Voo2do has been growing fast lately, and more people are writing to me with suggestions and requests. One request is getting more and more common: could you make it faster?

In my personal use of voo2do, I haven’t found it too annoyingly slow, except when saving changes to a large list of tasks. But of course as many new people sign up, my simple, cheap server is getting more loaded. It has generally been fine, getting slower under load but not crashing and burning. Still, as several users have pointed out, speed makes a big difference in this kind of web app. It’s not just aesthetic; if it takes you 1 minute to figure out what you should do during a five minute break, voo2do is charging quite a premium for whatever benefits it offers. This might well push voo2do out of the zone of being worth your while.

So I’m wondering: do you want voo2do to be faster? And for the techies out there: can you recommend (or offer?) a dedicated server hosting plan that features a fast computer and Internet uplink at a reasonable price?

Voo2do user Robbie Coleman has created an updated Voo2do Windows tray application based on Girish Bharadwaj’s original voo2dotray. This version can save your login information, and includes some bugfixes, notably one addressing the issue where refreshes would crash the program if you have and projects that contain no tasks.

This application sits in your Windows tray (on the Start bar, near the clock) and lets you view and update your Voo2do tasks at a glance.

Robbie’s version requires that you install the Microsoft .NET framework 2.0. This is unlike the original, which used .NET 1.1.

I like this app a lot. Thanks, Girish and Robbie… now who’s going to write the Linux/GNOME version?

Update 12/20/2005: Robbie has fixed a couple more bugs having to do with proxies and the login dialog. Use the links above to download the latest version.

Dion Hinchcliffe, Voo2do user and Web 2.0 blogger, has honored Voo2do as the best online todo list application:

Category: Online To Do Lists

Best Offering: Voo2do

Description: Ever more of the software we use on a daily basis is moving online, from e-mail to feed readers. To-do list managers are no exception. I’ve used a variety of them and so far the one that’s resonated with me most is Voo2do. A one person operation run by Shimon Rura, Voo2do uses Ajax sparingly but very effectively to let you create and manage multiple to do lists. With an API available for you to access or export your data with your own programs, support for Joel Spolsky’s Painless Software Scheduling method, Voo2do is the embodiment of simple, satisfying software.

Runners-Up: Tada Lists and Remember The Milk

Full article: The Best Web 2.0 Software of 2005

Thank you for the kind words, Dion, and a big welcome to new users heading our way thanks to the article!

Voo2do user Carlo Bonamico sent along some tips, which may be especially useful for programmers who use Visual Studio along with Voo2do.

I would like to point out a few tips that might be useful to you and other users:

To backup all tasks automatically with wget (available on linux, but also on windows either in cygwin or stand-alone - search wget windows on google) [ed: try here]:

wget.exe -O alltasks.xml http://voo2do.com/api/getAllTasks?userId=4..6&loginHash=e..1

Obviously userid and loginHash (obtained with getLoginHash) must be changed. [ed: see Voo2do API documentation]

The same could be achieved with the more flexible CURL tool, which even allows for doing POSTs and file uploads from the command line.

The same tool can be used to add tasks from a batch file or from the tools/external tools of Visual Studio 6

wget.exe” -O result.htm http://voo2do.com/api/saveTask?userId=4..6&loginHash=e..1&projName=PROJECT1&estOrig=1.5&elapsed=.5&taskdesc=%1

In VS:
Tools/customize/tools
add a new tool
Command line: wget.exe with full path
Arguments: -O $(WkspName).htm http://voo2do.com/api/saveTask?userId=4..6&loginHash=e..1&projName=$(WkspName)&estOrig=1&taskdesc=$(CurText)
Use output window: true

So you will add the current txt selection to a V2D project named after your workspace…

You can also add a kb shortcut.

Thanks, Carlo!

Loyal users of Voo2do,

You may have noticed that the pace of development on Voo2do has slowed somewhat. I am working on some major new features — group support, reminders, a variety of UI improvements — but I have also just started a new job. Please bear with me while I finish a few of these features, and keep on sending me your excellent suggestions!

Girish Bharadwaj has posted an Outlook macro that can automatically export your task list from Outlook into Voo2do and similar systems. If you’ve been an Outlook user, this is an easy way to try out some new systems.

Now if only someone would write something that went the other direction: from Voo2do into Outlook!

Web 2.0 directory eHub has posted an interview with me about Voo2do. If you’re curious about what prompted me to start Voo2do and where it’s going, check it out.

eHub: What is your design philosophy?

voo2do: Everything should be as simple, automatic, fast, and pleasant as possible. The problem with to-do lists and productivity methodologies is that it’s way too easy to let them slide and get off track. If its colors are warm and welcoming, and if the UI is packed with little wonders, that can be the little push that keeps you going. Conversely, if the application is slow or broken or ugly, it can be the little stumble that kills the whole process.

So unlike other projects I’ve done where I focused on developing something that was theoretically interesting, I have tried in Voo2do to focus relentlessly on quality of the user experience, from prospective user/newbie to power user. Whenever I think of adding a feature I try to do it in the most unobtrusive possible way.

Read the full interview »

New competitor! Remember the Milk is yet another to-do list manager with lots of Ajax interface tricks. I have to say though, I’ve found the navigation flow to be somewhat confusing. To do anything, you have to select a task, then click somewhere on the top or right side of the window to continue. I won’t be switching away from Voo2do, but hey, I realize I’m biased!

Of course, I use “competitor” in the loosest possible sense, because it seems neither one of us has any way to make money. In any case, I have a week off of work coming up and will be adding a number of cool features to Voo2do. So stay tuned, and keep on sending me those suggestions!

Here’s the current table of todo tasks for voo2do itself. The number in [square braces] indicates how many people have emailed me asking for this feature.

Feel free to take a look and let me know if you’d like a certain feature pushed to a higher priority.

Speaking of priorities:
1 = working on this right away
2 = very likely to be in next update (~2 weeks)
3 through 9 = lower priority but desirable
10+ = not even sure if this feature belongs in voo2do

In related news, one of the new collaboration-focused features will be “published projects”, whereby I will be able to have a public-readable URL that serves a read-only list of tasks in my voo2do project. You don’t want to know what a pain it was to get the table below into postable form.

On to the table… Read the rest of this entry »

Denis Perekhrest (of http://inforedesign.com) has invented a cool way to connect your del.icio.us bookmarks to Voo2do. He’s using RssFwd, a service that watches an RSS feed and sends you email whenever a new item is posted, and Voo2do’s new support for adding tasks via email. Very Web 2.0.

The full article is at inforedesign and in Russian, but Denis kindly emailed me an English translation:

Read the rest of this entry »