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Future Plans
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Purveyor

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 2 Reference
Posted by DanH_2:
Is there a particular reason for not including your last names and the names of the companies you have started in the past? I'm inclined to be optimistic, but these omissions seem strange to me.
I agree.

Also, the name of this topic is "Future Plans" (in contrast to "Past" or "Present" plans??) and Jake says "We are about to transition ownership". That's a weird way of saying that Toodledo has been purchased.

There should be an official announcement that follows the standard format. Something like Acquisition announcement or Business Merger & Acquisition Press Release Template.


This message was edited Jul 09, 2018.
stephen_1299640558

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 1 Reference
Hello Ramon, Sam and Anant,

Congratulations on your Toodledo acquisition.

Potential changes - I do not have any suggested changes as the product is already working seamlessly for our company's requirements. Our productivity depends on Toodledo operating with the current features and performance.

Questions and concerns
It would be nice to know a little more about you.

Who are you? Update 7/9/18. Found the answer. Thanks for the links to LinkedIn!

What is your mission and scope for the Toodledo project?
The comment of "let's ask the users before we make big changes" sounds good but may indicate you have not done your homework before acquiring Toodledo. Not sure if you have a plan or not.

Will you describe your past projects? Update 7/9/18. Found the answer. Thanks for the links to LinkedIn!
The comment was that you have had several successful Internet company projects. I have had several successful clients, projects, etc. My competitors have also claimed that. Sometimes, I have fixed what my competitors claim they had success on. Not being skeptical, but would like to know your performance. Why? Our company and other users depend on your product. If all we have to work on is summary level statements, prudent planning requires me to research other solutions to our needs just in case. I think if we Toodledo users know more about your plans, there may be less skepticism and worry.

Where will you be hosting the data?
Are you moving the data to another location?
Has that NOC been identified?
Can we see the SOC-2 documentation for that NOC?

I am hopeful you will do a great job. I, as well as other users, have to make sure our businesses operate successfully. Based on the knowledge I have on this transition, I am researching other solutions. I am hoping to stay with Toodledo but need to be prepared.

Stephen Hopkins, IEEE Senior Member
IEEE NWF Section Secretary
Lead Cybersecurity Engineer
BS Electrical Engineering
MS Systems and Control Engineering

Computer Help
"Complete Engineering Solutions"


This message was edited Jul 09, 2018.
stephen_1299640558

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
"the current Toodledo Privacy Policy for at least 30 days and then a new privacy policy that is at least as protective as the current one may be put into place. You will be notified if the Privacy Policy changes."

???may???

Privacy is a key Cybersecurity Concern.

Are you implying that you think the current policy is too protective or that you like the current policy and will not be changing it?


This message was edited Jul 09, 2018.
gsselectric

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 1 Reference
Jake, thank you for your dedication to excellence. Your app is very helpful in my electrical business. I use it to sort calls, priorities, differing tasks, follow up with customers. My only complaint is with the Google calendar. I have to do double work, posting a new job in Toodledo, and G Calendar. Toodeldo gives me the feature of sorting and listing the jobs, and G Calendar is where I put in the actual event with a date and details. I know you sync w G Calendar, but the problem is- it's very slow to sync, sometimes 24 hrs, and it is all or nothing. I don't want all my 300 some tasks displayed in the calendar when I just want to schedule 2 jobs. Also when they are displayed in G Calendar, you can't edit the tasks.
Please keep me current with changes.
ianekin

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
Yes, I add myself to the "please, don't screw it up" league. I chose Toodledo because it meets my needs, I hope you don't turn it into a fancy "evernote two". We use Toodledo because we want to see on our screen a clear list of task to do. So any improvements on using a list will be welcome (to make it even easier and faster to change task date from the list view itself just clicking on the date without would be nice, for instance!).

That said, I want to greet the new team, and give my thanks for this great app to the Toodledo initial creator. Wish you the best in this new period of your life!


This message was edited Jul 09, 2018.
justomedranogarcia

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
It is a great tool for a project manager as me, thanks
chrisv5656

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
Hey Guys,

Welcome, and I wish you lots of luck.
I have been a Gold Toodledo user for many years until about a year ago when I moved to another program for various reasons. I hope you can improve Toodledo and make it even more competitive with the other productivity programs available because there were many things I loved about the tool and I would love to return once it is improved.

