AgileAgenda

Beta list open

2008-08-08T09:34:00.003-04:00

Over on our newsletter subscription page we have a new list you can subscribe to, the "Agile Agenda Beta Users". This is a list that will be notified when new beta versions of the software come out. You can subscribe to this if you want to test out pre-release versions of the software.

This fall we should be having our first beta-test since our original release. It'll include the greatly enhanced AgileAgenda.com web services. This will give you things like resource scheduling across projects, RSS feeds (see below), and integrated time tracking.

Are you an RSS Fiend?

2008-08-02T09:41:00.004-04:00

This summer we've been working on a completely redesigned AgileAgenda.com set of services that work with the AgileAgenda software. For some time, you've been able to share your schedule on the website and then let others view it. But when this new version comes out, targetted sometime in the September-October timeframe, you'll be able to do much more, such as:

Invite members as either an Editor, Resource or Viewer to work on the schedule
Have fully working 2-way sync between the AgileTracker and AgileAgenda
Time tracking of resources working on a project
OpenID support
RSS Feeds of tasks

Today, I'm going to tell you a little about that last item. A large number of people are moving from a model where they go and and retrieve information, to a model where information is pushed to them automatically. RSS feeds play a big role in that model and many people actively use RSS readers on a daily basis. For those people, it makes sense for them to get their task lists in an application they already use (their rss reader) instead of in a custom application (such as the AgileTracker). Therefore, when you save a schedule to the new AgileAgenda.com services there will be a variety of feeds generated for it. These include:

One for each resource
One containing all the milestones in a project
A per user feed that crosses multiple projects
A feed containing all the tasks in a project

By subscribing to these in your favorite RSS reader, you'll be able to always have an up to date list of your tasks. From the feed there will be links to allow you to view the full details, mark the task as complete, or to record time spent.

If you don't like RSS, each feed is also available as an HTML page that you can view in a browser.

Of course the feeds are in addition to the AgileTracker and by no means is meant to replace it.

P.S. These new web services will allow us to implement the #1 customer requested feature -- Being able to manage resources across multiple projects. That support is being planned and will be available in a future release.

SSL Support for Basecamp

2008-06-14T11:34:00.003-04:00

One of our most requested features has been to allow Basecamp users who have their account set up for SSL access to be able to sync with AgileAgenda. With today's 1.03 release, this is now possible.

To read about the Basecamp integration options, visit the Integrating AgileAgenda with Basecamp help page.

This release also fixes two bugs and adds support for opening the task options window from within the Light Table view by double clicking a task bar.

Linux support coming soon

2008-05-09T20:18:00.003-04:00

Just tried AgileAgenda on Linux (well, Linux inside a VMWare image) with the AIR Linux Alpha and it mostly works. We'll need to do some tweaking, and it looks like there might be a pretty serious bug with native menus in the AIR Alpha, but it's encouraging. Still need to do a lot of testing, and probably some more tweaks, but hopefully we can release a Linux version as soon as Adobe releases a decent AIR Beta.

Here's a screenshot of it running on Ubuntu...

Version 1.0 is here!

2008-04-30T21:48:00.002-04:00

We released version 1.0 of AgileAgenda today, but don't worry that doesn't mean we're going to stop improving it! We have big plans for future releases including some goodies like:

Improving our web based management of schedules.
SSL Support for BaseCamp users.
A full version of AgileAgenda accessible as a web application.
Improved UI
Better sorting, filtering, and searching of tasks.
"Project Phases" ... an enhancement to the milestone functionality to make it easier to partition a schedule into different phases.
Getting the AgileTracker working with full 2-way communication between it and the schedule maintained in AgileAgenda.

As we work out the kinks, there will very likely be a bug-fixing minor release in the upcoming weeks. If you run across anything that bugs you make sure to shoot us an email - help@agileagenda.com

In other news, we're working on an optional per-user licensing scheme that will let you purchase a single license and use it on multiple computers. We'll also be keeping our current per-computer licensing scheme, so this will give you more choice in how you use the software you pay for.

And lastly, the 45% off pre-order special is officially over. But all is not lost since we just started an early-adopter sale to celebrate this new release, order soon and you can still get 25% off.

AgileTracker V1

2008-04-02T22:17:00.004-04:00

If you visit the download page, there's now an option to download the AgileTracker. Along with that release, we've also put up a new account management page that lets you view and share your schedules that have been stored to the AgileAgenda.com service.

The tracker isn't perfectly integrated yet, so to get it working, here's some instructions on how to share a schedule so an employee (or contractor, or whatever) can work on it.

Agile Tracker Getting Started

This is our first release of the AgileTracker and we're very interested in hearing feedback. Feel free to either comment here or email beta@agileagenda.com.

