As I write this, I am puzzled about what I should drop from my 2nd anniversary blog post. I’ve got a ton of things I can share, but need to shortlist most important bits that will be useful to you.

I thought you may be interested in following:

• Running projects better
• Getting your team to use activeCollab
• Being more productive
• Starting your own business
• Developing and selling your own products

I thought I could do a summary of my insights in all those five areas. What do you say?

And while that’s going on, we are also frenzied about Communications module and an update to acGarage. I got an idea that will add immense value to your activeCollab system and we are pushing it into Communications module.

Want to share your feedback? Post your comments below.

This 12th February will mark Apps Magnet’s second anniversary. While our first year was much better than my expectation, the second had its ups and downs.

We did very well financially – almost three times of last year. We doubled our product offerings and almost doubled our daily customer acquisition numbers. Most importantly, we continued to win hearts of more and more customers.

On the other hand, our time lines were screwed up. We could not launch new products / updates we had planned. Things like updating our website, setting up a live demo for all of our products etc are still open.

But it’s been supremely rewarding. We’ve created a market that did not exist. We’ve pushed activeCollab forward. We’ve helped thousands of people manage their projects better. We’ve saved millions of dollars for people. We’ve made a difference.

And there are lessons I keep close to my heart. Practices that have given us this success and love from customers. Techniques that I’ve never shared before.

On this anniversary, I am going to share them with you. Practical ideas that you can apply in your business, in your projects, with your team to create unprecedented success.

Interested?

The verdict is in. Our next product will be called Communications Module.

Communication Module led our survey with 29% respondents favoring it. About 50% people gave us new names, activeComm and activeTalk being suggested by more than a couple people. Here are some other suggestions we liked:

• Bullhorn
• Chatter
• CollabConnect
• Cowbell
• Lingo
• LiveWire
• OmniComm
• WaterCooler
• Yap Module

We also had two people mention this will be a useless module!

Thank you for your suggestions

Thanks to all those 66 who took the survey. Special thanks to everyone who wrote to me with additional comments. It’s always good to get your feedback – even if it’s negative!

So, why did I select Communications Module as the name?

• It is easy to understand
• It gives a good sense of what the module could be about (though it’s not specific)
• It goes well with our other major module names – Planning / Reports.
• A lot of you preferred it (or some variation of it)
• I only made it plural – so instead of the original “Communication Module”, it will now be “Communications Module”

When is it coming out?

About a week from now!

Keeping my fingers crossed and burning some midnight oils

I am looking forward to using this module myself. I know there is a lot of work pending to get it release ready, but we are working hard to get there.

Did the result surprise you? Got something to share? Post it in comments below!

So many choices for us poor men!

Thank you!

Image courtesy flickr

3 Product Updates

• Planning Module 1.6.2 is out. It fixes a small issue with actual hours not being included in CSV export. Thanks to Lane for pointing it out.
• Tickets Plus 1.4 is available. Fixes an issue where attachments from incoming mail did not show up with Tickets. Props to Nathan.
• Confidential Items 1.2 fixes the issue where an item would be created as private – even if its creator could not see private objects. Reported by Alexej over email. Thanks buddy!

All these updates are available from our members download area. BTW, If your subscription has lapsed for Planning / Reports module, you can renew after logging into the members area.

2 New Ventures

Remember I told you about a new venture in my last post? I actually have two! Both are in early stages, but I felt compelled to share them with you. To keep this email brief, I am going to only include the URLs. You may take a look and comment on those pages with your feedback!

• Paypal Business Analytics
• Smart Manager for WP e-Commerce (inspired from Planning module)

1 Small Vacation

I am going to be out for a small vacation next week (going to Kerala with school friends). I am looking forward to it!

Later.

:Nirav

I just released Tickets Plus version 1.3 and Planning Module version 1.6.1. Both are important bug fix releases. I recommend you upgrade – especially if you did not upgrade to Tickets Plus 1.2 or Planning 1.6 last time.

Here’s a list of fixes for your reference.

