Bastien:

I sense that your reply contains the key to the functionality that I want but I find I am unable to figure it out.  I'm sorry to bother you further but I would be grateful for a little more direction.

My first problem is that C-h is mapped to backspace on my computer.  I presume (C-h v) means view help on a particular item.

My second problem is that org-agenda-ignore is not a valid prefix for anything in my version of org-mode.  (I have version 7.9.3d installed.).  I *think* you intended to point me to variables that begin with org-agenda-todo-ignore instead.  Can you confirm this is so?

My third problem is that I can not figure out how to use these variables to accomplish my purpose.  I think part of the problem is that I am using custom agenda commands.  The relevant code snippet for the command I use most is here:
    (setq org-agenda-custom-commands
     '(
       ("o" "Today's Tasks"
        ((agenda "" ((org-agenda-ndays 1)))  ;; limits the agenda display to a single day
         (todo "TODO"))
        ((org-agenda-compact-blocks t)
         ))
         etc...


Would you please give me some more information?

Thank you,
:AMN:


On 01/23/2013 05:36 AM, Bastien wrote:
Hi Andrew,

"Andrew M. Nuxoll" <nuxoll@up.edu> writes:

1.  Add a date tag to an entry that indicates that it is "inactive" until a
certain date.  I'm picturing something like this:

***** TODO [#B] Verify login to the virtual machines
      SCHEDULED: <2013-01-11 Tue +1w> DELAY: <2013-01-24 Thu>

2.  Add a command similar to org-deadline that I can use to attach a delay
date to a to-do item

3.  When I display my agenda, items that are delayed are not displayed.

My e-lisp is pretty rusty so *any* advice or help is great.  Could someone
help point me to the right files and functions I'll need to modify to
accomplish this?
C-h v org-agenda-ignore TAB will open many doors.

See C-h org-agenda-todo-ignore-timestamp RET for example:

  Non-nil means don't show entries with a timestamp.
  This applies when creating the global todo list.
  Valid values are:
  
  past     Don't show entries for today or in the past.
  
  future   Don't show entries with a timestamp in the future.
           The idea behind this is that if it has a future
           timestamp, you don't want to think about it until the
           date.
  
  all      Don't show any entries with a timestamp in the global todo list.
           The idea behind this is that by setting a timestamp, you
           have already "taken care" of this item.
  
  This variable can also have an integer as a value.  If positive (N),
  todos with a timestamp N or more days in the future will be ignored.  If
  negative (-N), todos with a timestamp N or more days in the past will be
  ignored.  If 0, todos with a timestamp either today or in the future will
  be ignored.  For example, a value of -1 will exclude todos with a
  timestamp in the past (yesterday or earlier), while a value of 7 will
  exclude todos with a timestamp a week or more in the future.
  
  See also `org-agenda-todo-ignore-with-date'.  See also the variable
  `org-agenda-tags-todo-honor-ignore-options' if you want to make his
  option also apply to the tags-todo list.
  


-- 
Andrew M. Nuxoll                     Phone: 503-943-7688
Asst Professor of Computer Science   Fax:   503-943-7316
University of Portland - MSC #145    Email: nuxoll@up.edu
5000 N. Willamette Blvd              Web:   http://faculty.up.edu/nuxoll
Portland, OR  97203-5798             Office: Shiley Hall Rm 217