Context w/o a start symbol, a newbie Q (Windows)

[Karel Tau]

Hi!
A newbie (Windows desktop app) question, pls:
Tutorial suggests starting each Context name with the '@' symbol. I am wondering if there is any downside down the road having Contexts names without any such symbol/character (e.g. Context1, Context2, MtEverest,...)?

Many thanks in advance for your kind help!
:)
K

[Elizabeth Lindsay]

Welcome! I use a mix of context with and without the @. I use the @ for locations and I don't use the @ for people. For example, "@Computer" for things that I need to be physically at my computer and "Kevin" for agenda items to discuss with Kevin.

[Alyona (MLO Support)]

Welcome :)

Using the @ symbol at the beginning of a context name helps the program recognize it more easily when parsing text (for example, during quick input). You can read more about it here: What is "@" at the beginning of contexts for?

That said  there’s no functional downside to naming your contexts without the symbol 

[gilb...@gmail.com]

Hi

 

In the list of contexts (F8), I found the use of special characters helpful to sort contexts of a similar type together in groups.

The special characters I use are sorted, in both desktop and Android versions of MLO, in the sequence ! “ # % & @.

I use capitalised entries as headings for the group, and have a space after the special character, to sort the heading to the top of its group.

The @ ones all have a space after the @ (and two in the heading) because this allowed me to keep contexts in the @ group separate from about 150 contexts that all began with @ in my first attempt at a workflow.

 

I used to use specific contexts for specific people, but found I was dealing with so many people it got unwieldy, hence I abandoned the practice of starting every context with @ .

For a while I played with using text tags for the names of individuals but that never took off for me.  

 

Most tasks only get assigned one context from within the groups; no tasks are assigned to the heading contexts.  

In practice I don’t need to type the special characters at all, because ‘com’ is enough to represent ‘&computer’, ‘ref’ is ‘!5Reference’, and so on.

 

I’ve found there is no right or perfect way to use any of this, other than striking a balance I can live with between useful and overwhelming.

You’ll have your own needs and preferences; the following list is just an example, to offer food for thought.

 

! DIRECTION========

!1Asked by

!2Speak to

!3Delegated to

!4Waiting for

!5Reference

!6Someday

" DOMESTIC========

"1Self

"2Desk

"3Home

"4Garage

"5Garden

& TECH===========

&Call

&Camera

&Car

&Computer

&Darkroom

&Email

&Lightroom

&MLO

&Mobile

&Web

@   LOCATIONS=======

@ Anywhere

@ Place

@ Shop

@ Travelling

@ Work Work

@ Work Home

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[Karel Tau]

Thank you all very much for your kind replies! They helped :-)
Best regards,
Karel