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EMPLOYEE
UPDATE for April 26th, 2008
Howdy,
As the week draws to a close, so too does a large swathe of work we've been doing tightening up, tweaking, twiddling, fixing, and testing Sandy's web site interface.
As usual, our focus has been on striking a balance between simple and powerful, friendly and unobtrusive, fun and functional. We've incorporated some of the incredibly helpful feedback you've all provided here on Get Satisfaction in the form of interface enhancements, bug fixes, and site- and email-wide improvements. And behind the scenes we've set some even more interesting developments in motion that you'll see surfacing in the days and weeks to come.
So you can regard today's update as a warm-up before the next phase of the performance we call product development.
We hope you like what you see!
Rael
=====
TIDYING: Here, there, and everywhere
You'll no doubt notice the spring cleaning we did on Sandy's web site, but here are some of the highlights in case you missed them:
* Sandy's site feels that much more pleasant to visit with that legal-pad-yellow vanquished.
* Gone are the filter and sort controls from the sidebar. (They were all but unused. Updates to the default filtering and sorting depending on whether you're looking at your to-dos, calendar, bookmarks, Daily Digest, ... should take care of just about all you formerly had to fiddle with to get to.)
* Subscription links for your iCalendar and RSS feeds are at the bottom of the page when you need them, out of your way when you don't. (They rather cluttered the sidebar and made entirely too much of themselves.)
* The calendar appears in the sidebar on all of "Your stuff" and "Daily Digest" pages (rather than just on Digest pages).
TIDYING: And email too!
We also worked with Sandy to tidy up her email messages — every single one, from replies to reminders to your Daily Digest:
* The same color-scheme you see on the Web is also reflected in Sandy's HTML email (turn on HTML email at http://iwantsandy.com/settings/email for a splash of color in your inbox).
* We moved the Home, Help, and Community links to the footer of Sandy's email template. (Those of you skimming a preview of Sandy's messages in your inbox — Gmail, Outlook, and iPhone mail in particular — will find more of the content in those previews rather than those repetitive links.)
* Repeating reminders, appointments, and to-dos now include mention — beyond their @daily or @weekly or other recurrence tags — of their repeating: "- Repeats weekly"
We're sure you'll enjoy the results of our reshuffling, polishing, and tidying!
=====
FIXED: The non-disappearing edit window
We had thought we had this licked in our 4/12 release, but there were still some corner cases causing some trouble. It was nailing this down that led to quite a bit of the refactoring behind today's release.
Again, thanks to all of you who posted and ultimately helped us narrow down just what was causing this inconsistency: Paul and Nobiq [http://gsfn.us/t/ghx], Nedflanders [http://gsfn.us/t/hwh], Thorsten [http://gsfn.us/t/hwr], Onorio [http://gsfn.us/t/hx1], and others.
We're sorry that this caused some of you some difficulty and will endeavor to avoid introducing bugs like that in the future.
=====
FIXED: Nits in toggling and rescheduling repeating appointments and to-dos
Those of you who ran into some of the nits in toggling and rescheduling repeating appointments and to-dos should find that all cleared and acting just as you'd expect it to now. Thanks to all of you who sent us the details we needed (and your assumptions about how things were working) that allowed us to make this all work that much better.
====
IMPROVED: Toggling to-dos done
We've dropped the three-way to-do / done / not-to-do toggle in favor of a simple to-do/done checkbox appearing to the left of any to-do in your To-do list [http://iwantsandy.com/todos] or Daily Digest [http://iwantsandy.com/digest].
We think you'll find this much more intuitive than the good-in-theory three-way toggle. (You can still turn anything into a to-do by clicking its name, the "Edit" link, and adding a @todo or @done tag.)
====
IMPROVED: Your Stuff
The lion's share of this update vastly improves, cleans up, and removes bugs in the way Sandy lists, sifts, and sorts your stuff.
* Sorting and filtering is taken care of for you (no more need of any manual tuning on your part) whether you're looking at the entire list [http://iwantsandy.com/list], your appointments, to-do list, contacts, bookmarks, lists, or notes. And each now has its very own URL: appointments live at http://iwantsandy.com/appointments, to-dos at http://iwantsandy.com/todos, and so forth.
* Want to reflect on to-dos already done? Head to your to-do list (Your stuff > To-dos or [http://iwantsandy.com/todos]) and click the "Show done to-dos" link.
* Repeating appointments, to-dos, and reminders are called out by the appropriate tag (e.g. [weekly] or [monthly]) right next to the event's date or time. Editing, forgetting, archiving, or toggling items behaves as you'd expect it to depending on whether you're changing the entire repeating series or an individual occurrence (and Sandy will confirm with you when there's any possibility of confusion).
* Repeating events show up whenever appropriate as individual occurrences on each and every day they're supposed to when you're looking across multiple days, weeks, months, or years.
* Your stuff is no longer cluttered with special tags like @todo or @weekly or the like when not needed: if it's a to-do, then the to-do checkbox appears; if done, it'll appear checked. Any other tags you've used show up as usual.
