Archive for January, 2010

GTDInbox 3.0.11 is now live — please update immediately

Friday, January 29th, 2010

We are happy to announce the release of what we hope will be a fairly stable beta of GTDInbox.

Version 3.0.11 should eliminate many of the problems people have been having and may be our last release until Feb 8. Until then, we’re doing a big refactor to improve the foundations for future performance – which is why no new updates for about a week.

GTDInbox Plus Beta users can upgrade through the Plus account management button in their left sidebar.

GTDInbox Free users can upgrade through Mozilla Add-Ons or through GTDInbox.com in the usual way.

Please continue providing us with your error reports, comments and encouragement. If you have problems, please let us know so we can work on them with you! You can post to UserVoice or email us at support at gtdinbox.com or just comment on this blog post.

GTDInbox Plus and GTDInbox Free Updated (3.0.10)

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Just a quick note, GTDInbox Plus and GTDInbox Free have been updated to 3.0.10, which I believe (hope!) fix all the current problems with the GTDInbox buttons going missing.

I’ll be on hand tomorrow to deal with any problems that remain. Our new error reporting system (which I’m personally very proud off!) is working wonders for helping us diagnose and fix Gmail breakages a lot faster. I think we can still improve even more, but we’re really getting there.

In the meantime, Free users you can get the latest release from http://www.gtdinbox.com/gettingstarted.htm, and Plus users from your account pages (Installation Instructions to be precise).

PS A big shout out to Michael Bond who’s gone beyond the call of duty to help us get the issues fixed. Thanks Michael!

Imminent release of GTDInbox Plus Beta 3.0.8 followed by update to GTDInbox Free

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

We will shortly release a new version of GTDInbox Plus Beta, which should restore buttons and other functions for Plus users. We anticipate releasing an update for Free, later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Plus uses, please watch your GTDInbox Plus Beta sidebar. The dedicated update link should appear. Free users, we will post a blog article with a hotlink for you to follow. Again, watch your sidebar for this.

First Batch of GTDInbox Plus Beta Invitations Has Gone Out

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

We sent email invitations to about 50 previous donors, inviting them to upgrade to GTDInbox Plus Beta. They must have been waiting because they started installing GTDInbox Plus Beta within minutes. We are now contacting them via email so we can make sure their upgrades go as smoothly as possible.

Once we work through any glitches that they encounter, we will send another batch of invitations. If you haven’t already signed up for the upgrade, then follow this link to the GTDInbox Plus Beta Waiting List and sign up, now.

GTDInbox Plus Beta Feature Tour on YouTube

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

If you’re curious about the new and enhanced features we’ve added in the first release of GTDInbox Plus Beta, take a look at the GTDInbox Plus Beta Release 1 Feature Tour we released on our YouTube account!

The features include:

  • Expanded Archive Button –archive, mark as spam, delete and move to next (or back), plus more, with one click.
  • Reply to Self — add private notes to conversations and send yourself tasks quickly (it’s back and better than before)
  • Send and… button — easily change a conversation’s status (and/or mark it End Of Message) when you send a reply
  • Enhanced magnifying glass for one-click email processing
  • Collapsible labeling box to increase screen space
  • Improved community messaging
  • Enhanced Review Box with enduring popout and popup for faster reviewing
  • Plus account access button
  • Revised Preferences (formerly Options)
  • Semi-automatic error reporting system

Early reports from beta testers tell us they love the features. The enhanced Archive button and the Send and … button in particular speed up email processing and correspondence. The first beta release was unpolished, and we are preparing an update at the moment, but the concepts are sound so it’s just a matter of working out a few minor software glitches.

If you want to sign up for the beta release, here’s a link to the beta release sign-up page.

We also published a video guide to installing GTDInbox Free. If you want to refer a friend and get them started on GTDInbox, then this video can help.

We are planning on a series of  “how to” videos giving more detailed looks at various features, as well as at the overall GTDInbox proactive email workflow. We will announce these in future blog posts.

Enjoy the videos, and let us know what you think. We’re always open to feedback!

GTDInbox Buttons are Back

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Yesterday, some of our users reported that their GTDInbox status buttons had disappeared. Some had also lost the sidebar Review Box. Many of the users who initially reported this had just upgraded to Firefox 3.6, so we assumed that the problem must have been in the way that Firefox 3.6 handles scripts. As it turned out, the problem was in changes that GMail had made. Even as we were trying to solve the problem in Firefox, the engineers at Google were solving it for us. GMail hasn’t made an announcement on their official blog, yet, but our own look at the code indicates that this is what happened.

