ForumsNewsToodledo Update: September 2018
Toodledo Update: September 2018
| Author | Message |
|---|---|
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aaron.c.salls |
Hi Toodledo community,
I’m Aaron, the newest member of the Toodledo team. I just joined Ramon, Anant, Sam this week to lead the team, and I just wanted to say how excited I am to be on board. Going forward, I get to share what the team is building for you all. Update cadence As you know, Sam had shared that it’s our intention to share our plans so you can follow along and give feedback as we go. I’ve spent my first two days on the team reading the comments in the threads, and it’s clear there’s a passionate community here. What you can expect from me is a large end-of-month update on what the team has shipped in the past month and what the team is focused on in the coming month. Any major change will get its own dedicated update as it launches, and we’ll summarize those launches as part of the monthly update for folks who like a more summarized view. So with that, here’s update #2. Future plans We’ve been executing on the plan we shared in Update #1: +Team: We are still looking for folks to join the Toodledo team and help power up the experience for us all. Take a look at our open roles and direct any candidates to me at [email protected] +Product: We have an IOS developer working on a large overhaul of the IOS app. As many folks have shared, the IOS app was in a bad state. We are accelerating this development to bring this experience up to parity and to keep up with Apple’s IOS update schedule. We’ll share more soon once we've scoped out all the work +Marketing update: We’ve launched the updated landing page (if you’re logged out) and made optimizations to the sign up flow. We’ve also been setting up marketing tools and begun running some paid campaigns +New blog: We will launch our new blog soon -- stay tuned on for a separate update when that launches to see how people use Toodledo to become more productive and effective +Feature requests: We’ve seen a ton of requests and suggestions come through in as responses to these updates. We’ve been tabulating these manually so far, and we’ll launch a new community voting mechanism in the near future for you all to help shape our roadmap in a more direct and transparent way (and see these requests turn into Product updates soon!) We’d love to hear your feedback. Several of the past threads have dozens of responses, and our team reviews it all. So please continue to share your opinions, either here in the forum or reach me directly at [email protected]. Best, Aaron |
|
byerun |
Welcome on board Aaron!
I think you're smart to use a voting mechanism given all the options available to move Toodledo forward. A big challenge I see is keeping the "don't change anything" camp happy along with those of use who'd like to have our favorite features added to Toodledo (even if it means breaking existing behavior). Starting out I would recommend extending Toodledo while keeping existing usage intact. Examples would be adding additional options to the Hotlist criteria settings, or additional options to the scheduling tool. These would be fairly low risk ways of getting up to speed with code base and delivery process. Having the results of the community voting could be very helping in guiding such additions. Good luck. |
|
J.O.D. |
Hi Aaron,
welcome and thanky you for an update. Actually, the silence has started comming on me (and some other users) again, so your vision for future updates in communication are more than just wanted, but also needed. We shall see how it goes from here:-), this uniques tool deserves the best, IMO. Happy teaming:-) |
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alexandremrj_2 |
Glad to finally have news. It is a bad sign when the new owners introduce themselves and then everything disappears.
As you can see, there are a lot of passionate, sometimes strange, people in the forums and although we are a out spoken minority, the publicity of a public forum can be good and bad for new customers. Hope to have a big update (and I really want the ios app - add me to the beta) |
|
gbradt |
Have others had trouble with the browser interface lately? I frequently get messages stating "that update was not successful". Today I'm not even getting that; if I try to delete a task, nothing happens. I haven't seen anything like this before with Toodledo, ever.
I should add that I am using the old Tasks interface; I just learned about the new interface (tasks.toodledo.com) in another thread. I'll try the new interface. This message was edited Sep 28, 2018. |
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shelbyp |
Just a quick comment on the Hotlist (As this topic comes up quite often). I would suggest to make it possible to optionally assign a Saved Search to be the HotList. This should be straightforward to develop and give the users a fully customizable hotlist. The saved search interface is intuitive and works well and is extremely flexible. It might take a bit of tweaking to get the correct search, but once it works, you have your hotlist.
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DSM |
Curiosity, could you talk about how big the Toodledo company is now? How many people is the Toodledo company and what are their jobs? I ask this in order to not overload you with requests that are beyond the company's capability at this time. Toodledo has potential, but it needs to follow a long term roadmap that the customers can see being made progress against. For instance, there are a number of tools that would really enhance Toodledo, but are probably beyond a small company's capability. However, many of these tools are out there in the Open Source world and might be something that you could link up with if you provide the right open source interfaces. It all depends on understanding the underlying makeup of the Toodledo product.
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andy_1339337623 |
I've had a premium 'Gold' Toodledo subscription licence for several years and keep on paying up every year, yet I rarely use the system. Why do I keep renewing my licence? Because I regard Toodledo as offering the best functionality of all the task-based productivity apps, and find it hard to let go.