* Hover over the "Your stuff" menu on Sandy's site and you'll find — along with "Today", "Last week", "Next month", etc — new choices: "The next 7 days" and "The next 30 days." Kudos to those who thought to ask — these are now my two default views on Sandy's site!
* Sandy now abbreviates dates and times as appropriate anywhere they appear on her site and in her email messages: an event at 9am today won't list the date; an event at 9am tomorrow will; neither will show the year if it's this year; etc.
Take a new look at your stuff at http://iwantsandy.com/list
=====
IMPROVED: Daily Digest
You've told us quite precisely what you'd like to see in your Daily Digest and we're bringing most of it to you in the coming week or two, starting with today's many improvements:
* You'll no longer see duplicates in your Daily Digest — when, for instance, a to-do scheduled for today appeared in both the "Calendar" and "To-dos" sections. If it is scheduled for today, you'll find it in the "Calendar" section.
* Your Daily Digest — whether today's or next Tuesday's — now includes overdue to-dos, those due today (or next Tuesday if you're looking at next Tuesday's digest), and unscheduled to-dos. (If it's not yet due, it no longer shows up until its time has come.) Many of you requested this feature and we're glad to have finally had the chance to bring it to you.
* To-dos are sorted by status and due-date: past-due, due today, then unscheduled.
* Overdue to-dos not yet checked off as done are slightly highlighted so that you can spot them and get them done.
(Please note that we wanted to get this update out and into your virtual hands so the emailed version of your Daily Digest will sport the same improvements as the version on Sandy's website in short order.)
Visit your Daily Digest for today at http://iwantsandy.com/digest
=====
IMPROVED: The "New..." form
Something that was chapping my hide — and I know it was bothering some of you too — was the way that telling Sandy about something using the "New..." form (from Sandy's toolbar on every page of her site) popped up a small notification but didn't take you to the stuff you just had Sandy remember for you. You'll now be redirected to the new content a moment or three after you click the "Send" button.
"Email" Sandy right from the iwantsandy.com web site at http://iwantsandy.com/new
=====
TIDIED: Print
We tidied the Print version of your Daily Digest and any views of Your stuff.
Print a pocket-able, portable, paper copy of your Daily Digest: visit http://iwantsandy.com/digest and click the "Print" link.
=====
P.s. As always, we'd love to know what you think, what you liked (or didn't), and if we missed anything (or made anything worse).
As the week draws to a close, so too does a large swathe of work we've been doing tightening up, tweaking, twiddling, fixing, and testing Sandy's web site interface.
As usual, our focus has been on striking a balance between simple and powerful, friendly and unobtrusive, fun and functional. We've incorporated some of the incredibly helpful feedback you've all provided here on Get Satisfaction in the form of interface enhancements, bug fixes, and site- and email-wide improvements. And behind the scenes we've set some even more interesting developments in motion that you'll see surfacing in the days and weeks to come.
So you can regard today's update as a warm-up before the next phase of the performance we call product development.
We hope you like what you see!
Rael
=====
TIDYING: Here, there, and everywhere
You'll no doubt notice the spring cleaning we did on Sandy's web site, but here are some of the highlights in case you missed them:
* Sandy's site feels that much more pleasant to visit with that legal-pad-yellow vanquished.
* Gone are the filter and sort controls from the sidebar. (They were all but unused. Updates to the default filtering and sorting depending on whether you're looking at your to-dos, calendar, bookmarks, Daily Digest, ... should take care of just about all you formerly had to fiddle with to get to.)
* Subscription links for your iCalendar and RSS feeds are at the bottom of the page when you need them, out of your way when you don't. (They rather cluttered the sidebar and made entirely too much of themselves.)
* The calendar appears in the sidebar on all of "Your stuff" and "Daily Digest" pages (rather than just on Digest pages).
TIDYING: And email too!
We also worked with Sandy to tidy up her email messages — every single one, from replies to reminders to your Daily Digest:
* The same color-scheme you see on the Web is also reflected in Sandy's HTML email (turn on HTML email at http://iwantsandy.com/settings/email for a splash of color in your inbox).
* We moved the Home, Help, and Community links to the footer of Sandy's email template. (Those of you skimming a preview of Sandy's messages in your inbox — Gmail, Outlook, and iPhone mail in particular — will find more of the content in those previews rather than those repetitive links.)
* Repeating reminders, appointments, and to-dos now include mention — beyond their @daily or @weekly or other recurrence tags — of their repeating: "- Repeats weekly"
We're sure you'll enjoy the results of our reshuffling, polishing, and tidying!
=====
FIXED: The non-disappearing edit window
We had thought we had this licked in our 4/12 release, but there were still some corner cases causing some trouble. It was nailing this down that led to quite a bit of the refactoring behind today's release.
