Stinsonddog’s todoMatrix and ideaMatrix Review
Wow, it's not often when I
find a WoW program for the BB, but these two programs
from the REXguys at REXWireless are
just that. I have not seen a
development team like this, and I have had enough interaction with them to
understand that they are focused on the customer, you, yes you, and are
listening to your concerns. With
these programs, I am in shortcut heaven.
These programs are so packed with shortcuts that they are down to one
open Hot*Key, and well you just don't use them all up so I suspect they will
hold on to that precious one for a quite a while. Even a shortcut from home screen was
implemented for QWERTY units.
"I" is for ideaMatrix and "X" is for todoMatrix. Assigning a Blackberry convenience key
is essential, as programs that can't be quickly accessed aren't used nearly as
much. While the REXguys are
great, I did have three items that I felt slowed the program down or made it
less user friendly. To show you how
responsive they are, they have made adjustments for
two of them already. You will need
a little familiarity before you can see why so read on, but I will summarize
them here. The two items added were
the ability to jump to a drawer or folder, and an alpha sort. The remaining item is the lack of the
ability to use ALT-scroll to edit from the detailed to-do screen.
Let's first explore what
these programs are and the top ten reasons people use the programs:
todoMatrix
We all know that the task management capabilities of the Blackberry are pretty
limited. todoMatrix is a to-do / task management / project
management application that can manage an unlimited number of personal and
delegated tasks, organized by project drawers and folder, cross indexed by time
and assigned delegate, enabling you to stay on top of deadlines with
highly-flexible reminder and snooze alert functions, and sort tasks by a
wide-variety of fields, priorities, and dates.. Note a few key terms here
unlimited, delegated, and cross-indexed.
That's a lot of power packed into this program since you can assign your
todo's to anyone in your address book and you can sort and find all of your
todo's with ease. todoMatrix is ideal for the
professional who juggles multiple projects simultaneously, both at work and
home. Centralize your to-do management on your BlackBerry, and whether you are
in the office or not, your projects and priorities are always well organized
and with you (until your spouse gives you the "look."). Note that both todoMatrix and ideaMatrix
are memory stay resident programs, meaning that it must be running otherwise
all Always*Safe backups, synchronization, and alerts will cease working on the
unit.
There is a menu choice to stop the todoMatrix
software.
TOP 10
FEATURES
1. Unlimited categories and unlimited project folders and individual to-do's.
2. Screen aware Hot*Keys
3. Quick and easy to use Super*Snooze system
4. Three date in advance
reminder alerts per task with recurrence
options
5. Inject tasks from
BlackBerry standard applications like E-Mail, Phone Log, Browser, and four
other points.
6. Delegate task to team members
7. Advanced priority and status fields - fits popular time-management
systems
8. Multiple, flexible sorting views / schemes
9. Always*Safe backup to web with triple-DES encryption
10. REXdesktop.com worldwide access option
ideaMatrix
ideaMatrix is an unlimited, free-form idea and notes management database and
features REXwireless's quick free-form Indy*Search
that allows you to find information quickly and efficiently, even years
later.. Keeping track of years of
many ideas, good and bad thoughts, and Blackberry pearls of wisdom requires
much more flexibility and control than the 'MemoPad'
applet that comes standard with the BlackBerry. One of the key distinctions between
ideaMatrix and todoMatrix is that you can keep large freeform notes in each
record, and you can use a password to hide them from plain sight (a full note
encryption option is being considered for later this year). As with todoMatrix,
you get unlimited categories, folders and notes, plus reminder alerts with
snooze, and screen aware Hot*Keys.
You have a variety of sort options too. With always*Safe backup to web with
triple-DES encryption, and the REXdesktop.com worldwide access option, you can
update your handheld from any internet PC and be sure that your data is
safe. ideaMatrix’s user interface is similar to
todoMatrix, REXwireless’ to-do / task
management product, but the underlying database is specially configured to
accommodate large note sizes and enable efficient free form search of this
dataset.
ideaMatrix or todoMatrix or both
ideaMatrix can handle really large fields. todoMatrix has and will continue to have a field limit into
the future for performance reasons while ideaMatrix will not - the REXguys
remain focused on keeping todoMatrix really quick, even if you have hundreds of
folders and thousands of tasks in their Matrix. The main differences are
todoMatrix is preconfigured with certain capabilities not in ideaMatrix.
