Vitalist – Quick Update
April 5th, 2007 / 42 Comments
Just wanted to let everyone know that we have just finished fixing some of the usability issues that were found in the new Vitalist. The fixes and changes include:
- Added the “Save and add another” button
- Added a “Waiting On” field to make it easier to move actions to the Waiting list
- You can now add a new Project or Contact directly from the add/edit action screen
- The forgotten password page is back
- Projects and Contacts are now sorted alphabetically in the drop-down lists
- Filtering by project now includes all appropriate sub-project actions
We are still working hard on bringing back the Context and Project groupings. We are going to be adding drag & drop re-ordering to the new system, as well. Please bear with us, as these features are complicated and will take longer to release.
Thank you for your patience.
Posted by Robert
From Paul on April 5th, 2007
Thank you! Great responsiveness!
From Eamon on April 5th, 2007
Hi there. I’d left Vitalist before the new release, because I found it too slow, particularly with the inability to edit basic information on the list screen. But I’m back since the new release and find the usability really improved.
I noticed these further new changes today, and they really simplify things. Drag and drop reordering will be great to get.
I’d love too if you could have the filtering and order details remembered each time you come back to the actions screen. It just takes time to refilter and reorder each time.
But well done! It’s becoming a great product.
From heather on April 5th, 2007
thank you so much! the changes so far are a great help.
i thought of a few more suggestions today – hopefully they haven’t already been mentioned in previous comments: first, making the notes box a little longer so we can see more than 2 lines. second, i would really love to have the “move” qualifier (under options) when adding new actions from the inbox or actions screen. third, it would be great if there was more than one way to enter a date. e.g., using dashes instead of slashes or even better: just “tomorrow”.
just some ideas. i’ve finally chosen vitalist over remember the milk, mainly for its GTD-heavy approach. thanks guys.
From Carm Scott on April 5th, 2007
Thanks for working to make VitaList better. I especially appreciate the alphabetical sorting for Projects. And I eagerly await the return of Project and Context groupings. Keep up the good work.
From MikeDidIt on April 5th, 2007
Thanks for the rapid turnaround so far! Much appreciated.
I would like to second Eamon’s suggestion, “I’d love too if you could have the filtering and order details remembered each time you come back to the actions screen. It just takes time to refilter and reorder each time.”
I suggest having the filters be persistent. In other words, if I filter on “Work”, I want to stay in that filter on Actions until I change the filter. Today I filter, change an action, re-filter, cuss, add an action, re-filter, cuss, change an action, re-filter, cuss, etc. It would be MUCH more productive to retain the filter until I change it. It would save a lot of re-filtering and cussing
From becky on April 5th, 2007
really looking forward to the drag and drop capability. that’s the only thing so far that i feel vitalist is lacking. thanks!
From Rachel on April 5th, 2007
I third the remembering of filters.
From heather on April 5th, 2007
note on my comment above regarding the notes box – this was intended for the full edit view of an action, not the double click quick-edit section.
also – i fourth remembering filters!
From Daniel on April 5th, 2007
That means I get to take the Fifth!
From pkrobin on April 5th, 2007
I’d like to float an idea that I would like maybe down the road.
That would be the ability to quickly print basically every view as a batch job. I am newer to GTD and I print all the lists one at a time when I do my weekly review. Perhaps others do the same? The project view when you get it done may be enough, not sure yet which is why I’m just floating it.
Thanks.
From Paul on April 6th, 2007
I had an idea for something that’s hopefully pretty easy to implement. I use the filters to kind of flash through a series of contexts to get a quick idea of how much there is to do in each area. This would be a lot more convenienr if there was a “remove” link in the contexts filter box. Maybe just next to the “Manage” link. Is this something other people would use, or is this just my way of doing things? I realize the remove link is at the bottom of the list, but it just one more thing to hunt for.
Thanks guys!
From Stephen on April 6th, 2007
You rock! Thanks for all the hard work so our work is a little easier.
I’d like to 6th the idea of having filters remembered. I might check my todo’s from two different computers and then I have to remember what I was checking. Isn’t that the point, not having me remember stuff
Will we be able to group by 2 contexts? If so, I can setup a 15, 30, 45, 60 minute context and be able to not only see what needs to be done where I’m at but by how much time I have at that moment also or, as suggested in the book, by my energy level.
Oh, or you could allow us to customize the priority setting. For some, it could be off, some a 1 – 4, some a a – d, or I – IV or 15, 30, 45, 60. The backend wouldn’t change (Just limit us to 4 settings) and it would only require an added call to see how the information should be displayed.
Just a thought, I like the idea of tracking how much time something is going to take so I can fit it during downtimes.
Thanks again,
Stephen
From jordan fowler on April 6th, 2007
hey you know those dolls i made of you that i said i had stopped sticking pins in…. i just threw them away after reading this post. GREAT customer service guys.
