---
title: A Reference Tag
description: One way of adding reference files to OmniFocus
---

[The Dini Group, Ltd blog](https://www.kouroshdini.com/the-dini-group-ltd-blog)

# [A Reference Tag](https://www.kouroshdini.com/the-dini-group-ltd-blog/a-reference-tag)

 Written by [Kourosh](https://www.kouroshdini.com/the-dini-group-ltd-blog/author/kourosh) | Nov 19, 2018 4:00:52 PM

I’ve been recently experimenting with a *@Reference* tag.

OmniFocus already has two means of adding references. You can:

1. Add notes in the note field in either project or task (Accessed by Command-,).
2. Link to files, folders, and more on your computer by either link, alias link, or directly embedded file.

I use both of these extensively. For example, if I have a task to purchase something, I might write the URL in the note field to make it easy to make the purchase when the time comes. As another example, if I’m working on a document, I often add a link to the file by holding the Control key and dragging and dropping it into a task’s note field.

However, there are times that I just want to keep a reference file handy, even though the work of the task is done.

As an example, I was recently trying to improve my Youtube channel. I ran across a [Creator Academy page](https://creatoracademy.youtube.com/page/browse).

At first, I wrote a task:

As I browsed the videos, I would create other relevant tasks based on the videos I wanted to watch:

When I was done browsing, I did not want to complete the “Browse…” task as I would then lose the link. While I could copy and paste the URL into the project’s note field, I decided I wanted the original task to be handy.

So instead I created a *@Reference* tag.

A reference tag is simply a tag named “Reference” and set On Hold. To make one, you can:

- Create it directly in the tag field:

- Then go to the tag by Control-Click:

- Set the tag on On Hold (menu also accessed by Control-Click):

With enough reference items, you may wish to group them together in a project like so:

You may wonder, why not just complete the task and access it by seeing All tasks through the View Settings (Shift-Command-v)? The reason is that I prefer completed tasks that are no longer relevant to stay out of my view while keeping these references nearby.

Another advantage over copy and pasting references into a project note field is that this leverages the ease of tags. I can just add a *@Reference* tag to a task, and it is quickly set on hold.

Now, this is still in the experimental stages. Usually, I keep OmniFocus for only actionable things, and this tends to fly in the face of that rule. For all I know I will soon overwhelm the system with a bunch of static stuff. At that point, I’ll likely have a lot of cleaning up to do. So as always, join the experiment at your own risk.

For now, I am only using this *@Reference* tag in projects that I intend to complete. Therefore, I do not use them in Single Actions projects which I use for more ongoing things like a Routine project and the like.

[View full post](https://www.kouroshdini.com/the-dini-group-ltd-blog/a-reference-tag)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Kourosh"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2026-03-31T17:59:33.280Z",
  "datePublished" : "2018-11-19T16:00:52Z",
  "headline" : "A Reference Tag",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 60,
    "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
    "width" : 60
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://www.kouroshdini.com/the-dini-group-ltd-blog/a-reference-tag",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "The Dini Group, Ltd blog"
  }
}
```