In todoMatrix, you can delegate as a task, set a delegation due date, and
assign a status, priority and due date. You also have enhanced sorting by
field, and three different alerts per item and recurring alerts. Thus
there is more power to force your follow ups in todoMatrix. As
you read about "injecting" below, note that in many cases you might
get a field full error when the injected text exceeds todoMatrix’s
256 character limit. Each of these products is 59.95 each or 99.95
bundled. The REXdesktop below is an additional
$18 per year (as of this writing (REXwireless
grandfather’s a person’s price so you know what you are signing up
for up front) which is quite reasonable. REXdesktop
is essential if you want full keyboard and screen access to your data but REXwireless offers complimentary data backup over wireless
with Always*Safe, even if you don’t purchase the REXdesktop
optional service. Does it make
sense to try one before you try the other? Maybe so, just focus on the
field size limitations and the follow up features of todoMatrix.
REXdesktop
REXdesktop is a web-based browser system that enables
secure access to your REXwireless BlackBerry-resident
databases and wireless synchronization using a broadband-connected Windows PC,
Apple Mac, or Linux desktop. Data
is first encrypted and then wirelessly backed-up to the REXwireless.net
customer portal. Data is safe and recoverable, even if the BlackBerry thrown
out of the car by your angry spouse. Customers that opt for our web-desktop
service can update their datasets from any internet PC (modern browser and
broadband recommended).
Here's the WoW
On Feb 6, 2007, they released a new version of these
products called the "SI-1" release. SI stands for 'system integration"
and SI-1 is the first of three defined SI projects that the REXguys, as they
call themselves have in store for us. SI-1's goal is to convert any blip that
happens in one's life into a reference item, a task to accomplish, a goal to
remember, without re-typing or cumbersome cut-navigate-paste. The REXguys see
the BlackBerry as a revolutionary and enabling tool for this approach because
it is always with you, and when
configured properly, all one's communications flow through it, making it the
perfect collection point for this real-time-life-integration approach - PC's are deskbound and therefore, quite limiting.
Specifically, the SI-1 release adds click-menu based injection of work, tasks,
and reference information from wherever it is found on the BlackBerry into
todoMatrix and ideaMatrix. Seven data injection points from standard RIM
BlackBerry applications / API's have been provided in the SI-1 releases of
todoMatrix and ideaMatrix:
1) E-Mail Inbox / Outbox
2) Phone / Phonelog
3) Address Book
4) BlackBerry browser
5) Tasks applet
6) Memopad
7) Calendar
Starting with this release, a BlackBerry professional using todoMatrix and
ideaMatrix can schedule or save information for later follow-up with a couple
of easy clicks, setting alerts and other elements, and then return instantly
back to the point of origin.
The second important piece of the SI-1 release is that they enhanced todoMatrix's and ideaMatrix's
ability to trigger events such as instantly dialing a phone number, sending an
email, or visiting a URL with a browser from the view-mode screens. View mode
is when you are looking at an individual record. They also added a number of smaller
enhancements, remapped the [D] Hot*Key to be an instant done/notstarted toggle in todoMatrix. I kind of twisted there arms pointing
out that every current BlackBerry unit has a dedicated
So here is the SI-1 release in action:
1) Start in BlackBerry E-Mail inbox 2)
Menu click and choose "Inject into ideaMatrix" (or todoMatrix) -
3) Select what information you want to inject 4)
Select a destination folder, keeping yourself well-organized -
5) Add any alert option or simply save it
6) Instantly return back to your BlackBerry
E-Mail inbox
And
notice the implementation of the phone and email live links. You can tell as they are underlined, and
pop up in the menus.
