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Feature Request Post
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Proximo

Posted: Oct 01, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Could we have a post that list all the feature request currently in Toodledo's to-do list?

I think it would be a benefit to everyone if we could have a forum post (Sticky & Locked) that list all the current feature request, so that people won't keep asking over and over again for them.

Anders is constantly letting people know the request exist and in many cases links them to a post about it.

Toodledo is constantly letting people know the request exist because they are nice and care about us.

I would think that a post like this would be easiest for Toodledo to put together since they have the list on their end.

It should be a Sticky and Locked so that nobody can comment on it. This would allow Toodledo to at least list the things on the table.

No time frames, no order of priority. Just a simple list.

My hopes is that people would look there first before asking for something. This includes me.

Just a suggestion.
TheGriff_2

Posted: Oct 01, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Personally I think it'd be nice if the list you describe is put into a Toodledo format. Maybe a public Toodledo list that's read only for all but the devs.

Of course it would be nice to get it updated with projected due dates...but I know how devs are about that sort of thing.
Vin Thomas

Posted: Oct 01, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
That would be cool...
Proximo

Posted: Oct 01, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
The great thing about this forum is that everyone is so nice. No matter how many times someone suggest something that other already have, we simply let them know about it.

In other forums, you would get flamed for it.

Although we have a great professional community here, I think it would just be simpler to have a list for people to reference.

I feel sorry for Jake and Anders having to always comment on the same things over and over again.

It also adds more post to the forums of the same topic which eventually needs to be cleaned up.

So I hope everyone can see what I am suggesting here. It's really a benefit for both the users and the Toodledo Team.
Claudio

Posted: Oct 01, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by TheGriff:
Personally I think it'd be nice if the list you describe is put into a Toodledo format. Maybe a public Toodledo list that's read only for all but the devs.
Great idea!
Something like this: http://www.toodledo.com/views/public.php?id=td4886ef08a792d
DrLaban

Posted: Oct 02, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
@TheGriff: That was one very excellent suggestion, good idea.

@All: I agree that it would be a great idea to know what the Toodledo-team has to do and as I just pointed out, TheGriff's suggestion of format is the precise way I'd like to see it.
I'm not that sure that it would ease Anders' and Jake's burden of having to answer the same questions all over again, though. I'm by no means an expert in this field but I always get the general feeling that most (not all, though) people asking questions that have already been answered, still would ask those questions even if the answer kissed them in their face.
I think this is because they generally don't have a sense of where they should be able to find the answer, or that they don't know/bother about using the search feature.
If they had, they most likely would have found their answer.

I believe that this list would be used extensively among those who want to contribute and discuss improvements/drawbacks, those who want to be involved in the mechanics of Toodledo and the ones who like to know if their proposed feature has made it past the development stage.

I get a feeling that this is also about a level of surprise to the customer; By not showing the (probably huge ;)) requirements list and todo's, each release will bring in a level of surprise to the customer using it. You anxiously wait for the next release to see what's happened and hope that the one feature you requested just made it through.

As I said, these are just my opinions and I have no expert knowledge in this field, at least not yet. Feel free to discuss about it.
Proximo

Posted: Oct 02, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Griff has a great idea.

+1 from me.

@BinLabin

You have a good point, but If this list was created and was at the root of the forums in a different color to bring attention to it.

I think people would eventually realize it's there. It would also make the replies to the questions much simpler.

example: This suggestion has already been made. (Link to the suggestions section)

That's it.

No need to find the different post all over the place. Give you one location to link people too.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Oct 02, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Anyone is welcome to make an unofficial feature list if they want to, but we don't want to make an official feature list for a variety of reasons. I've explained this before, but I'll summarize here. Listing all our future feature improvements would limit our freedom and flexibility because we would feel pressured to work down the list instead of what we want to work on or what we think would be best for Toodledo even if it isn't on the list. Also, listing out all of our future features would tip off our competitors about what we have planned and we'd rather have some secrets. Also, our feature list has over 500 things on it right now, so it would be overwhelming to people.

