MailTags has been updated to version 2.2.2 (or possibly 2.2.3; the release notes disagree with the rest of the site). This minor release mainly includes enhancements to improve efficiency when working with Mail Act-On and IMAP, but also includes numerous bug fixes and adds seven days to expired trial versions for those who want to try out the new features and fixes.
For full details, check out the release notes.
VoodooPad 4 has at last been released, and although tagging is still something of a sideshow (categories have officially been renamed from tags, but the interface is virtually identical) the update is well worth checking out. VoodooPad is one of those programs that is fantastically easy to learn (open a document, create a link for a new page; just like every wiki on the web) and yet offers so many different ways to configure it that the main limit on how you use it is your imagination.
The big new feature in VoodooPad 4 is the ability to sync documents across multiple computers (and even provide a web interface for iPhones) as long as you have a WebDAV server available (like a MobileMe iDisk). This version also includes a system-wide hotkey to append text to any page in an open document, a reworked (and very slick) interface including a single unified palette, and all of the greatness that was VoodooPad 3 still alive and kicking. I highly recommend VoodooPad for anyone who needs to store and organize just about any text-based information. For full details about the update, see the release notes. VoodooPad 4 comes in three flavors (lite, standard, pro) priced accordingly, and is available for an upgrade fee or, for those who bought version 3 after August 1, 2008, for free.
Although I’ve been using it since its release, I evidently forgot to remark on the fact that Together has been updated to version 2.2 (and soon after bumped to 2.2.1). This version is a major point release that includes a mixture of new features—notably intelligent auto-tagging, the ability to nest tags in bundles, and the ability to nest groups and smart groups in folders—and a large number of minor improvements—which are frankly too numerous to list, but affect everything from groups and tabs to previews and imports and beyond.
This is another great update to an already excellent program, and since most of the big improvements have to do with how you view and use tags Together 2.2 is definitely worth another look for anyone who needs a simple way to tag and track their files. For complete details on the update, see the release notes or the 2.2 blog announcement.
This one deserves its own post: EagleFiler has been updated to version 1.4. This free update includes a tag cloud window, the ability to search within individual PDFs or web archives, preferences for importing Spotlight comments, the ability to display Word 2007 docs (.docx) and OpenDocument Text (.odt) under 10.5, the ability to capture from several third-party email clients and competitor Together, a slew of other improvements and fixes, and finally (drum roll, please)…custom smart folders! At long last, EagleFiler supports smart folders, and boy was it worth the wait. Smart folders in EagleFiler 1.4 can be organized into other folders, include an arbitrary number of conditions optionally nested within Any/All/None criteria, and best of all you can attach “actions” to smart folders. For example, if you have a smart folder that searches for all items with the tags “task, today” a normal action allows you to drop a document on the smart folder and have those tags added to it automatically. The only big downside of smart folders is that you can only create and edit them if you’re running 10.5. They will be usable under 10.4, but you won’t be able to modify them.
Despite its unprepossessing version number, EagleFiler 1.4 is a big and worthwhile update to an already fantastic product. For a full run-down of the many changes and additions in version 1.4, take a look at the release notes. If you have never given EagleFiler a try, now would be an excellent time to give it a whirl.
Once again I find myself slightly behind on the times, this time thanks to moving (no longer in a wasteland of apartments, I’m now living in lower Queen Anne; the difference is night and day). Some minor updates that may prove of interest include Shoebox 1.7.4, MarsEdit 2.2.1, PackRat 1.7.3, and Things 0.9.5. Shoebox now apparently has better Photoshop integration; MarsEdit fixes a number of bugs and introduces better AtomPub support; PackRat fixed some problems with Textile conversion; and Things now allows you to sort tasks by due date (along with bug fixes). Things also has a tentative release date: January 2009 at the MacWorld expo.
For more details about the MarsEdit update, see the 2.2.1 blog announcement. For more info about Things see the release notes or 0.9.5 blog announcment. The other software didn’t provide much in the way of release notes.
My favorite desktop wiki, VoodooPad, has been updated to version 3.5.2. This update includes a number of bug fixes and adds a few minor features such as the ability to specific an external image editor or open a rich text link using command-L. For a full list of changes, see the release notes.
VoodooPad’s tagging support is extremely basic, but it’s still one of my favorite applications when it comes to collecting ideas and seeing how they interconnect. Hopefully the upcoming VoodooPad 4.0 will offer better tagging in addition to whatever else Gus Mueller has up his sleeves.
PackRat, the desktop frontend for 37signal’s Backpack, has received a price drop from $24.95 to $14.95.
Aside from the benefit of an OS X rather than web-based interface, PackRat also offers the ability to access your Backpack information offline. For more details about the program, see the PackRat website.
Together has been updated to version 2.1.7. This minor update includes a number of bug fixes, but no new features. Changes include performance improvements for checking for external file changes, allowing shortcut keys to be set to F-keys without modifiers, making sure Together search works after switching libraries, preventing file imports from failing when the folder being imported needs to be renamed, and more.
For full details or to download, check out the release notes.
For those software developers amongst us, you may be interested to note that M Cubed Software has released Lighthouse Keeper 1.0. Similar to PackRat, Lighthouse Keeper is little more than a desktop frontend to an existing web application, in this case the issue tracker Lighthouse. Lighthouse Keeper offers the ability to manage your Lighthouse projects without needing a site-specific browser or similar solution, as well as adding offline access to your Lighthouse-tracked issues and the ability to quickly add an issue with a system-wide hotkey. And, of course, tagging is a primary organizational offering of Lighthouse Keeper. Lighthouse Keeper is available as a free demo with a registration fee of €30.
I find it intriguing that the number of desktop frontends to subscription-driven web apps is increasing. Certainly for those people who use these web apps, a desktop companion that allows offline access (among other perks) would be fantastic, but for the vast majority of users the application is barely worth a cursory glance. Unless you have a Lighthouse account, you can’t even run Lighthouse Keeper to put it through its paces; the first thing you see when you launch it is a sheet that requires you to fill in your Lighthouse account details or quit. I think to some extent applications like this are approaching from the wrong direction: we don’t need desktop frontends to specific web apps; what we need are desktop applications with full functionality that can also tie into one or more web apps. Perhaps such functionality will make its way into Lighthouse Keeper down the road, but for now the program will only be of interest to those already using, or thinking seriously of adopting, Lighthouse.
MacJournal, the journaling/blogging/kitchen sink application from Mariner Software, has been updated to version 5.1. This update adds a number of localizations (Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish), makes tagging easier by providing a context menu to assign tags, allows the user to customize the three pane view (entry list on top, left, or right), includes the ability to create a droplet to easily import anything from the Finder into a specific journal, and includes numerous other handy new features and bug fixes. The update is free to all current users of MacJournal 5; users upgrading from earlier versions of MacJournal will need to purchase an upgrade license for $19.95.
For more information about the update, check the release notes.