New server test

Since I switched to heroku, I got a few mails from people about a performance loss in the application and one email, where a user could not open the application anymore.

I managed to get another server which should be faster and has some advantages over the heroku approach. Please try to open http://beta.pomodorohelper.com and write me if you experience any problems with the new server. I copied the current database for easier testing to the new server. Please don't use the new server for your day to day work yet, because once all performance tests are done, the database there will be overwritten by the one here on the main server.

If everything works, I will switch the server this weekend. I hope this will be the last time we need to do this :-)

Version 2.1.2 released

This version is a bugfix release and introduces the Developers page.

• fixed: visual records now show the correct values again
• added: developers page for working with the API

Tomorrow I will add an extended article (as well as a documentation) for the API.

Pomodorohelper version 2.1.1 released

You might have noticed it, some things have changed in the application. One day before the second announcement and even a week before the original deadline, the new version of Pomodorohelper (PH) is online and running. There still might be a few hiccups, but I‘m bugfixing everything I see, and if you see something that is not right, message me and I‘ll fix it asap.

New in version 2.1:

Serverchange

I moved the complete application from a local hosting company to heroku, an american hoster where I host all DIEVOLUTION apps. There will be more smaller updates on the new server because of its structure, bugs are fixed faster and new features can be rolled out easily. The server should not crash either :)

• two additional pause buttons: If you need to take a break and are not in a pomodoro unit, click the short break or the long break button to start a break timer right on the page you are.
• switch pause types while in break: You clicked the wrong break button on the timer page or want to take a longer or shorter break? Easy, just click the switch to long break or switch to short break button while on a break. If your long break already exceeded your short break duration, it will end your break and you have to work again immediately.
• advertisement redesign: the new advertisement for the DIEVOLUTION web game Breeder Island has been redesigned. You should try the game, it is free ;)
• wiki links are now shown in the correct color when a page is behind. I will update the wiki content in the next days.
• a new button called „notes“ has been added to todo items. If you click it, you‘ll get a window for notes or descriptions for the item. You can write as much as you like there.
• there is now an edit function in the projects tab for items
• the „units from yesterday“ button only appears if the item has been worked on before.
• The „add units without timer“ function was redesigned. You can now add multiple units without a timer.
• twitter logins are working again
• an ajax loading message appears if the server loads something in the background
• survey added. Please take the 2 minutes to fill out the short survey, it helps improving the application.
• And one more thing...
  API
  This is for the technical people. I included an API for todo lists and projects. While the API is already working, I decided to put some more work in it and build a developer page, where third party developers can register their app so users don‘t have to share their account credentials with anyone (like facebook does it). Expect the developer page to be online next week.

New in version 2.1.1:

• ideas and unplanned items on timer page working again
• ajax message removed from login screen
• version number in footer

Almost all new features are based on your support mails. If you have ideas, critic, suggestions or anything you want to talk about, just message me, all communication channels are shown on the support page.

I start working on the mobile version of Pomodorohelper next week, this will be the next big thing. I‘ll do an iPhone version first, more mobile devices will follow.

I hope you get your work done with Pomodorohelper!
Thomas Diehl
Creator of Pomodorohelper

Server change complete

Seems everything is working again. There are a few minor bugs, which should be fixed by tomorrow. One of the best features of the new server is the ability to fix things almost instantly :) If you find a bug, please message me so I can add them to my todo list. An extended news with release notes will follow later. Thomas Diehl creator of Pomodorohelper

Server change later today

Everything is done, and the new server is also ready, so we are changing the server later today.

on thursday, september 1st, 18:00 (6pm) CET, this server will go into maintenance mode, which means the app will be down :) We will copy the database at this point, move it to the new server and redirect the domain. If everything works as expected, the service shouldn't be down more than 30 minutes AND after that you will experience version 2.1 of Pomodorohelper! Of course, your data will still be there.

New Version on Friday

On Friday, september 2nd, I will release a new Pomodorohelper Version. There will also be a server change, which means the service will be down for a couple of hours, but your data will be automatically be moved to the new server. 

More information about the new release on friday, got a lot of stuff to do until then :)

Big news!

Good News everyone,
as you might have noticed, there weren‘t any big updates in the last months. I was pretty busy working on other projects, which turned out to be not successful at all.
After rethinking my situation, I came to the only possible solution. 

DIEVOLUTION is going to work full time on Pomodorohelper! 

Your mails and feature requests were great, so I know where to start. I also have a list of bugs which need to be fixed.

Some of the new features you can expect in the near future:

• a more intuitive user interface
• a mobile version of Pomodorohelper for iOS devices (iPhone & iPad)
• an API for developers
• syncing your todo lists with other programs
• and much more

The next thing I will add is a short survey, please take the two minutes to answer the questions. I also plan to add a freemium model on top of Pomodorohelper, which means, there will be a free version with the features currently in the app and a monthly subscription service with additional features.  

If you have any ideas, feature requests or found a bug, please write a mail to thomas@pomodorohelper.com. And don‘t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Let‘s go!
Thomas Diehl
Creator of Pomodorohelper