Stamper's Sidekick Pro 2.0 is still on its way

Some technical problems and some life interruptions have delayed things a bit. I plan to make a demo available soon so you can try it out and see what's new. Thanks for your patience!

Stamper's Sidekick goes Pro

You are a professional Stampin' Up! demonstrator -now Stamper's Sidekick has gone pro as well.

The next version will be renamed Stamper's Sidekick Pro 2.0. This is to better signify that SS is business software for you, the professional, to help you manage and maintain your business and make you more profitable.

SS Pro 2.0 has been updated to have a cleaner more professional look, larger text and buttons for ease of use, auto-sizing screen contents making it work on small netbooks and large monitors equally well, and a fully functional backup and restore tool to keep you safe from computer failures.

For your business there is a more accurate order entry screen allowing you to better reconcile your totals in SS with what SU! is reporting, a group correspondence for tracking your marking campaigns and the new welcome screen shows you a snapshot of your business by displaying details like total open orders, payments due, MTD and YTD sales totals, number of upcoming events and and much more.

So there is a lot to be excited about. I hope you will give this new best version a try!

Tony

Update for Beta Group almost ready

The next beta version is almost ready. Hoping to get it out to the Beta Group via the Yahoo Group later tonight.

Website preferences

We are actively working on the new website for Stamper's Sidekick and need your opinion! Do you prefer flash websites or static websites? A flash website would have a few moving graphics, rollover effects (like when you roll over a button it would change to another color) and some sound effects. A static website is how the current site is programmed.

Just so we are clear, we don't want a razzle dazzle site full of sound effects. Some of the sites we have previewed sound like the slot machines in Vegas! We do not want that. However, maybe a little dash of pizzaz might be a nice change?

Looking forward to your input!

Upcoming changes in the next SS update

In addition to what has already been done, here is an update on what has been changed/added/planned in the next version of SS. Please review and let me know if you have concerns or questions on any of these. I am working on SS now pretty regularly and hope to have an updated beta version out to the beta group shortly with a lot of these changes already done.

Products

• You will be able to indicate if a product requires shipping or not for those downloadable items that do not require shipping. That way they do not go into the shipping calculation. You can do this now manually but this will allow you to include it in the product list export/import and have it done automatically.
• Release date and Discontinued Date are now real dates. This will allow you to enter a discontinued date in the future and still add it to an order now without a warning.
  •I believe you can already add Discontinued items to an order with a warning (by using the product lookup button) however I will verify this.
• I am eliminating the US and CAN price/cost fields and will have just a single set of price/cost fields. The import specification has changed accordingly and you will need to import a list with the appropriate country's prices.

Vendors

• Down the road the non-demo version of SS will have the ability for stampers to track all the stamps they own and not just SU! stamps. For this purpose I have added a Vendors field to Products. In the mean time Demos will have the convenience of being able to do the same. When you install the update and run the DB upgrade (which should run automatically the first time after an update) SS will assume all products you have entered in your list are SU products and mark them accordingly. As a demo you will only be able to add SU products to orders. New installations will come with the SU Vendor already defined. All new products entered will be assume to be SU unless otherwise indicated.

Order types

• There is no longer a "Supply" order type. Supply items can be added to Demonstrator orders. I am sill working on the calculations and will need your help to do testing to make sure they are accurate after the next beta version is ready.
• "Outside" order type name has been changed to "Customer". All your old orders will be updated to match the new name.
• Other terminology changes will likely occur to become more in-line with SU! wording - if you have suggestions please let me know.

Projects

• The supplies list is now sorted by category and then description both on screen and on report. I think this is already in the version you have but I could be wrong. It is done on my end so you will see it in the next beta at the latest.

Upgrading

• I am planning on updating the next version to Access 2007 to gain the use of new features and make the program a bit more eye appealing.
• I will still be working in the current version of Access for a while - at least until I have the orders changes done.
• I will be using updated installation tools to eliminate any compatibility issues remaining with the latest windows versions.
• I will probably make the next update version 2.0 to delineate between the Access 2002 based version and the 2007 version.
• Starting with the next update you will have to first update to at least 1.0.4 before updating to 2.0.

Localization

• After 2.0 is released I hope to being working on localized versions for those in other countries besides US/CAN

Stamper's Sidekick now on Facebook

You will now be able to find us on Facebook!

Click on the Facebook link on the right side of the blog to connect with us and with other Stamper's Sidekick users.

Looking forward to connecting with you there!

Unlock problems are fixed

The unlock problems addressed in a previous post have been resolved as of several months ago. If you purchase new or need to reactivate the internet unlock will work without a problem (requires SS version 1.0.4e).

Blog redesign! Thanks, honey!

I'll admit I almost forgot about having started a blog. I just have a hard time remembering to post new information - and to be honest there hasn't been that much new information to post for a while. However I am still working on the next version of Stamper's Sidekick.

However I am not a web designer at all and even using the non-programmer tools available to design sites and blogs just don't interest me. Fortunately I am married to a wonderful woman who has graciously offered to use her summer off of homeschooling the kids to spend some time revamping the look and feel of the website and blog.

Hopefully you will find that the changes will make everything more appealing to the SU! demo demographic and a lot more usable as well. She has already started work on the blog with adjusting the logo a bit. She will be adding more content to the sidebar as well. She will be making blinkies that you can add to your site or blog and later this summer working on making the website match as well.

Thanks, honey!