But why don't I use it much? Because visually, it is such a grim experience. There are people around who urge Toodledo not to modernise the interface but to focus on features. I strongly disagree, and have voiced my opinions over a long period. The functionality is fine. By all means add features that the market demands but it's the interface that needs emergency surgery. It looks and feels like something out of the 1990s. It gives me no joy whatever. I'm sure you've done this already but do take a look at apps like 2Do, Things 3, Todoist, OmniFocus, and many more. I'm not talking about their functionality (I happen to think that Omnifocus in particular is way too complex for the needs of most users, and even 2Do manages to over-complicate simple task-based processes.) But that's not the point. I use these apps because they have modern designs that are a pleasure to use. And if they're nice to use, one does use them and becmes more organised and productive as a result. So I'd love to hear some reassuring noises on the interface design front. Good luck! |
|
Joe |
Well, I don't know if I am pleased with the first update. Changing the Due Date and Priority now responds much more slowly for me. Anyone else having this problem?
Perhaps if we could Control-Click and select multiple items at a time to change dates or priorities, that might help. But for now, I would like to ask that you undo whatever was done that is slowing the page down. UPDATE - Well, now I feel sheepish. I swear that for that past week+ I have had slow response as mentioned on two different computers, three different browsers. Today changing Due Dates and Priority seems to be responding like I remember on this computer. Am I crazy? This message was edited Oct 01, 2018. |
|
aaron.c.salls |
Posted by DSM:
Toodledo has potential, but it needs to follow a long term roadmap that the customers can see being made progress against. For instance, there are a number of tools that would really enhance Toodledo, but are probably beyond a small company's capability. However, many of these tools are out there in the Open Source world and might be something that you could link up with if you provide the right open source interfaces. It all depends on understanding the underlying makeup of the Toodledo product. Great points -- this was a reason we decided to create the community mechanism to request and vote for features. This will help us prioritize features, where open-source tools are a great option to deliver quicker. As an added benefit, you'll also get more visibility into the roadmap -- look for another topic on this in the next few days. |
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aaron.c.salls |
Posted by andy_1339337623:
I strongly disagree, and have voiced my opinions over a long period. The functionality is fine. By all means add features that the market demands but it's the interface that needs emergency surgery. It looks and feels like something out of the 1990s. It gives me no joy whatever. I'm sure you've done this already but do take a look at apps like 2Do, Things 3, Todoist, OmniFocus, and many more. I'm not talking about their functionality (I happen to think that Omnifocus in particular is way too complex for the needs of most users, and even 2Do manages to over-complicate simple task-based processes.) But that's not the point. I use these apps because they have modern designs that are a pleasure to use. And if they're nice to use, one does use them and becmes more organised and productive as a result. So I'd love to hear some reassuring noises on the interface design front. Good luck! Thanks Andy! Toodledo has long prioritized and delivered on function over form, and we think we can better balance these in the product going forward. It's only week two for me, but rest assured that it is on our radar and we are evaluating what we can do both in the near-term and over the long-term to upgrade the UX without compromising the functionality that so many of our users count on to be more productive. |
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armando_4 |
I'm fairly new user at toodledo so I I will provide my feedback as well, at the moment, the only thing to say is:
Welcome !!! |
|
byerun |
Posted by shelbyp:
I would suggest to make it possible to optionally assign a Saved Search to be the HotList. Can you elaborate some? I have my custom Hotlist based on a saved search and just name it _Hotlist (the underscore so it shows up 1st in my searches). You're saying allow this saved search show up when the Hotlist link is selected? In my case it wouldn't buy me anything because I have my saved search Hotlist as a link on my browser toolbar so it's just a click away. I'd prefer to have it the other way around so that a condition in a saved search can be whether the task is in the Hotlist. That way I could use all the search features to further filter the Hotlist. Or allow a saved search to be used in the Scheduler tool so that my Hotlist can quickly be filtered based on time available and context. |
|
J.O.D. |
I also am not using hotlist, but that is mainly because I spent all my time in saved searches anyway. But I can think of one hotlist feature that makes it stand out - you can be sent your hotlist every day by e-mail, not so for any other view. Not using it, just saying.
Posted by byerun: Posted by shelbyp:
I would suggest to make it possible to optionally assign a Saved Search to be the HotList. Can you elaborate some? I have my custom Hotlist based on a saved search and just name it _Hotlist (the underscore so it shows up 1st in my searches). You're saying allow this saved search show up when the Hotlist link is selected? In my case it wouldn't buy me anything because I have my saved search Hotlist as a link on my browser toolbar so it's just a click away. I'd prefer to have it the other way around so that a condition in a saved search can be whether the task is in the Hotlist. That way I could use all the search features to further filter the Hotlist. Or allow a saved search to be used in the Scheduler tool so that my Hotlist can quickly be filtered based on time available and context. |
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mariasmiles |
Another ‘happy to see an update’ / long-time paid subscriber here. Years ago, I switched to Pocket Informant / Informant 5 as my daily driver ToodleDo data delivery system. They have the **saved searches/filters** feature I use as my very custom **hotlist**, as well as **multiple selection** so i can update priority/folder/due/etc on several tasks at once. They also have a nice parent/child integration and other important features. They maintain updates with iOS, etc. and I like the option of seeing my calendar integrated w/my tasks (or not, if I don’t).