Jake,

Thank you so much for all the work you have done. It is amazing that one person has taken this tool so far and done such a great job! Thank you!

Chris
dcook

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 1 Reference
Welcome aboard and thank you for the transparency. As others have said, Toodledo is not broken, please don't fix it until it is. I've been in IT for 25 years and have seen so many apps literally ripped part to the point of uslessness or completely destroyed by new ownership. That said. I'd like to see a way to improve bulk rescheduling of overdue tasks especially on the Android app.

Dave
Wil Freve

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 2 Reference
In general, please take change sin baby steps. Suggestions:

1. Calendar functionality would be huge.
2. Better integration into MS Outlook would be helpful.
3. More customization of the user interface (colors, bolding / highlighting text)
4. Better print options / ability to save to a well-formatted PDF.
prowe332

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
Just like all the others I have been most pleased with this tool. Don't even want to think about switching. So yep to the new guys lets keep up the great track record of this product. The only suggestion I would have is maybe make the mobile app a little more user friendly. Just have not gotten into the flow of using the app. Anyway, good luck.
martingchapman

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 1 Reference
Posted by GSP1963:
@ Sam: Looking at my initial posts here, and a few of the others, I think we've been less than polite and for my part, I apologize. Please understand that there's going to be more trepidation than usual with your purchase of Toodledo simply because there isn't another todo application out there like it and if it's "mainstreamed" into a prettier, more typical todo manager, many of us will have a hard time replacing it. Thus the pushback.

To keep things productive and positive, I'll list the key strengths of Toodledo, as I see them, as well as possible areas for improvement. I've been using Toodledo for over a decade (my current subscription status doesn't reflect this, though, because I let my membership lapse a couple years ago; I tried another app, and came back to Toodledo because I found I wasn't being as productive with the competition).

KEY STRENGTHS
1. The large number of data fields available and the ability to choose which fields you want to use.
This is huge. The way I work next year may be different from this year (Heraclitus said it best: "The only thing that is constant is change"). I have changed my Toodledo setup numerous times over the years due to changing responsibilities both personally and professionally. Changing and adapting my task management techniques has made me more capable and more efficient and led to a lot of growth. I could not have done it without Toodledo's flexibility.

2. The ability to reorder the display of fields.
Giving the user this power is another major strength of Toodledo. I can get the app to function just the way I want. It's surprising how few todo apps give the user this ability (perhaps 10%? If that?).

3. The ability to construct custom searches.
This is one of Toodledo's greatest strengths: Users can build searches to extract just exactly what they're looking for and keep those searches on hand, ready to run at the click of the mouse. It essentially allows users the ability to approach Toodledo like it's a Tinkertoy, and build the application they want, pulling the data they see fit and displaying it just the way they want. Every different configuration of Toodledo that I've used over the past decade has been built around using a large number of custom searches, typically at least a dozen. My current configuration uses 17. There is no other software on the market that lets me do what I do with Toodledo's custom searches. Using the searches, I've set up Toodledo as a strict Getting-Things-Done app; as a Franklin-Quest app (A1, A2, A3); as an Eisenhower Matrix app (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4); as a tool geared to providing hardcopy project reports for management; and several other hybrids of the above.

4. Excellent hardcopy reports.
Sometimes you just have to go into a meeting with hardcopy handouts of information and in that regard, Toodledo shines. I recently was comparing task manager apps, and it was surprising how few are able to provide decent hardcopy reports. I really value Toodledo's ability to generate clear, well-formatted reports with ease. It's part of what makes the app a serious business tool.

These four key strengths listed above should be regarded as sacrosanct; nothing should be done to Toodledo that weakens or eliminates these features.

POSSIBLE AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
1. Additional fields could be made available to the users for optional use.
I can't imagine any users would complain if additional fields were made available. Toodledo already has most of the bases covered, I think, but I'm sure there could be a few more added, such as a field for Effort (High, Medium, Low). Some people like to start the day with high-effort tasks and then use the late-afternoon hours, when they're feeling brain-dead, for low-effort tasks.

