From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Eric S Fraga Subject: Re: Some struggles of mine with org-mode Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2012 16:30:19 +0000 Message-ID: <87d39p70f8.fsf@ucl.ac.uk> References: <83mx8uxpb1.fsf@gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([140.186.70.92]:57630) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1RvBJs-0005H8-5h for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:28:41 -0500 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1RvBJl-0007Sx-Sp for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:28:36 -0500 Received: from tx2ehsobe002.messaging.microsoft.com ([65.55.88.12]:45154 helo=TX2EHSOBE005.bigfish.com) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1RvBJl-0007SH-ON for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:28:29 -0500 In-Reply-To: <83mx8uxpb1.fsf@gmail.com> (lngndvs@gmail.com's message of "Tue, 7 Feb 2012 14:16:02 -0800") List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: lngndvs@gmail.com Cc: org-mode writes: > [This post concerns what have become, for me, conflicts between the > scopes of org-agenda-files and the universe I would like to search > within all org files, in particular. I hope I will be forgiven for > drifting substantially from that focused topic] > > Org-mode is well entrenched into my daily work flow, in many > ways. > > - Miscellaneous notes > - Capturing ideas and articles > - On-the-fly structured captures of several kinds > - Todo lists > - Remembering deadlines and activities > - Collecting project information from diverse sources > - Exporting any of the above, just about anything at all, as > clean PDF files. > - The occasional Beamer presentation > > For all that org-mode has become my go-to tool of choice, there are > a number of things I still struggle with. I want to post this > message as, I suppose, too much of a blanket request. Here are > some of the things I don't get: > > - Firefox or other browser integration What kind of integration are you looking for. For some versions of Firefox, it is possible to link to org-capture. > - Email. Some very elegant (in complicated ways) solutions have > been generated, but all I need it simple text-based email. I > would be willing to install sendmail or postfix, if need be, > but I don't really wish to send html based email. See the next > item. Again, what exactly are you looking for? You can turn on orgstruct-mode and orgstruct++-mode in one of the mail hooks (mail-setup-hook or message-setup-hook). e.g. I have (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'turn-on-orgstruct++) in my gnus configuration file. This adds very useful list and table functionality to the standard message composition mode. > - Addresses/Contacts. I like Gnus, and I like BBDB, but I've > never been completely comfortable with them. I used to keep > contacts in EDB, a database I designed myself, and it worked > really, really well. I've posted about his subject before, and > I can see it didn't strike a chord on this list. I tried > org-contacts, but it seems idiosyncratic, and limited. I do sympathise. I use bbdb and have learned to live with it but I definitely don't /love/ it, probably because I use only a small subset of its capabilities. Mind you, bbdb has been going through a complete rewrite for version 3, I believe, so the user experience may be improved there. I haven't tried that yet. I also haven't tried org-contacts, mostly because my gnus+bbdb configuration works well enough for me so I don't feel the pressure to change. > - Setting up birthday alerts, for example. I feel intimidated > every time I am about to try to put a new birthday in a > list. Ideally, I would do this with a capture template. The > best so far is to keep birthdays in a list in .emacs.el You can get birthday alerts with bbdb integrated with org although again this requires using bbdb! Check out ,----[ C-h v org-bbdb-anniversary-format-alist RET ] | org-bbdb-anniversary-format-alist is a variable defined in `org-bbdb.el'. | Its value is shown below. | | Documentation: | How different types of anniversaries should be formatted. | [...] `---- > - Searching. One thing I really like about Org-mode is the > ability to keep a large number of kinds of information straight > in various ways---either in separate files, or for related > topics, in different headlines of the same file. I need all > of these files to be searched. The best searching seems to > reside in the agenda interface. But it seems illogical, to [...] > So, to summarize, org-agenda-files should reflect those files I > need to access because they have TODOs, Deadlines, Happenings, or > Reminders in them. My search Universe should be constrained > enough to result in instant searches, but not so constrained as > org-agenda-files that need to be processed to produce a daily > agenda. I agree with you here. It would be nice to have an alternative search procedure that is not limited to agenda files. Because of this, I have my general catch-all notes.org file as one of the entries in org-agenda-files. IMO, it doesn't belong there as I have separate tasks.org and diary.org files for agenda related items. However, note that you *can* use the searching capabilities in individual files. Not what you want but very useful nonetheless. HTH, eric -- : Eric S Fraga (GnuPG: 0xC89193D8FFFCF67D) in Emacs 24.0.92.1 : using Org-mode version 7.8.03 (release_7.8.03.325.g5847)