Although I have to attend to many tasks with highier priority, I managed to finish the main window size customisation for SmallTime. The custom window width handle was removed and window resizing is now handled directly by the operating system. Right now everything seems to run smoothly.Text size transitions are not 100% smooth when the user creates many tasks, which is not a deal-breaker but I will have to look into it after the 1.8.9 release.

That being said, the next version will probably not be released this year because of my time constraints and the fact that the full window-size customization is a big change that could have unforeseen consequences that would be revealed after some time of active usage.

Meanwhile, I have prepared a prototype of a new SmallSkill Studio website, which will allow me to implement a broad set of features in the future. More about this troughtout the next year.

SmallTime 1.8.8 is here! After downloading this version you will be prompted to select the language of the application. Let’s get straight to the release notes:

New features

• improved text alignment in the task info window
• translations for american english, english english and slovak languages
• support for creating user generated translations
• correct date formats for english and slovak languages

Known issues

• crash in the settings window when all translation modules are deleted
• date format is not changed immediately after changing the language while the app is in the floating window mode
• language selection dialog is shown even when no language modules are installed

The forementioned issues are already fixed in the upcoming SmallTime 1.8.9 but another round of testing after implementig the fixes would cause too much of a delay.

Enjoy!

The release of SmallTime 1.8.8 is planned for September 7th, 2024. The main feature of this release will be support for running the app in different languages. This does include both text translation and date formats specific to a language. The initial release of this feature is a bit crude in some areas, for example, it does not play very well with long German words, but this will be addressed in the next releases. 

When you install the next release of SmallTime, you will find a translation manual in the installation directory. Most of the world’s languages should be supported, however, due to the technical limitations, there is still no support for Chinese characters, which should be addressed somewhere in the 2.0.0 release. Also, translations for languages of nations that are not internationally recognized may not be supported. However, I will be able to implement the support for such language upon a customer request.

There was an awful lot of silence around the development this year, but throughout the next couple of months I will explain why. There is currently a lot of stuff going on in the background 🙂

After a bit of a delay, here comes the new release of Smalltime! The main focus was providing a smooth user experience, but this release also contains a tech demo of translatable texts and different formats of dates. However, there is no user interface for enabling and configuring this feature, so you will have to be patient. If you are interested in making translations for SmallTime, check the translation_manual.txt in the application directory and send me an email to lubosmudrak93@gmail.com

SmallTime 1.8.7

Version: 1.8.7

Published: April 14, 2024

Download for Windows292 Downloads

Changelog:

new features:

• redesigned task editor screen to be more dynamic
• added scrolling ability to the input fields for task name and task description in the task editor
• added info messages for the crashes caused by issues with CPU
• added a notification after upgrading to the new version of SmallTime Datafile
• added prerequisities for text internationalization support
• added support for different date formats: DDMMYYYY, MMDDYYYY, YYYYMMDD (not working with the translations disabled)

bug fixes:

• fixed the sound notification icon misalignment while resizing the window
• fixed crash while changing DPI settings while the settings window is opened
• fixed the wrong graphical indication for the percentage of year passed when creating a countdown that ended more than a year ago
• fixed a potential crash when there is a wrong input for the task date. The user interface is now not the only layer of protection against app crash in this scenario.
• fixed the issue when the first press of a backspace button was ignored after clicking behind the last letter of the task name and slightly moving the mouse cursor while doing so
• fixed displaying of invalid dates in the task editor
• fixed input field for the task name not being clickable in all it’s height

Few weeks ago I goose-stepped into improving the design of SmallTime’s task editor because of preparation work for SmallTime’s internationalisation. This was rather unexpected for me, but it will make downloading the upcoming version of SmallTime worth your while, mainly if you like to use SmallTime for writing huge piles of text, which is now more comfortable.

You will also be able to test the first fruits of the internationalization process. Internationalization features will be disabled by default, and there is no user interface (yet) to enable them, but if you REALLY want to get a sneak peek at what is about to come, you will be able to enable them manually if you are an experienced PC user.

If everything goes well, SmallTime 1.8.7 will be released on the 3rd AIf everything goes well, SmallTime 1.8.7 will be released on April 3rd, 2024.

Since the core systems of SmallTime are in place and stabilized, I am finally free to start bringing you the long-awaited upgrade to your user experience. In this blog post, you will learn more about the roadmap for the SmallTime 1.9 series. Note that one version does not necessarily equal the whole four-month development cycle, and some features may be subject to change.

Another important thing to note is that I am not sure if it will be possible to bring in all the features mentioned below due to my resource constraints. You can help me with this issue by spreading the word about SmallTime and donating some money to help me bring you those features. I will make this much easier for you in the future, but that is not the topic for today.

