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!

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?

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!

We received dozens of fan mails and thank-you notes after the last major Planning Module upgrade – version 1.2. We are thrilled by customer feedback and glad that the module is really helping people plan their projects 5 times (or more) faster! Some customers even said that they bought activeCollab because of Planning module! That makes us proud!

At the same time, we received bug reports and tweak requests. And here comes another release of Planning Module! It adds few features and fixes some annoyances. We recommend you upgrade.

BTW, if you don’t like to keep upgrading modules and activeCollab yourself, we offer an annual upgrade and housekeeping service – acGarage.

Here are the changes in this version.

Enhancements

• Updated error handling during server problems. Session time out, PHP errors and others are treated distinctly now.
• Increased the width of “Recover Project” message for readability. (thanks to Jani Kiviranta)
• Now stripping invalid characters from plan before XML handling. (thanks to Brian and others)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed number of issues with notification sending. (thanks to Randy, Alexey and others)
• Start and Due dates now span full days in Gantt chart. (thanks to Franklau for reporting this)
• Top menu toggle button labels can now be translated. (thanks to Jani Kiviranta)
• IE7/8 gave “HTTP Request Error” over HTTPS (thanks to Chris)
• Updated upgrade instructions. (thanks to Anthony for pointing to confusion)

The last version (1.2) was a significant upgrade and added support for multiple projects on Gantt chart, calendar for start/due dates in Outline, an administration panel, branding removal option and many other features. Click here to review release notes of version 1.2.

How to Upgrade?

You can always download the latest version of Planning Module for activeCollab using the download link in your purchase confirmation email. If you can not find your purchase confirmation email send us the email address with which you purchased the module.We will resend the email with download link.

Upgrading is done by uninstalling the module and then installing it. First go to activeCollab Administration – Modules. Uninstall current Planning module. Then upload new version files to your server. Go back to activeCollab Administration and install Planning module. That’s all!

acGarage customers have already been upgraded with this latest release!

BTW, if you have not yet signed up for acGarage, it’s a great time to do so. We can upgrade both your activeCollab setup and Planning module in one go!

How to Buy?

If you have not yet bought the Planning Module, you can buy it now. It’s only $149.

We released version 1.2 of our most popular tool – Planning Module for activeCollab – today. This is a significant release and adds numerous enhancements and fixes important bugs.

Here’s what has changed.

Enhancements

• Supports viewing Gantt chart for multiple projects together. Click Select Projects button and check all projects you want to see. (Idea from Thomas, Andy Jones and others)
• Calendar in Outline view: Start and Due dates now sport a date picker calendar for easy date selection. Auto complete and anual entry still work too. (Idea by Randy)
• Administration Panel added: Planning module configuration can now be done from activeCollab’s administration panel.
• Category Templates from Admin: Set template to use as Ticket / Page description for each category. (Ok, this is our own idea, something that was on the wishlist from version 1!)
• Branding Removal allowed: Tick one option (Show Help) to No in Admin and the AppsMagnet branding / Help menu will be hidden. And we are not charging anything extra for this (Suggestion by Michael, Gary and others)
• Subscriber support in Level 2 items added. Also in Batch Update. A checkbox in Card view lets you subscribe all assignees. (Idea by Cyberz & Alexey)
• Batch Update: Assignees can now be added / replaced. (Original idea by Alexey)
• Open Selected Items in AC: A button in top menu under Cards View now lets you open currently selected Tickets, Pages or Checklists within activeCollab interface. This lets you make comments or further edits from original activeCollab interface. (Idea from Alexey)
• Allowed changing projects and managing settings for Read Only users.
• HTTPS Support: Planning module works well under HTTPS (if your entire activeCollab setup is under HTTPS)
• Order of Milestones in Outline can now be on dates always. Even if you reorder them. Available as an option under Admin. (Feedback by Fabienne, Alexey, William and Matt)
• Cleanups in Gantt view – hide item text in chart, added item type on tooltips
• Notifications about item updates are now saved by default and can be turned off in Admin. (Thanks to Alexey for asking the question)
• Zombie handling (parent item completed, children still open) improved.
• Plus a few more…

Bug Fixes

• Date auto complete problem with MM/DD format solved. (Reported by WillemN, Tim Swilling and Fabienne)
• Date parsing problem with 4 digit years solved. (Reported by WillemN, Tim Swilling and Fabienne)
• Quick Start guide link incorrect with friendly URLs. Fixed. (Ok, we get the credit here)
• Jump to Ticket (Tickets hacks) gave 404 error if nothing was entered. Added validation to ensure something is entered in field! (Thanks Alexey for the bug report)
• Category icon width: made all category icons 16×16. (Caught by Alexey)
• Invalid workflow status now falls back to “New”.
• Items completed by users who are now deleted caused Save to fail.

Screenshots

Here are some screenshots of these updated features.

How to Upgrade?

You can always download the latest version of Planning Module for activeCollab using the download link in your purchase confirmation email. If you can not find your purchase confirmation email send us the email address with which you purchased the module.We will resend the email with download link.

Upgrading is just like installing. First go to activeCollab Administration – Modules. Uninstall current Planning module. Then upload new version files to your server. Go back to activeCollab Administration and install Planning module. That’s all!

acGarage customers will receive their upgrade automatically over the next few days.

BTW, if you have not yet signed up for acGarage, it’s a great time to do so. We can upgrade both your activeCollab setup and Planning module in one go!

How to Buy?

If you have not yet bought the Planning Module, you can buy it now. It’s only $149.

First, thank you for your overwhelming response to Planning Module! We are thrilled by your feedback and praises!

We are also committed to making the product even better. We released a bug fix + feature enhancement update today. Here’s what’s changed from version 1.0.