todoMatrix Details
todoMatrix is organized in a
familiar file Cabinet / Drawer / Folder tree structure (see below). There is
only one Cabinet, and it is always named “All.” The All level can
only contain Drawers. A user can view the All Cabinet icon by scrolling to the
top of the Cabinet. Drawers are the next level down, depicted as one level to
the right of the All level, and can only contain Folders. Drawers cannot
contain individual notes and cannot contain another Drawer. Normal Folders are
where todoMatrix users create / edit /and delete tasks. All tasks must be
placed inside a Folder. Tasks cannot be placed at any other level of the Folder
tree. The Cabinet can also contain a number of special “View”
Folders and system Folders. Each task only has one home folder (as everyone
should have a home), which is the normal folder it is assigned to. When a note
appears in a View Folder (for e.g., Views /Due Today), this is, in essence, a
cross-dimensional view across the entire database. The notes are not really
resident in the View because they are home where they belong, but they can be
seen in other Views. todoMatrix
Drawers are designed to serve as a cross-folder view of the Folders contained
within the Drawer. Position the cursor on a Drawer, and then select View
To-Do’s on the menu. All the tasks in all the Folders within the Drawer
are displayed. Note that by selecting View To-Do’s on the menu, while the
cursor is on the All Cabinet level icon will result in a view with all of your
wonderful to-do’s displayed.
A great shortcut is that you can
hit "J" to bring up a pop and jump to a drawer or folder by typing the
folder name from the main screen.
If you have many more than 10 drawers or folders it gets hard to locate
them, or time consuming at the least, so this new feature. Below is what it looks like when I start
to type "Blackberry."
Since I have only one folder that starts with "B" it jumps
right to it.
First Things First - Sound Familiar
Create Drawers (e.g., "Work,”
“Family,” “Shopping” etc), and Folders and then add
Tasks. Easy enough, but then you
should really spend some time leaning the Hot*Keys. While shortcuts abound in this program,
many tasks must in fact be done with the Trackwheel or
The Hot*Keys are easier to master as the most
important ones are shown at the bottom of the screen. There are also context sensitive like
the menus. If you can't remember a Hot Key, just push H and voila, you have a
list of them all.
QWERTY Hot*Keys
Suretype Hot*Keys
Basic Views
I always find it helpful to
look at the basic views and menus to understand what a program is about. The screen shot above shows the All
cabinet, the drawers, and folders.
Below are the Summary of Tasks you see when you open a folder and then
open a specific task.
Summary of Tasks - list of tasks in a Folder Detailed
Task View
Below are the menu choices
for the various levels. Study these
to get an idea of your options.
Sorry for the business, please just focus on the menus.
Cabinet Level
Menu Items ↓ Drawer
Level Menu Items ↓
Folder
Level Menu Items ↓ Summary
View Menu Items ↓
Detail View Menu Items ↓
Creating a To-Do
A new to-do can be created
from the Cabinet Tree View if your cursor is on top of a Folder, the Summary View
of the contents of a Folder, or the Detailed View of a specific to-do. You
cannot create a to-do if todoMatrix cannot determine what Folder it should be
created within –therefore, the create to-do is unavailable if the cursor
rests on All or on a Drawer. Of
course the only creation method I would ever subscribe to the [C]reate Hot*Key. When you push it you will find yourself in
the Edit View where all data elements can be modified. You can type in the
task, then scroll up to each data elements in the upper “Elements”
section to adjust elements of the task such as due date, delegate status and so
forth. After completing data entry, the record must be saved when exiting the
Edit View which means using the menu.
Notice the light blue area in the detail view. As you scroll over various items the
detail is provided in the light blue area.
Due Date ↓ Delegate
↓
Delegate's Due Date ↓ Priority
- normal ↓
Alert 1 ↓ Status
- Not Started ↓
Editing and Deleting
Editing and deleting are a
breeze with the Hot*Keys. You
guessed it "E" for edit.
Use the delete key for a deletion.
There is no trashcan logic so be sure before you zap it. Maybe it is easier to use the
"D" Hot*Key and mark it done, and then purge the deleted items later.
Note one major gripe that I have is that
you can't change the options from the Detailed To Do screen using ALT-scroll
like most other applications. You
have to hit E and then you get into the To-Do Edit screen and have various edit
options. Once you get in Edit View,
you can use the ALT to bring up the pop ups shown below, or use the menu will
bring up a choice of Change Option.
