Here’s how Pigeon 0.1 looks.

Pigeon v0.1

Pigeon is currently in development and available only to our existing clients.

We are building a new product. We are calling it Pigeon and here’s an early mockup.

The product will be available exclusively to our current customers (only 100 on first-come basis) before official launch.

Ok, so I just sent out an email announcement about the latest release of Planning module – version 1.4. This update provides a lot of long pending (and eagerly awaited) features and fixes many issues. we strongly recommend all customers to upgrade. And if you haven’t bought Planning module yet, you should get it right away!

Enhancements:

• Print from Outline and Card views
• Full localization support. You can now even change names for Tickets, Milestones, Tasks etc in Outline / Card view
• Works with activeCollab Small Biz edition too
• Updated icons – added colors! Let us know how you like this!
  
• Tickets listing in AC can now show details with single click, assignees, due dates along with category icon, workflow status and a quick Edit link. Thanks to Frederik (Dwarf), mphillips, MarkOs, bean_nwfc and other contributors on activeCollab forum post
  
• Project selector now longer shows up at start up. Only when you click “Open”.
• Increased height of Project selector for readability with long list
• Alert boxes now show up near the top, making them easier to find
• Enhanced error checking during save and notification sending
• Created new project from template now advances Start dates too.
• Completed or Inactive projects too can be edited with Planning module now.
• Merged hacks and Planning module files for easier installation
• Other small fixes and performance improvements

Issues Fixed:

• Quick Update completes / reopens ticket correctly now
• Error on line 1066 in Planning class. Solved.
• Administrators did not get access to Planning module on fresh install.
• HTTPS gives error on IE7/8
• Very slow to load projects’ list
• Set mode to opaque, for pop ups to show correctly over Planning module
• Changing only Priority for tasks did not save
• Clearing a field deleted item in Outline view.

We plan to update our documentation and create some more tutorial videos for Planning module in near future. Will keep you posted!

And hey, we want to hear your feedback on this version. Please try it out and let us know your comments!

Thanks a ton!

We just released the 1.7 version of Reports module. This update continues on the breakthrough 1.6 version, makes it more stable and even easier to get insightful reports about projects, people and companies from your activeCollab setup.

We have significantly improved the localization support in this version. Translated strings now show at all places and are dynamically loaded from your activeCollab.

Now even send Reminders in Spanish from Reports module. We have full localization support.

Here’s what included in this release.

Feature Additions

• Improved localization support. Now all labels can be translated and work well
• Project name in summary boxes are now clickable and linked to Project Dashboard
• Added links to all “Recent Activities” and “Upcoming Items” in People reports
• Omitted projects under “Project Template Group” in projects list
• Moved Reports Module loading indicator higher for better visibility

Click here to learn more about Reports module and how it can benefit you.

Issues Fixed

• Next Milestone Date is now adjusted according to user’s timezone
• Fixed: HTTP Request Error – if Calendar module is not installed
• Fixed: If admin entered hours for other people, they were still reported under admin
• Made “wmode opaque” for Reports flash file. Will show Project List / Status / Quick Add windows above the Reports module now.
• Fixed: If person was not assigned any project, DB Query Errors were generated.
• Fixed: All items going in “Other” category
• Fixed: Estimates staying flat if there were no tasks on tickets
• Fixed: Date time field mismatch in DB Queries for end dates
• Fixed: Clicking a ticket from Person Card did not work

We recommend all current users to upgrade to the latest version. This upgrade can be done simply by replacing all files in their correct locations over FTP.

Click here to learn more about Reports module and how it can benefit you.

This blog / site has been quiet for about a month now. And you may be wondering why. Let me explain.

• I had a family emergency. My dad was hospitalized for a week. He is back home now and recovering. But I was disturbed and could not focus. I was scared about his health. I am now sorted. I am no longer in panic mode!
• We have a lot of things going on. We are working on (long due) upgrades to Planning and Reports modules. We are putting last touches to a membership / subscription management system. We have a lot in the plans, but execution went slow for a few weeks.
• One team is working heavily on Putler. We made some core improvements to the system and have chalked out product strategy or the next 6 months. This took longer, but is looking much stronger now!
• There is lot of activity in our services company too, and that kept me busy.

Here’s the status of our work:

• Planning module: Basic support for print and filtering on Outline, printing Cards view. Still need to fine tune the UI and design of the printed pages.
• Reports module: Improvements to localization system started. Couple of bug fixes in the code.
• acGarage: Going smooth. Most systems are automated. We are planning to add support for more modules soon.
• PlannerX: Happy with the new version roll out, sorted out a few bugs over the last month.
• Membership System: We will be moving to a new subscription management system. We have annual renewals and our current service provider – e-Junkie – does not support this. We love e-Junkie, but had to bring something new to suit our needs. We have almost completed this work, and will roll it out gradually.
• Putler: Putler currently shows trend reports based on your Paypal account balance. We have updated it to show sales trends. We also figured someone else copied our ideas and created their own product, but we know we have a much better product. We also fine tuned our product strategy and have some big plans for coming months.