From MikeDidIt on April 7th, 2007
Feature changes:
1) I second Paul’s idea of putting a “Remove” link in the Context Filters box next to “Manage”. Otherwise when your context has a list that exceeds one page visible, you have to scroll to get to the remove link. Time waster and hand/arm saver.
One alternative would be to put the “Currently filtering on” information at the top of the page where it is always visible regardless of list length.
2) For consistency, please put a “New Context” link at the top in the line with “New Action” and “New Project”.
Thank you!
From MikeDidIt on April 7th, 2007
Note to Jordan: Can you imagine how many dolls the Vitalist people have for all of us? Hopefully they will be lenient with their use of pins as we are truly trying to help them help us love Vitalist to the degree of upgrading
From Nitin Badjatia on April 7th, 2007
Don’t forget to refresh the mobile client! Without context filtering, using vitalist.mobi is extremely frustrating.
It took a day or two to get into the rhythm of using the fresh look and feel of Vitalist, but I’m now working more effectively with all the enhancements.
“Filtering by project now includes all appropriate sub-project actions”
From Nitin Badjatia on April 7th, 2007
….I’m not sure why this part of my comment got cutoff above:
“Filtering by project now includes all appropriate sub-project actions”
From Nitin Badjatia on April 7th, 2007
…It did it again (sorry):
“Filtering by project now includes all appropriate sub-project actions” This is really, really useful. I’ve setup master projects that reflect large blocks for me : “Work, Home, Blog, etc.” Having these blocked out, with sub-projects included in the filter mechanism means I can quickly hone my next action list to a specific area that I want to focus on. That’s really cool.
What’s still limiting is the inability to see, one one page, which projects have next actions, and which ones don’t. That is an absolute necessity for weekly reviews.
It goes without saying that the app is a whole lot faster than before, and the ‘double click to edit’ is one of the reasons why.
Overall, keep up the great work! …and update the mobile client asap!
From theTerran on April 7th, 2007
As always, the Vitalist team has come through with rapid and excellent service, turning out feature requests at a rate that makes heads spin. Great work, guys!
Nitin, I agree that a means of showing actions for projects is essential, but I’m not sure how this should be handled, or what exactly to suggest. My first thought (and still the best idea I’ve had on this) was to create actions for projects, but not show those actions on the action list until they had been assigned to contexts.
When creating or reviewing my projects, I often add many new action items on the spot — but usually only one or two are truly “Next Actions”; the others are just things I know will have to be done on the project, but a little later. Defining lots of actions during the mode or while creating a project is efficient, but having all those actions you can’t yet do appear in the Actions list is frustrating. The list gets overwhelming that way.
I know we have the Someday list, too, and can assign items to a project there as well; however, we then have to check two views to see items for a project (Actions filtered by project, then Someday filtered by project). If we could see all actions defined for a project under the project view (maybe just show the actions on the project page?), or could change a preference in Settings (check box to hide Project actions without context from Actions list) to keep our action lists more manageable, this would be extremely helpful.
Maybe both of those ideas could work, together even. Whatever the solution, I trust the Vitalist folks will find it, and do a great job of implementation.
From theTerran on April 7th, 2007
I’ve really got to start writing my longer posts outside this little text box…
“Defining lots of actions during the mode…” should have been either “Defining lots of actions during review…” or “…actions in review mode…” — just got my brain crossed up!
From Ken on April 8th, 2007
I don’t know if anyone mentioned this yet, but I think the inbox counter in the menu shouldn’t count items completed while still in the inbox (due to 2 min rule or something else).
From Barry on April 8th, 2007
I just remembered something else I liked from before. The ability to print a complete list of projects with the actions associated with them. With the new sub-projects ability, that would be even better.
Thanks you guys for the hard and expecially quick work.
From Amanda Styles on April 9th, 2007
I want to second what everyone is saying about Vitalist being such a great great product. Thank you so much!
I would love it if I could add a context when doing a quick add of a task. I’m not sure how to pull that off, but that would actually be more important to me than being able to add the project that easily.
From Mike R. on April 9th, 2007
I just started using Vitalist and so far I’m pretty happy with it.
My only gripes have been addressed by others, which are the sort issue and i would like to be able to add a context using the quick add. Finally I would also prefer a yearly or longer term subscription option.
Is there a road map where we can see what features are planned for future versions?
So Far so good keep up the great work!
From Joe Lassiter on April 9th, 2007
I have been using Vitalist exclusively (changing from Remember the Milk) and I am excited about all of the GTD functionality.
On my “wish list” for the product is the ability to print to hPDA index cards (I have been successful in doing this with some formatting on my end, but a built-in feature would be very helpful).
Keep up the great work!
From Mark on April 9th, 2007
I appreciate the attention to our feedback.
