The Fail Whale struck again! Just tried to upload a wrong update to the current application. If you experience trouble using the app, please message me, but I hope i removed all the false files :)

When working with the pomodoro technique, it is recommend to take a long break after every 4 units. Of course, you don't have to, but it is relaxing for your brain and the half hour break can be used to eat, take a nap or do other non-work stuff which can't be done in your 5 minute breaks.

To help you count the units you done and if you should take a long break the next time an unit is finished, I have added a counter to the timer page which counts the units you have done since your last long break. Thanks to Scott Schulthess for this idea. The counter will also reset after eight hours if you haven't done an unit, so every morning, you should start with a zero counter. If you have any problems with this new feature, just mail me.

Today's Update also includes a bugfix. Items which are imported from your yesterday's todo list to your active inventory now don't have any units done already.
 

UPDATE: I've tweaked the counter so that it will only be shown at the end of an unit and during the break, so there is less clutter on the timer page while working.

Today's DevBlog is not about the new homepage design, because I am still working on it, but I have new features for the next version to show you.

As usual, here is a screenshot of my test-environment. As you can see, I deleted the old logo and replaced it with a nice beta logo. This will not be the final logo, of course, but it will still be there when the beta starts.

Another new feature is the custom date format you can now choose in your user options. If you are used to see your dates in a mm/dd/yyyy format, you can now select this option. I have even included the correct (StarTrek) Stardate format ;-) as well as every other common format.

The last new feature is a light blue icon on the top of your todo list and on the timer page. You will be able to post what you have accomplished today (from your todo list) and what you are currently working on (from your timer page) to your Twitter account! Once you have set up your account in the options, the buttons will be shown and you can click them whenenver you like to share what you are doing right now. Of course, the app won't tweet by itself, and you don't have to use this feature, but I think it is a very nice extension.

Soon, the pomodorohelper 2.0 beta will start. I am working at the last design stuff at the moment, like the brand new homepage, which I will show you in the next DevBlog. The coding department is also very busy, today a brand new feature was finished, the help section. While working with the pomodoro technique (and with the pomodorohelper) is very easy, there are many questions new pomodoro-enthusiasts have when they first log in into the pomodorohelper app. The new version will feature a lot of inline help and a few motivation bubbles (like "You do not have any unfinished items from old todo lists. Thats very good!"). 

There is also a whole FAQ section where you can read everything about how to get the most out of the app, and of course, it will be updated often. For better understanding, there will also be graphics and even video tutorials when needed.

Before I mark this unit done, a quick pomodorohelper tip: If you work on a project and you want to know how much time you spent on it, try to mark the todo items of a project with some special characters or colors. For example, all my pomodoro helper items start with a PH - this way I just have to scroll through the records for each day and calculate the times on every item with a PH at the beginning.

I spent the last days working on the new records tab. You can see a screenshot of the new version here: http://twitpic.com/1zu53b

I tried to make the records tab really useful this time by creating seperate graphs for the things you are interested in and let you export every single bit of data as pdf or xls files.

If you look closely at the screenshot, you will notice a minor design change. The main navigation tabs are back on top, and a second tab for subnavigation was introduced. I don't know if this will be the final look, but its certainly a bit cleaner.

In the next DevBlog post, I (hopefully) will show you the community and help tabs, and after thats done, the new helper is ready for all of you (and me of course).