Again, thanks to all of you who posted and ultimately helped us narrow down just what was causing this inconsistency: Paul and Nobiq [http://gsfn.us/t/ghx], Nedflanders [http://gsfn.us/t/hwh], Thorsten [http://gsfn.us/t/hwr], Onorio [http://gsfn.us/t/hx1], and others.
We're sorry that this caused some of you some difficulty and will endeavor to avoid introducing bugs like that in the future.
=====
FIXED: Nits in toggling and rescheduling repeating appointments and to-dos
Those of you who ran into some of the nits in toggling and rescheduling repeating appointments and to-dos should find that all cleared and acting just as you'd expect it to now. Thanks to all of you who sent us the details we needed (and your assumptions about how things were working) that allowed us to make this all work that much better.
====
IMPROVED: Toggling to-dos done
We've dropped the three-way to-do / done / not-to-do toggle in favor of a simple to-do/done checkbox appearing to the left of any to-do in your To-do list [http://iwantsandy.com/todos] or Daily Digest [http://iwantsandy.com/digest].
We think you'll find this much more intuitive than the good-in-theory three-way toggle. (You can still turn anything into a to-do by clicking its name, the "Edit" link, and adding a @todo or @done tag.)
====
IMPROVED: Your Stuff
The lion's share of this update vastly improves, cleans up, and removes bugs in the way Sandy lists, sifts, and sorts your stuff.
* Sorting and filtering is taken care of for you (no more need of any manual tuning on your part) whether you're looking at the entire list [http://iwantsandy.com/list], your appointments, to-do list, contacts, bookmarks, lists, or notes. And each now has its very own URL: appointments live at http://iwantsandy.com/appointments, to-dos at http://iwantsandy.com/todos, and so forth.
* Want to reflect on to-dos already done? Head to your to-do list (Your stuff > To-dos or [http://iwantsandy.com/todos]) and click the "Show done to-dos" link.
* Repeating appointments, to-dos, and reminders are called out by the appropriate tag (e.g. [weekly] or [monthly]) right next to the event's date or time. Editing, forgetting, archiving, or toggling items behaves as you'd expect it to depending on whether you're changing the entire repeating series or an individual occurrence (and Sandy will confirm with you when there's any possibility of confusion).
* Repeating events show up whenever appropriate as individual occurrences on each and every day they're supposed to when you're looking across multiple days, weeks, months, or years.
* Your stuff is no longer cluttered with special tags like @todo or @weekly or the like when not needed: if it's a to-do, then the to-do checkbox appears; if done, it'll appear checked. Any other tags you've used show up as usual.
* Hover over the "Your stuff" menu on Sandy's site and you'll find — along with "Today", "Last week", "Next month", etc — new choices: "The next 7 days" and "The next 30 days." Kudos to those who thought to ask — these are now my two default views on Sandy's site!
* Sandy now abbreviates dates and times as appropriate anywhere they appear on her site and in her email messages: an event at 9am today won't list the date; an event at 9am tomorrow will; neither will show the year if it's this year; etc.
Take a new look at your stuff at http://iwantsandy.com/list
=====
IMPROVED: Daily Digest
You've told us quite precisely what you'd like to see in your Daily Digest and we're bringing most of it to you in the coming week or two, starting with today's many improvements:
* You'll no longer see duplicates in your Daily Digest — when, for instance, a to-do scheduled for today appeared in both the "Calendar" and "To-dos" sections. If it is scheduled for today, you'll find it in the "Calendar" section.
* Your Daily Digest — whether today's or next Tuesday's — now includes overdue to-dos, those due today (or next Tuesday if you're looking at next Tuesday's digest), and unscheduled to-dos. (If it's not yet due, it no longer shows up until its time has come.) Many of you requested this feature and we're glad to have finally had the chance to bring it to you.
* To-dos are sorted by status and due-date: past-due, due today, then unscheduled.
* Overdue to-dos not yet checked off as done are slightly highlighted so that you can spot them and get them done.
(Please note that we wanted to get this update out and into your virtual hands so the emailed version of your Daily Digest will sport the same improvements as the version on Sandy's website in short order.)
Visit your Daily Digest for today at http://iwantsandy.com/digest
=====
IMPROVED: The "New..." form
Something that was chapping my hide — and I know it was bothering some of you too — was the way that telling Sandy about something using the "New..." form (from Sandy's toolbar on every page of her site) popped up a small notification but didn't take you to the stuff you just had Sandy remember for you. You'll now be redirected to the new content a moment or three after you click the "Send" button.
"Email" Sandy right from the iwantsandy.com web site at http://iwantsandy.com/new
=====
TIDIED: Print
We tidied the Print version of your Daily Digest and any views of Your stuff.
Print a pocket-able, portable, paper copy of your Daily Digest: visit http://iwantsandy.com/digest and click the "Print" link.
=====
P.s. As always, we'd love to know what you think, what you liked (or didn't), and if we missed anything (or made anything worse).
Follow this discussion to get notifications on your dashboard.
