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10/04/2010 11:00:51 AM
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WhistlingFish
Posts 40
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With thoughts of some simple additions focused on repair shops rather than individual builders, I figured a week would see these changes finished, or at least ready to undergo some rigorous testing.
As I've worked on these improvements, however, new features continually spring to mind, and it became apparent as the week progressed that Luthier's Journal was growing into a substantial piece of software. The result of that realisation is that Luthier's Workbench was born. I'll offer it as a separate product, but will of course continue to improve and support Luthier's Journal. Luthier's Workbench will essentially be the "pro" version and will provide greater choice for purchasers.
Some of the new functions and features to be provided by Luthier's Workbench:
* Generation of quotes, invoices, repair job sheets (basically an unpriced quote) and receipts.
* Auto-numbering of the above to ensure sequential numbering (and no duplicates).
* A new Revenue and Expenses tab on the main screen to track customer payments as well as outgoings. You can also record the tax component of these transactions; totals will be displayed at the bottom of the screen.
* Filtering of Revenue and/or Expenses by date or date range.
* Generation of appropriate reports displaying revenue and expenses. I haven't considered their design at this point, but it's flagged for my attention.
* Automated backup of the data file to a location nominated by the user. A backup can also be performed manually via a menu option on the main screen.
* Filtering of repairs displayed on the main screen to allow the option of showing only those repair jobs currently active, i.e., hide completed jobs.
* Option to hide completed builds on the main screen
* Redesign of the Customers screen to display a history of builds, repairs and payments for the selected customer.
There are several significant and not-so-significant changes to screen designs, some of which I'll also incorporate into Luthier's Journal as time permits.
As always, I'm open to suggestions - please let me know if there are other features you'd like to see. Stay tuned for progress reports and news of availability.
Cheer
Pete
PS: A special thanks to Todd Sams for volunteering to cast an unbiased eye over Luthier's Workbench prior to its release.
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13/04/2010 5:46:58 AM
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tsams
Posts 4
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Hi Pete,
Another idea hit me this weekend for a possible useful addition. Would it be possible to have a calander tied in so that you could allocate certain days and blocks of time each day for specific building and repair tasks. I have so many projects going building and repairing along with playing in a band and spending time with the wife and kids and doing yard and house repairs that I have to give myself lists to stay on task. I thought it might be a good addition to be able to bring up each calander day at will and allocate what you want to work on hour in half hour increments and maybe be able to tie each task in to the specific instrument. Example: I may glue top braces on two guitars then move on to a fret job while the glue dries and simultaneously have a bridge heater warming to remove a bad bridge. It's just way more effecient for me to have a daily list to work from rather than have to remember each instrument and step on the go.
Thanks for the special thanks, I'm really excited to give it a whirl
Todd
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13/04/2010 10:37:01 AM
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WhistlingFish
Posts 40
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Hi Todd
Yes, a calendar-based "to-do" list of sorts might be a good idea at some point - thanks for the suggestion. I have implemented something similar in an earlier piece of software so I have a bit of a head start when the time comes to consider it.
However, as the changes I'm currently working on will form the core of the new product and satisfy (I hope!) the majority of users, I'm inclined to put that one on my own "to-do" list for the time being. I'll always be looking for feedback and making improvements, so your idea will almost certainly see the light of day in some form in a future version. There's no such thing as a "final version"!
Thanks, and keep those ideas coming in!
Regards
Pete
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16/04/2010 2:45:58 PM
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WhistlingFish
Posts 40
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As Luthier's Journal has now morphed into a new product, further updates on this current crop of changes will appear in the Luthier's Workbench section of the forum.
The good news is that the changes are coming along nicely - I think you'll like what you see. The bad news is that I haven't spent time in my own workshop for weeks, and the guitars I'm building are gathering dust!
Cheers
Pete
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