Hmm, after downloading and running this on Safari, quite a few of my issues are gone.  Too bad I didn’t try that first…  :)

GMerch - Aug 20, 2008 03:44pm

Hmm, after downloading and running this on Safari, quite a few of my issues are gone.  Too bad I didn’t try that first…  :)

Welcome! Thanks for you interest in our beta and taking the time to send your comments.

If you’re running windows I’d recommend giving Firefox a try too.  They are both great browsers (Safari is still much faster though).

We test extensively with both Firefox and Safari (Windows and OS X).  After each development milestone we follow-up with a quality review with (the feeble cult of a browser that is) MSIE.  We’re just starting the next round with MSIE now so you should see those improvements out in the next few weeks.  Until then we’ll savour:

On the plus side, I think this is one of the most unusual and pleasant CRM/contact mgmt sites I have looked at.  I love how easy it is to change field names, delete unnecessary ones, etc.  There are so many things to love about it.

Panning your note here are answers to your functional questions:

- The Activities window is the primary dashboard (at a glance, what is planned, what has happened).  You must switch between the next actions and calendar views.

- Non-linked events are added to the calendar by double-clicking the calendar, enter the form data, click off the form.

- All categories are displayed so you can tag the contact with the ones currently not chosen when needed

- Changing color or fonts, WHAT?!  NO SOUP FOR YOU!!! NO NEVER NADDA

- Keeping colors at 4 and having no labels was a design choice, they mean different things depending on the context that they are used in, when you only have 4 it’s hard to forget what they indicate

- Milestone is not the same as due date, Task-lists have a milestone date (general indicator), Tasks have actual due dates/times like events

- Lastname, really?  We’re seeking a bit of that friendly South American culture where business always uses first name, I know it’s a silly question, but for the record, why do you want to sort by lastname?

Tabbing is a new bug that is fixed and should make it to production sites in the next day or so.

I’ll forward the IE stuff to the team in case any of it is new.  Let us know if we missed anything.  Thanks again.

Thanks for your speedy reply.  I just wanted to double-check a few things before I head for round two of beta playing…

“Non-linked events are added to the calendar by double-clicking the calendar, enter the form data, click off the form”

- That is definitely handy.  Never thought to try that.  Why doesn’t that work for tasks as well?  Double-clicking on the action view does nothing.

“All categories are displayed so you can tag the contact with the ones currently not chosen when needed”

- I can see that might be handy if you only use a couple categories but it gets a little out of hand if you happen to use a good number of them.  I would think either a dropdown box, or smaller icons, at least.

“Keeping colors at 4 and having no labels was a design choice, they mean different things depending on the context that they are used in, when you only have 4 it’s hard to forget what they indicate”

- Four seems pretty arbitrary.  Why not 2 or 5?  Not a deal breaker by any stretch, but it seems odd to offer the choice of color coding but then limiting it for no specific reason.  I currently use about 6-7 and it makes things easier to glance at a quick color coding to know importance level of impending actions.

“Task-lists have a milestone date (general indicator), Tasks have actual due dates/times like events”

- I just noticed that there are two separate items - tasks and tasklist.  Does that mean if I have 50 individual tasks to enter that I have to make 50 tasklists just so I can make the 50 tasks?  Or is the theory that I would just make “My Tasklist” and then put all of my tasks under that general heading?  Why the need for both items?  I may just be missing the point.  I’ve never seen a todo list set up like that.

“I know it’s a silly question, but for the record, why do you want to sort by lastname?”

- For the most part, simply because in a list of say, 1500 contacts, you probably have 20-25 Mikes, Joes, Steves, etc.  However you only have a handful of Morrisons, Lofquists or Dunkirks.  It just makes sorting much easier when you sort by a more precise keyword.  Same idea as using Google to search for Picasso - sure you’d find him looking for Pablo but it would be much faster using Picasso.  The only ones that see my list sorted by names are me and my 1-2 employees. So while I love most South American cultural ideas (siesta, anyone?), the choice of using first names to sort a name list doesn’t make much sense to me.  Again, offering the choice of sorting by FN/LN/Company simply allows users to sort as they see fit.

Again, kudos for making such a slick interface and using so many intuitive features.  The more I play with this the more I like it.  Keep up the good work.

That is definitely handy.  Never thought to try that.  Why doesn’t that work for tasks as well?  Double-clicking on the action view does nothing

Double-clicking on a field in the next-action view does let you edit (most of) the fields inline (does not open a form).

I would think either a dropdown box, or smaller icons, at least.

Thanks for the tip.  Smaller icons already done, check back in a day or two.

I may just be missing the point.  I’ve never seen a todo list set up like that.

Nooo!  One task-list and within it list all the related tasks; just like you’d jot on a piece of paper or a whiteboard.  It is a more natural way to organize work.  You move the tasks up/down within the list.  You can also move the list relative to other items on the page.  It actually works pretty slick, but then I might be a bit biased ;)

You probably have 20-25 Mikes, Joes, Steves, etc.  ... Same idea as using Google….

Exactly!  Google doesn’t “structure” data, you just ask it for what you want.  Instead sorting try searching (by anything you want including part of the last name).  The search returns results as you type so you only need to type a minimum number of characters.  I expect with 1500 contacts this would be significantly faster than sorting / scanning.

Just a courtesy to let you know our weekly update is in, some of the changes were items on your list.

I appreciate the heads up.  I’m heading there now to take a peek!  ;)