The only exception is for the Alert field where ALT brings up the
Quick*Date below, or the Menu brings up the Speed*Date menu shown below in
another section. In my opinion,
this is too time consuming. Apparently this is a major code change
so I don't expect this to change very soon.
Detailed To Do View ↓ Edit
View ↓ Due
Date Pop Up ↓
Priority Pop Up ↓ Status
Pop Up ↓ Set
Alert Pop Up ↓
As an alternative to the Set
Alert Pop up if you call up the menu you will see the choices described below
under Speed*Date Menu.
Cool Features - Delegation
todoMatrix allows you to create
and track tasks that are delegated to others. You can then easily remember who is
working on which to-do's at any time.
To be assigned as a delegate, a person must first be a) in your address
book with an e-mail address for this person. Before you can email a task to a
delegate, you must import their information from the address book, and this
will add the contact’s information is added to the todoMatrix database,
and create a cross dimensional folder for tasks assigned to the contact in the
Delegate's Drawer. To import a delegate, create a to-do or edit a to-do record.
Scroll to the delegate field, and click to “Add from Contacts”.
Your contacts list will be displayed from your BlackBerry address book. Find
the right person, and then click on “Email _PersonsName.”
Yes, it should say “import,” but the BlackBerry contacts program
does not let REXwireless rename this menu so you must
select “Email.” It will not email the person but rather retrieve
the information for todoMatrix. Once a delegate has been imported, tasks can be
assigned to them using the “Choose Delegate” menu choice available
on the menu when the cursor is positioned on the delegate field in edit
mode. Here is more WoW, as when the record is saved; a dialog box asks you if
you would like to e-mail the task assignment to the delegate. If you select
yes, you are given the opportunity to modify the task content or put a cover
note on the task before sending it. After it is sent via e-mail, the outgoing
mail can be found in the messages list.
I hide my sent messages, but use a shortcut ALT-T to view them. In
todoMatrix, you can view all the tasks assigned to any delegate by
navigating in the Cabinet View to the delegate Drawer. These are a cross-folder
“Views” as each task record belongs to its home Folder. Viewing tasks in the Delegates View is
especially useful if you are on the telephone with the person. You can easily
remember all the items a person is working on and ask them about progress.
While you are talking on the BlackBerry, use a Bluetooth headset and use the
ALT-ESC key move from the phone and into todoMatrix. As explained under the emailing section,
the Delegate Folder Views allow you to email one or all tasks assigned to a
delegate to anyone in their BlackBerry address book. There are different email formats
including the “Delegate” Email format, that uses the Delegate Due
field as the due date instead on the actual Due Date on the task. Each task record stores an assigned
delegate and a delegate due date.
Thus you can assign a date to the delegate that is different than the
actual due date of the overall task, buying some time as a buffer in case
things do not go as planned.
Planning around Murphy's at its best.
Cool Features - Emailing To Do Lists
I just emailed to my wife and
sister the list of things my kid rattled of for her birthday. Pretty cool feature.
To-Do’s can either be
e-mailed individually or all the to-do’s in a Folder (that's what I did)
can be emailed as a group to any SINGLE contact with an e-mail address in your
BlackBerry address book. Note that you can't send it to multiple contacts
unless you have a group set up within your Blackberry address book. With your cursor positioned on a to-do,
use the menu to select “Email To-Do” to e-mail the to-do to a
recipient. If you select Email To-Do’s, all the tasks in the Folder or
View that you are within will be sent. You will have an opportunity to select
the format to send and preview before a task is sent. Formats include just
sending the text of the to-do “Just Text”, “Simple,”
“For A Delegate,” “Detailed,” and “comma
separated fields.” Screenshots of these are shown below so you can become
familiar with the various levels of detail and functionality of the various
send options. You will have the ability to preview your email and the option to
type a cover note or make changes to the email before sending it. Once a note
is sent, you will find the sent record in your e-mail box on your handheld.
