Tasks due today not coming in Focus
Hi,
I have 3 tasks due today that have not placed automatically in
the Focus list.
One in Next and the other 2 in Waiting, none of them are repeating
tasks.
All 3 show Due Today next to them in their respective lists but
Focus is empty.
I've logged out on all devices I use (laptop and iPhone) and
gone to the reset page, logged back in, hit Refresh but they just
won't go in to Focus.
I know I could Star them manually but haven't had to do that in the
past so I've left them where they are for now until I can figure
out what's going on.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Mark
2 Posted by Phil on 19 Dec, 2011 09:11 PM
Exactly. I am having the same problem today.
And there is no "Bring Focus Up to Date" button visible as a way to remedy this.
Honestly, it's pretty frustrating.
3 Posted by Mark S on 19 Dec, 2011 09:33 PM
Yes it is very frustrating, although with the recent changes I might not be doing something correct anymore?
I also haven't seen the "Bring Focus Up To Date" button either.
4 Posted by Mark S on 21 Dec, 2011 03:41 PM
Well, that's odd.
Clicked on the Nirvana tab in Firefox just now, saw Focus was still empty (loads of red in the Next and Waiting lists though) and then a second later Focus filled up with all my overdue tasks?
Didn't hit the Refresh button or do a page fresh or anything.
Very, very odd that nothing worked over the last 2 days and then it corrected itself.
Any thoughts from the Nirvana team?
5 Posted by Phil on 21 Dec, 2011 04:11 PM
Interesting, Mark.
I am also seeing some improvement today as the "Bring Focus Up to Date" button has returned which allowed me to bring all of my scheduled tasks into Focus.
I still wish I didn't have to click that button, though, and that it would just update Focus automatically like it use to.
6 Posted by Mark S on 21 Dec, 2011 04:48 PM
I've never seen the "Bring Focus Up To Date" button.
So I have no idea why all my tasks suddenly appeared in Focus (some 2 days late)?
I didn't click anything or refresh anything, one second Focus was empty the next all my overdue tasks appeared.
Don't get me wrong, that's what I want to happen.
I don't want to click anything, I want them just to appear.
But I'd like to know why it only just happened today and not for the last 2 days?
Thanks,
Mark
Support Staff 7 Posted by David McLaughlin on 21 Dec, 2011 11:01 PM
@Mark - I'm not sure why your tasks didn't appear as expected in the first place - it sounded like a time issue, a non-conected scenario, or the app was not refreshed up to version 358 -- possible even after a reset, hence Elbert's note in the blog (though much less likely) depending on your environment.
Regarding why they appeared as described...
That is expected behavior, because you did an implied refresh by the Clicked on the Nirvana tab -- so it did the Focus calcs
I had hoped to have gotten the documentation written by now, but one of the pitfalls of having retail clients this time of year is that everything is an emergency during the holiday buying season...so it's only about half done
This is slightly technical, but Nirvana will do a refresh to the server when:
1) Refresh button is pressed
2) App is first loaded, a browser page refresh is done (e.g. F5), or, in most browsers, when coming from another browser tab to the Nirvana tab (basically as long as the browser 'fires' a focus event)
3) On a timed basis if there has been any data changed on the Nirvana computer/device, even if there has been no change in the browser page/tab focus
The Bring Focus Up to Date button doesn't do a server refresh, but does the same Focus calcs on the client side, without the server refresh
Hope that helps somewhat, let me know if you are still experiencing problems.
David
8 Posted by geojono on 28 Dec, 2011 02:39 PM
Thanks for that explanation, David, but I'm not experiencing that. I can refresh the page, close it and reopen it, and switch tabs back and forth but the current tasks don't go to Next unless I go to the Scheduled actions and click the button that says "Move Scheduled Items Into Place Now."
Is there a setting that will cause due and overdue tasks to automatically go to Next like they used to? I'm on build 358.
Thanks,
Jono
9 Posted by Russ on 30 Dec, 2011 07:05 PM
I am getting the same problem. It happened once and I thought it was a fluke, but now it has happened the last 3 or 4 days in a row.
10 Posted by Magnus on 02 Jan, 2012 10:49 AM
I also have two tasks in Next which are due today, and they don't appear in Focus no matter how much I refresh and restart.
11 Posted by Folke on 02 Jan, 2012 12:05 PM
As a clue to the Nirvana team in their search for causes, let me just report:
I am on build 358, Win 7-64, FF9. I have no such problems. Everything pops up in Focus on the Scheduled date, and always did. (The only effect I have noticed of the rebuild is the Bring into Focus button - discussed elsewhere.)
Clue (?): Mark S and Phil, who are both experiencing the present problem, apparently do not even get the Bring into Focus button. This would seem to indicate that for them the due tasks do not even trigger the detection of the need to bring into focus, which, in turn, might mean the problem is caused by some formerly unnoticed inadequacy in the scheduling mechanism itself rather than in the recent 358 changes to the "refresh" mechanism. Just a thought.
12 Posted by Phil on 02 Jan, 2012 02:43 PM
Folke,
My problem with the button not showing up when it seemingly should have was resolved a couple weeks ago. I'm guessing the team fixed it somehow. So it all now appears to be working as intended, but I just wish I didn't have to click that button. Tasks should go to focus automatically. That's the whole reason I scheduled them in the first place.
13 Posted by Folke on 02 Jan, 2012 06:10 PM
Phil, I too hope they can find a way to take away that button one day - I only know it has been put there for some engineering reason, not as a GTD/UI improvement.
Strictly speaking (GTD-wise) the scheduled (tickler) things should go to the inbox, but I agree it is much smoother, since these tasks have been pre-processed once already with tags and everything, to have them go straight to Next/Focus - as long as you can detect their arrival there and can decide what to do with them (unstar them, delete them, keep the in Focus or whatever you decide).
(My own hack for achieving this is I have started to keep a a permanent dummy task with just hypens at the bottom of the Focus list to be able to see the new arrivals more easily "under the line", but a more elegant way ought to be implemented in the system to delineate this "inbox externsion" at the bottom of the Focus list from the "committed & reconfirmed" upper part of the Focus list.
Support Staff 14 Posted by David McLaughlin on 04 Jan, 2012 01:38 AM
Here's an update:
http://help.nirvanahq.com/discussions/problems/1412-recurringfocus-...