2. Better tools for building custom searches.
Toodledo's custom searches are great, but they could probably be made even better. More flexibility in building the searches (such as the ability to combine AND with OR rules or the ability to combine searches) would be great. Any kind of UI enhancements that would help first-time users figure out how to build custom searches would be great, too.

3. More optional uses of color in the UI.
It would be nice if users had the ability to choose colors to reflect some attributes, such as Folder, Context, Status, or Priority. Key to making this an enhancement and not an annoyance would be customizability: Users should be able to determine not only the color scheme (not just the colors, but also whether the colors are applied to the text or the background, or both) and the associated field, but also have the option of not using the colors at all.

4. Possible elimination of some of the existing extras that are not task-related.
Others may disagree with me on this, but I think the Swiss Army knife approach that was adopted for Toodledo a few years back wasn't the best approach. ("Not only are we a task manager--we're also a habit tracker! And a goal manager! And an outliner! And a notebook!") I think the multiple functions water down the key Toodledo task manager mission. Obviously, the community would have to be polled and interviewed about this because taking existing functionality away from users is always a tricky thing.

Why am I willing to even suggest that some of these functions be discontinued right after declaring other functions sacrosanct? The distinction is this: The sacrosanct features are not offered elsewhere; they are unique, or virtually unique, to Toodledo. The features I'm suggesting could be eliminated, on the other hand, are better handled by other existing apps out there.

5. Overhaul of the iOS app.
The existing iOS app has such an outdated feel to it that it's turning potential users off before they even have a chance to understand Toodledo's strengths.

That's all I can think of at the moment, Sam. You can be sure that many of us are wishing you nothing but success in your endeavor to take Toodledo to the next level. Good luck!


I agree fully with all the above points, apart from removing the "non task related extras". I only use Tasks but from the forums it is clear other people find these extras useful so just leave them in place, but don't waste time on future development of them.
If you don't want to use them then don't.

Also I would add
The existing Android App is a complete waste of bits and bytes, cut your losses and either purchase Ultimate To-Do List, or allow them to fully integrate their App with Toodledo, specifically open up access to saved searches in the API as imho this is the only feature missing from UTDL.

Finally a big THANK-YOU to Jake.
I have been a Toodledo user almost from the start, paid since 2011 (on and off) and despite trying other task managers when frustration with Jakes' development decisions got the better of me (why did he bother with LIsts, Outlines and Habits when so many existing features needed fixing/finishing), I always came back to Toodledo and in its present incarnation, along with UTDL, it is the perfect task management solution for me.


This message was edited Jul 10, 2018.
Jim_Lewis

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
+1 on the Ultimate To-Do List. It's one of my favorite apps of all time.

Just wish there was a way (other than Blue Stacks, etc.) to run it on a Windows PC!
aleding

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by ishayahu:
Also many features requests are in support tickets. At least by me.
And it would be cool to have a roadmap of that featuers


Exactly - if the new folks really want to know what users want, then the best place to start is the feature request and trouble ticket system. How much they rely on that existing data set will speak volumes in terms of the new owners' goals and intentions...
aleding

Posted: Jul 09, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by stateoftheart:

It's official: toodledo as we know and love is dead in less than a year.


Well, after reading the LinkedIn bios, watching the interview, and digesting many of these comments, I think we will see ToodleDo move much more into an enterprise focussed direction. This may or may not be good for the more individual user but key will be how well the new folks understand the delta between those two usergroups and want to try and preserve what matters to the little guy.

But if $$$ really is king to the new team, then enterprise will without a doubt be the #1 priority...

For your reference:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramon-van-meer-a19a01144/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/parrsam/
Ramon interview on cheddar.com
SoapHub - one of Ramon's media sites


This message was edited Jul 10, 2018.
Ummagumma

Posted: Jul 10, 2018
Score: 2 Reference
This is honestly not good news, but hardly surprising. I have seen it happen time and time again.

A product is sold, the new owners are trying to transform it into a commercial enterprise tool targeted to companies rather than individual users, only to find out that the commercial field is over saturated. In the meantime, the individual users are left in the dust.

That said, I sincerely wish you luck, I've seen this coming.

Long time (over a decade ?) Toodledo user, still with an active Silver subscription but not using the service anymore.

