ProductiveFirefox

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it transpires the ‘beta by Wednesday’ promise was a little optimistic. It’s been a long hard slog so far; and I’m still not 100% sure what’s to show for it

While the wait goes on I’d love to point the spotlight on some functionality I’m really thrilled about - stuff to help improve stress free team-work.

Delegation
You can now delegate to others, and it’ll automatically be marked as “Waiting-On”. You can then review tasks you’re waiting for others to complete; generally, by project or by person.

Efficient Sharing of Project Names
You can now pre-label a message before you send it to another person (so long as they use GTDInbox). So, I can assign a project/status to a task and send it to a colleague, and they will receive with the correct project/status already applied. (And if they don’t have the labels, they’ll be given the chance to quickly add them - helping to sync terminology between people).

To temper expectation, I imagine the first release will be a bit rough & ready. There might be some usability pitfalls and a bit of scaffolding still showing; but the foundations are there for some great improvements!

So, the last question is, when?

There are still 2 or 3 bits of real complexity to overcome; and then it’s on to the (slightly) easier job of adding in the front-end UI.

I hope there will be something by the end of this week (15/11); but I have to go to London Thursday & Friday - which makes it a rather short week!
Fingers crossed

Time for a little status update on GTDInbox v2.

For a quick recap, GTDInbox v2 was always going to be a complete re-write to resolve the fundamental problems v1 has (speed/ui-glitches), and it was going to be relatively straight forward (!). For I had done my research on the inner-workings of Gmail 1.0…

And then Gmail 2.0 arrived :/
The surface changes may seem rather small; but behind the scenes it is a complete rewrite. I think it’s best summed up by a kindly response I got from Gmail engineer, who, when asked for some insight into the technical details of Gmail 2.0 said something to the effect of, “Andy, not even we’d like to contemplate having to tackle Gmail’s new codebase from the outside… it’s far more complex than it ever was”.

Happily I can report that after an extremely long week, it’s starting to make some progress. The improvements to Gmail mean we can do some much-requested features (like pre-labelling emails/actions when you compose them); the UI is less ‘jumpy’ and everything is very noticeably faster (ironically to be the point of being unnoticeable).

As forewarning, the very first release (GTDInbox 2.0) may have some features cut; but if there is enough demand they will come back. I’m conscious that if features can be dropped, and GTDInbox simplified, it will be better for new users & it will help make GTDInbox more maintainable. Things currently dropped are: Custom-Search and Hipster Print; and Custom-Search is probably gone for good (other extensions do this better).
I’ve also taken some liberties with the Options, essentially creating less choice (and thus less confusion). So, now a ‘Finished’ item will be automatically archived, a starred-items can no longer be used to denote Next Actions. Another advantage to reduced choice is I can focus on making the ’standard’ way of doing things much more efficient - in usability terms - so your regular GTD processes are more intuitive.

I’m not sure when the first test version will roll; but something will probably go out to existing testers/donators early next week; and then a public beta shortly after.

I quite often will check Technorati to see what is being said about GTDInbox & MeeTimer - it’s a great way of getting a sense of public opinion - and just lately I’ve noticed a few posts from Amy Gahran.

Amy, if you read this - thank you! You have been an exceptional champion of GTDInbox, and it’s nice to know that users are recommending it, and even better to know it makes a positive difference in someone’s life.

Her most recent post will be useful for anyone who uses GTDInbox, so if you get the chance, do check out out How I Tweaked GTDInbox to Suit My Style 

Chad Mounteny, someone who has been using GTDInbox for a long time, wrote a great tip on setting up Gmail & Firefox so you can an ‘email’ account and a ‘task’ account.

So, over to Chad…

As mention in your FAQ,  when you’re using a separate email for your GTD tasks you’ll run into problem of having to log in and out of gmail accounts, slowing down your workflow. You suggest using ‘Portable Firefox’, which is a great idea, but I found that you can’t still have another instance of firefox running while you’re running your customized GTD instance. I thought about it a little bit and pieced together a way of doing that works a measure cleaner than the ‘Portable Firefox’ solution.

When you need to add a task, just run the GTD profile shortcut and you can quickly have your inbox at hand without having to close any other firefoxes you have running.