With the AgileTracker and account management in place, we can work on some enhanced functionality such as:

Full management of schedules online.
Reporting time back from the AgileTracker to the main AgileAgenda application (right now the tracker doesn't send any info back.)

But those features are for after our 1.0 release which is finally coming this month.

New Version Posted

2008-03-15T19:32:00.001-04:00

A new version has been posted that fixes the aforementioned expiration problem.

It also has some task-editor improvements worth getting.

The easiest way to upgrade is to launch the software, you should be prompted to upgrade. Failing that, you can go to the download page and click the install badge, it should install right over your previous version keeping your preferences in tact.

Copy expiring?

2008-03-15T16:17:00.001-04:00

Is your copy of AgileAgenda expiring prematurely?

We're aware of the issue and will have a new version posted sometime today. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Agile Tracker update

2008-03-12T20:18:00.001-04:00

We finished an initial version of the AgileTracker that screenshots were posted for a few posts back. But after playing around with it for a few hours we realized it wasn't that easy to use and wasn't even all that useful. So we're refocusing it a bit and will should have a much better version out within a couple weeks. Until then, enjoy some screenshots of the updated interface.

Featured on AIR download page.

2008-02-26T18:45:00.002-05:00

We've been getting an amazing amount of traffic over the past two days. Originally we thought it was due to being featured on the Adobe AIR Marketplace. But now we've learned that we're also on the AIR download page!

If you manually download AIR, you'll see the following page after your download starts.

See that right in the middle there?

Thanks Adobe!

New version released

2008-02-25T21:36:00.003-05:00

The new version of AgileAgenda that takes advantage of AIR 1.0 is now available on the download page.

Now requires AIR 1.0 (Installing from the badge on the download page should automatically upgrade you)
New and improved auto-update feature. You'll now be notified and have the option to automatically upgrade to future versions.
New self-service trial license key generation from the download page.
When you share a schedule online, the web-view has had some visual improvements.
The GANTT charts are a little prettier.
The BaseCamp upload process is a bit faster now.
Several bugs have been fixed.
Bug fixes to the AgileAgenda.com web service. (If wish to use the AgileAgenda.com service, you must upgrade to the latest version)

New AIR Version released

2008-02-25T10:01:00.002-05:00

Depending on your machine configuration the install badge on the download page may not work for you.

Today (Feb 25th) Adobe released a new version of AIR. AgileAgenda won't be updated to work with this new version until this evening so we can run through our QA and release processes. Please check back later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Sign up for our mailing list for a notification of when the new version is available.

If you have previously installed the AIR Beta 3 runtime, the application should work just fine for you.

With this release we'll also be rolling out our trial subscription signup mechanism. So if you're using a beta version about to expire, no need to worry!

With the 1.0 AIR release we don't have any excuses to keep AgileAgenda in beta. We'll be quickly wrapping up the remaining bugs and releasing a 1.0 AgileAgenda release. That means the pre-order special will also be ending in the near future.

Thanks,

The AgileAgenda team

New Version Posted

2008-02-08T22:35:00.000-05:00

Version Label: 1.0Beta
Build Number: 19
Release date: Feb 8, 2008
Download from: http://www.agileagenda.com/download/

Release notes:

New: Schedule Snapshots
New: Basecamp Upload (Try it out, tell us if it's useful, tell us how it should work if it's not!)
Improved: Future-proofed the file format to avoid incompatibilities in later versions.
Bug Fixes: Several small usability fixes

Schedule Snapshots

Since AgileAgenda does a good job of dynamically changing your schedule during the course of the project, one of the things it has been poor at in the past is understanding how the schedule is changing. Besides keeping track of the projected end-date, it was hard to tell how you're doing.

Not anymore! Now you can take a snapshot when viewing the schedule. Later, when changes to the schedule have been made, you can load a snapshot and compare it to the current schedule. See the example below. A snapshot is shown as semi-transparent bars on the schedule below each task so you can easily see if a task is ahead or behind the snapshot date.

In that example the snapshot and current task line up for the very first task, but the snapshots for all the other tasks come before the current estimate for those tasks. That lets you know something is going wrong and you're late. As you can see, the milestones also get snapshots.

Project Status

2008-02-03T20:19:00.001-05:00

It's been a big week of development for us. We've fixed a bunch of bugs and improved a few of the outstanding usability problems. We have Basecamp integration working to a point where we're ready to release after a bit more testing.

But the big news is the Dev Client has been completely revamped. We're also renaming it the "Agile Tracker" since not only "Developers" might be using it, but anyone who wishes to track their time on AgileAgenda tasks.