SmallTime 1.9.0

The first step in the 1.9 series will be upgrading the development toolchain to make development easier. You will also be able to export and backup your SmallTime data in case of an emergency directly from the SmallTime user interface.

SmallTime 1.9.1

This one will probably be the most anticipated by people who like to tinker with the color palette of their applications to make their user experience as aesthetic as possible. You will be able to fully customize the color scheme of SmallTime. I look forward to seeing the new designs that will come out of this.

SmallTime 1.9.2

Sound alert improvements will be the main point of this release. Sound notification volume, muting the active sound alarms, and more sound notification types will be on their way to you.

SmallTime 1.9.3

In this release, the graphical customization options will go even further with the introduction of graphical mods. Graphical mods will be configuration files allowing you to customize the button icons, shape of the buttons, and probably more.

SmallTime 1.9.4

With a large number of tasks, it may be hard to find those that have the highest priority. This is why this release will give you the ability to drag and drop tasks into different positions so you can reorder them to your liking and needs.

SmallTime 1.9.5

Since setting up a new task can be cumbersome when creating lots of tasks in a row, you will be able to enable the quick access panel, where you can create certain types of tasks with a click of a button.

SmallTime 1.9.6

With an even larger number of tasks, you may want to filter tasks with high priority. Task filtering will be the flagship feature for this release.

SmallTime 1.9.7

The final step for window customization will be the dynamic size and placement in the task editor, settings window, and task description window. This is not a critical feature, but it is nice to have.

SmallTime 1.9.8

Full user interface multithreading will allow you to have multiple task editors or task descriptions opened simultaneously. This will be a useful feature for people who work with large amounts of data.

SmallTime 1.9.9

The last step in handling a large amount of tasks will be having each task displayed in a separate window. This, combined with the features mentioned above, will enable you to use part of the screen or the whole screen as an information panel.

The last few releases of SmallTime brought only minor features. Before implementing customization features in SmallTime 1.9, I want to have a rock-solid foundation on which I can build. This will be finished in December of next year if everything proceeds as planned. That does not mean you will not see any improvements; quite the contrary, you will get a more versatile experience. Here is a teaser of what is about to come:

SmallTime 1.8.7

This will be the last stabilization release, mainly consisting of bugfixes and making app functionality more safe. This means not only fixing potential undesired behavior or crashes, but also preventing them, making sure that if certain kinds of bugs will be introduced, they will be less likely to cause application failure. I also made the task editor look a bit better.

SmallTime 1.8.8

People of many nationalities are using Smalltime, so I will bring in support for translations. I plan to implement a first phase of internationalization system. Official translations will be bundled and available by default, and users will also be able to make their own translations, which will be installed via SmallTime’s interface or manually, by copying them into the SmallTime’s translation directory. I will reveal the plans for the second phase later. Also, translations may not be fully available and may be incomplete, depending on how well things go.

SmallTime 1.8.9

This version will have a fully customizable main window size. This is because of one potentially interesting use case, being using the whole monitor as a display for one or for a small number of tasks. If I will have enough time, I will also review other windows. The task editor would greatly benefit from better responsiveness of the UI to the window’s size.

1.9 and beyond

In the next blog post, I will reveal the roadmap for the 1.9 series. This will provide you with tools for customizing the look and feel of the app, and it will also provide you with tools for managing a large number of tasks.

Smalltime 1.8.6 brings a proper fix for saving and viewing your tasks 100% reliably, even if you move around the world. This is because the biggest design flaw, originating in 2014 was finally properly addressed. This may not affect you while everything works, but since the latest influx of SmallTime’s popularity, it has become very important to ensure a stable experience for everyone, no matter the lifestyle or the system configuration.

Bugfixes

• proper fix for saving a task time and date when moving trough timezones
• fix for saving window size when too large on an array of 16K monitors

Features

• improved texts in task progress bars
• more consistent formatting of time in the task info window

SmallTime 1.8.6 is also a maintenance release implementing compatibility with future customization updates. A roadmap for Smalltime’s internationalization and customization will be published troughout next few months. For now, enjoy a new version of the tool that is here for you to keep your eye on your life goals and important events.

This is a hotfix release of SmallTime 1.8.5. The revision 1 fixes a critical bug when deleting tasks. I have taken steps to prevent this issue from happening in the future. I am again sorry for the inconvenience.

There was a breaking bug found in Smalltime 1.8.5. This version is now withdrawn and a new, properly working version will be released as soon as possible. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

the bug was identified and proper measures will be taken prevent this incident in the future