ProductiveFirefox

The new GTDInbox is ready! Alas, no significant new features; but plenty of useful tweaks and a little more control over things.

Stability Updates
Preview should now work solidly on every email. This has never been possible before; but I tried a new technique and it is much more fool proof than the earlier methods.

We’ve got much better at bulk actions (using the More Actions dropdown). Again, there’s a new technique at work here; and it makes it much faster/more-robust at changing the Status on lots of messages at once.

The Modify Reviews screen is fully working again, including the ability to move things up & down (Thanks to André Branco).

Clicking Finished now removes all Status labels (that bug was introduced by a performance enchancement in 2.0.9.1, that now works correctly!).

The button shifting problem (noted in the forum), where the ‘Finished’ button got in the way, has been remedied by making it load faster.

Functional Improvements
I hope you’ll like this one! The Options have been improved to give you a lot more control of the UI. You can now choose which parts of GTDInbox you want to use (and hide the rest); as well as changing the label selectors from drop downs to inline (a lot of people have requested this at various times).
This sets us up nicely for the future by allowing more features to be added without overloading everyone’s screen.

A special thank you goes to Tim Lindsey, who probably holds the record for the largest number of consecutive, substantial donations (huge thanks Tim!); as well as being trusting enough to give me his personal account password in order to try and thwart the ‘Failed to Load’ problem. (On that note, I still don’t know what is causing it; it’s very strange; but the fix is in the last blog post).

Where next? There may be a 2.0.9.3 release (it really depends on the status of the Pro account), but I’ve now got everything I wanted out of the way to usher in 2.1. All the news and announcements will come through this blog!

Install 2.0.9.2

Hi!

I’ve just finished 2.0.9.1, which addresses a few bugs. There’s no new functionality (that was pushed back to 2.0.9.2 to allow me to get these bugs fixed more quickly!), but that will come in the next few weeks.

So, the bugs fixed include making ‘Modify Reviews’ fully operational again (thanks to quite a few of you!), making GTDInbox work with ‘Quick Links’ (from Labs) (thanks Jose), moving the ‘Hipster Print’ before ‘Delete’ (thanks Nathan and others),  and to make it better behave with Status labels on upgrading (thanks Frank). I also had a stab at fixing the ‘GTDInbox Failed to Load’, but I’m really not sure what is causing that. And, before I forget, I had a go at making GTDInbox work more nicely with Better Gmail’s Macros, by making it load after other addons. Let me know if that worked.

Just on the ‘GTDInbox Failed to Load’ issue, @filmil from the forums had a great answer (http://forum.productivefirefox.com/index.php?topic=517.15). In a nutshell, he advised resetting GTDInbox’s settings. To do this,
1) Close Gmail
2) In the address bar, type ‘about:config’ (without quotes) and agree to the warning
3) Search for ‘gtdinbox.settings’ (without quotes)
4) Right click it, and select ‘Reset’ (all GTDInbox settings will be lost!)
5) Reload Gmail
6) Load the Options and make sure your Prefixes and Default Status labels are correct
The truth is, I don’t know what causes it; but some users (like Palo) are reporting this helped. Hopefully 2.0.9.1 has addressed it itself.

In the next release (2.0.9.2), I will endeavour to fix the problem where Preview sometimes doesn’t work and improve the Options to give you more control over GTDInbox. Maybe this is the version where I’ll successfully get the Pro account in!

Ok, you can download the latest version by going to Install GTDInbox 2.0.9.1 and clicking the green install button.

I realise with that headline I’m just inviting trouble (!), but GTDInbox has hit a significant milestone. I did not reveal it in the early blog post (about the beta of 2.0.9), but it has actually switched to 2.1’s new core; which has been heavily rewritten to take advantage of some great new techniques. What does this mean? It is noticeably faster, it uses significantly less resources, it should work well with other addons (like RTM), and it is at the height of its (current) functionality, matching anything the original version of GTDInbox could do and much more besides.

Of significant note, we have,

The Return of Hipster Print
Hipster Print is there to help you print out your task lists (and anything else) so you can carry them around. It is easy to use, all you need to do is load your inbox, or do a search (e.g. all Next Actions), and then click the Hipster Print button. It will open a new window with the most recent 100 threads, in a format that is easily printed (using Firefox’s print button).

Multi-Message Preview
The old preview only used to show the latest message on the thread; but you can do cycle up & down through all messages with the Preview box.