Using the AgileTracker you'll be able to subscribe to multiple schedules published to the AgileAgenda.com website. Once you're subscribed, you'll be able to track your time across projects or tasks, view how much time on the project you've spent, and view an overall timesheet for time spent week to week.

Here's a couple screenshots for you to wet your appetite with.

There's also been some work to help future proof the file format so new versions of the software will still be able to read schedules made with older versions of the software.

As we near a real release more and more attention is being focused on only releasing quality, well tested, builds. The changes mentioned above mean we have a huge chunk of code to test in the application, in the agile tracker, and in the server code. We're shooting for a new beta build in about two weeks depending on how our internal testing goes.

New Version Posted

2008-01-12T20:04:00.001-05:00

Version Label: 1.0Beta
Build Number: 18
Release date: January 12, 2008
Download from: http://www.agileagenda.com/download/

We're currently in a heavy bug find & fix phase. Please help out by reporting any bugs you may come across to beta@agileagenda.com, thank you!

Bug Fix: Saving and then opening a file with only a single task, caused the task to be duplicated three times.
Bug Fix: Tabbing off of a field-completion popup in the event editor, caused odd behavior
Bug Fix: If "Extend Tasks" was turned off, the red box around late tasks was not drawn correctly.
Bug Fix: When viewing the milestone list, it was always empty the first time looked at.
Bug Fix: Changing durations on the light table caused tasks to jump in size and they couldn't be resized down.
Bug Fix: App would crash under certain circumstances when viewing the schedule if you quickly changed the filter options.
Bug Fix: If you scrolled down in the task editor, and then filtered, sometimes no tasks would be visible.
Enhancement: Keyboard navigation in several areas improved.
Enhancement: Tooltip on open-recent list shows file location.
Change: News is checked less frequently.
Change: Help is now viewed in the system default web browser instead of a custom window.

New version available.

2008-01-06T17:43:00.000-05:00

Version Label: 1.0Beta
Build Number: 17
Release date: January 6, 2008
Download from: http://www.agileagenda.com/download/index.html

Enhancement: Startup screens and initial user experience greatly improved.
Enhancement: News checking process streamlined and additional functionality added.
Bug Fix: Opening schedules that have no labor estimates would fail.

Google Checkout

2007-12-29T22:44:00.000-05:00

We've switched from our previous payment processor to Google Checkout. It should provide a much better user experience from the customer's side and allows us to more intelligently market and sell the product.

Visit the new purchase page.

2007-12-19T22:11:00.000-05:00

Version Label: 1.0Beta
Build Number: 16
Release date: December 19, 2007
Download from: http://www.agileagenda.com/download/index.html

Bug Fix: Task description field works correctly again.

New version posted

2007-12-19T08:06:00.001-05:00

Version Label: 1.0Beta
Build Number: 15
Release date: December 19, 2007
Download from: http://www.agileagenda.com/download/index.html

Bug Fix: Sometimes, extra blank tasks with duplicate ID's were generated causing significant problems when recalculating.

A Survey and a Roadmap

2007-12-14T22:18:00.000-05:00

Lately, there's been some confusion about how the product is sold. We've tried to distill the important information into a product roadmap that describes what we're planning on selling and when.

You might notice the "subject to change" part of that roadmap and that change will largely be in response to customer feedback. Please take our quick six question survey. It'll help us decide the direction that AgileAgenda moves in.

Thank you,
-Marc

New Version Posted

2007-12-14T09:16:00.000-05:00

A new version of the AgileAgenda software has been posted. It is built against the new AIR runtime from Adobe and will require you to upgrade that as well.

Bug Fix: Saving and opening files now work from OSX 10.5 (Leopard)
Bug Fix: When calculating the schedule, the last task sometimes had a longer duration than expected, this is fixed.
Bug Fix: When printing a GANTT chart, the last task was cut off, this is fixed.
Bug Fix: Project title displays correctly when loading a file
Bug Fix: The placement of bars when printing a GANTT chart is now slightly more accurate.
Bug Fix: You can now change the title of the project.
New: When printing a GANTT chart, alternating weeks are now slightly shaded to help show the time timescale.
New: Schedule calculation options - Access these through the far right tool bar button. These options are a per-project option.

Extend late tasks - This feature was previously always on. It causes tasks that are late to have their duration increased.
Move completed tasks - This feature was previously always on. It causes tasks that aren't scheduled to be started yet, but are marked as such, to have their start dates moved up.
Split partially completed tasks - This feature is brand new. It causes partially complete tasks to be split into a complete and an incomplete portion that are scheduled separately. This option doesn't make much of a difference if "Move completed tasks" is not on.