Toodledo's strength is it's flexibility and the fact that it has powertul tools for tracking and filtering of tasks. Toodledo's weakness is the barely usable miobile app, the fact that a new user is immediately presented with a complicated and visually outdated web app design with full features set that overwhelms them; and the lack of sync options to desktop.

My current task manager of choice is 2Do that has all the strengths of Toodledo but improves on practically every weakness. I will however keep an eye on the future developments.
Olivir2018

Posted: Jul 10, 2018
Score: 1 Reference
I am probably strangely deviated, because now and then I am migrating from Toodledo to completely different apps like Trello or Meistertask, but somehow I keep comming back. Saved searches are the sole reason for that. I just wish you new people keep the monthly fee option, because yearly subscription is a deal breaker for me.

But the most strange thing is, that my recent push to go back to Toodledo was exactly this change in ownership - probably because the lack of almost any developement kept me disturbed. And I just want to watch the changes upclose - I can always leave anytime I want.


This message was edited Jul 10, 2018.
Franconius

Posted: Jul 10, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by aleding:


Well, after reading the LinkedIn bios, watching the interview,


How did you find that? Would you share a link to these sources?
Mario-2012

Posted: Jul 10, 2018
Score: 1 Reference
Toodle has made my life a lot easier - big thanks to Jake!

To the new owners, I can only repeat what others wrote: It's not broken, so please don't fix it!
And please don't go the way others were following in the past: Don't squeeze out private users in favor of
enterprise users (e.g. Secunia PSI, Crashplan Backup). Still willing to continue to pay my silver subscriptions,
but no enterprise fees.

I only need tasks
I need to share tasks with my family (cloud, collaboration, silver subscription for everyone in the family)
I need recurring tasks with their flexible definitions
I need a cloud service with a price suitable for private use
I like to access the service via an API as well
Although I check the tasks on my Android Smartphone, I'm still a desktop GUI and like to enter new tasks via WebBrowser

I currently don't need habits, oultines, notes, lists.
mjbernstein

Posted: Jul 10, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
I wanted to touch back in. Some free-writing stream of ideas.

Legacy service has a problem--gotta maintain two system--takes time from positive change. Do you legacy every upgrade? I know that it is desired but too much effort on the old. And you gotta evolve. One thing I am certain of---if Toodledo rests on its laurels and is inert it will be outmoded by others and then as I like to joke Toodledo will be Toodledone. With that said--changes should be measured--no wholesale changes. No one wants to wake up to an important tool and find it unrecognizable. Additionally care should be taken such that changes are additions without loss of options that others have used.

Updates should be sure to include assured stability and when there is an update--should it not work--care must be taken such that revert to old if update fails.

I would love to have some flexibility in naming things. For instance I use Context as a time frame--Time A...B...C so that I can alphabetize and then desired sort by time of day. Also nice to be able to sort by location (this is already an option).

I would like to see an upgrade to status or addition of a -- percent complete. And then revert to 0 (when marked complete) especially if it is a repeating task. As such I use the Star as in progress as that is the only tool that allows this reversion when complete.

As I have written previously--I pay Platinum--not because I need it but because I believe it to be fair for what I use. The free service should be a trial or very limited--perhaps some level of free or discounts can be limited to certain groups--students, military out of respect, first-responders, clergy....just an idea. Also offering such discounts to the aforementioned groups may be a clever loss leader for a forward thinking business model.

Toodledo is a complex task manager. As such there is a lot of flexibility such that you can use it to build your own system. That said there is a time investment in making it right for you--and while the flexibility is a pro--the complexity for some who want a simple task list is a con. As such maybe a few very simple task field templates for those who just want to get started.

Thanks again

Marc
Olivir2018

Posted: Jul 10, 2018
Score: 0 Reference
I am sorry to post again in such a short time, but I forgot my suggestion: I would very much like to see not only sorting, but also filters (the eye icon) to be saved on a per-view basis. I have several different saved searches and I am using several contexts - some searches are quite complex and the need to include context conditions in them makes them grow exponentially. It would be much simpler to just filter my contexts via the eye-icon filters, but as these are global and not per-view, I cannot do that - it is non-productive to reselect the filter everytime I change the saved search view.

This message was edited Jul 10, 2018.
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