I would like to request that reports be printable with or without notes (controlled by a checkbox?)
I would also like to see a pocketmod type report. I moved over from ThinkingRock, and that was one of my favorite parts of that program.
Thanks again!
From Lynn E. O'Connor on April 9th, 2007
I think I must be missing something. In the “old” vitalist, which I loved, every day I printed out my lilst of things to do, listed by context. It was all on a few pages, and was exactly what we are supposed to be doing, that I find so helpful, that is having a next action list organized by context. Given that everyone seems very happy with the new program, I am sure there must be a way to do this central GTD method of tracking things to get done. However, I haven’t discovered it. If someone could give me concrete instructions, I would be most grateful.
Lynn
From Barry on April 9th, 2007
I agree with Mark. Printable projects with or without notes would be great.
Thanks again for listening.
From Paul on April 10th, 2007
Since comments seem to be the forum for these things and I haven’t seen any comments on this, I’ll post it here. I really like the new notes implementation where I can add multiple notes to any item (including projects and contacts!!!). So, thank you thank you for that! One small improvement I would like sometime down the road is the ability to edit a previously entered note. Right now I only have the option to delete it. I know I could delete it and add a new one, but that’s a lot of work to go through for a typo. Thanks guys!
From Joe on April 10th, 2007
Do we have any sort of timeline on the action list by context/project being reinstated? The mobi page is worthless without it.
I would also like to see which projects don’t have a next action associated with it.
Thanks.
From Mark on April 10th, 2007
I love the new interface, but desparately miss a feature of the old.
(This is a repeat, but just want to be sure you know more people need it. )
I lived in the project View, with Next Action filter. I cannot find a similar view in the new interface.
Am I missing something that is available?
Am I using VitaList drastically different than others?
Thanks for any help finding this view in the new version.
From Greg on April 10th, 2007
AHHHHHH! I can’t take checking back any more!!! Without Actions by context I am not even using Vitalist. I just got done switching everything over from RTM and without some timeline other than “will take longer to release” I need to consider that it may be months before the useful features return. I need to “Get Things Done” before that. Beta test fellas, beta test. C’mon. I would have paid $20 a month for the previous version. All of this for Sub-projects? GTD says to find a “trusted system”, this move sure shook that ground.
From Greg on April 10th, 2007
Forums would also be nice.
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/forums/
From Amanda on April 10th, 2007
Since we’re all here to improve Vitalist as much as we can, I wanted to suggest that a filter for items with no context would be helpful (so I can go back and add contexts after quick adds).
Thank you!!
From MikeDidIt on April 10th, 2007
I agree that having the ability to view items with no context is important. Same with items without a project. Otherwise, I sometimes stumble on actions that don’t have a context or project, so they effectively fall under my radar. Thanks.
From erwin blom on April 11th, 2007
I really like the ‘double click edit’ feature.
But i don’t understand why you then don’t open the complete edit function.
When i double click i can edit context, but i have to click on the pencil to add an action to a project.
I don’t understand the logic behind that.
From Matt on April 11th, 2007
Erwin,
I am not exactly sure what you mean. The major edit functions are available using the quick edit.
Please direct support emails to support@vitalist.com.
Matt
From Chris on April 11th, 2007
Great news that you’re still planning on bringing back Context and Project groupings.
Because of the way I organise my workflow I haven’t been able to use Vitalist since you made the changes, and I really miss it!
From Stephen on April 11th, 2007
Is there a way to add a project and then while brain storming, add just actions to that project? If not, can we add that to the wish list? Right now I’m having to add everything to my inbox and then put it into the correct project.
I’m starting to see the biggest issue is simply relearning vitalist. A bunch of the functionality is still there, it just isn’t as natural and intuitive. Have you started coding for Microsoft or something
From Jason on April 14th, 2007
Is there any way to add the context to the new actions in-line add section? Right now in order to add a new action with a context, you have to do it the long way….. however it is great to have the ability to add the project, but adding the context in-line would make it super.
From Vitalist is on the Mend » Shaine Mata . net on April 17th, 2007
[...] According to their blog, the developers of Vitalist have been working to fix all the issues that resulted from their upgrade. They are still working on restoring the ability to sort your next actions by context. In addition, the upgrades caused some problems with the mobile version of Vitalist. The mobile version is very handy because you can carry your GTD system with you to make quick entries on the go. Like many of the other users, I can’t wait until the repairs to the functionality of Vitalist are restored. The developers have been very responsive to their users. [...]
From Phil on April 24th, 2007
I agree with Paul:
“One small improvement I would like sometime down the road is the ability to edit a previously entered note. Right now I only have the option to delete it. I know I could delete it and add a new one, but that’s a lot of work to go through for a typo.”
Also, can an option be created in Settings to choose between the old Notes system (one note; editable) and the new Notes system (commenting system)?
You guys rock.