The pessimist in me also doubts that having such a list would cut back on duplicate requests. I suspect that most people wouldn't take the time to search for before posting.
TheGriff_2

Posted: Oct 02, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Claudio:
Posted by TheGriff:
Personally I think it'd be nice if the list you describe is put into a Toodledo format. Maybe a public Toodledo list that's read only for all but the devs.
Great idea!
Something like this: http://www.toodledo.com/views/public.php?id=td4886ef08a792d


Wait wait...I can make a public todo list? Looks like I need to go research. :-D
Claudio

Posted: Oct 06, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Toodledo:
Listing all our future feature improvements would limit our freedom and flexibility because we would feel pressured to work down the list instead of what we want to work on or what we think would be best for Toodledo even if it isn't on the list.
Shouldn't you be feeling pressure to do those things that your paying customers are asking you to do? Otherwise, isn't Toodledo more of a hobby than a business? Also, if there are things that you think are best for Toodledo, shouldn't they be on your list?
Also, listing out all of our future features would tip off our competitors about what we have planned and we'd rather have some secrets.
Nobody is asking you reveal everything on your list. There must be some things that you are willing to reveal and that won't compromise the security of your intellectual property.
Also, our feature list has over 500 things on it right now, so it would be overwhelming to people.
Again, nobody is asking you to list everything. Out of those 500 things (you don't really have 500 unique requests, do you?), you know that some are more important or more likely. List those.
The pessimist in me also doubts that having such a list would cut back on duplicate requests. I suspect that most people wouldn't take the time to search for before posting.
In that case, why bother with Help topics? After all, most people don't take the time to search Help before posting, right? The point is that many users will refer to a list of feature requests, even if many others will not.

Seriously Jake, you have a good reputation for listening and responding to your users but, lately, it seems that you are unable or unwilling to take Toodledo in the direction that your customers are requesting. Perhaps you can clarify the overall direction that you see for Toodledo.

Thanks.
Anders

Posted: Oct 06, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
I don't know if I agree that Toodledo isn't moving in a direction toward what customers want. Recent updates have included subtask display improvements, enhanced keyboard shortcuts, rudimentary quick add for Folders/Contexts, and a number of other highly popular features.
Claudio

Posted: Oct 06, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Of course, you are entitled to disagree with me. :)

But, when it comes to listening to customers, it's better to look for areas of agreement.

Do you agree that there are some features that have been repeatedly requested (some for more than year) and that haven't been implemented, and there's no indication that they will be implemented? For example, offline access and task dependencies, and, of course, requests to improve the overall look and feel.


This message was edited Oct 06, 2009.
Anders

Posted: Oct 06, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
I understand where you're coming from. I haven't even been here a year. However, I believe Toodledo when they say something is planned for a future update, and I also realize that update may not be any time soon. I'm not trying to start an argument. I think you have some points, but personally I couldn't care less about offline access since Toodledo can be synced with just about every conceivable kind of app. Also, I know it isn't quite ideal for people without iPhones but Toodledo considers their app an offline access feature, and if they add CalDAV and/or SyncML, which I am sure they will, would you still want to see offline access? It would seem kind of ridiculously unnecessary at that point. Anyway, as I said, I see your where you are coming from, but I suspect there may be more disagreement among customers than you suspect as to what are the key features they want to see implemented.

This message was edited Oct 06, 2009.
Claudio

Posted: Oct 06, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Well Anders, I realize that you are a moderator and not a developer, and you do a great job at moderating. Seriously.

But, you are way off the mark on this.

It doesn't matter that you "couldn't care less about offline access", and it's troubling to me that you are dismissive of the request. "ridiculously unnecessary"???

If you take the time to think about the request you will realize that many people prefer using Toodledo on a computer rather than on a handheld device. And, anyone who travels with a laptop computer will not always have internet access. (I'm guessing that you rarely if ever travel for business.) The whole point of having a single repository for tasks is that it needs to be available and workable at any time. For some users, offline access is an important part of getting work done. But, since you couldn't care less, it's better to just ignore any requests for that feature, right?