Trying to get through unlock problems

Well I have been working on and off the last few weeks, straightening out my customer database, responding to new support emails that came up as a result of my recent newsletters and announcements and fighting with a persistant bug that prevents users from unlocking their copy of SS. This has been particularly frustrating because the company I purchased that module gave me a procedure to correct the problem but so far it hasn't worked. I even remoted into a couple customer's PCs and performed the steps myself so I know they were performed correctly.

So bear with me some more as I continue to work through this. I know my target customer is not one that is likely to share software illegally, but I am just not sure if it is wise to put out a version that has no license enforcement. If it can't be resolved I will have to look for another solution which will add a significant delay to my next release date.

I will keep you informed.

Fix for "Cannot find RunAccess.exe" error

There is a common problem where after installing Stamper's Sidekick, you cannot start SS and instead receive an error to the effect of "Cannot find RunAccess.exe" Unfortunately this has to do with the way the shortcut is created by the installer package and I can't change it. It is supposed to work of course. But until I find the solution you can fix it with the procedure detailed in this FAQ listing

Need help with help!

Ok, I admit it. As much as I know a Help and a User Guide is important to customers, I absolutely hate writing it. I don't think I do a bad job but it is terribly tedious work. I would like to get some feedback on what you think about how to best improve the help/user guide. Here are some questions/ideas I have rattling around in my head. Let me know what you think in the comments.

• Is inline help important to you - where you can click Help right in the program and see related help info?
• Would you be satisfied with online help? It would be easier to keep up-to-date but requires you to go to the web.
• How about a wiki (like wikipedia.org) where all users contribute and audit each other's contributions?
• I used to have forums but they were not heavily used and moderating them became a lot of work with spammers constantly signing up and trying to sell their junk. If they came back would you use them?

Newsletter and other recent stuff

I have sent out a newsletter to all existing customers with some of the key points I touched on in recent posts here. If you didn't get yours you can read the newsletter here.

I have been busy responding to emails that came in as a result of the newsletter so no new work yet on SS itself. I am working on my customer database some to get myself streamlined more so I will have more time to focus on SS programming. In addition, for you customers, I am working on an email to all of you with your purchase history so you will know exactly what you need to buy, if anything, to stay up-to-date.

Next I will be finalizing the Affiliate details and posting that information here. Those of you interested, you should subscribe here so you can stay informed. As I said in the newsletter most important information will be posted here and not come out via email.

New affiilate program soon to be unveiled

On the horizon will be a new affiliate program for existing Stamper's Sidekick customers. If you love your Stamper's Sidekick and want to share it with your downline and other fellow demonstrators you should be at least making a little dough in the process. Payout rates will be between 5-10% of new purchases. All the details haven't been worked out yet but if you are interested please email me to let me know. This will replace the old '1 Year of free updates for a referral' program.

New purchase option for Unlimited Lifetime Updates

I will be introducing a new option to purchase Unlimited Lifetime Updates to Stamper's Sidekick in place of the current 1 Year of Updates for an affordable price. Current customers who have purchased the 1 Year of Updates will have the opportunity to upgrade to Unlimited Lifetime Updates for only the difference in price.

SS License change - multiple PCs

In the next version of Stamper's Sidekick I will be changing the End-User License agreement to allow you to officially install SS on up to 3 computers in the same house-hold. This way you can install on a desktop at home and also on a laptop that you take with you to workshops and other events.

This change will also be retroactive to all previous purchases so if you already have SS and have wanted to do this you now can without any guilt. Existing customers who have been setup with the Internet Unlock option have already be set to allow the same Unlock Password tob e used 3 times. New customers are being setup this way by default.

Version 1.05 is in the works

Some recent emails form some good customers have kicked my butt in gear a bit. As a result I have started working on the next version of Stamper's Sidekick finally. The list of features already completed and planned for this version is listed here. A couple that I am really excited about is the built-in automatic database backup feature, a module for entering group correspondence and the ability to duplicate an order from one customer to another - which in effect allows you to mvoe an order to a different customer if you then delete the original.

I hope this will encourage current customers to stick with SS and give new demonstrators hope that SS will be around a while and make it a safe and valuable purchased for their business.

The website and unlock updates are complete

The web site and unlock changets are all complete and you should not be able top unlock without a problem. Email me directly if you are having any problems.

Thanks

SS website and unlocking problems

Well I goofed and ordered the wrong hosting package from my new hosting company. I have requested the change to the correct package but it will take a day and the site may be down for part of that time. After it is complete and configured properly the Internet Unlock will start working again for those of you who made recent purchases or performed a reinstallation.

Sorry for the hassle!

Site hosting change, unlock delays

I am in the midst of changing my hosting company so customers attempting to unlock their SS may experience problems. Please be patient, it should be done in a day or two.

Upcoming Survey

I am working on the survey so I can better understand how you use SS now and how you would like to see it improved. I will email the survey to all customers and post a link here as well.

NOT DEAD YET!

Stamper's Sidekick is not dead yet!

It is true I have been on an unplanned hiatus for some time now. But recently have been able to find some new motivation to get back to working more regularly on Stamper's Sidekick.

I must admit that with job changes and life in general I have not been giving SS the attention it deserves. I have been continuing to reply to support emails and dealing with the occasional purchase. But that will change in the near future.

I have been making some behind the scene changes to the website and my customer database so I can more easily manage my business. Some other plans include putting together a survey that I will send out to current customers to get some feedback about how you use SS and how you would like to see it improved.

So stay connected and watch here for more information. Thanks for sticking with me and SS!

Welcome!

Welcome to the new Stamper's Sidekick Blog! Activity here will start slow but I hope to keep you more informed about changes, enhancements and share ideas about how best to use SS in your business.