New: You can now delete resources.
Enhancement: Confirmation added on exit allowing you to save before quiting.
Enhancement: Light table now shows %complete
Enhancement: Print options are saved across sessions
Enhancement: New toolbar icons
Enhancement: Print speed sped up slightly
Enhancement: % Complete bars on the schedule view are now easier to see.
Enhancement: Major UI improvements.
Enhancement: Rename resources
Enhancement: Native menus

Next Build ETA and release schedule

2007-11-17T09:29:00.000-05:00

When's the next build?

We've made the decision to wait until the next AIR release from Adobe to release the next build of AgileAgenda. Adobe has said it should come out the "soon" so expect an AgileAgenda release on the day, or the day after they do that.

What's AIR?

AIR is the technology from Adobe that AgileAgenda is built upon. AIR is currently in beta (I'd like to blame all of the AgileAgenda bugs on that, but alas I can't.)

When's version 1.0 coming out?
We don't want to release the final 1.0 version of AgileAgenda before the AIR runtime is officially released. This is because we believe it to be a bad practice to release commercial software based upon Beta runtime environments. Also, the AIR Beta runtimes have all come with an expiration date and it would be a shame to force paying customers to upgrade their application because of an artificial expiration date.

I haven't heard exactly what the release date for AIR is, but Q1 of 2008 has been mentioned in conversations. The final 1.0 AgileAgenda release will occur around the same time.

Too much to read, give me the summary!
Next planned AgileAgenda build: First week of December
Planned AgileAgenda 1.0 Release: Shortly after the official AIR runtime release, Q1 2008.

Stay Informed

Do I have to wait until then to buy it?

No. Go preorder and save 45% off the 1.0 release price.

So what's in this next build?

You tell us! Report bugs, email questions, let us know what does or doesn't feel right about the application. Beta is a time to gather customer feedback and improve the product before release.

Email: beta@agileagenda.com

The next build coming out in December currently has the following changes. Between now and then, this list will grow.

Bug Fix: When calculating the schedule, the last task sometimes had a longer duration than expected, this is fixed.
Bug Fix: You can now open files in OSX Leopard. (This requires the new AIR runtime)
Bug Fix: When printing a GANTT chart, the last task was cut off, this is fixed.
Bug Fix: Project title displays correctly when loading a file
Bug Fix: The placement of bars when printing a GANTT chart is now slightly more accurate.
New: When printing a GANTT chart, alternating weeks are now slightly shaded to help show the time timescale.
New: Schedule calculation options - Access these through the far right tool bar button. These options are a per-project option.

Extend late tasks - This feature was previously always on. It causes tasks that are late to have their duration increased.
Move completed tasks - This feature was previously always on. It causes tasks that aren't scheduled to be started yet, but are marked as such, to have their start dates moved up.
Split partially completed tasks - This feature is brand new. It causes partially complete tasks to be split into a complete and an incomplete portion that are scheduled separately. This option doesn't make much of a difference if "Move completed tasks" is not on.

New: You can now delete resources.
Enhancement: Confirmation added on exit allowing you to save before quiting.
Enhancement: Light table now shows %complete
Enhancement: Print options are saved across sessions
Enhancement: New toolbar icons
Enhancement: Print speed sped up slightly
Enhancement: % Complete bars on the schedule view are now easier to see.
Enhancement: Minor visual improvements.

New version posted

2007-10-28T18:04:00.000-04:00

Version Label: 1.0Beta8
Build Number: 10
Release date: October 28, 2007
Download from: http://www.agileagenda.com/download/index.html

Release notes:

Printing support greatly improved - You can now print your GANTT chart, and choose from a variety of paper sizes. See the example: ExamplePrintout.pdf
New Anonymizer function - Have a problem with the software? Use the Anonymizer function (under the options menu) to remove proprietary information from your schedule so you can send it to the AgileAgenda tech support.
Account Registration fixed
One crash bug fixed

Account creation fixed

2007-10-28T16:39:00.001-04:00

You should now be able to create an AgileAgenda.com account through the software. The fix was server-only so there is no need to update.

Thanks!

Current known-issues

2007-10-23T17:15:00.000-04:00

Please remember that this is beta and some bugs are inevitable. As we work towards an official release we hope to find and squash as many as possible. If you find more, feel free to comment here or email beta@agileagenda.com.

Here's the current list of known bugs we're working on.

When saving to agileagenda.com, some resource colors may be lost. (It may sound weird, but picking blues and greens will make this less likely.)
When saving to agileagenda.com, the "last modified" field may not always be correct.
The last task in a schedule sometimes takes more time than it's supposed to.
If you delete a task, and then create more, there are gaps in the task ID's
The AgileAgenda.com registration isn't working in some cases.

Thanks,
The AgileAgenda Team