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My Pre-Sales Workflow with OmniOutliner

July 18, 2015 omnioutliner, workflow, nodejs

This post describes my system for project estimation and task management using OmniOutliner combined with other tools.

Core Workflow

I implement a four-stage process: outline creation in OmniOutliner, spreadsheet export for financial calculations, word processor export for customer presentations, and Trello board export for project tracking.

Key Challenge

OmniOutliner lacks native capabilities for converting human-friendly durations to a computable numeric format and exporting to CSV or other formats needed for downstream tools.

Solution: OpmlParser

I developed a Node.js script that reads OPML exports from OmniOutliner and transforms them into:

  • CSV files with task estimates converted to work hours
  • Markdown files for document preparation
  • Trello cards automatically populated with task data and estimates

The script extracts duration values (like “5 days”) and standardizes them using an 8-hour workday calculation, enabling cost estimation for customers.

Configuration Requirements

Trello integration requires API credentials stored in a config file, plus specification of target list IDs and optional label assignments for generated cards.

Future Enhancements

Proposed improvements include JSON export, database integration, GitHub synchronization, OmniFocus compatibility, and dynamic column handling.

The complete script is available on GitHub’s OpmlParser repository.