Version 3 is here!

If you've been to our website in the last month you've seen the changes and the news. Version 3 of Timeless Time & Expense and Timeless Project Tracking are now available.

Version 3 was released quietly on July 16th. We decided to launch quietly for a couple reasons. 1) It is summer and we didn't want to be forgotten due to vacations and 2) we wanted to make sure our systems were working to efficiently process upgrades. An 'official' announcement email will be sent in early September.

But, don't let that stop you. If you'd like to try or buy it now you'll find information and downloads on our website. Free and discounted upgrades are available for license users of previous versions.

One last note about our new website. We'd like to mention Sarah at PulpPixel who designed the new site. Sarah was fabulous to work with and as you can see, does a great job. Our final design exceeded all our expectations.

A feature I never thought I would use

We often get requests for new features. They are sometimes features we personally do not really think are important, but we keep track of them over time and if there is enough demand we will add it to the product (as long as it fits with the direction we want the product to go). We recently added a feature to the Windows version that fits that description.

The request was for a periodic alert to remind users to verify what they were tracking with the timer. The thought was that often people forget to start the timer or to change the timer when they changed what they were working on. While I understood this would increase the accuracy of the time tracking, I just couldn't see myself ever using it. To be 'nagged' all day about what I was working on was just not I wanted from my time tracking tool. However, since enough of our customers did not feel the same way, it was added as an optional feature.

During this beta cycle I am using most features whether I want to or not. The timer alert, as it has come to be called, has really impressed me. It could have been added as just a message box to remind the user to check what they are doing. But that was not how it was implemented. I won't go into specific, but the implementation melds the alert with the recent and favorite lists, plus configuration options to create an unobtrusive feature I find very useful. Coupled with the user option to Display time entry when starting timer, this feature drastically reduces the interruption when starting a forgotten timer.

If you would like to see this or any of the other new features in version 3.0, sign up to participate in the beta program. Even though we are nearly release, we still appreciate involved beta testers.

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.

"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.