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Inappropriate?I like the new changes! (so far). It seems to automatically do what I've been doing manually. I especially like the new color...
I’m excited
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Inappropriate?Me too. I think I use IWS in a simpler way than many other users do, e.g., no repeating tasks, but I immediately liked the checkbox replacing the three way toggle when a task is done.
I would still love not to have to see the cloud of tags on the right; I really don't use them anymore, but that's me.
I’m appreciative.
1 Comment
Add a comment
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Howdy, Lo!
I've a little tweak I've been playing with that I thought you might enjoy: just add ?sidebar_tags=0 to any of Sandy's URLs and — for that view, at least, the sidebar tags will be gone. For instance, you can see your Digest without the tag cloud at http://iwantsandy.com/digest?sidebar_... . And your appointments in the same manner at http://iwantsandy.com/appointments?si... .
While you can bookmark those URLs (and any others you might tack this on to), it won't stick beyond that view for now. But — as I mentioned in http://getsatisfaction.com/iwantsandy... below — this is the sort of thing that's a tweak for now, but potentially on its way to becoming a setting or view option.
Enjoy! -
Inappropriate?I really enjoy the new look and interface. Sandy looks 10 years younger!
However, I would like to be able to set up a color of my choice for the background. A medium to dark grey would be great for me, since white backgrounds tend to "blind" me after a while. A slightly different color on every other line would be nice to improve readability of long lists too (like on iTunes). Keep up the good work!
I’m thankful.
1 Comment Add a comment
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Thanks for your kind words, Philippe!
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Inappropriate?Howdy, Allysson, Lo, and Philippe!
I'm glad you're enjoying the changes we've made — and, again, with these in place you should expect to see some nice developments coming along rather quickly.
Have a great weekend!
Rael
I’m always thankful for feedback
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Inappropriate?I like the new changes. It very encouraging to see Sandy coming along!
I have found some oddities though. Like, how am I supposed to view archived todos, bookmarks, etc.?
I'll try and make a list of these bugs.
I’m happy
2 Comments Add a comment
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Hi Kevin! I've a fix in the works for this that I'm testing now and expect to release this evening. —R
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Hi Kevin! I've a fix in the works for this that I'm testing now and expect to release this evening. —R
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Inappropriate?I have to admit I wasn't paying attention because I wasn't using Sandy for a while (sorry!) but...you only get a checkbox if something is tagged @todo? I am self-employed and my items are a mishmosh of tasks, appointments, calls etc., and I would like to be able to check them all off when done. I looked at the guidebook and am not getting it. Currently only my @todo things have a checkbox and I'm not sure how to make calls and appointments do their satisfactory disappearing act when they've been completed.
I’m frustrated now...
4 Comments Add a comment
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Howdy, Lo. The unfortunate thing is that the "anything can be marked as to-do/done/not-to-do" versus knowing something is a to-do or not was confusing to many people, which is why we changed it. It sounds like you basically would like everything to be "to-do" (i.e. tagged with @todo): or, rather, have a second set of check-boxes for marking things as done whether or not they were technically "to-do"s. It seems the former (tagging all those things as @todo) might be the solution for you?
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One of the problems with tagging everything as todo is that you would no longer be able to use the "type" of the item to sort things. Currently, if everything is tagged as @todo, then there are zero "Appointments" and zero "Notes" and zero "bookmarks". (Surprisingly, "lists" tagged as @todo are still lists). If all appointments are tagged as @todo, then typing in iwantsandy.com/appointments would return an empty list.
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FYI, to make something "disappear" you can simply Archive it. That way it will stay in your Sandy in case you want to see it later, yet it won't clutter up your normal views. I think you can simply tag it @archive or click on the item in the web interface and you'll see a bunch of options, two of which are "Forget" (delete) and "Archive". Hope this helps.
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Thanks for pointing that out, Lethann. I'm about to make all that much simpler to get to too — something y'all have been asking for. Instead of having to click the name of the item, then forget or edit, you're going to have edit, forget, archive, etc links right there on the page itself right beneath each of the items. —R
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Inappropriate?First, Sandy has been great and I appreciate the tool and all the effort.
However, the new Daily Digest has lost all value to me, and the Digest is my primary use of Sandy. I understand that some folks would prefer not to have duplicates show, but I require duplicates given the way I organize my tasks. For example, following David Allen's Getting Things Done, I tag all my tasks with both: (a) the context (laptop, telephone, office, home) and (b) how long it should take (<10>60 min). Thus, I can look just at phone calls I need to make, or everything I need to do that will take less than 10 minutes (when I have a brief gap in my day).
Instead of just eliminating duplicates, why not make it an option that the user can toggle? Please...
I’m disappointed
3 Comments Add a comment
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Hi Jackson,
That's a rather interesting way of looking at the Daily Digest and one I'd not really considered. You're right, it'd be rather easy for us to have whether or not duplicates show up per tag as an option and I'll be glad to make this so.
Thanks so much for speaking up.
