The Inside Track » Telemetry

Trixie Tracker 2.0 is Up and Running

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:57:37 +0000

We’re happy to report the new software was successfully deployed this morning around 8:30 am ET. The application was offline about 60 minutes while all the data migrations ran. We’ve discovered a handful of superficial issues which will be addressed very soon, but overall things are looking really good. If you’ve found an issue please use our feedback forum. Thanks!

Final Countdown to Releasing Trixie Tracker

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:54:34 +0000

As it stands right now, we’re pretty sure we can release the new version Wednesday, July 14th. There are still a few superficial issues that are being addressed in the next day or two. Some of these issues may be addressed post-launch (as long as we’re sure the issue doesn’t affect the functioning of the application).

Your feedback via email, info@trixietracker.com, and the feedback forum has been invaluable. Thank you very much. I know testing takes time, and that’s the last thing new parents have in surplus. We really appreciate you guys!

The demo site is still available for viewing and the data was last copied over at Sunday July 11th, 4:40pm ET.

We will post again once we figure out exactly when the site will switch over and how long the site will be offline while the database migration takes place. It will likely be between 3-6 hours. Thanks in advance for everyone’s patience during the transition!

We’re Ready for Testing

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:09:59 +0000

The new version of Trixie Tracker, which has been in the works for longer than I want to admit, is very close to being released. Almost time to break out the cigars. Almost. We’re ready to share the new version with everyone, and here’s a summary of where things are at:

What is in the new version?

The new site does not include any new features. Well, there are few a enhancements hidden here and there, but this version has basically the same set of features. However, the application’s architecture has been completely rebuilt which will enable us to easily extend the app in the future. That was the whole point of the new version — to give us a solid, reliable foundation for the future development.

Important Testing Issues Before You Dive In

1) The demo site is not a replacement for the current Trixie Tracker. You can’t use the new version instead of the current version because the databases are not compatible. This test site is just for looking and testing.

2) The data on the demo site may be deleted at any time and refreshed with the latest data from the current app.

I’m sorry that you can’t use the app full-time — because I know that’s the best way to test it — but it’s not possible.

Testing

If you have time, it would be very helpful if you could test a few of the items below:

- Eyeball your data. Does everything look ok? We feel very confident about the new site and data, but extra eyeballs are invaluable.
- Add a few records.
- See how it looks on your mobile devices.

Feedback

We’d really like to hear your opinion about the new site. Please raise any issue you come across: design, interface, performance, etc. We’re listening.

You can post to our feedback forum or email us at info@trixietracker.com.

Requests for new features are welcome once we get this baby launched. At that point it’s going to be much, much easier for us to add new features because of the new codebase. We’re looking forward to getting to that point.

The Demo Site

The new version — with data last copied over on Thursday morning (July 8th) — can be accessed at http://demo.trixietracker.com/

Thanks! We really appreciate everyone’s support over the years which has allowed us to get to this point. All you moms and dads are awesome! We look forward to returning the favor by making the Trixie Tracker even better.

- Ben

Happy Birthday! Trixie Tracker Turns Four!

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:01:16 +0000

For this birthday we’re happy to announce a brand new version of Trixie Tracker coming at the end of next month. This new version has been in development for over a year and we’re insanely excited to be on the home stretch. Really. We are extremely ready to put this baby in your hands! I first announced the new version this time last year, and while our original release target has slipped, I’m very pleased with what we’ve accomplished and I am confident you guys are going to like it.

Why did our development schedule slip so badly? The short answer is software development estimation is hard. The long answer is the existing application had to be completely rewritten from the ground up because it was too difficult to work around five year’s worth (counting the beta development time) of calcified code and there was more in the application than we realized.

We look forward to rolling out the new version next month. If you are interested in helping kick the tires of the new site, please follow us on Twitter; we’ll put out a call for beta-testers soon.

Thanks to all our great parents who’ve supported us over the last four years and made this new version possible. Thank you!

Ben MacNeill
Founder, Trixie Tracker

Skip a few days — Trixie Tracker will figure it out

admin — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:28:00 +0000

I want to point out (in case you didn’t know) that Trixie Tracker is designed so you don’t have to track continuously. For example, if you aren’t concerned with the weekend schedule or are taking a vacation, you can just stop tracking. Start tracking again when you’re ready — TT will automatically exclude all the empty days from your averages.

Dealing with Daylight Savings Time

admin — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:41:48 +0000

Daylight Savings Time transitions will cause problems with the display of your charts, but it doesn’t affect your actual data. Here’s a few notes to help you through the weekend:

Trixie Tracker will handle the time change automatically. You don’t need to do anything.
Your charts will be off until Monday. There’s no way to map 23 hours or 25 hours to a 24-hour time scale. It’s like trying to park an 11-foot car in a 10-foot garage — it’s just not possible.

Falling Back

In the fall, it’s extremely difficult to tell software which 1:50 am you are talking about when there are two times that exactly match that description. To avoid this problem, please record events in real-time during the transition hour (and avoid editing them afterwards).

Springing Forward

In the spring, the transition is easier. Recording real time events shouldn’t be affected because we skipping ahead, and the times never overlap.

The Server has been Upgraded

admin — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:05:33 +0000

We just got done moving to the new server. It took 1 hour 50 minutes from start to finish. (We didn’t start until a little after 2am EDT). If you notice anything weird, please email me (info@trixietracker.com) and we’ll look into it right away. Thanks again for your patience while the site was unavailable.

We're Upgrading to a New Server

admin — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:39:51 +0000

We are currently planning to upgrade to our new server tonight at approximately 1:45am EST (Friday April 11th). The site will unavailable for about 2 hours while this move is taking place. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks in advance for your patience. Everything should be back to normal by 4:00am EST. You can check our twitter account for status updates: http://twitter.com/trixietracker.

Trixie Tracker gets a Major Tune-up

admin — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 02:45:20 +0000

We just deployed the latest Trixie Tracker code which brings big improvements to our site back-end and coding environment. At this time, most users should not notice any real changes to their sites. But the new code allows us to work faster and easier, so you will start noticing visible changes and improvements soon. If anything isn’t working right for you, please email info@trixietracker.com and we’ll get on it asap. thanks for using TT!

A Code Update and Trixie Tracker is on Twitter Now

admin — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:29:32 +0000

From a user’s perspective, I know there haven’t been many signs of Trixie Tracker development lately, but we have actually been grinding away behind the scenes. We’ve been working on a big, back-end code clean-up that’s going to make it faster and easier for us to work on fun front-end things like design and features.

We’re planning to move the new code out Saturday night if all the testing goes well today. I’ll post a notice to the site when it’s time.

Please note, this is not really a feature upgrade. I’ve tweaked a few things that will be visible to users, but 99% of the changes are only apparent on the back-end.

I have also created a Twitter account to provide real-time updates about Trixie Tracker service status: http://twitter.com/trixietracker
If you ‘tweet’, please follow us. If you don’t tweet, you can subscribe to the updates with the RSS feed or simply visit our twitter page for information.

We are also moving to a new, faster server next week. I don’t have the exact date set, but I will post a notice when it happens. There will be some downtime with the code upgrades and server move, but I hope it won’t be more than 30-90 minutes. I will give as much notice as I can, and post updates through twitter.

Thanks in advance for your patience when we upgrade, and especially thanks to everyone for supporting Trixie Tracker!