I realise with that headline I’m just inviting trouble (!), but GTDInbox has hit a significant milestone. I did not reveal it in the early blog post (about the beta of 2.0.9), but it has actually switched to 2.1’s new core; which has been heavily rewritten to take advantage of some great new techniques. What does this mean? It is noticeably faster, it uses significantly less resources, it should work well with other addons (like RTM), and it is at the height of its (current) functionality, matching anything the original version of GTDInbox could do and much more besides.

Of significant note, we have,

The Return of Hipster Print
Hipster Print is there to help you print out your task lists (and anything else) so you can carry them around. It is easy to use, all you need to do is load your inbox, or do a search (e.g. all Next Actions), and then click the Hipster Print button. It will open a new window with the most recent 100 threads, in a format that is easily printed (using Firefox’s print button).

Multi-Message Preview
The old preview only used to show the latest message on the thread; but you can do cycle up & down through all messages with the Preview box.

Pre-Labelling is Back
Pre-labelling – applying labels to messages as you compose them – is back and totally rewritten. It should now work everytime, and avoid the earlier problems (like re-labelling messages you didn’t want labelled!). The only caveat is that it is set on a timer, so it will not invoke the pre-labelling until ~20 seconds after you’ve sent the message.

Gauge the Magnitude of Tasks in your Inbox
The ‘Review’ drop down will now tell you, at a glance, how many Next Actions, Actions, Waiting On’s, etc. you have in your inbox; saving you the expense of needing to click them to find out.

Plenty of Bug Fixing
All of which have been reported by people in our community, so thank you al! (In particular, Paul Thompson, Frank Schneider, Jack Nelson and Jon Hind – cheers guys). I have to also say a huge thanks to the Gmail team, who have gone out of their way to make Gmail more accessible (and understandable!) for GTDInbox.

So what next?
Well, there will be a minor update to add a Pro version for those who have donated (which will store your settings across machines, and grant you earlier access to updates); followed by 2.1 sometime in August. 2.1 will bring really significant new functionality, to the point that once it is released, I will consider GTDInbox ‘done’, at least for its purpose of managing tasks within your inbox. (Of course, there is still plenty of stuff we can do later, around integrating other services).

And any problems?
The GTDInbox website is a little out of date, as it was written for 2.0. I’ll do a major overhaul for 2.1. There are still threads where the Preview will not work, I’m making a passionate plea to the Gmail team to resolve this; but until then I’m afraid we’ll just have to live with it. Of course, Gmail can still change; but the code is now pretty quick to update (and I can push it out via Mozilla almost instantly), so I hope that while irritating, it is under control.

You can download 2.0.9 from GTDInbox.com!

As promised, here’s the latest update. It’s kind of an interim to 2.1, but roughly here is what has improved:

* More robust. Preview and other functions should work consistently. It should also load properly everytime.
* Lighter. Load time has been improved; less resource intensive as it runs.
* Preview multiple messages in a thread – you can now scroll between them.
* The UI has changed for adding/removing labels, using much tidier drop downs.
* Pre-labelling has been temporarily disabled. Might sneak this back in during a patch update.

So what is still to do? Well, the UI hasn’t been given enough attention. I hope to (pay a professional to) fix that up, but it will be during the 2.1 beta period. Other than that, it’s pressing on to 2.1.

A quick recap since there will be some new faces here, of things that aren’t so obvious about GTDInbox:

* You can right click labels and names to get a menu with additional browsing/retrieval options.
* You can double click the GTD icon in the inbox/search-results, and it will archive the message (double right click will delete it).
* You can ‘bump’ a message using the regular Gmail drop-down when viewing a thread/conversation. This will send a message back to the top of your inbox.
* In the inbox (or search results), when you right click to bring up the Preview box, if you double click a status label, it will apply it and then archive the message. So, you can right click to bring the Preview up, then double click Action to mark it as an action and archive it.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has written and donated. I’m still trying to balance my time better, and haven’t been able to reply to everyone; but every message has been read. I will endeavour to get back to everyone eventually, but – as we no doubt all know! – emails tend to come in faster than they get dealt with. GTDInbox should really do some magic for that

Ok, so here it is: GTDInbox 2.0.9b1
How to install? You need to open the file with Firefox (either download it to your computer first, or just open it direct from this page); and Firefox should begin the install straight away.

I’m going to Cornwall this weekend for two days of rest, but I’ll be back on Monday and I’ll upload to Mozilla then (with any issues dealt with!). You may wish to wait until then to get it (it will update automatically).

Hi everyone,

I gather Gmail has fluttered and broken 2.0.8.4 for some people (and probably more to follow!). It’s not yet affecting me, so if anyone is affected and can help me fix it, please send an email (with screenshots!). It would be super helpful if you also feel confident testing extensions.

2.1 has had a temporary set-back, purely due to my crazy time constraints, but it’s still very much in progress. Amongst other things – like better contact handling, file lookups, better UI, etc – it also fixes the problems with Auto-Labelling and Preview that afflict some users in the 2.0.* range (a total re-write).

As 2.1 is still at least two weeks away; I’m proposing to release a 2.0.9 that will be a bit of a step back, but should be more stable. It will (temporarily) disable auto-labelling, attempt to patch up Previewing, and fix whatever the current issue that is affecting some users.
I appreciate it’s a pain to experience a loss of functionality, but to make up for it I will share the very first preview of 2.1 with all of us on the blog and in the forum the second it becomes remotely stable.

I have asked one of the really helpful guys inside Gmail to see if I can get priority access to Gmail updates; which means I’ll feel any GTDInbox problems the second they happen (rather than facing a lag, like I do now).

Eta for 2.0.9: Friday 18th July!
Please do get in touch if you’re suffering problems and feel confident helping me tackle them!

Andy