TimeNet Law 1.9.9 has reached beta. This is a sneak peak of the 1.9.9 release due out early next week. This update is massive and truly shows TimeNet Law as a shining, grown-up app.
For a full list of release notes, scroll down. Now for the highlights:
1. An entirely new data structure tremendously reduces read/write times for data and virtually eliminates program freezups and data corruption.
2. Tons and tons and tons of small improvements, bug fixes, tweaks and fixes. If you were annoyed with a bug in TimeNet Law, chances are it’s probably gone now!
3. All new invoices. We’re also paving the way towards fully customizable invoice templates in version 2.0. In addition to the new design, we’ve verified that ALL reported invoice generation bugs are now fixed! See release notes for full details.
4. Global Timer menubar. Now you can view time and case information from any application, and even start/pause timers without switching back to TimeNet Law. It also flashes red when timing so you always know when the timer is running.
5. Contextual Menus. Right-click in a case window to quickly add a charge or hourly item. Right-click in the invoice generation window to quickly set a date filter.
6. Backup Scheduler. Always ensure that your data is safe with the new Backup Scheduler.
7. New Task entry interface. Easier to attach files to tasks. Also notice that you can now change the rate and billing status. Billing status has three options: Billable, For My Eyes Only, and No Charge. And as an added bonus, the notes field got bigger too. Hooray for change!
8. Buzz Me! Create a Buzz Me! in seconds and TimeNet Law will let you get back to work with the peace of mind of knowing that you will be reminded exactly when you’re supposed to do that certain task. Buzz Me! reminders can also be sent across the network. Set a reminder on one machine and see it popup on all networked machines when it is time.
If you’d like to download the beta, please
click here. Several functions still don’t work, but the final release should be out by Monday morning.
Full Release Notes
*note: after the conversion, it’s possible that some cases may appear to have negative or otherwise strange looking balances. to fix this, simply open the case and the save it. the balance will be fixed. do this for each case that appears strange. you will only need to do this once.
Bug Fixes
- Entirely new data structure:
- dramatically reduces load times
- prevents program lockups in the event of data corruption
- can attempt to repair files in the event of data corruption
- allows for simplified and fast data backups, virtually eliminating data loss
- Improved read and write routines to fix memory leaks and data swap issues
- Late Fees are now shown on the bottom of the bill
- Bug that could cause hours in time column on invoices to switch around if time display is set to tenths
- Subtotal calculation errors on bills with date filters fixed
- Hourly tasks are now separated by other tasks on bill via headers
- The window that would appear on your billing day now opens the Billing Center properly
- Bug that could cause payments and fund deposits to jump from client to client now fixed
- Bug that could cause Billing Center to give OutOfBoundsException now fixed
- Billing Center now properly executes batch billing under all conditions
- Bug that could case Flat Fee Items to be removed fixed
- The option to save bills in Internet Explorer format has been deprecated and replaced with FireFox format
- Fixed bug that could cause crash if the invoice logo that was set is moved or deleted in the Finder
New Features/Changes
- Global Menubar Timer
- QuickSearch
- Vastly improved invoice design
- Creating open architecture for invoice templates in 2.0
- BuzzMe! reminder function
- In Case windows, right-clicking now brings up list of timekeepers and other charges to add (like the + button)
- In Create Bill window, right-clicking now brings up a contextual menu to quickly select a month to filter
- In Create Bill window, keyboard shortcuts have been created for corresponding date filters:
- Uses the Option key with the 12 keys between 1 and = on the keyboard
- Option+1 is January, Option+0 is October, Option+= is December, etc
- Option+L is Last Month, Option+T is This month
- In Create Bill Window, new “Draft” option
- when checked, bill(s) will be created but the case’s last billed date will not be updated (for verifying bills before finalizing them)
- Cmd+Up Arrow and Cmd+Down Arrow now work in date fields to move the day up or down respectively
- Files can now be attached to tasks; start a timer with an attached file and the file is opened automatically
- Option to only show task notes (and not task description) on bill
- Can now select and manually override hourly rates per task
- Can now selected billing status for a task: Billable, Non-Billable, No Charge
- Backup Scheduler
- Backup option in File menu now backs up data instead of just going to the Data Folder
- Improved client searching
- The timer can now be set to stop timing if the computer goes idle
- Late fees are now calculated based on a case’s last billed date rather than a case’s completion date; this is to allow for billing in an ongoing case that may have many billing periods before the case is finished
- Cases show when they were last billed
- Additional Charges can now be re-ordered with drag-and-drop (dragon drop)
- Auto-Complete items can now be re-ordered with drag-and-drop (dragon drop)
- New task entry interface with bigger notes field and nicer UI
- The Patronage Statement field has been deprecated. You may still create a footer using Preferences-Bill Layout
- The Apply Tax checkbox has been deprecated. Taxes are now calculated based on your Automatic Bookkeeper rules
- Clients no longer have the Taxable attribute. Client tax rules are now calculated based on that client’s Automatic Bookkeeper rules
- In order to customize a client’s taxable status, you must customize that client’s tax settings under Automatic Bookkeeper rules for the client
I’m very happy to announce that our retail copy of Snow Leopard arrived this morning. Here is the official compatibility report:
Recently, we’ve had a number of people tell us that when launching their software the software hangs in an infinite loop requiring a force quit (and thereby rendering the software unusable). We’ve only had reports of this happening on TimeNet Law, but TimeNet and MOMD could be effected too.