Email Format Choice Pop Up ↓
Email
Format Choice Pop Up (last item) ↓
Email Just Text↓ Email
Simple ↓
Email For a Delegate ↓ Email
Detailed ↓
Email Comma Delimited ↓
Advanced Views
While each task has one
normal home Folder that it belongs within, there are also cross dimensional views
to let you see across multiple Folders. For example, from the menu when you
have a Drawer selected, you can see all the todo’s contained in all the
Folders associated with the Drawer. The system also provides some predefined
cross dimensional views, including:
View / PastDue
- Hot*Key [W]
Views / Due Today - Hot*Key
[A]
View / Alerts
View / Last Viewed - Hot*Key
[L]
Views / Last Viewed is one of
the most powerful and useful alternate Views of task data within todoMatrix.
Your probably are usually working with a certain set of tasks that can often be
in a number of different Folders. todoMatrix stores a last-accessed data and
saves it with each record. This allows for a sort the data based on the last
notes you have viewed. The [L]ast Hot*Key is provided
to allow you to zoom directly to the Last Viewed Folder. Once inside the
Folder, pressing the [L]ast Hot*Key will cycle
through a detailed view of the notes you have been working on in order starting
from the most recent one. At any time, you can decide to edit a task or change
its status. Views / Alerts offers a cross todoMatrix view of all tasks with
upcoming alerts set. You can review and possibly change alert times to
accommodate new events that they may have to attend. Views / Found stores the result
of the last Find command. This view is cleared when a new find is executed. You
can return to the Folder without having to execute the search again.
Setting Dates or (getting dates if this has become
your little black book)
todoMatrix allows up to three individual Alerts to be
associated with any one to-do item. You can set up multiple reminders for a
given to-do, and that is powerful.
If you have a to-do like this one “get Lauren to go to the dance
”, you could set up the Alert 1 to remind you three weeks before the
dance to ask her, Alert 2 to remind you 24 hours before, so you can remember to
get flowers, and the final one on so that you are on time. todoMatrix also
allows you to set Due Dates as well as Delegate Due Dates. All date fields
share common routines for setting the date.
There are four ways ** to set alerts. The first four
ways are for setting simple one-time alerts. The fourth is for setting
recurring alerts. The
four methods include:
1. Quick*Date (all date fields + Super*Snooze)
2. Calendar*Date (all date fields)
3. Speed*Date Menu (all date fields)
4. Recurring Date (alerts only) **
You must be in edit mode, and position the cursor on a
date field and then click to access the menu.
Quick*Date
The Quick*Date set function
offers a matrix of commonly used times calculated in relation to current time
on the BlackBerry. Simply scroll to a desired time and select it. The
calculated time is displayed in the lower left section, so you has confirmation
of the time and date the alert will be created. You have to save your record for the
Alert to be properly registered. The Quick*Date routine is also shared by the
Super*Snooze function.
Calendar*Date
The Calendar*Date function offers a dual calendar view that allows you to easily set an alert in the future by navigating. After positioning the cursor in edit mode on the date field that you want to set, click to bring up the menu. Then, select Set Date/Time. A dual calendar view appears on your screen. Scroll to the desired day. A regular scroll moves one day at a time. If the ALT key is held while scrolling, the cursor will move one week at a time, helping advance the cursor quickly. Click to select the desired day. The cursor will then jump down to the lower left-hand “hours” section. Scroll to the desired hour. Click to select it. At the bottom of the screen, you will see the date you are building as your select components of it. The cursor will jump to the “minutes” section. Scroll to the desired minutes and click to select it. The date field will now be populated with the desired time. You now have to save your changes.
Speed*Date Menu
When the cursor is
positioned on a date field in edit mode, use the menu to see a number of easy
choices relative to the current day.
Scroll to the choice you would like and select it. The date field will
be populated. If a date or time that you want is not available, use one of the
other date set methods.
Recurring Date
Recurring dates are
supported for alerts. Choose the
“set recurring” menu option while on an alert field in edit mode.
Fields are provided to
set:
· the starting date
(first alert),
· a repeat every X
(1-24) field,
· a frequency field
(minutes, hours, weeks, months, years) and
· an end date for
the recurring alert.
