Version 3.0 is almost here

If you haven't already seen it, check out the latest in time tracking with Timeless Time & Expense 3.0 and Project Tracking 3.0.

The expanded beta program has been going for a couple weeks. Things are going well and we are working on all the other things that need to be done for a major release.

I suppose the common belief is that a successful software product is all about writing code. While doing that well is extremely important for the life of the product, there are so many things that need to come together to release the product. Whether good or bad, most of these items happen at the end of the release cycle. Right now we are working on application help, updating our order processing for upgrades and a new website design - just to name a few. This makes for a very busy time around here and for even shorter blog updates.

That said, know that we are nearing release. However, you can still participate in the beta program. If you are interested sign up here. We can always use more beta testers.

Instant project feedback as a motivational tool

I really had planned to post this blog entry much sooner but we were making such good progress with the Windows version that I kept putting it of. That's not the only thing that was being delayed. We had a whole list of minor tasks which need to be done long before a product release to ensure a smooth launch. The Thanksgiving holiday provided a natural break to address some of these without disrupting development. So here I am again with updates and a sneak peek of what we have been looking at lately.

We've been using Timeless Project Tracking 3.0 since my last blog post. It really has been good. A good number of minor bugs and a few functional changes were identified, but overall it has been very smooth. One interesting side effect is the how motivating the status dashboard is. It is almost embarrassing, but the visual feedback of seeing the burndown chart going down in highly motivating. There's nothing (in day to day project tracking anyway) like seeing the sudden drop in a burndown when you complete something far ahead of schedule. On the flip-side it is kind of depressing watching the burndown go up because of the tasks you missed when developing the project plan.

On the subject of decreasing burndown charts, as I said earlier, the development of the Windows version is going well. Some our estimates for tasks have been high. I was quite surprised by this as the estimates looked pretty accurate, if not optimistic. In retrospect, we have been working on web interfaces so long we forgot just how much easier Windows development is. Sure, for simple web pages the development is just as easy, but for complicated web applications that work like a desktop application there are still significant differences.

I hope you enjoyed the brief sneak peak. As I said before, if you would like to be included on our pre-release email list sign up now. I promise we will have a online demo of the web version available soon.

A big milestone is just the beginning

Well, we hit a big milestone last week. We upgraded our internal Timeless Time & Expense Web installation to version 3.0. This wasn't a 'developer-install', this was a real upgrade installation just like our customers will have to go through. We believe in using our applications just like our customers do. This means a feature complete application down to the installation. (Okay, we're not perfect. The documentation was not included).

As usual, it doesn't take long using the new features where you start to see the next enhancements. I was laying out the work items and assignments for the development of the Windows version today. I was using new 3.0 project management features for this for all of about 10 minutes when I wanted something more. Don't get me wrong, the new features are great and a big improvement but everything can be made better. Most of these will wait until 3.1 or later, but we hope to slip a couple into 3.0.

In any case, it was a significant week. Sometime in the future, we plan to give a limited sneak peek of the new version. Sign up to receive pre-release email notices when it is available.

I love automated unit tests

Did I mention that I am a big fan of automated unit tests?

As we develop Timeless Time & Expense 3.0, we are anticipating many things we would like to do. Some of these will not be available on 3.0 release date. Some are not even definate, but we are preparing for them now. One such item is a hosted version of Timeless Time & Expense.

Unfortunately, we put this off a little too long. We really should have done it months ago, but somehow other 3.0 development took priority. The key to a hosted version is running many organizations in the same database. This means adding another key field on nearly 60 tables. Were it only that simple......

Adding a new key field means a change to every foreign key and every data access call. Even that isn't so bad. The real problem is testing it. That is where a suite of automated unit tests help a ton. When developing the original web version, we created automated unit tests for all database and business logic. During the 3.0 development we expanded the tests for all new functionality. So even though we started this a little late in the project, it only took a week and a half to implement and test. Without already established unit test, this would likely have set the project back months.

An additional challenge was making sure the new logic really did only access one organization. After all, when your application only works with one organization at a time, how could your be sure it wasn't crossing the line somewhere? In new development, this wouldn't be such a concern. But when the change is to an established application it is a scary and daunting prospect.

Again, automated unit tests come to the rescue. With unit tests, we can simulate things that would take months to test through the UI. Only the last half week was spent adding the new unit tests. With that small time investment, we can be confident we can deliver a hosted version plus be ready for the next big change.

"More than a spreadsheet"

I was reading a user review for Timeless Time & Expense on of the major software download sites the other day. It was a short review, not much more than a single line that said "more than just a spreadsheet". It reminded me of the early days of Timeless Time & Expense.

Time tracking at its simplest is a piece of notebook paper using a line for each time entry. Like most time tracking systems this usually degraded to a once a week memory exercise. The next step for most was the use of spreadsheet software. This wasn't much better. Each project entry required a fair amount of typing and the memory exercise remained. With cut and paste it was faster to fill out the timesheet at the expense of accuracy.

Since many software developers we required to track their time it wasn't long before many tried to solve the problem. They typically created a 'better' spreadsheet. Dropdown lists were added to select clients and projects. This reduced the errors by limiting the selections to valid values. It was a litte faster and easier so more likely that time would be entered before the end of the week avoiding the same old memory excercise. But it was still just an automated piece of paper. The more detail you needed, the more time it took to select the correct information. This means it is only efficient for tracking time for billing - not for project management. Effective project management requires more detailed time tracking.

This is where Timeless Time & Expense was born. Detailed time tracking for project management requires a different paradigm - one taken from project management. To effectively manage a project, tasks must be broken down to a level of detail which allows the tasks to be easily estimated and tracked. This naturally results in a tree hierarchy with many levels of parent-child relationships. This is the paradigm Timeless Time & Expense uses. A paradigm that is as easy to use with two levels as it is with twenty (more on that in a future post).

This ease of use for our customers come at a price for the developers. In the limited, spreadsheet approach reporting is simple database queries. With a dynamic project hierarchy, it is much more complicated. Luckily, we have developers who are up to the challenge and are currently working to expand and simplify reporting for Timeless Time & Expense 3.0.

Here we go again

It has been an interesting year. After many years of small changes to Timeless Time & Expense for Windows, we decided to embark on a major project to add a Web interface for Timeless Time & Expense Enterprise. Outside of minor fixes and the constant marketing of an application, it is complete.

While functionally is basically the same as the desktop version, creating the web version was a new adventure. We take a lot of pride in the usability of our applications, so it was no small accomplishment to provide the same usability in a web application. It was exciting in its own way. Sometimes I sit back, look at it and smile.

However, it is not as exciting as adding really useful new features - new features that simplify and change the way people work. That's what makes us excited about Timeless 3.0. It is too early to talk specifics, so don't try to make me. I can tell you this release will be a mix of user requested enhancements and new features to further define the product in a crowded market. As usual, we have more usability enhancements for both the web and desktop to make both even easier to use.

It is early, but if you are interested in receiving beta information, sign up for the Pre-Release mailing list. We have only begun development of Timeless 3.0, so don't expect to receive anything any time soon.

I will just have to contain my excitement until then.