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Kitlog Pro Development

 
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Matt Dralle
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Joined: 08 Nov 2005
Posts: 26320
Location: Livermore CA USA

PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 2:51 pm    Post subject: Kitlog Pro Development Reply with quote

Well, there's a sad story about the history of the Kitlog Development cycle. After I acquired the Kitlog Pro company, I enlisted the programmer that had been doing some of the minor development on the product prior. I'd never met him and we mostly only exchanged emails. I did speak to him on the phone on one occasion. I gave him a huge, long, list of new features and enhancements that many customers were wanting to see in Kitlog. It was tagged the 3.0 Version. Keeping him working was always a challenge, but time passed and he worked through nearly the whole list (I was paying him by the hour). At one point, he subcontracted some of the tasks to an overseas code house (I suspect China, as the spelling and grammar on some of the dialogs was atrocious). I finally got a pre-release version to try and sure enough, every one of the features I'd asked for was included. The bad news, most of them didn't work or didn't work as expected. But worst, the whole program was completely unstable and crashed constantly. Obviously, he had done little if any testing along the way. At this point, I had to make a decision. I had already spent a substantial amount for the development such as it was. It would easily take that much or more to "fix" everything and I'd still be fairly suspect of the quality. I decided to take a step back at that point and come up with a new game plan. I had to sell quite a few more copies of Kitlog to recoup the cost of all that wasted development.

Well, the good news is that I've found an awesome new developer that has lots of experience in this coding environment. In fact, I work with him face to face on another job. So, we decided to just take the 2.0 code base and start working from there. The biggest issue right now is the installer and compatibility with Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. These have been addressed and I'm testing a new installer currently that is working very well and has a super smooth installation across all of the versions of Windows. There are also a number of user interface enhancements including the ability to just drag and drop pictures on a given construction log. Printing reliability is also vastly improved. There are also lots of little tweaks that make things work better. This version will likely be dubbed "2.1". Once that's out the door and working, we have some great plans to add some of the other often-asked-for features like spell checking, rich text, larger text fields, more pictures per log entry, etc. It will likely be dubbed "3.0".

Version 2.1 will be a free update. Version 3.0 will likely be a paid upgrade.

Best regards,

Matt Dralle
Matronics / Kitlog Pro

At 08:15 PM 12/12/2012 Wednesday, you wrote:
Quote:
Hear, hear. I too would like to see an update to Kitlog Pro. I'd certainly consider paying for a major upgrade. If Matt will consider this I hope he solicits input from users to decide on features.

Ralph Finch
On Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 3:44 PM, DeWitt (Dee) Whittington <<mailto:dee.whittington(at)gmail.com>dee.whittington(at)gmail.com> wrote:
Matt,

I've donated to you for years. I and my three partners continue to build our Sportsman and hopefully will fly in the Spring. However, this year I held off donating because I'm waiting for an update to the Kitlog Pro computer program you own. When you purchased Kitlog Pro, you said you would clean it up and make it easier to use. As of now the interface is really clunky and it cannot handle multiple builders of a single project, something that in my experience is not uncommon.

Have you decided such improvement of Kitlog Pro is not something you are willing to spend time on? If you did I would enthusiastically endorse it to other builders and start donating again.

Dee Whittington


Matt G Dralle | Matronics | 581 Jeannie Way | Livermore | CA | 94550
925-606-1001 V | 925-606-6281 F | dralle(at)matronics.com Email
http://www.matronics.com/ WWW | Featuring Products For Aircraft


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rleffler



Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posts: 680

PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 3:29 pm    Post subject: Kitlog Pro Development Reply with quote

So is there an ETA for 2.1?

Bob

Sent from my iPad

On Dec 13, 2012, at 5:49 PM, Matt Dralle <dralle(at)matronics.com> wrote:

Quote:



Well, there's a sad story about the history of the Kitlog Development cycle. After I acquired the Kitlog Pro company, I enlisted the programmer that had been doing some of the minor development on the product prior. I'd never met him and we mostly only exchanged emails. I did speak to him on the phone on one occasion. I gave him a huge, long, list of new features and enhancements that many customers were wanting to see in Kitlog. It was tagged the 3.0 Version. Keeping him working was always a challenge, but time passed and he worked through nearly the whole list (I was paying him by the hour). At one point, he subcontracted some of the tasks to an overseas code house (I suspect China, as the spelling and grammar on some of the dialogs was atrocious). I finally got a pre-release version to try and sure enough, every one of the features I'd asked for was included. The bad news, most of them didn't work or didn't work as expected. But worst, the whole program was comp!
letely unstable and crashed constantly. Obviously, he had done little if any testing along the way. At this point, I had to make a decision. I had already spent a substantial amount for the development such as it was. It would easily take that much or more to "fix" everything and I'd still be fairly suspect of the quality. I decided to take a step back at that point and come up with a new game plan. I had to sell quite a few more copies of Kitlog to recoup the cost of all that wasted development.

Well, the good news is that I've found an awesome new developer that has lots of experience in this coding environment. In fact, I work with him face to face on another job. So, we decided to just take the 2.0 code base and start working from there. The biggest issue right now is the installer and compatibility with Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. These have been addressed and I'm testing a new installer currently that is working very well and has a super smooth installation across all of the versions of Windows. There are also a number of user interface enhancements including the ability to just drag and drop pictures on a given construction log. Printing reliability is also vastly improved. There are also lots of little tweaks that make things work better. This version will likely be dubbed "2.1". Once that's out the door and working, we have some great plans to add some of the other often-asked-for features like spell checking, rich text, larger text fields, mor!
e pictures per log entry, etc. It will likely be dubbed "3.0".