Their orig app had an awesome time-picker, too. They changed it in 5 and have been moving back. It’s a direct 10-digit pad vs the awful typical time scroller. Lots of flexibility and customization in colors and features. Also a subscription model. Regardless, might be a good app to reference for ToodleDo design/functionality updates. Especially since it already integrates with ToodleDo. While pleasing design is always a good thing, I’m ok with the focus being more on efficient function. Make the background color customizable and then folks can choose one that makes them happy when they work. :) I like the voting system and the usability blog posts, too. I think it’s neat to see others’ suggestions and learn how they use this awesome tool. |
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Alan Cox |
HI,
Suggestion. I really like the use of subtasks, but in my business, I would really benefit having subtasks within subtasks. Can this be done? Thanks |
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aaron.c.salls |
Posted by Alan Cox:
HI, Suggestion. I really like the use of subtasks, but in my business, I would really benefit having subtasks within subtasks. Can this be done? Thanks Hi Alan -- thanks for the suggestion. We've heard this from several folks before, and I don't have context on the reasons why it wasn't possible / prioritized in the past. Going forward, we'll be using http://roadmap.toodledo.com/feature-requeststo collect suggestions and allowing for user input to shape our roadmap. We're still shaping this up, but I've added this suggestion to the board for others to vote on requests. This message was edited Oct 03, 2018. |
|
jimk222 |
Posted by andy_1339337623:
I've had a premium 'Gold' Toodledo subscription licence for several years and keep on paying up every year, yet I rarely use the system. Why do I keep renewing my licence? Because I regard Toodledo as offering the best functionality of all the task-based productivity apps, and find it hard to let go. But why don't I use it much? Because visually, it is such a grim experience. There are people around who urge Toodledo not to modernise the interface but to focus on features. I strongly disagree, and have voiced my opinions over a long period. The functionality is fine. By all means add features that the market demands but it's the interface that needs emergency surgery. It looks and feels like something out of the 1990s. It gives me no joy whatever. I'm sure you've done this already but do take a look at apps like 2Do, Things 3, Todoist, OmniFocus, and many more. I'm not talking about their functionality (I happen to think that Omnifocus in particular is way too complex for the needs of most users, and even 2Do manages to over-complicate simple task-based processes.) But that's not the point. I use these apps because they have modern designs that are a pleasure to use. And if they're nice to use, one does use them and becmes more organised and productive as a result. So I'd love to hear some reassuring noises on the interface design front. Good luck! The functionality has some refinements that could take it to the next level. The user experience is going to help get more new users into the app and help keep the existing users much more engaged with the app. Both will boost revenues. |
|
shelbyp |
Posted by J.O.D.:
I also am not using hotlist, but that is mainly because I spent all my time in saved searches anyway. But I can think of one hotlist feature that makes it stand out - you can be sent your hotlist every day by e-mail, not so for any other view. Not using it, just saying. Posted by byerun: Posted by shelbyp: I would suggest to make it possible to optionally assign a Saved Search to be the HotList. Can you elaborate some? I have my custom Hotlist based on a saved search and just name it _Hotlist (the underscore so it shows up 1st in my searches). You're saying allow this saved search show up when the Hotlist link is selected? In my case it wouldn't buy me anything because I have my saved search Hotlist as a link on my browser toolbar so it's just a click away. I'd prefer to have it the other way around so that a condition in a saved search can be whether the task is in the Hotlist. That way I could use all the search features to further filter the Hotlist. Or allow a saved search to be used in the Scheduler tool so that my Hotlist can quickly be filtered based on time available and context. I didn't think of linking directly to my hotlist. that being said I do see an advantage of what I am suggesting. The reason is that on mobile devices I don't use the bookmarks that much. I always keep my andoid chrome webpage (mobile website) open to toodledo. In this standard situation for me being able to use the Hotlist default link from TD would be very helpful. Your idea of refining the Hotlist within a saved search is interesting, but I think this only helps creating the saved search. By "only" I mean there is little reusable benefit since we typically create the saved search once and use it forever. For people with many saved searches, indeed creating a saved search based on another one might be helpful. |
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Ummagumma |
To add, there's two main advantages to using Hotlist over Saved Search:
1) It's easier to get to as it has it's own button. Far less tapping in the mobile app. 2) It can be used in the iOS Widget, saved search can't. |
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