Pre-Labelling is Back
Pre-labelling - applying labels to messages as you compose them - is back and totally rewritten. It should now work everytime, and avoid the earlier problems (like re-labelling messages you didn’t want labelled!). The only caveat is that it is set on a timer, so it will not invoke the pre-labelling until ~20 seconds after you’ve sent the message.

Gauge the Magnitude of Tasks in your Inbox
The ‘Review’ drop down will now tell you, at a glance, how many Next Actions, Actions, Waiting On’s, etc. you have in your inbox; saving you the expense of needing to click them to find out.

Plenty of Bug Fixing
All of which have been reported by people in our community, so thank you al! (In particular, Paul Thompson, Frank Schneider, Jack Nelson and Jon Hind - cheers guys). I have to also say a huge thanks to the Gmail team, who have gone out of their way to make Gmail more accessible (and understandable!) for GTDInbox.

So what next?
Well, there will be a minor update to add a Pro version for those who have donated (which will store your settings across machines, and grant you earlier access to updates); followed by 2.1 sometime in August. 2.1 will bring really significant new functionality, to the point that once it is released, I will consider GTDInbox ‘done’, at least for its purpose of managing tasks within your inbox. (Of course, there is still plenty of stuff we can do later, around integrating other services).

And any problems?
The GTDInbox website is a little out of date, as it was written for 2.0. I’ll do a major overhaul for 2.1. There are still threads where the Preview will not work, I’m making a passionate plea to the Gmail team to resolve this; but until then I’m afraid we’ll just have to live with it. Of course, Gmail can still change; but the code is now pretty quick to update (and I can push it out via Mozilla almost instantly), so I hope that while irritating, it is under control.

You can download 2.0.9 from GTDInbox.com!

As promised, here’s the latest update. It’s kind of an interim to 2.1, but roughly here is what has improved:

* More robust. Preview and other functions should work consistently. It should also load properly everytime.
* Lighter. Load time has been improved; less resource intensive as it runs.
* Preview multiple messages in a thread - you can now scroll between them.
* The UI has changed for adding/removing labels, using much tidier drop downs.
* Pre-labelling has been temporarily disabled. Might sneak this back in during a patch update.

So what is still to do? Well, the UI hasn’t been given enough attention. I hope to (pay a professional to) fix that up, but it will be during the 2.1 beta period. Other than that, it’s pressing on to 2.1.

A quick recap since there will be some new faces here, of things that aren’t so obvious about GTDInbox:

* You can right click labels and names to get a menu with additional browsing/retrieval options.
* You can double click the GTD icon in the inbox/search-results, and it will archive the message (double right click will delete it).
* You can ‘bump’ a message using the regular Gmail drop-down when viewing a thread/conversation. This will send a message back to the top of your inbox.
* In the inbox (or search results), when you right click to bring up the Preview box, if you double click a status label, it will apply it and then archive the message. So, you can right click to bring the Preview up, then double click Action to mark it as an action and archive it.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has written and donated. I’m still trying to balance my time better, and haven’t been able to reply to everyone; but every message has been read. I will endeavour to get back to everyone eventually, but - as we no doubt all know! - emails tend to come in faster than they get dealt with. GTDInbox should really do some magic for that

Ok, so here it is: GTDInbox 2.0.9b1
How to install? You need to open the file with Firefox (either download it to your computer first, or just open it direct from this page); and Firefox should begin the install straight away.

I’m going to Cornwall this weekend for two days of rest, but I’ll be back on Monday and I’ll upload to Mozilla then (with any issues dealt with!). You may wish to wait until then to get it (it will update automatically).

Hi everyone,

I gather Gmail has fluttered and broken 2.0.8.4 for some people (and probably more to follow!). It’s not yet affecting me, so if anyone is affected and can help me fix it, please send an email (with screenshots!). It would be super helpful if you also feel confident testing extensions.

2.1 has had a temporary set-back, purely due to my crazy time constraints, but it’s still very much in progress. Amongst other things - like better contact handling, file lookups, better UI, etc - it also fixes the problems with Auto-Labelling and Preview that afflict some users in the 2.0.* range (a total re-write).

As 2.1 is still at least two weeks away; I’m proposing to release a 2.0.9 that will be a bit of a step back, but should be more stable. It will (temporarily) disable auto-labelling, attempt to patch up Previewing, and fix whatever the current issue that is affecting some users.
I appreciate it’s a pain to experience a loss of functionality, but to make up for it I will share the very first preview of 2.1 with all of us on the blog and in the forum the second it becomes remotely stable.