Version 2.1 will be a free update. Version 3.0 will likely be a paid upgrade.

Best regards,

Matt Dralle
Matronics / Kitlog Pro



At 08:15 PM 12/12/2012 Wednesday, you wrote:
> Hear, hear. I too would like to see an update to Kitlog Pro. I'd certainly consider paying for a major upgrade. If Matt will consider this I hope he solicits input from users to decide on features.
>
> Ralph Finch
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 3:44 PM, DeWitt (Dee) Whittington <<mailto:dee.whittington(at)gmail.com>dee.whittington(at)gmail.com> wrote:
> Matt,
>
> I've donated to you for years. I and my three partners continue to build our Sportsman and hopefully will fly in the Spring. However, this year I held off donating because I'm waiting for an update to the Kitlog Pro computer program you own. When you purchased Kitlog Pro, you said you would clean it up and make it easier to use. As of now the interface is really clunky and it cannot handle multiple builders of a single project, something that in my experience is not uncommon.
>
> Have you decided such improvement of Kitlog Pro is not something you are willing to spend time on? If you did I would enthusiastically endorse it to other builders and start donating again.
>
> Dee Whittington



Matt G Dralle | Matronics | 581 Jeannie Way | Livermore | CA | 94550
925-606-1001 V | 925-606-6281 F | dralle(at)matronics.com Email
http://www.matronics.com/ WWW | Featuring Products For Aircraft









- The Matronics AeroElectric-List Email Forum -
 

Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?AeroElectric-List

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Bob Leffler
N410BL - Phase I
http://mykitlog.com/rleffler
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Matt Dralle
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Joined: 08 Nov 2005
Posts: 26320
Location: Livermore CA USA

PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 9:14 am    Post subject: Kitlog Pro Development Reply with quote

I'm hoping within a couple of months if things continue to progress as well as they have been.

Matt Dralle
Matronics / Kitlog Pro

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Bob Leffler <rv(at)thelefflers.com> wrote:[quote] [quote]--> AeroElectric-List message posted by: Bob Leffler <rv(at)thelefflers.com>So is there an ETA for 2.1?BobSent from my iPadOn Dec 13, 2012, at 5:49 PM, Matt Dralle <dralle(at)matronics.com> wrote:
Quote:
--> AeroElectric-List message posted by: Matt Dralle <dralle(at)matronics.com>Well, there's a sad story about the history of the Kitlog Development cycle. After I acquired the Kitlog Pro company, I enlisted the programmer that had been doing some of the minor development on the product prior. I'd never met him and we mostly only exchanged emails. I did speak to him on the phone on one occasion. I gave him a huge, long, list of new features and enhancements that many customers were wanting to see in Kitlog. It was tagged the 3.0 Version. Keeping him working was always a challenge, but time passed and he worked through nearly the whole list (I was paying him by the hour). At one point, he subcontracted some of the tasks to an overseas code house (I suspect China, as the spelling and grammar on some of the dialogs was atrocious). I finally got a pre-release version to try and sure enough, every one of the features I'd asked for was included. The bad news, most of them didn't work or didn't work as expected. But worst, the whole program was comp!letely unstable and crashed constantly. Obviously, he had done little if any testing along the way. At this point, I had to make a decision. I had already spent a substantial amount for the development such as it was. It would easily take that much or more to "fix" everything and I'd still be fairly suspect of the quality. I decided to take a step back at that point and come up with a new game plan . I had to sell quite a few more copies of Kitlog to recoup the cost of all that wasted development. Well, the good news is that I've found an awesome new developer that has lots of experience in this coding environment. In fact, I work with him face to face on another job. So, we decided to just take the 2.0 code base and start working from there. The biggest issue right now is the installer and compatibility with Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. These have been addressed and I'm testing a new installer currently that is working very well and has a super smooth installation across all of the versions of Windows. There are also a number of user interface enhancements including the ability to just drag and drop pictures on a given construction log. Printing reliability is also vastly improved. There are also lots of little tweaks that make things work better. This version will likely be dubbed "2.1". Once that's out the door and working, we have some great pl ans to add some of the other often-asked-for features like spell checking, rich text, larger text fields, mor!e pictures per log entry, etc. It will likely be dubbed "3.0". Version 2.1 will be a free update. Version 3.0 will likely be a paid upgrade.Best regards,Matt DralleMatronics / Kitlog ProAt 08:15 PM 12/12/2012 Wednesday, you wrote:
Quote:
Hear, hear. I too would like to see an update to Kitlog Pro. I'd certainly consider paying for a major upgrade. If Matt will consider this I hope he solicits input from users to decide on features.Ralph FinchOn Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 3:44 PM, DeWitt (Dee) Whittington <<mailto:dee.whittington(at)gmail.com>dee.whittington(at)gmail.com> wrote:Matt,I've donated to you for years. I and my three partners conti nue to build our Sportsman and hopefully will fly in the Spring. However, this year I held off donating because I'm waiting for an update to the Kitlog Pro computer program you own. When you purchased Kitlog Pro, you said you would clean it up and make it easier to use. As of now the interface is really clunky and it cannot handle multiple builders of a single project, something that in my experience is not uncommon.Have you decided such improvement of Kitlog Pro is not something you are willing to spend time on? If you did I would enthusiastically endorse it to other builders and start donating again.Dee Whittington
Matt G Dralle | Matronics | 581 Jeannie Way | Livermore | CA | 94550925-606-1001 V | 925-606-6281 F | dralle(at)matronics.com Emailhttp://www.matronics.com/ WWW | Featuring Products For Aircraft


- The Matronics AeroElectric-List Email Forum -
 

Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?AeroElectric-List

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