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Natara Bonsai

We have developed an export template for Natara Bonsai Outliner for Windows. To use, download and copy to C:\Program Files\Natara\Bonsai\. It should then show up in Bonsai's File > Export menu.

  • Bonsai Tasks have their completion folded into done or undone.
  • Bonsai Category is mapped to Place in Outline Tracker. New Places will be created, as needed.
  • Bonsai Start date will be used to calculate Lead Time.
  • Bonsai Contact Name is folded into the text for an item, since the Outline Tracker Responsible field refers to a particular entry in Contacts, not a name.
  • All items are initially collapsed, since export templates don't allow a proper mapping to the "compact" attribute.

Put your webOS handheld in USB Mode and copy over the HTML file. In Outline Tracker, from the application menu, select New Project > Import from File....

If you have a Waiting or Someday/Maybe category in Bonsai, after importing, select the To-Do & Future scene, and tap the Place button to select Waiting or Someday/Maybe. Each item in your Waiting Place should be manually edited to add a Responsible person, so it shows up in Outline Tracker's Waiting scene. Each item in your Someday/Maybe Place should be manually edited to turn Task OFF. Then you can delete the Waiting and/or Someday/Maybe Places.

Kudos to Natara for developing such a flexible export mechanism!

Concepts

  • Outline → Project
  • Simple Item → Note
  • To-Do → Task
  • Task → multiple Tasks
  • Title → Summary Text
  • Notes → Content Text
  • Contact → Responsible
  • Due Date → Due Date
  • Start Date → Lead Time (Lead Time = Due Date - Start Date)

Instead of creating one Bonsai Task with a percentage completion, you'll need to create multiple Outline Tracker Tasks (possibly as children of a new Task to group them). We believe naming the steps will clarify your thinking and communication.

CodeJedi Shadow Plan

There are two ways to export from Shadow Plan (Desktop), depending on how you use your Shadow Plan outline:

  • If you don't use the Shadow Plan checkboxes, select the menu item File > Save As, and set the format to HTML Simple Export.
    • All items will be Notes in Outline Tracker.
    • All item details (including Shadow Plan Note Text) will be folded into Summary Text in Outline Tracker.
  • If you use the Shadow Plan checkboxes, use the Shadow_export_XOXO_unified.txt export template.
    1. Save the template to the Templates directory, which should be in the same directory as the Shadow application. OS X users must control-click on the Shadow application, select Show Package Contents, navigate to Contents/MacOS, and create the Templates directory.
    2. In the Shadow application, select the menu item File > Template Export, and set the format to Shadow_export_XOXO_unified.
    3. Give your exported file an extension of .html
    After importing into Outline Tracker:
    • All items will be Tasks in Outline Tracker, and not done.
    • Shadow Plan Note Text will be mapped to Content Text in Outline Tracker.
    • Target date will be mapped to Due Date in Outline Tracker.
    • Start date will be used to calculate Lead Time in Outline Tracker 1.6.2 and later.
    • Prime tag will be mapped to Place in Outline Tracker. New Places will be created, as needed.
    • All items are initially collapsed.

Put your webOS handheld in USB Mode and copy over the HTML file. In Outline Tracker, from the application menu, select New Project > Import from File....

If you have a Waiting or Someday/Maybe prime tag in Shadow Plan, after importing, select the To-Do & Future scene, and tap the Place button to select Waiting or Someday/Maybe. Each item in your Waiting Place should be manually edited to add a Responsible person, so it shows up in Outline Tracker's Waiting scene. Each item in your Someday/Maybe Place should be manually edited to turn Task OFF. Then you can delete the Waiting and/or Someday/Maybe Places.

Concepts

  • Outline → Project
  • Item → Item (Note or Task)
  • Item using Progress percentage → multiple Tasks
  • Title Text → Summary Text
  • Note Text → Content Text
  • Target Date→ Due Date
  • Start Date → Lead Time (Lead Time = Due Date - Start Date)

Instead of creating one Shadow Plan item with a Percentage Progress, you'll need to create multiple Outline Tracker Tasks (possibly as children of a new Task to group them). We believe naming the steps will clarify your thinking and communication.

Ultrasoft BrainForest

Trees can be exported from BrainForest Deluxe for Mac OS or Windows. You must set “End repeat” for all Action Items that repeat, or BrainForest will generate an invalid OPML file. Select OPML format when exporting.

Put your webOS handheld in USB Mode and copy over the OPML file. In Outline Tracker, from the application menu, select New Project > Import from File....

Start Dates will be converted to Lead Time. Action items from Project Trees will be marked complete if they are more than 50% complete.

Concepts

  • Tree → Project
  • Plain Item → Note
  • Action Item → Task
  • Note → Content Text
  • Due Date → Due Date
  • Duration → Lead Time

Instead of creating one BrainForest Action Item (in a Project Tree) with a percentage completion, you'll need to create multiple Outline Tracker Tasks (possibly as children of a new Task to group them). We believe naming the steps will clarify your thinking and communication.

Other Outliners, including OmniOutliner

If you can export to OPML format, Outline Tracker can import it.

Put your webOS handheld in USB Mode and copy over the OPML file. In Outline Tracker, from the application menu, select New Project > Import from File.... If you display the OmniOutliner status checkboxes, set the default to Tasks. If you don't display the status checkboxes, set the default to Notes.

"note", "_note", "description" and "url" fields will be concatenated as Content Text. "place"/"context"/"category" fields will be converted to Place. New Places will be created, as needed. Due or end dates will be mapped to Due Date. Start or Begin Dates will be converted to Lead Time.

FreeMind

Export as HTML or XHTML. The tree structure and text will be preserved, but links, icons and other formatting won't transfer. All items will be Notes.

Put your webOS handheld in USB Mode and copy over the HTML file. In Outline Tracker, from the application menu, select New Project > Import from File....

Llamagraphics Life Balance

Concepts

  • Goal, TLI → Project
  • Project, Task → Task or Note
  • Note → Content Text
  • Place → Place
  • Date → Due Date
  • Lead Time → Lead Time

Outline Tracker gives you the freedom to mix Notes (non-Task items) in with your Tasks.

ThoughtManager from Hands High Software

Concepts

  • Outline → Project
  • Outline List → To-Do scene
  • Item without checkbox → Note
  • Item with checkbox → Task
  • Note → Content Text
  • Template → Project stored as XOXO or HTML file on handheld

Text in Outline Tracker may have line breaks, unlike ThoughtManager

ToDoMatrix from REXwireless

Concepts

  • Drawer → Project
  • Folder → top-level Note in Project
  • Context → Place
  • Due → Due Date
  • Delegation → Who's Responsible
  • Delegation drawer → Waiting scene
  • Next Action view → To-Do scene
  • Due Today, Due Within 3 Days & Due This Week views → webOS Calendar
  • Alert → Reminder and/or Lead Time

Outline Tracker allows you to mix Notes in with your Tasks, so you don't need a separate application like IdeaMatrix.