A roundtrip flight from Seattle to the East Coast is all you need to start your next Python pet project. (Remember to take some vacation in between though!)
I used this time to start development on a python library for the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. I’ve been practicing GTD over the last couple of years using a variety of tools, but just haven’t found the right one – my current favorite is iGTD (OSX). There are several others. I also use tools that have some parallels, like Basecamp.
The GTD apps I’ve used are missing one major feature. They’re sophisticated but not open source, which means I can’t tweak it to do what I really want, and have been waiting awhile for some fixes that I need.
The idea is to build a pure python library, which could be used by itself if desired. On top of this we plan to build a Plone 3.0 version.
Currently the Python library (in alpha, licensed under GPL3) handles core GTD tasks and some early task management. Derek Hoshiko (also an owner at Web Collective, Inc) and I have been brainstorming some ideas for a web-based multi-user version of the GTD framework.
Ultimately, GTD is great for individuals but what might a web-based version of GTD look like in a multi-user team environment, where you could also see and interact with others’ tasks? Can we use this for our internal team project scheduling, availability, task management, and status reporting? We plan to find out.
If you’re interested in collaborating on this project, please contact us.
I’ll be happy to chime in on the UI front, but there’s a limit to how fast you can move with web UIs (even with Ajax), so I’m not sure how well this will work with the GTD methodology. Also, I believe multi-user might be hard to pull off with the GTD approach, but it would be interesting to give it a try.
Currently I’m a happy user of OmniFocus (in private beta, but easy to get access, just sign up for their beta mailing list), and it’s worth trying out, it has lots of neat ideas around GTD.
It’s the only GTD app I like, and I have tried most of them — including iGTD, Actiontastic, etc.
I’m also a huge fan of GTD and currently I’m using Kinkless GTD which is not optimal but will provide a nice upgrade
We’ve also been brainstorming at my company Jazkarta about how to build a Python/Zope3/Grok-based project management / task management system, that is more lightweight than XM (which is Plone-based). Rumor has it that Plone Solutions will be releasing a PM tool for Plone soon as well. Limi?
You might want to have a look at Remember the Milk (http://www.rememberthemilk.com) which is a multi-user GTD app with a lot of nice Ajax functionality. We have been using it at Jazkarta to keep track of internal tasks.
You can also forward emails and they appear in your GTD inbox, which is really nice for turning an email into an actionable item.
I’ve tried all the GTD apps that Limi mentions above including KGTD, but found that this web-based one works for my needs right now.
I might have another look at Omnifocus when it is finally released.
This is something I want to develop for Plone 3.0 for quite some
time now. I’ve been thinking a lot on how to implement this
in Plone. For me, too, OmniFocus is really “just right” — but it’s no
web application (they have a web front end, but thats written in ROR).
I want to use that on my iPhone (when it comes out in Germany at last).
As a first step, which is actually planned to be a 4 day “sprint” I and
Daniel Nouri will work on some base framework for Plone — one feature
I really wanted for sooo long time in plone will be developed there: A
Mail-In gateway. I want this to have something like the 47signals guys
do with their backpack stuff: intelligently parsing mails to appointments,
tasks, todos. I want to be able to just forward mail to a plone instance, and
have some rule-based thing create content out of that.
So, a Framework for the GTD Action/Context/Project stuff would be great.
I think, though, that what Plone would offer is much more: The ability to “mark” any content as Action/Context/Project at will like the Plone for Artists
)
guys do (Hey Nate
The most difficult thing (for me) would be the User Interface, which has to be
very clean.
I’ll be at the Plone Conference ‘07, too, so there would be the possibility to collaborate at the after-the-conf sprint.
Funny. I have been thinking recently of doing the same. I am also using OmniFocus. (Thanks, Alex, for the lead…) However, I also wish that it would be open source, iow, that I could contribute and that it would be web based.
Let us know how you move on…
I too have been looking at various GTD solutions. At designKiln, we tried to implement a simple Plone based GTD style tool for our internal use, but we ultimate abandoned the effort. I have tried other web based solutions already mentioned and http://www.usetasks.com/
My favorite tool at the moment is OmniFocus
I have come to feel that from a users prospective GTD needs to be primarily a desktop application program that syncs with a central server. The central server should then provide a web interface as a alternative method.
The Chandler Project is taking just this approach. http://chandlerproject.org/ and they finally are issuing functional preview releases. Chandler is built with Python so it looks like there would be a good set of API tools.
I am waiting Apple’s upcoming icalendar server tools that should be part of Leopard http://trac.calendarserver.org/projects/calendarserver
I think that it would be best for Plone to do a first rate integration with a project like Chandler than trying to build from scratch. Look at how long Chandler has been in development.
Brian,
I’d love to hear what you think of Chandler. I’ve been peeking at it for years now and this last release had some really interesting GTD-type features. Seems like in a couple releases it will be nice for small teams.
Steve
Brian,
I’m interested in possibly collaborating on your Python GTD library as it is something I’ve been thinking about working on lately.
-Dinh-
This would be awesome! found you through google — did this project ever get started?
Hi Lionel,
This took the form of CollectiveGTD for Plone 3 and has some core GTD features.
I wasn’t able to wrangle up fellow open-source developers, so it didn’t reach critical mass, and I’ve moved on to other projects, though the code is available.
From a Plone perspective, the “date conversion from english to a real date” could be simplified — or rather replaced with existing libraries. I wouldn’t write the server-based conversation code again, and today would use jQuery instead of KSS for the ajax pieces. There are also existing javascript libraries that could do the conversion on the client. There are pros and cons of both approaches.
Also, the product supports unicode, and works internationally, but is not localized.
-Bri
This later also started to take shape as a Django project but didn’t make it past the brainstorm phase.
For me Remember the Milk scratched my itch for awhile (and I contemplated potentially using that web service as the GTD engine for CollectiveGTD or a Django project), though now I’ve gone totally desktop-based with OmniFocus.