Overall, things have picked up again and you will be hearing a lot from us over the next few weeks!

Onward!

(Image courtesy Hoeke 05)

The superb folks at A51 – makers of activeCollab web collaboration and project management software – reviewed our Reports module for activeCollab. An extension to activeCollab that lets you track key performance indicators of projects, people and companies. activeCollab team says:

Reports Module is one of the most successful activeCollab related products developed outside A51.

That’s right. Hundreds of customers use Reports module and they all find it invaluable. Here’s a comment we got a few hours ago:

I use both your Reports and Planning modules. LOVE them both.
– Monica

We eat our own dogfood. We use our products daily and listen to our customers. Frankly, we developed Reports module for our own use. When we couldn’t imagine living without it, we released it as a product.

Sometimes you download software and you just can’t believe how bad it is, or how hard it is to accomplish the very simple tasks that the software tries to accomplish. Chances are, it’s because the developers of the software don’t use it.
– Joel Spolski on Eating your own Dogfood

Thankfully, our software does not fall in this category.

The Story Behind Reports Module

It’s been over a year we launched the Reports module. We were using activeCollab for managing projects and needed a better reporting system. We wanted to track velocity of projects (rate at which they are completing), iteration charts (kind of work done each week) and insights into most active and longest open items. We also wanted to track what items needed attention and were risky / dependent on others.

We started generating these reports using SQL queries on activeCollab database. We created a few MySQL views, ran a set of queries and exported a CSV file at the end.

One day, I resolved to make this look prettier and put together a dashboard with charts and lists populated from these queries. I polished it over the next few days and put it up on our activeCollab setup. The reaction was “WOW!” We kept it going for a while, but Reports module was destined for something bigger.

Software Services vs Products Dilemma

If you are a software services company, you write a lot of code. You build tools that save you time. Most of these tools have great value, but only for you. At times, you dream of generalizing these tools and releasing them for greater good. But often they end up as internal side projects. Sometimes you release them, but can’t give them enough attention since you already have other paid projects waiting.

I’ve been through this experience two dozen times. In last 12 years at Magnet, I’ve initiated about 22 products. Most died. Some were released as open source. Some became popular. Some took life of their own. None gave us revenue we could sustain. Paid consulting projects kept running the company and product ideas remained only a wish.

I was not going to repeat that mistake this time.

If you do it, do it for good

When I decided to release Reports module to public, I was clear it had to be a long-term product, a paid product and something that I will pay enough attention to. No more side projects. I wanted something that will become a business in its own.

Reports Module Sales Trend

Over the last year, Reports module has evolved. Nine releases in a year, many bug fixes, enhancements and a major overhaul, Reports module has come a long way. We have also seen sales grow after our initial launch, slow down, and then pick up once again after the major 1.6 version launch. We have incorporated a lot of user feedback (we feel privileged to have participating customers!)

Today, Reports module gives us insights. It helps us track project progress, how the team is doing and even the overall system usage. There are enormous improvements in the “prettiness” too!

Reports Module in Feb 2009 (click for full view)

Reports Module in Feb 2010 (click for full view)

We have our wish list open though, and there are improvements we are planning for this year.

activeCollab team did a comprehensive review of the module – features, usefulness and its working. At the end, they said:

Reports module can be a very useful and handy tool, especially if you’re working with clients and great number of people. Everything is accessible easily, available at one place, and simple to set up.

Everything is accessible, available and simple! – that sums up our principles for developing software. We use them on all our software and are glad activeCollab team recognized them clearly. (I hope they finds Reports module useful for tracking their projects as well!)

I want to end this post with a summary of I think contributed to our little success with Reports module (and our other products).

Success Factors

• Unexplored, super niche market: Reports module was the first commercial module for activeCollab. First reporting tool of its kind. activeCollab has a small, but participating and forward thinking customer base. This really worked.
• Accessible, available, simple: Our focus is always on keeping only what’s important and making it easily accessible. Things that would take you hours to do, we want you to do them in minutes. We want everything simple and easy to understand. We spend more time thinking about simplifying our products, than in writing code! Everything from our products to demo videos is designed with our users in mind.
• Community participation: We made it simple to give feedback. We’ve had some great feedback from customers and we improve our products with that. Participating on activeCollab forums helped establish credibility as well.
• Long term vision, self-interest and passion: I founded Apps Magnet to be a sustainable long-term business that makes money by making people more productive. I am passionate about programming, productivity and making a difference. Apps Magnet is an expression of my passion. We make products that we want, we build them with passion, and are happy to find enough customers who share this passion.

