Anyone using kGTD with OmniOutliner, along with Entourage?

[Pitch]

I'm about the start the biggest project of my life, and am looking for
a new tool that will help keep it organized. I am absolutely wedded
to-and deeply still love-Entourage 2004. It's the center hub of my
business life. But I need something more, and am looking at a new
add-on to OmniOutliner, called kGTD (http://www.kinkless.com).

Is any Entourage user on this list using this above combo? I'd really
love to hear your experience with it. Post your thoughts, or you can
email me at pitchblackcoffee, which is a gmail.com address.

 

[Michel Bintener]

I have not used kGTD yet, but I might give it a try at some point. I am a
huge OmniGroup software fan, and OmniOutliner has got to be one of the best
applications ever. Entourage 2004 is great, too, and I also use its Project
Center quite a lot.

However (you knew that was coming, right?), you cannot add OmniOutliner
files to Entourage's Project Center. The reason is that OmniOutliner files
are actually packages which contain XML data, and Entourage cannot add
folders or packages (which are nothing but folders, actually) to the Files
section of the Project Center. That is a bit of a turndown, actually, and I
think I've already mentioned it a number of times on this newsgroup. I'm not
sure how kGTD acts: does it create normal OmniOutliner files, or does it act
as a standalone application?

 

[Andrew J. Cowell]

kGTD is an OO3 document with associated scripts that do things like
sync your projects and actions. I use both kGTD and Entourage but
they're not connected per se. I use kGTD to track my projects and
associated actions and Entourage for contacts and email. I use Paul's
scripts to sync Entourage with iCal and Addressbook that then sync (via
iSync) with my iPod and V551 phone. I also use PocketMac Pro to keep my
PocketPC sync'ed with Entourage. Finally I use DevonThink as my
database to keep all my working files, PDF's etc in one place (that app
also had the package issue described below until they fixed it).

If you want to open up a discussion (here or elsewhere) about GTD
and/or PIM in general, I'd be happy to join in. My solution kinda works
but still requires a lot of work on my part. Hardly elegant!

Andrew.

 

[Michel Bintener]

Thanks for the info. I read some more about kGTD on their website, and it
looks really nice, but I don't think it is something I'm going to need.
Right now, Entourage is powerful enough for me to manage my projects (apart
from that minor detail about OmniOutliner files), and it syncs reasonably
well with my Palm Z22. I was actually going to suggest using DevonThink in
my previous post, but there's no need, as you're already using it. Again,
DevonThink looks really nice, but I don't really have a need for it.
And yes, maintaining a project requires a lot of work. But then again,
remember that Entourage's Project Center feature is quite new, so there's
plenty of room for improvement in a future upgrade. As I said, it works
quite well for me, but maybe that's because my projects aren't really
complex.

Michel

 

[Cowell, Andrew J]

Unfortunately you get about 15 updates to DevonThink and kGTD for one
Entourage you don't hold your breath for extensions to Project Center ...

Snide comments aside, DevonThink is a useful tool to use as a long term
storage mechanism, whereas I think if I restart using Project Center I'd
probably be looking to use that for short-term project (my projects are
usually 2-24 weeks long). The developers are extremely active in the
community (providing functionality to support packages as soon as customers
starting asking for it being one examples). It also dovetails (not
surprisingly) with DevonAgent which is my preferred tool for web searches.

 

[Pitch]

Thanks all. I love hearing how others are handling their lives,
especially the more complex parts.

Michel, you mention that you're using Entourage Projects a lot. You're
the first person who I've heard say that! I often wonder if my lack of
getting the Projects feature is the software itself (as you noted, it's
kind of still in version 1.0), or if it's my lack of understanding of
how to use it. I've yet to find any manual or templates or real-life
samples of how people are using it.

If you're game, I'd love to hear exactly how you work with Project
Center in E'rage. I'm not at all opposed to trying it out again. I
could just never "get it to work" for what I needed. Believe me, I'd
LOVE to not have to use a second program outside of Entourage. I'm at
pitchblackcoffee, which is a GMail address.

And if anyone else is actually using Project Center for complex
projects, please detail how you're doing it. I will take copious notes!

 

[Michel Bintener]

The Project Center is convenient for me to group different Entourage items
in one single window. The ability to add files is great, too, though I would
really like to be able to add package files as well. But since most of my
files tend to be Office files anyway, it's not really that big a problem.

As I've said, my projects tend to be fairly easy: I'm a student, and I don't
have to share my projects with others. My projects tend to be essays or
dissertations, and I use Project Center to regroup all the important files,
emails and events, usually for a short period of time, something between
four and six weeks.

Pitch, I don't think that you don't understand the Project Center, as it is
fairly easy and straightforward to use. I can see how it would not meet the
needs of professionals, but for my personal use, it's really convenient.

If you are not happy with Project Center, or if you think there are some
blatant omissions which make it unusable for professional users, then you
should definitely post them here. These newsgroups are actually being read
by Microsoft employees, and I'm sure they'll appreciate feedback and/or
suggestions.

 

[Fonnesbeck, Chris]

I'm about the start the biggest project of my life, and am looking for
a new tool that will help keep it organized. I am absolutely wedded
to-and deeply still love-Entourage 2004. It's the center hub of my
business life. But I need something more, and am looking at a new
add-on to OmniOutliner, called kGTD (http://www.kinkless.com).

Is any Entourage user on this list using this above combo? I'd really
love to hear your experience with it. Post your thoughts, or you can
email me at pitchblackcoffee, which is a gmail.com address.

kGTD is tied pretty tightly to iCal, so using it with Entourage will be
somewhat artificial. I think you can implement GTD pretty well in Entourage
without kGTD, though I admit it is pretty slick, as is OmniOutliner.