Changes from v1.0 to v1.1.1

Enhancements:

• If there are unsaved changes, prompt user to save when she goes to another page
• Skip “Open” child elements with “Completed” parents when “Show Completed Items” is unchecked.
• Item positions are managed within items and not at project level

Bug Fixes:

• Tickets are always created with Private visibility
• Ticket not saving when navigating by clicking on another item in list
• Duplicate Ticket IDs created when switching type from Ticket to Page and back
• Crash if Pages or Checklists module was not active
• Show Completed option does not save state
• Focus lost after clicking on Type drop down in Outline view

Thanks to everyone who found, reported and helped us solve these issues.

A lot more is happening at AppsMagnet

We are working on a lot of things. Here is list of upcoming milestones:

• Reports Module – mockups of next version, feedback from customers
• Planning Module training videos and documentation
• (new) acHacks – Professionally supported hacks to AC, one every month, with “under-the-hood” explanations
• (new) Upgrade & Housekeeping Module – automatic AC / Extensions / Theme upgrades and automated cleanups
• (new) acJournal – weekly newsletter on new and noteworthy about activeCollab
• (new) Mylyn plugin for AC
• (new) Basecamp Importer for activeCollab

Planning Module stable version is now available. And it’s getting rave reviews! Find out more here…

Planning Module for activeCollab is now available to Reports module customers! We launched the beta version yesterday.

What is the Planning Module for activeCollab?
Planning Module lets you manage your project plans 5 times faster (or more!) It shows 3 views – a collapsible tree like outline view (with milestones, tickets and tasks); a card view focused on managing tickets; and a Gantt view of your plan! You can edit project’s plan using Outline and Card views, and it’s really easy and fast!

This is a beta release – there are known issues and limitations. There may even be bugs. We advise you to buy it keeping this in mind.

Only for Reports module customers for now?

Yes, for now, the Planning module is available at a heavy discount to Reports module customers. Planning module will be sold at $149 when it’s stable. Reports module customers can buy it now for only $99! That’s a huge $50 discount. We may open up for other customers as we progress. Once it reaches stable version, it will certainly be available to all.

If you do the math, this is still a good deal! Reports module is $39. If you buy it, you get Planning module for $99. That’s still a $11 discount from their prices! Want to try? Go ahead and buy Reports module. You will get instructions on buying Planning module in an email.

Want to see how it looks?
Check out our live demo here.

And here are some screenshots!

Support & Questions
Visit our customer support forums.

Planning Module stable version is now available. And it’s getting rave reviews! Find out more here…

The planning module for activeCollab has 3 views. You can access them using a tabbed button bar at top right, next to the logo.

1. Outline View

Outline View

The outline view is a tree like view of your entire project plan. It’s editable and you can add items simply by pressing enter. You can also use Tab / Shift Tab to promote / demote items and their children.

The outline view also shows assignees, estimates, start date and due date. You can add multiple assignees and use initials for names. Estimates are tracked in hours, but you can enter them in hours or easy to read short cut format – like “1m 2w 2d 4h”. Start and due dates are smart too! Just enter date (e.g. 22) and it will complete it. We have also tried to parse a few other common date formats! Date display format can be customized from backend.

You can turn off any of these 4 columns using the view options menu at top right.

2. Card View

Card View

The Card view is designed to work on details of your project plan. It shows all Tickets in your project and you can easily filter on them. Spend time on each card and define the ticket details. Cards are color coded by categories to help identify them easily.

You can update ticket’s visibility, priority, category, name, description, tags, estimate, start and due dates, tags, workflow status and assignees from the card view.

Batch update is available in both Outline view and Card view. We have even included an option to add / subtract time from start / due dates. You no longer need to change all dates manually!

3. Gantt View

Gantt View

You asked for it and we have it! Gantt view is the much awaited timeline view of your project plan. It’s a “read-only” view. You can’t edit it, but it still shows a nice graph of your project. Completed items are marked, and we also show progress on items if you log hours on them.

You can expand / collapse items, zoom in / out and review your plan.

There are many other features in Planning module! We will write about them soon!

We’ve been spending long hours over PlannerX last few days. As more people started using it, we discovered some limitations. So all time went in fixing those issues and making a smoother user experience. There is one big thing that’s still pending – changing position of existing items in the plan. This worked earlier, with some limitations. But now we uncovered a lot more limitations of Basecamp APIs and have to rework the entire logic. We are nearing a solution, but it’s taking longer than expected.

All this has resulted in delays on the Planning module for activeCollab. We wanted to launch it last week. But have been tied up.

I think all the enhancements we are making to PlannerX, will also make Planning module stronger, so am focusing on PlannerX for now.

Planning module will come soon! Wanted to let you know we are working on it!

We have been talking about our Planning module. It’s taking shape well, and we will release it in the next few days (unless we hit some road blocks). So what can you expect from it? What will be included?

1. We will have an Outline view to create project plan. With assignees, due dates and estimates. Similar to PlannerX.
2. We are adding a “card view” to add ticket description, category and other details. Also pushing in a simple ticket workflow (new -> assigned -> resolved etc)
3. A weekly iteration planner, that allows you to select from a list of incomplete tasks (backlog) and schedule them (via drag and drop) for immediate 3 weeks. (Update: We are skipping on iteration planner for now)
4. And a Gantt view that shows your project plan

What will be the most valuable features for you? How much time do you think something like this can save you?

Update:

The Card View took much longer than we expected. We added many things to make the workflow easier. And some eye candy Checkout Nirav’s blog post about Intelligent Time Estimation and Card Deck animation. There is more in the actual product! But we had to keep Iteration planner for later because of this.