Thank you for reading! I wish you a passionate and productive day today!

(dancing balls image from Flickr)

Guido Jansen of Realvine blogged about how they use activeCollab for managing their Magento development projects. The post is in Dutch. (English translation here – thanks to Google!)

Guido mentions that since activeCollab is web based, it is much easier to get all parties involved together. Communication is smoother and customers can participate in the development process.

They also use our Planning and Reports modules for activeCollab and said:

Reports we use internally for all projects and looking around to see how many hours the various components in a project cost and whether it matches the data in the planning module.

With this understanding we can better estimate for new projects, see where any bottlenecks, thus increasing our efficiency.

I am glad our products help increase efficiency and better track your projects Guido!

Thanks for sharing your story.

How are you using activeCollab / our products?

I was skeptical about money back guarantees when we started Apps Magnet a year back. Since we were selling installable software, it is easy for people to just buy one copy, ask for a refund, and continue using it.

It was difficult for me, when someone said they wanted a refund. It was difficult to hear that they were getting errors, while I wasn’t! It sunk my heart when someone said they did not find the product suitable / found it disappointing.

We do not advertise a money back assurance for any of our products. Although we provided refunds to anyone who asked for it. I did that reluctantly at the beginning.

Now I am very happy to provide refunds. I don’t know why! Probably it’s because we have received so much praise for our products, it’s easy to hear an occasional rant. Partly also because the % of people asking for refunds is very low. And it felt right to provide refunds – it was giving respect to customers.

I am happy to announce that a 30-day money back guarantee is now standard on all our products. We will update our site / promotional material to include this over the next few days.

We believe our products can provide radical productivity improvements. And we are backing it up with a money back guarantee!

Go ahead, buy one today.

And all our existing customers, thank you for your support and faith!

:Nirav

Use notifications and incoming mails to get people on-board activeCollab

activeCollab is awesome, but some people just won’t use it. Why not let them use email? In this acVarsity video, we demonstrate everything you need to know about the Incoming Mail module of activeCollab. You will be able to set seamless email communication – both outgoing and incoming – for your activeCollab projects after watching this video. Go ahead, get more people on-board with activeCollab!

Watch video: using email for teamwork with activeCollab

You may also want to watch other acVarsity videos

Planning & Reports modules upgraded (among others!)

We launched the much awaited upgrade to Reports module around Christmas. The new version adds people and company reports, allows taking action from within reports and is simply the best reporting tool for activeCollab today.

Today, we also launched an upgrade for Planning module. This upgrade fixes some annoying bugs (with notifications and duplicate entries) and has an Export to CSV feature. We have also included a few other fixes and enhancements.

acHacks: Latest Comments First
We also launched a useful acHack. This one lets you show comments in reverse chronological order for tickets, discussions, pages and files. You no longer have to sift through pages of comments.

BTW, we also updated Copy Pages and Discussions with project acHack!

Next Product: Paypal Monitor
We are now working on a new product for Paypal. If you are a Paypal business user, we believe you will find it useful. If you would like to know more about it, drop Nirav an email.

activeCollab Updates

activeCollab guys just published cool intro videos. They can be very useful in familiarizing your users with activeCollab. Check out the videos here. If you would like to see training videos we’ve made so far, click here to see them all.

On the forums, improving search is an interesting topic. If you have a few minutes, do read it and post your comments. That will help activeCollab improve search capabilities. We also posted notes on how we improved search results. You may also want to try that out.

Another useful topic is how to move activeCollab from one server to another. There are some nuances you got to know when you move, and this article will surely get you on the right track.

If you’ve been bugged by a bunch of email notifications coming your way when you save project plans with Planning module, we finally have a solution.
We are releasing Planning Module 1.3 today. This is a minor upgrade and bug fix release. Thanks to all users for their contributions and comments (especially bug reports!)

Enhancements:

• Export the plan as a CSV / XML file
• Permissions can now be managed using Planning section in AC Admin
• Enable Save only if plan was changed.
• Can now open Planning module for a completed / paused project too

Bug Fixes:

• Notifications being sent on item reassignments (NOTE: Required update to a core AC file in “resources” module.)
• Fixes to avoid duplication of project items.
• Checklists & Pages show correctly in Calendar view now
• Ensured Activity Logs are created correctly. (Needed for Reports module)
• Dragging multiple items plan showed error in some cases – fixed
• Changing priority of tasks did not save

As usual, you can download the latest version using the same download link that you received in the original purchase confirmation email.

Feedback, comments, praises and bug reports most welcome!