I have asked one of the really helpful guys inside Gmail to see if I can get priority access to Gmail updates; which means I’ll feel any GTDInbox problems the second they happen (rather than facing a lag, like I do now).

Eta for 2.0.9: Friday 18th July!
Please do get in touch if you’re suffering problems and feel confident helping me tackle them!

Andy

“Erk”, is all I can say right now. Please read on!

Yesterday I started to spot forum/email and chat messages indicating a new Gmail change sweeping through the userbase. The problem was most irritatingly manifesting itself as the Welcome screen reappearing. With the help of Harvey Bock, Frank Schneider and as ever, Paul Thompson aka Captbunzo (who went as far as to give me access to his Gmail, which was key in fixing the problems!), the Welcome screen issue is now resolved.

So that’s the good. The bad is, it would appear that for the most part, Preview/Auto-Label has died. I’m not sure why this is yet, but I’ll begin looking into this in earnest over the coming days. I’m concerned, though, that it is serious, ugly even….

You see GTDInbox 2.1 has been steadily progressing for over a month now. It’s much much more useful, but it relies more heavily than ever on close access to Gmail. I’m deeply unsettled that the thing that has broken 2.0.8.2 has broken 2.1, and isn’t in anyway easy to remedy

So here we are. Please download 2.0.8.4 to deal with the Welcome Screen, and wish me luck while I set about figuring out how to resurrect Preview/Auto-Label and ultimately 2.1.

In what must surely be MeeTimer’s first update in a year (it has its problems, but I’m impressed it’s lasted that long without a hiccup - that puts GTDInbox firmly in its place!), it’s had the necessary surgery to make it work with Firefox 3.

You can download it directly here (click MeeTimer 0.22), or wait for Mozilla to update it on their servers.

Several months ago a good lad called Abhijeet Mukherjee got in touch to ask for a little help promoting his then brand new blog, http://www.jeetblog.com/. I was genuinely impressed with the lengths he’d gone to to finance it and the effort he put into it, and pencilled him in for a blog post to give him a little boost

However, time conspired against me and it kept slipping back & back, and so this is a very belated effort on my part! The good news is JeetBlog has been flying along on its own, so he doesn’t really need this

Regardless, as a fellow GTDInboxer, a fellow striver, and someone who cares deeply about productivity, I hope the audience here will find the tips & material at JeetBlog enlightening! All the best Abhijeet.

(Apologies to forum users, you’ve already got this update… nothing new just yet!).

Please find the (slightly overdue) patch to make GTDInbox work with Firefox 3 RC1 (and all later updates to Firefox 3). Huge plaudits to Sean Buscay (who saved me many hours) and Captbunzo for getting a patch out faster than me; I essentially rolled their work into this one.

I also made it install better for new users, as this version will be going up on Mozilla (who recently have been extending a warm hand our way, I’m pleased to report!). Specifically, when you install it will successfully add Status labels and get itself running at 100%; and if you ever delete your Status labels; you can click an ‘Install’ button in the Edit Labels screen.

I’m still officially ‘underground’ but if anyone has urgent requests, don’t hesitate to email me (I know some of you have been doing). GTDInbox 2.1 is still pushing forward and I’m loving it; but it’s such a big update that it’s going to need some polish.

You can download from http://gtdinbox.com/#install or download direct from (http://gtdinbox.com/gtdinbox_2-0-8-2.xpi).

All the best,
Andy

Over the last few weeks I’ve been squeezing in functionality updates where I can; and something interesting is starting to happen… GTDInbox feels like it has undergone a ’step change’ improvement, and it’s noticeably more powerful. So, the next release will be 2.1, and I hope it’ll be the last major visible design modification GTDInbox has (of existing features).

I’m not quite sure when it will be ready - the development version is a pretty ugly right now! But I’m hoping soon. I’m aware that in recent releases GTDInbox has continued to essentially be a beta product, and is still a little rough around the edges (although I like to think it’s getting better!). So, as of 2.1, I want to properly split GTDInbox into 2 streams - a ’stable’ release stream, and a ‘development’ release stream. So people who want to experiment and take risks with it can; and those who just want a peaceful existence can do so more easily. (Props to captbunzo for busting my chops on this).

As 2.1 begins to stabilise, I’ll start doing some previews of the new functionality - I hope you can wait until then!