We have big plans for 1.1, 1.5 and 2.0.
Thanks
Peter
Ken wrote:
A big thank you to rogbar for copying that article. It was a nice read,
>and a story that many of us loyal Ecco users found ourselves as minor
>characters. I also started using it in 1993 and finally had to abandon
>it a number of years ago when my office migrated to Win7 and would not
>allow me to keep the software on my machine.
>
>While I would love a reincarnation of the original program since I was
>familiar with its workings and would need no learning curve, I realize
>that is not really an option in my life. While I am sure if I thought
>about it, I could probably come up with numerous things I loved about
>Ecco, I will try to highlight a few that come immediately to mind.
>First, I loved the easy integration between the calendar and any tabbed
>pages that were created. Most good programs offer some form of this
>today, but I really liked that Ecco had a calendar section and a task
>section with tasks that could carry forward. Again, not complex, but
>well laid out.
>
>Another thing that I loved was the ability to add columns to tabs. This
>allowed me to look at data in a number of ways that worked for me. I
>know that Airtable (and probably many others) seems to do this somewhat
>well, but setting it up always required my brain to go into “database”
>mode and think how I can get the view to look the way I would like. My
>Life Organized also offers views and layout that work for me, but again,
>Ecco made it somewhat simple once you learned their “logic”.
>
>While Ecco did not really have tags in the current sense, I do
>appreciate a program that offers good control and use of tags. I think
>the biggest failure in using tags is Asana. They took a very powerful
>feature and totally screwed it up by not allowing a tags section on the
>left hand column where folders/projects normally reside to allow quick
>filtering. big mistake in my book. If I cannot see my tags, how am I
>supposed to be able to use them?
>
>I know that PPL has poured his heart and soul into creating the modern
>version of Ecco with IQ, and I am not sure that a second Ecco “clone”
>would be all that helpful. What I might encourage is finding a copy of
>Ecco and using it for a bit to try and understand first hand why it was
>loved by many. Programs like Airtable, IQ, Hyperplan and MLO, to name
>just a few, give me hope more than programs like Asana. There seem to
>be a group of developers who understand what programs like Ecco offered,
>and then their are program and companies, like Asana and Trello, that
>are somewhat creative in their efforts, but seem to have a different
>focus (or lack of appreciation for past efforts). New may be good, but
>old is not always bad or obsolete, and the wheel does not always need to
>be reinvented.
>
>I wish you luck,
>
>—Ken
Posted by Ken
Feb 14, 2018 at 03:57 PM
I’ll need to watch developments “from afar” for the time being as I am in a Windows-based work environment, but am looking forward to seeing how things develop.
—Ken