This morning, many of our GTDInbox users reported that their buttons had returned, so it appears that this problem is solved. If anyone continues having problems with the buttons, please post to this blog or (better yet), report the problem as a bug at the GTDInbox UserVoice so we can handle it in our customer support ticketing system.

This issue is a perfect example of the superiority of cloud-based computing systems. GTDInbox depends on GMail just as much as other GTD systems depend on MicroSoft Outlook. However, when a problem develops in GMail, the Google engineers can fix it for everyone with minor inconvenience for companies like us and for end users. On the other hand, anyone using desktop software has to download and install a patch. As we all know from month after month of Patch Tuesdays, while this is necessary, it is inconvenient. Also, when major problems develop in desktop systems, it is often up to the end user to fix them or pay to have them fixed. With cloud systems, we still have occasional service outages and other problems, but end users don’t have to fix them themselves.

Firefox 3.6 Release Issues

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

We have had reports from several users via UserVoice and Twitter that since they upgraded to Firefox 3.6, the GTDInbox action status buttons have disappeared. One user reported that the drop-down buttons have also disappeared.

We are working on a new update to GTDInbox that will restore full functionality. We plan to release it no later than early next week. Be assured that we will release it as soon as possible, even if we have to work all weekend.

This has slightly delayed us in releasing GTDInbox Plus Beta. We anticipate releasing it, early next week, too. We will announce both releases via this blog, Twitter, and our new GTDInbox Facebook page.

GTDInbox Plus Beta is Launching — Sign Up Now

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

This is our longest post in a while, but we have great news! If you’re short of time, I suggest you jump straight to How Do I Get GTDInbox Plus Beta. Also, Peyton & I will be on hand to answer your comments below – we look forward to hearing your thoughts! Thanks, Andy

What is GTDInbox Plus Beta and Why Are We Launching It?

After over three years of development and community building, we are launching GTDInbox Plus Beta. This enhanced version includes several new features to speed up your work. We will be adding more features every month during the coming year. We anticipate keeping the beta designation at least through March of 2010. 

One of our goals has always been to put GTDInbox onto a solid financial basis so that it will be self-supporting and so we can continue development. We have reached the point at which GTDInbox requires the work of additional engineers, workflow experts and others beyond our core team. As we add more sophisticated features, we need more help developing and maintaining them so that they will work dependably in FireFox as well as in Chrome. GTDInbox Plus Beta will be our first paid product, and it will provide the income we need to create a truly amazing product.

What about Chrome?

Along with launching GTDInbox Plus Beta, we are working on bringing GTDInbox to Google Chrome. Expect to hear more about this over the next few weeks. Once we launch the Chrome port, you will be able to use GTDInbox Free and GTDInbox Plus Beta on Chrome as well as on FireFox. We are looking at other browsers and email systems, as well. In the long term, we want to make our approach to email available to everyone, regardless of the specific email system, client or browser they are using.

How Do I Get GTDInbox Plus Beta?

We are rolling out GTDInbox Plus Beta in stages to reduce the possibility of server overload and to maintain our high level of customer support during the upgrade. We will give priority to people who have been supporting GTDInbox with donations. They can expect to receive invitations from us via the PayPal email address they used to donate. Everyone else who is interested in purchasing GTDInbox Plus Beta can add themselves to to the GTDInbox Plus Beta Waiting List right now.

We will be sending out invites to purchase a discounted GTDInbox Plus Beta by email to previous donators and people on the waiting list over the coming weeks, on a first come, first serve basis.

What’s New in GTDInbox Plus Beta? What Will It Do for Me?

GTDInbox Plus immediately adds three new features, greater support, and priority access to all updates.

Those features include:

  • Reply to Self — add private notes to conversations quickly
  • Expanded Archive Button –archive, mark as spam, delete and move to next (or back), plus more, with one click.
  • “Send and” — easily change a conversation’s status (and/or mark it End Of Message) when you send a reply
And the future…

We plan to add another new feature – just for GTDInbox Plus users – every two weeks. Here is our current list. Please let us know at GTDInbox UserVoice if you have other feature requests, and what you think our priorities should be.

Some things we have planned include:

  • Great control with deadlines for emails and calendar integration
  • Automation with simple macros, smart labeling and keyboard shortcuts
  • Improved relationships with contact management
  • Understand your email habits with performance stats
  • Enhance Gmail with social networks integration
  • And more…

Our overall goal is to make email manageable and you a master of the tasks and responsibilities flowing by as you communicate with your colleagues, partners and customers.

Using the excellent feedback from thousands of our users combined with the new revenue stream, GTDInbox Plus Beta marks the beginning of a rapid advance in feature development. The result will be faster, more efficient email for all of us.

Want to try it as soon as possible? Join the GTDInbox Plus Beta Waiting List!