A recurring alert date is
signified with an [r] after the alert date in the edit view and a circle around
the alarm icon in the summary view.
Alerts and SuperSnoozer
Another power features is the
Super*Snoozer which enables you to delay and reset an alert after an alert has
gone off. The snoozer is designed
to allow you to reset an alert with numerous popular and flexible choices yet
offer one-click speed. When an alert is triggered, a dialog is displayed.
Choices
include:
1.
Dismiss, which clears the alert,
2.
Snooze, which allows you to delay and reset the alert,
3.
Open, which allows you to edit the to-do record in full edit mode, and
4.
Change status, which enables a user to just change the status flag.
By choosing
“Snooze,” the familiar Quick*Date routine is accessed, allowing you
to do a fast scroll and one click to set the desired snooze interval. If change
status is selected, you can update the status quickly, and then the alert is
dismissed by this action. If you want to change status and add a new alert, use
the “open” button in the alert dialog box.
Completed Tasks
When a task is marked with a
status of completed, todoMatrix repaints the item grey instead of the normal
light blue so that, in the Summary View, it is easy to spot completed tasks.
todoMatrix keeps track of whether or not you want to hide or display the
completed tasks in each folder or Drawer individually. That's very
helpful. There is a menu option
available in the folder view that toggles this hide or show completed items
functionality. If you don't have the memory, you will need to purge completed
items after they are no longer required, so that the todoMatrix database does
not use more BlackBerry resources than needed. todoMatrix allows you to e-mail
reports of completed items to yourself or others. This action, in essence,
archives off a record of completed items before purging completed items in the
current folder or view. A number of e-mail formats are offered. After successful receiving the email
with the completed items, it is then safe to purge the records in a view. You
can purge all completed items in one command by working with the All Cabinet
view.
Sorting Tasks
All
Sorts Except Natural Sort
todoMatrix
provides a number of sorts of any folder being viewed. These can be accessed
using the menu or by using the[S]ort Hot*Key. Most of the sorts are self
explanatory, and an alpha sort has been added, both ascending and descending. Remember that birthday list above. I had no reason to sort it other than by
alpha. Same would probably be true of a grocery list, and various other very
ordinary lists. The sort method on
any folder is stored and when you access the folder, it will remember the
previous sort until it is changed. A short indicator of the sort method is
displayed in the Summary View of a folder in the upper right-hand corner. Screen shots below show you the
choices.
Sort
Choices ↓ Sort
Choices ↓
Sort
Choices ↓ Sort
Choices ↓ Last Choice
Natural
Sort – Using Grab-Drag-Drop
todoMatrix
offers the ability to use the [G]rab Hot*key to sort
a Summary View manually when the sort method is set to Natural or
“Nat” in the upper right-hand corner. While in Summary View,
position your cursor over the task you want to move. Use the [G] Hot*Key to
grab the task. It will turn pink while grabbed. Scroll to move it to the
desired position. Press [G] to drop it into place. todoMatrix allows you to use
the [T]op and B]ottom Hot*Keys while an item is pink
and being dragged to zoom to the top or bottom on the folder’s list.
Sorting
Folders and Drawers with Grab-Drag-Drop
The
only method available to sort folders inside a Drawer, or to sort Drawers
inside the All Cabinet, is manual grab-drag-drop using the [G]rab Hot*Key while the cursor is positioned over a folder or
Drawer in the Cabinet View. While
in Cabinet View, position your cursor over the Folder or Drawer that you want
to move. Use the [G] Hot*Key to grab the folder or Drawer. The grabbed folder
or Drawer turns pink. Scroll to move it to the desired position. Press [G] to
drop it into place. The pink grab with the scroll to move is shown below.
Expanding and Collapsing
the Folders in a Drawer
When you have a large
todoMatrix database, it is easier to work with if you use the[X] Hot*Key toggle
or related Expand and Collapse Menu choices to manage the complexity of the
Cabinet View. While in Cabinet View, position your cursor over the Drawer that
you want to expand or collapse. Use the [X] Hot*Key to toggle the view or use
the menu. It becomes far easier to work with one Drawer open at a time. Certain
functions such as Creating a Folder in a Drawer require that todoMatrix
automatically toggles to the Expanded view.