Tickets Plus Module v1.3

• API functionality broke with Tickets Plus. Fixed. Thanks to Jacob Hrinko for reporting
• Milestone dates were messed up when created from Template Project. Fixed. Thanks to Student Express for reporting this.
• Added method setResolution() for backward compatibility with AC 2.3.1 or earlier
• Added compatibility with Tickets Merge version 1.1
• acHack: Latest Comments First did now work. Fixed.

Planning module v1.6.1

• Could not complete tickets from Planning module. Fixed. Thanks to Jody Botham
• Milestone dates were messed up when created from Template Project. Fixed. Thanks to Student Express for reporting this.
• Added method setResolution() for backward compatibility with AC 2.3.1 or earlier

Thank you for your continued support and awesome participation in the Get Satisfaction community

Wishing you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Regards,
Nirav Mehta and Apps Magnet Crew

PS: I am working on another product – an add-on for the popular WP e-Commerce plugin for WordPress. Just like Planning Module, it can boost productivity by 10X. We have reached version 0.5 there, and I just opened first cut of the sales page today. You may want to check it out and give me feedback: http://www.storeapps.org/

PS2: Thanks again!

Upgrading Planning module to version 1.6 or Tickets Plus module to version 1.2+ requires some work, else you may see errors

Upgrading to Planning Module 1.6 (or Tickets Plus 1.2+) requires some extra work – apart from the standard “upload the ‘for-upload’ folder and install module from admin” procedure. Since we have decoupled Planning module and Tickets Plus, and that Tickets Plus is now a module, we need to bring the installation back to a cleaner state before uploading Planning module / Tickets Plus files.

Here’s what needs to be done:

• Uninstall Planning module from activeCollab admin (this is not mandatory, but will keep things simpler). Rest assured, uninstalling Planning module won’t remove any of your data.
• Do not uninstall Tickets module. Uninstalling Tickets module removes all tickets from the system. You don’t want to do that.
• Delete the activecollab/application/modules/planning folder from the server.
• Delete config/tickets_plus_config.php file as well.
• It’s best to re-upload Tickets module folders from original activeCollab source. But at least, delete following four files from activecollab/application/modules/tickets/helpers folder: function.object_category_icon.php, function.select_assignees_box.php, function.select_box_redirect.php, function.select_workflow_status.php
• You can now upload all contents of for-upload folders from Planning and Tickets Plus module .zip files.
• Now, go ahead and activate Planning and Tickets Plus modules from admin.
• Clear compile and cache folders from your server via FTP / SSH.
• Go to Tickets list in a project. You should see the live search box near the top.
• Verify Planning module is working fine.
• That’s all! Enjoy the upgrades now.

What kind of errors are expected?

You may see Smarty Error and Fatal error: Call to undefined method Tickets::getWorkflowStatuses(). They may come from a file in Planning or Tickets module. Both can be resolved if you follow above instructions.

activeCollab 2.3.2 is the only officially supported version now

Please note that we only support activeCollab 2.3.2+ now. Our products may work with earlier versions (they generally do) but we won’t be able to support activeCollab compatibility issues if any.

Will this upgrade break anything else?

We don’t think so. This undefined method problem is the only one we anticipate. If you notice any other issues, please report them on our support forums.

I had made changes to tickets_plus_config.php. How do I apply them again?

Copy over planning_config.php from activecollab/application/modules/planning (if you are using Planning module only) or tickets_plus_config.php from activecollab/application/modules/tickets_plus as config/tickets_plus_config.php. Now make changes to this file. Your updates will be used by both Planning and Tickets Plus modules.

Looks like Santa came in early this year! And he’s got candies for you!

We released updates to four modules over two days. These are important updates and we recommend all customers to upgrade.

You can download them from our members area right away. If your license has expired, we recommend you renew (links available after logging into members area).

Here are the new releases:

• Planning Module 1.6 – Important release. Minor fixes, separation of Tickets Plus and minor enhancements.
• Tickets Plus Module 1.2 – Major enhancements, the warrior’s sword
• Time Reports Plus Module 1.2 – Major upgrade. Adds run time filter support on Time Reports
• Confidential Items Module 1.1 – Major release, fixes a few bugs, improves overall support

We are happy like kids! Enjoy your holidays!