Rael -
Hi again, Jackson. There's a fix on its way for you too in just a few minutes.
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Hi Jackson! Please see http://getsatisfaction.com/iwantsandy... below for your fix.
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Inappropriate?I did run into a glitch with the sorting...
When I view my items and they are being sorted by due date, the dates are not sorted accurately. Example, they are sorted 4/27, 4/29, 5/1, 4/12, 4/14, etc. It seems they are being sorted by day without regard to month. E.g. 4/1 & 5/14 will both come before 4/25.
I have a picture of the screen, but don't know how to add it to satisfaction.
I’m frustrated
2 Comments Add a comment
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Hi Alysson,
Whoopsie! I'll be glad to take a gander at that. Would you mind copying the URL in the browser's address bar and dropping it in here so that I can see in what view that is happening for you? It should be a trivial little bug that I can take care of right away.
Rael -
Hi again, Alysson!
I just tried in the meantime to see what you see and I can't seem to replicate the issue. I browsed my to-dos:
* http://iwantsandy.com/todos
and then also clicked the "Show done to-dos" link to get to:
* http://iwantsandy.com/todos?done=1
I also browsed my calendar:
* http://iwantsandy.com/appointments
And my daily digest (which includes all my @todo and @family and @sandy) items (a massively long list, unfortunately, but a good test):
* http://iwantsandy.com/digest
And, finally, I browsed the "Next 7 days" view:
* http://iwantsandy.com/list?date=next+...
All of these had my appointments and to-dos sorted correctly by date and time.
So I could still use your help seeing just where this is going wonky for you.
—Rael -
3 Comments Add a comment
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Woah! I see the bug now... Tell me, if you replace the "sort=todo" with "sort=date" in that URL does all go back to normal for you? (It should.) If that's all there is to it — which I believe, having only spent a few minutes on it thus far — then it's the wee bug I thought it might be and is a quick fix. —Rael
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yes, that fixes it. Thank you!
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Fixed! We now return you to your regularly sorted lists... :-)
Thanks for your sharp eyes and help, Alysson!
—Rael -
Inappropriate?(Ick.. reposting as a reply rather than a comment — apparent GetSatisfaction's comments don't include line-breaks).)
Hi again, Alysson!
I just tried in the meantime to see what you see and I can't seem to replicate the issue. I browsed my to-dos:
* http://iwantsandy.com/todos
and then also clicked the "Show done to-dos" link to get to:
* http://iwantsandy.com/todos?done=1
I also browsed my calendar:
* http://iwantsandy.com/appointments
And my daily digest (which includes all my @todo and @family and @sandy) items (a massively long list, unfortunately, but a good test):
* http://iwantsandy.com/digest
And, finally, I browsed the "Next 7 days" view:
* http://iwantsandy.com/list?date=next+...
All of these had my appointments and to-dos sorted correctly by date and time.
So I could still use your help seeing just where this is going wonky for you.
—Rael1 Comment Add a comment
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This is fixed, in case y'all missed it. —R
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Inappropriate?Howdy, Jackson!
We're always careful to avoid any settings that have the potential to confound more than contribute — particularly when contributing to the experience of only a few of Sandy's clients. That said, we love trying things out to see just how useful they are to just how many people while hiding them just out of plain sight so as not to get in anyone's way.
The fix I just whipped up for you — and anyone else who uses their Daily Digest in this manner — is one such tweak.
Go ahead and visit your Daily Digest at http://iwantsandy.com/digest and then edit the URL in your browser's address bar, adding: ?dups=1 [http://iwantsandy.com/digest?dups=1] Hit return/enter and you should see your digest as you used to.
You can bookmark that new URL in your browser and see things the way you prefer any time you'd like.
Of course, as I mentioned, this is a one-off and so not something that we want to simply slap into place without further thought. And you'll need to add that dups=1 to any of the Daily Digest URLs for other days ([http://localhost:3000/digest?date=tom...], for instance).
Also, if you edit, forget, archive, or otherwise alter one of the duplicates (and this is a long-standing bug), the others won't follow suit until you reload the page. There is actually a fix in the works for this involving the new Ajaxy-powered version of Sandy's web interface we've been building in the background. That's the point at which it probably makes sense to bake the tweak I created for you into a setting or view option.
But in the meantime, this should return you to the Digest you've come to know and love.
Sorry to have rocked your boat a little more than expected this weekend!
Enjoy!
Rael1 Comment Add a comment
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Rael- you totally rock!
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Inappropriate?OK here's a list of some things.
1) I really like the new done/undone toggle.
2) I like the new URLs (http://iwantsandy.com/appointments)
3) I like the default sorting/filtering of my lists, but I'm confused how
to fine-tune my results. (@archive?)
4) I like the new sorting and filtering in the daily digest
5) I like the color coding of overdue todo items.
6) Thank you for fixing the problem with the edit/save window hanging.
7) After entering a new command to Sandy, it redirects you to the result.