Anyway, for someone who is "not trying to start an argument", you are doing a poor job of choosing your words.
Anders

Posted: Oct 06, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Note that I said "personally I couln't care less". I realize that not everyone will agree with me. My point was simply that you can already get offline access in a couple of ways (handheld devices, Outlook sync, Import/Export(yes, I wouldn't go that route either)), and when we have SyncML and/or CalDAV, everyone will be able to access their tasks from their desktops without need for the internet. It just wouldn't technically be "offline access to Toodledo", but instead offline access to your Toodledo tasks through some SyncML or CalDAV enabled desktop application. Perhaps this is simply an issue of semantics. I also never said anything about ignoring requests, etc. so I don't know where you got that from.
Claudio

Posted: Oct 06, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Anders:
I also never said anything about ignoring requests, etc. so I don't know where you got that from.
From this: "ridiculously unnecessary".

FWIW, this what Jake said recently:
The thing is that most of those common requests (offline support, task dependency, infinite subtask levels, etc) are big ticket items that take a lot of time. We continue to work on these and other common requests but we also like to take care of some quicker things so that things continually get better. And bug fixes are usually higher priority than new functionality. And to be honest, some requests we haven't figured out how to do yet.
There's nothing here about offline support being unnecessary. Jake doesn't have the time, resources and expertise to implement it.

Fine. I'll get back to work.
Anders

Posted: Oct 06, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
I hope you realize that what I say in no way represents what Toodledo thinks or plans to do. Toodledo cares no more about what I think or want than they do about the requests of you or any other paying customer. These are just my thoughts, and reading over my post again, I probably could have phrased that better. I was trying to make a point that, in my opinion, it would be a considerable use of resources for a feature that might not be as necessary as it once was (if we get one of those protocols), but perhaps I am assuming that people would happily use SyncML or CalDAV apps, and that may not be the case. I can see a number of advantages to having true offline Toodledo, and I am not trying to build a case against it. I suppose I should get back to work as well.

This message was edited Oct 06, 2009.
Proximo

Posted: Oct 06, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
@Anders and Claudio

Gentlemen,

Both of you seem like very sharp and intelligent people from my experience.

We all have hot buttons and nobody purposely pushes them in these forums. I can see Claudio's point by the way he quoted what Jake said and looking at it from a business perspective.

I don't think Claudio disagrees with Anders that Toodledo has done some nice fixes and added some functionality.

I think Claudio's point is very valid from a business perspective and it takes guts sometimes to call them as they are.

I am very patient with some of the things I would like to see change, but this does not mean I won't get eventually frustrated when I don't see them happening. Especially when there is enough evidence on the forums from many requesting the same things.

So if I simply step back and read Claudio's post from a business perspective. Claudio has made some great points, especially with the first quote.

Two things to remember.

1. Not all customers are willing to wait too long for the things they are requesting. Especially when there is no indication that it's happening.

2. Your competitors are also not waiting to lure customers to their app. So working on what people want to see is key to any business long term.
Vin Thomas

Posted: Oct 06, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Good conversation here. I agree with both sides of the coin on some level. I think CalDav would add a benefit, but it would also be nice to have an offline version of the app using Google Gears or something similar.

Not being an iphone user, I don't see a real promising app that works well on Windows Mobile. The best I have come up with is to twitter my tasks in or use Dial2Do. This works for getting tasks into the system, but doesn't do tons in the way of reading my list while offline.

I know Toodledo doesn't comment on timelines, but it would be nice to know that the features that have been requested by customers time and time again are being pursued (or not pursued) at some level.
Anders

Posted: Oct 06, 2009
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Vin Thomas:
Not being an iphone user, I don't see a real promising app that works well on Windows Mobile. The best I have come up with is to twitter my tasks in or use Dial2Do. This works for getting tasks into the system, but doesn't do tons in the way of reading my list while offline.

Hey Vin, did you see this?: http://www.toodledo.com/forums/1/3438/0/nuevasync-enables-task-syncing-to-windows-mobile-nokia-and-palm.html
No subtasks is a bummer, but Pocket Outlook doesn't support hierarchy. Also, WebIS has announced that Pocket Informant WM 9.1 will have Toodledo sync (The current version is 9.01). And with at least two people having posted in the forums that they are working on WM apps, the future looks bright for Toodledo on WM :)


This message was edited Oct 06, 2009.
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