Okay, in light of the death of our old blog, I’ve had to create a new post for our GTDInbox appeal.

For all welcome newcomers, a quick recap…
The Fundraiser came about because I wanted to find a way to keep GTDInbox going; and raising some cash was the best way of doing it. So far the cash raised has spawned MeeTimer, the fancy new webdesign you see here, and of course, set the ball rolling for not just GTDInbox 1.4, but a brand new v2.

The target was set at $5000, and we were careful to stipulate that you should donate not on some promise of future improvements, but because you love what it’s already doing.

So how is it doing?

The donations received were fantastic; but we never actually reached $5000 (I don’t have the precise figure, but I think we got close, around $4000-$4500); and in the last few weeks - since the redesign actually - they’ve all but dried up.

It would be truly great to get back on track and have the community reach its target!

But hang on, you’ve already said you’re doing GTDInbox v2, didn’t you?

I did, and I am! But these extensions are still only a sideline - and so they suffer priority wise. Hitting the target is a great way to justify a bit more focus. I.e. get it out sooner!

Surely GTDInbox can make better money than donations?

I’m sure it could too; but that’s not really the aim right now. And, donations are a great way to make things happen as a community - something where everyone can be part of making it real. Maybe in the future an actual revenue model will be found to maintain GTDInbox as a ‘proper’ product; but for now lets enjoy the spirit of something a little rough, ready and loved for what it is.

Now what?

Hop over to the Donate page, and once you’re there, click the Paypal icon to quickly donate.

Of course only do this if you really do like GTDInbox. That’s really the heart of it! GTDInbox just wants a chance to make you more productive, to save you time, to make you smile

It seems Mozilla has changed their policies, and now require user reviews of the new version of MeeTimer (0.21) before they’ll make it public. So, it’s going to take a bit of community effort to help get MeeTimer to a larger audience, if you’ll be so kind…

(more…)

For those who read the blog, if you’d like a sneakpeak at MeeTimer 0.2 0.21 (while we wait for Mozilla to approve it), you can download it from the MeeTimer Manual Install page, http://getmeetimer.com/manualinstall.htm

If you have any troubles at all, please leave a comment here or email me (andy@productivefirefox.com) .

* Update
Bernard Vander Beken really tried to bust MeeTimer wide open - and he succeeded He did a great job of finding some issues which we’ve now fixed, hence the jump to 0.21. I’m just pleased he was able to do so before it hit Mozilla, so thanks Bernard!

MeeTimer 0.2 is a few days from launch, having been tested for the last week.

For the completely uninitiated, the first MeeTimer precisely logged your Web usage, breaking it into ‘activities’ for more meaningful stats; to give you the knowledge to become proactive in reducing it.

Well, the new version still does this (and with very few of your precious computing resources), but with improved stats.
It now focuses on the working week. Or rather, what % of it you’ve wasted on non-work activities. Why is this useful? Because it directly correlates to the amount of time you need not have been at work… something very close to all our hearts! (And to freelancers/independants, how much more you could squeeze from your working week).

But, the biggest feedback from the first release was simply ‘i cannot help myself, even though I know its wrong’. We needed more timely deterrents; things that actually make you stop and think.
I found a common online habit was the ‘compulsive click’ - just clicking an attractive link without stopping to think of the consequences. Well, MeeTimer will now put up two barriers; one to stop you clicking the link, and one to stop you loading the page; to shock you with a quick stat and give you the opportunity to consciously think “I do not want to load this site.”

Obviously, all this is configurable - so some activities you get warned on, some you do not. MeeTimer will not annoy you.

And, for all those wondering why it doesn’t just forcibly prevent you loading a site. Well, there are plenty of these products on the market - I didn’t want to make another. What I did want was a tool that suited me. Every day, there will be a website I need to visit that isn’t “approved”; so I would have to stop the blocking tool long enough to use the site, then put it up again - not an efficient use of time. MeeTimer does not attempt to block you, rather it goes with your (work) flow and simply guides you on a path to better Web use.

Resources

• Screenshots
• How to Reduce Online Procrastination with MeeTimer