(it's OK I guess. I need to play with it some more. It means that I can't
fire off some quick items to remember while still perusing a particular list )
8) new 7 day and 30 day view - I love it.
9) recurring events work MUCH, MUCH better. Thank You!
Overall, one great update.
OK, now the odd things I noticed.
Appointments (iwantsandy.com/appointments)
----
1) half of my recurring events are not listed.
(This affects recurring events with a start date in the past. These events are not tagged with todo)
For example: My weekly iwantsandy townhall meeting is not displayed.
Half of my birthdays are not displayed. (If I use past=1 then they are displayed.)
2) How am I supposed to view past appointments?
Where is the "past" check box? How do I view archived appointments?
I used http://iwantsandy.com/appointments?pa... in the address bar. It works, but there probably should be another option. Am I missing something?
3) Mostly, if an appointment is tagged as todo, then it doesn't appear in the appointments list. (Is this correct behavior? it seems odd.)
4) Some exceptions to the above behavior. I have seen appointments tagged with "todo" that ARE listed in the appointments list. (when using past=1) But these todo appointments do not show up with a check box next to them. Since the recent change eliminates the display of the @todo tag, the problem is that it's impossible to tell which appointments are todo items by just looking at them. You have to click on every item in order to see what the tags are.
(I assume this might be a bug with some particular todo items.)
5) If I edit an appointment and mark it as todo, then the page changes that item and displays that appointment/todo with a check box (and a different color because it was overdue.) This seems to me to be correct behavior. However, when I refresh the page then the item is gone entirely. (The item is now a "todo" and does not appear in the appointments list.)
Contacts
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1) contacts tagged with @todo sometimes do not show up in the contacts list. If the contact was scheduled for a day in the past, even if it is a repeating event, then it doesn't show up in the list. (If you use past=1, then they show up.)
2) What is supposed to happen when you mark a contact as todo?
Example: I need to follow up with Sarah to see if my tags arrived.
> remember Sarah at the DMV 310-555-5555 @daily @todo
Currently, the day that I marked it as recurring, is the date that it is sorted by.
(April 23. It's in the past, so that's why the Contact/Todo doesn't show up in the default view of the Contact list. Also, trying to edit this item to remove the @todo causes the save dialog box to hang.)
3) Contacts tagged with @daily and @todo don't show up in the daily digest, etc. See the above example "Sarah at the DMV". Even though it's marked with @daily, it doesn't repeat daily. It's not in the daily digest. This sounds like a problem with recurring events. (See below.)
4) How am I supposed to view archived contacts?
Todos
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The way todo items work is a little odd.
A) Appointments tagged with @todo do not show up in the Appointments list.
B) Notes tagged with @todo don't show up in the Notes list.
C) Contacts tagged as @todo DO show up in the Contacts list, (but not if the date of the item is in the past.) They also show up in the todo list.
D) If a todo item with a date is edited to remove the "todo" tag, then it goes back to being an appointment. It is then displayed in the Appointments list.
E) If a todo item without a date (or a phone number) is edited to remove the "todo" tag, it goes back to being a Note. It then shows up in the Notes list.
Currently you can't be sure to find an Appointment by looking in the Appointment list. Because it might temporarily be a todo. (Is this correct behavior? It seems odd.)
To my way of thinking, @todo is an extra tag, it is not the "type" of an item. You should be able to find an item by either it's "type" or by it's "tag". It should appear in both lists. (in Appointments and in Todo items.)
1) How am I supposed to view archived todos?
2) recurring todo events with a start date in the past are displayed as "overdue". (Is this correct behavior?)
Recurring Events
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1) Some recurring events are broken. They don't appear in my daily digest, etc.
This problem only happens for recurring events that are already in the system,
and they have a start date in the past. New events work correctly.
(I have examples of items marked as @weekly and more than a week old. I also have items marked as @daily. See "Sarah at the DMV".) Even editing these old recurring events doesn't help. It seems they have to be deleted and reentered for them to work correctly.)
Example: > take out the trash Start date: Saturday April 5 at 6 pm @todo @weekly
2) most recurring events that are tagged as "todo" are displayed as "overdue" (using the different color) I think this is because the original starting date is in the past. (You can see this when doing a search. The recurring item shows up in a different color as "overdue". Along with several other versions of the same event that are all checked off as done.)
3) recurring events that are tagged as "todo" are sorted by their start date. (This is for the iwantsandy.com/todo page.) This makes it a bit awkward for recurring events that have already started and are still ongoing. The *next occurrence* of the event is not displayed. Instead, all the recurring events are overdue. (This is not really a problem, I'm just saying that it's odd.)
5) Here's a suggestion. Recurring events might benefit from a separate "End date" for when to end the series of events. Example: taking a 7 week class.
> project management class. Wednesday from 1 pm to 3 pm. @weekly. Series ends on June 18, 2008.
6) things tagged with @birthday are displayed as "@annually"
(Is this correct behavior?)