Moving Tasks from One
Folder to Another
Tasks can be reassigned from
one folder to another by using the “Move to Other Folder” menu
choice or by using the [M]oveHot*Key while the cursor
is positioned on a task. A popover box is displayed with all the Folders in
your todoMatrix listed in an alphabetic sort. Scroll to the desired destination
Folder and click the one you want.
Exporting Task Data
todoMatrix allows you to
export task data by using the e-mail to-do’s menu command. Tasks can be exported
from nearly any view. If you wants to export the entire list, click on the All
Cabinet Level icon to view all tasks. Then select e-mail to-do’s on the
menu. A comma-separated option is offered that simplifies the importing of the
data into other programs. A common program used for manipulating comma
separated file data is Microsoft Excel.
Using the Indy*Search Find Feature
todoMatrix offers the ability
to free form search all the data in the task field. To access this capability,
select Find on the menu or use the [F]
Wish List for Future Changes
·
The folder count
should show more detail (Not Started/In
Progress/Waiting-Hold) on the home screen - Currently shows
total.
·
When using one of
the predefined Views like Alerts you should see which folder the todo resides in at the top of the screen.
·
Longer text,
folder and drawer names.
·
The ability to edit
the data in the header of a task without having to open the task
for editing.
·
Outlook and
Pocket Day integration.
·
Having a start
date might be helpful for some in terms of scheduling.
·
When emailing a
task, a template would be nice, but it should automatically include
the folder name and notice that it is a delegated task in the subject
or the first line of the header; you can manually edit it but it would
be nice to see it done automatically.
·
The "inject
into" should allow a preset time for the due date of an item and it should
also allow an
email header + clipboard feature since the field has limited length.
Understanding Always*Safe Web Backup
REXwireless offers a complimentary automated wireless backup
routine, designed to keep your data safe against the loss or damage of a
BlackBerry unit. Always*Safe runs in the background. When a unit is idle
(typically when it is inserted in a holster with a sleeper magnet), todoMatrix
checks to see if an data has changed since the last time it backed-up. If there
are changes, and there is good cellular signal, changes are synchronized to
www.wwrex.com servers. The backed up data is encrypted to a level greater than
U.S. Department of Defense standards and then stored on REXwireless’
servers. If a unit is lost, stolen or damaged, the data can be recovered into a
replacement BlackBerry unit. The backup routine can be manually initiated by
using the “Backup to Web” menu choice. This is a good idea before
upgrading software with a newer release. A backup status is offered on the same
menu. Please note that the counts will not include help files in the System
Drawer.
Understanding Restore from
Web
The Restore from Web menu
choice will delete all current data in todoMatrix on your BlackBerry and
restore your last sync /backup. This function should not be used unless there
is a good reason to do so, as it is important to know how recent your last good
sync /backup was.
REXdesktop Revisited
REXwireless offers a web browser computer desktop interface with
todoMatrix. REXdesktop is included for a length of
time with the purchase of the software.
REXdesktop can be accessed after you have
activated their BlackBerry-resident todoMatrix AND you have completed a
“Backup to Web” command. This initializes the REXdesktop
data, allowing you to logon to REXdesktop.com with a web browser. The single
most important component to understand is the wireless synchronization between REXdesktop and the BlackBerry databases. Multiple items
work in concert to synchronize your BlackBerry with REXdesktop.