We are releasing Planning Module 1.6 today. The best got better!

Highlights of this release are:

• Tickets hacks are now a separate module – Tickets Plus Module and include major enhancements
• You can now work full screen with Planning module
• Some long standing bugs are gone – private milestones and version conflicts are the main ones
• Planning Module (and other latest releases) now officially support activeCollab 2.3.2 and onwards (we are dropping support for older versions)

Upgrading requires some work, else you may see errors

Upgrading to Planning Module 1.6 requires some extra work – apart from the standard “upload the ‘for-upload’ folder and install module from admin” procedure. Since we have decoupled Planning module and Tickets Plus, and that Tickets Plus is now a module, we need to bring the installation back to a cleaner state before uploading Planning module / Tickets Plus files.

Click here for upgrade instructions.

Common Questions you may have

Why are we separating Tickets hacks as a new module?

Short answer: operational efficiencies.

Long answer: Tickets enhancements have been a huge success. As we call them – they are like a warrior’s sword. A warrior needs to keep his sword sharp. And we plan to enhance Tickets Plus regularly. We started selling Tickets Plus as a separate product couple months back but included all files in Planning module for your convenience. This means every time a new version of Tickets Plus comes out, we also need to roll out a new Planning module version. We would also need to closely coordinate development of both products. And as we released a new version of either of them, customers will have to upgrade them too. This was getting complicated. Hence we decided to split. We can now work independently on each product and you can now upgrade them independently as well.

Do I have to pay again for Tickets Plus?

No! Tickets Plus module is complimentary to all Planning Module customers even now. All Planning Module customers will see new Tickets Plus Module downloads in their accounts. Use links there to download your copy of Tickets Plus.

Why are we dropping support for older activeCollab versions?

Frankly, to make our (and yours) lives easier. We believe activeCollab 2.3.2 is a solid version, and everyone should upgrade to it. Secondly, supporting multiple versions took longer time in development, testing and customer service.

If you are using older version of activeCollab, you can download / use earlier version of Planning / Tickets Plus modules.

Should I upgrade?

Oh yes!

My license has expired. What should I do?

Please renew your license. This will give you an additional year’s upgrades and will help us continue bringing improvements!

When will “Feature X / Y / Z” be available?

We are defining priorities for the next version of Planning Module. There are some ideas we are considering – like better printing, multiple projects in outline view and resource management. Please post your suggestions on our forum and vote for features you like.

Here are full release notes.

Release Notes

Enhancements

• Separated Tickets Plus from Planning Module
• Tickets Plus: Live search on Tickets List view
• Tickets Plus: Added In Progress workflow status
• Tickets Plus: Workflow names and CSS associations updated, so you can now easily change workflow status labels
• Tickets Plus: Quick Update now only changes responsible person so other assignees are preserved
• Tickets Plus: Enhanced List and Print views
• Full screen mode: Planning Module can now fill your entire browser screen via Full screen mode.
• Added support for Confidential Items Module: You can now make items confidential from Planning Module itself.
• Added Actual Hours field in CSV export

Fixes

• Milestones were created as Private for Private Projects
• Cards view search function was broken. Fixed.
• Tickets Plus: Drag and drop did not work in tickets list
• Notifications said “Created” when the item was updated

Next Actions

• Login to your members area and download the latest versions (you can also renew your license from there)
• Buy Planning Module today if you haven’t already done so – it’s still our most loved product!

The MIB saved our galaxy with Confidential Items module for activeCollab. Now they are happier than ever because version 1.1 just came out.

This is a major update as it fixes couple of critical issues and adds minor enhancements.

Here’s what’s changed.

Release Notes

• Email notifications for confidential items will now work
• Confidential option won’t show on Projects, Documents or Milestones now. Since they can’t be made confidential.
• Only people who can edit a confidential item, will see Edit link
• Updated the icon for better – thanks to Steven for this!
• Tickets Plus module support added
• FIXED: Category view in Tickets and Pages showed confidential items
• FIXED: New Files added were not confidential even if selected

Click here to learn more about Confidential Items module and see how it can benefit your organization.