Daily digest
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1) When using the next 30 days, all todo items in the first 3 1/2 days are displayed as overdue.
I’m thankful
5 Comments Add a comment
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Kevin, on "7) After entering a new command to Sandy, it redirects you to the result. (it's OK I guess. I need to play with it some more. It means that I can't fire off some quick items to remember while still perusing a particular list )" — how's that working for you? —R
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"2) How am I supposed to view past appointments?
Where is the "past" check box? How do I view archived appointments?
I used http://iwantsandy.com/appointments?pa... in the address bar. It works, but there probably should be another option. Am I missing something?" — a fix is on the way. —R -
The redirect is fine. I got used to it easily. It encourages me to double check how Sandy interpreted what I wrote. (As an appointment, contact, etc.)
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I know I listed a lot of things above, but it's not my intention to complain. I really like what Sandy has to offer. I'm acting as a beta-tester. I try to give specific feedback about odd things that I've noticed so as to help with "product development".
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Hi Kevin! "2) How am I supposed to view past appointments?" is fixed in http://getsatisfaction.com/iwantsandy... . (And all of your feedback — complaints and non- — is very much appreciated.) —R
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Inappropriate?Dear Rael:
First, I'll heap considerable praise on Caesar and then I'll bury him—or at least heap a little soil on him.
Sandy is beyond wonderful for me, she radically transformed the way I organize my life. I admire the commitment that you have to take input and to rapidly implement fixes and improvements. You're a true standout and ought to be gratified by being so unique in this unique enterprise between users and management. This I offer sincerely. It's also true that some issues here puzzle me.
I've scoured the posts, your and others' replies, and still I see no solution to what gets at the heart of Sandy's utility for many—at least judging by the number of posts related to this issue of ical feeds to Apple's iCal.
Without reinventing the wheel, let me say that I need both Sandy AND ical and the feed works only when you install it (minus to-do's, notifications, etc.); thereafter, it won't refresh. I've tried every permutation of direct fix possible and still I receive on the iCal end the error 4. It's matters not what URL I use, etc. The best I could do what link Sandy to Google Calendar (that works) and then have GC feed iCal (that works, too)—except alarms, notifications, and to-do's are stripped in the process. A minor irritation. Why can't Sandy feed iCal directly? Why can't this be addressed? It makes no sense at all. First, if one downloads the .ics file daily and have it populate iCal, that contains events, to-do's, etc. So you folks have the data somewhere. But the link doesn't work and even that first time when it does, the data is not getting transmitted. Why is this crucial function left unaddressed? And please know that I spoke with a 2nd-level Apple product engineer, who insists that the problem is on your end, while I've seen it posted that the problem is a bug in iCal. An end user likes nothing more that to have two providers pointing fingers at each other while they remain in the middle, problem unsolved. Please do something about this. Please.
Then, but a minor issue, is that of tags. Please don't prune back on them. They're an elegant way to handle data. My problem is that because I'm a bit dumb, I sometimes tag something as both appointment and appointmentS. I wish there were a way to edit my tags, that is, eliminate one and consolidate the data under the remaining one, using the example above. Again, I implore you not to be too parsimonious as to limit tag usage. I like to tag things 3 or 4 different ways.
Finally, while change is constant and desirable, I'd put in a vote for keeping things stable until an overwhelming herd demands overwhelming system modification. You can't please everyone. I like the SnapShots popups, the yellow, legal color, and the "cluttered" sidebar. Me found the tag buttons and sort options easy and intuitive. Just as I've learned it, it's going away.
Finally, why introduce a feature or future feature by providing a difficult-to-recall URL to call it up? This seems a step backwards.
So, Rael, I love you. I love Sandy. Take my comments in the good spirit in which I've meant them. I'll be constructive next time, but right now, you're hearing the evening of my discontents.
Warmly,
Evan
I’m Sometimes apoplectic.
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Inappropriate?I really also miss being able to mark things not listed as "To Do" as being done. For example, I have items under my "work" section that I did not want in my general "To Do" section.
However, the look is great! Don't mean to just post something negative, but I really do miss this!
I’m sad
2 Comments Add a comment
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Hi Adelle! I'm glad you posted — negative, positive, and everything in between. I'm working on an update that'll bring that behavior back for you, albeit in a less confusing way than the 3-way toggle. —R
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Hi again, Adelle! With the new single-click "archive" link you'll now see beneath every item in every list, does it do the trick for you to just click that whenever you've taken care of something (whether officially a to-do or no)?—R
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Inappropriate?Thanks so much Rael for an excellent product/service. Sandy has rapidly become one of my best friends. ;-) i believe that the improvements you've just released are just that, improvements, and have made Sandy even better than before.