Synchronization is initiated by the BlackBerry end. The primary sync is the
application knowing data elements have changed on your BlackBerry resident
todoMatrix or ideaMatrix. The application will initiate a sync with the server
at first idle / holster of the device. Every sync is bi-directional, with
BlackBerry changes going to the server and REXdesktop
changes going to the BlackBerry. The next level of sync is the 90 minute
"heartbeat" sync: While your BlackBerry is in a good communications
online state, the unit will check in with the servers to see if there is
anything to be synchronized from the server end, approximately every 90
minutes. You can speed up the process by requesting an immediate sync by using
the "Sync Now" menu choice, found on the main menu on the BlackBerry
resident todoMatrix or ideaMatrix application menus. Syncs usually take less
than 10 seconds and definitely less than a minute, so any Sync that is stuck
more than 60 seconds should be aborted and retried. Aborting a sync or backup
can take up to 120 seconds– so be patient. Another function called the
e-mail trigger sync request (trigger sync) is also at work. When a person logs
off their REXdesktop, the server sends messages to
the BlackBerry via e-mail, requesting that todoMatrix or ideaMatrix sync
themselves the next time the unit is holstered / idle. If this trigger sync is
working as designed, you will NOT see the e-mails in the BlackBerry inbox,
because todoMatrix and ideaMatrix will see the e-mails intended for them and
delete them when they come in so that the BlackBerry owner is not disturbed by
extra "e-mail inbox" alerts.
However, these messages often do show up in a person's regular PC e-mail
inbox so it is a good idea to filter these messages into a trash box if doing
so has no effect on your BlackBerry receiving them. A trigger sync is also sent
when a person clicks on the "Request Sync" button on REXdesktop. If you are seeing trigger sync messages on your
BlackBerry inbox, then this component is not working properly on the unit. In
short, if a BlackBerry is not synchronizing, the Sync Now menu choice on the
BlackBerry offers the best positive confirmation of whether it is working
properly.
Key notes about REXdesktop include the following:
a) Changing the same record
on both REXdesktop and your BlackBerry is not
advised. If this occurs, duplicate records will be created due to the
modification collision and you will have to resolve the issue manually.
b) When you log on, the
server application "checks out" your databases from secure storage
and loads the data into memory.
c) Every time you change the
data, the server saves your data back to secure storage. Data is not stored on
your local PC or Mac.
d) When you log out of REXdesktop (or if your REXdesktop
session times out from 90 minutes of inactivity, or if you select the "RequestSync" button on the desktop), an e-mail
(trigger sync) is sent to your BlackBerry to trigger the synchronization with
your BlackBerry resident databases, usually within a few minutes, but the
timing is highly dependent on the cellular signal quality, other networking
factors, and whether the BlackBerry is idle/holstered.
e) When you change data on
the BlackBerry, it is sent up to the server quickly, but is once again
dependent on cellular signal quality, networking factors, and whether or not
the unit is idle/holstered.
f) The REXdesktop
refreshes its data whenever you change folders; therefore, simply click on a
folder to refresh and see changes received from the BlackBerry due to a sync.
g) Just in case it is not
obvious, your BlackBerry must be idle/holstered to be auto-synchronized from REXdesktop (with the only exception being the manual
BlackBerry menu "Sync Now" command)!Please note that you may have to
change screens on your BlackBerry to see recently synchronized data in the case
of a background sync(not the Sync Now command).
h) Whenever you upgrade your
BlackBerry software level, it is HIGHLY recommended that you do a "Backup
to Web" just before downloading the new version AND ONCE MORE right after
the post-upgrade reboot once you have verified your data on the BlackBerry.
i) Alerts will be misaligned with your Blackberry's
time if you don't set the correct time zone upon first login.
ideaMatrix differences from todoMatrix
Private Notes
ideaMatrix allows notes to be
flagged as private. To mark as note as private, edit or create the note. When
in the modify screen, scroll up to the private check box and use the space bar
to toggle the privacy flag on. Save your note. The contents will not be
displayed under normal viewing conditions. The note will be displayed as
***private***instead. However, the find routine will be able to find the note
if a string inside the note is matched. To view the contents of a private note,
you must navigate to the folder that contains the note or to the note itself in
any alternate view (such as Views / Found). You can then use menu to pick the
“Unlock Private Notes” menu choice. ideaMatrix will ask for the
password assigned by you. If the appropriate password is entered, the contents
of the note will be displayed. Exiting ideaMatrix back to the main BlackBerry
menu or executing the Lock Private Notes menu command will reengage privacy
cloaking. The password will once again be needed to view, edit, or e-mail the
note. Privacy can be turned off by editing the note and toggling the privacy
flag off, then saving the note.