In your post you mentioned that overdue to-dos now hang around in the Daily Digest until done. I think this was a great step forward and was the one thing that was preventing me from using the to-do function. {Well, almost the only thing ;-) }
I've noted that those overdue to-dos do not appear to be showing up in my emailed Daily Digest each morning. I may be in the minority but I hardly use Sandy's web interface at all. I talk to Sandy almost exclusively through email and as such, if I'm not reminded each day of those overdue to-dos, either in the morning digest or preferably with an email reminder at the to-dos original set time, then I am just as likely to overlook and forget about it as I was before.
Would it be possible to incorporate a setting option that will trigger an email at the to-do's time each day until I reply with @done?
Warm regards,
Paul
I’m hopeful
2 Comments Add a comment
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Rael, I must (gladly) retract my previous concern. I've noted this morning that my emailed Daily Digest *did* have the overdue to-dos showing. Yah! The only thing I changed yesterday was to customize my Daily Digest by adding @todo to the 'Tags to keep top-of-mind' so I'm guessing that that must have been the 'missing link'. Thanks again!
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Hi Paul! I'm working on the same view of things you see in the web interface making its way into the emailed version as well. —R
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Inappropriate?Oh okay, now I get it; marking something "@todo" does not cause the tag to be displayed as such, just generates a checkbox.
Like Adelle, I don't like to post negative comments when Rael and crew are working so hard to perfect Sandy for the kind of use that's most common, and it's FREE for God's sake. It's a few more keystrokes to have an item be "@calls @todo" and capable of being checked off, but it's no big deal.
I’m still a fan.
3 Comments Add a comment
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So are folks in general happy or sad to see the tags like "todo" or "done" not showing in the web interface since they are functional (i.e. they do something like make a checkbox) rather than descriptive? Or would you prefer to just see them all anyway? —R
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Rael, in case I was unclear, I like not seeing them. They seem(ed) redundant.
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Lo, you'll be happy then to find that they're still hidden in plain sight.
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Inappropriate?Howdy, folks!
I so much appreciate all the intricate and well-thought-out feedback you've taken the time to post. I'm in the midst of addressing some of the nits introduced in this update and will post with further details when that's ready for release (most likely this evening).
Best,
Rael
I’m appreciative
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Inappropriate?Did something happen to the archive tag since the last update? When I try to look up my archived items, all I get is
"Your stuff Sorted by updated date (most recent first) and showing only stuff tagged with archive.
Oops, nothing matched your search! Perhaps try expanding your search by removing some search terms. "
I’m confused
3 Comments Add a comment
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Yea, I noticed this too.
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Sorry about that. A fix is in the works.
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Hi again, Alysson. This is now fixed in http://getsatisfaction.com/iwantsandy... .
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Inappropriate?I've been trying to get with the new update, but am having some serious issues:
1. I keep separate tags for "calls", "apartment" etc. So all my todos don't all cluster in the "todos". Well with the new update, even when I double tag (so I can still have my vital little checkbox - i.e.: "@calls, @todo") it STILL only clusters in my todo list. This isn't good - is it a bug or how it's supposed to work?
Sandy was working pretty damn well before the update, and now I can't seem to get back into gear with it.
I’m sad
1 Comment Add a comment
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I can see how this would be annoying. The best I can suggest is to modify your daily digest section. Try this, in the daily digest section, click the "customize" link. Remove @todo and add your individual tags. (@calls, @apartment, @whatever) You can also add the @todo tag, but try it as the *last* tag in the list. How does this work for you?
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Inappropriate?Order shouldn't make any difference. Kevin's suggestion of removing the @todo tag and adding the others you want is the way I have been keeping my digest since the start. Also, if you are talking about the web view, try adding ?dupes=1 to the URL to have duplicates show up in all appropriate sections. This is something we will just add as an option. If enough folks find it useful.1 Comment Add a comment
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Please add that option because I use tags to organize my stuff. Right now I'm on a trip and have everything marked with @trip. However things within that are also @todo and more, but with them only showing up under one tag on the digest, it makes it hard to find what's what.
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Inappropriate?For me, at least, I'm disappointed to see the filters and sort options eliminated. Without them, I don't understand how to go about cleaning up tags. I use Jott principally to communicate with Sandy. sometimes Jott misunderstands a tag. So, I would log on to Sandy occasionally, click on my tags, sort them, and then correct the tag errors. Now I seem up a creek without a paddle.
I’m frustrated
1 Comment Add a comment
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Hi Michael! I'm sorry you ran into something in the update that not only didn't help, but hindered. Let's see if we can't tease out what would be most helpful to you... Is it simply sorting by tag that you'd like back? Or is there some other way of representing and allowing you to twiddle with your tags that would be even more helpful? —R
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Inappropriate?Howdy, folks!
Thanks again for all of your detailed feedback, troubleshooting, and patience.
I've just pushed an update to Sandy's servers that addresses many of the issues brought up in this discussion thread and adds a few more things we think you'll really like.
Read all about it at http://getsatisfaction.com/iwantsandy... .
And please do keep that feedback coming!
—R -
Inappropriate?Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I cannot believe you did that and even replied directly to me :) I appreciate it, and it works wonderfully!
I’m thankful
