Review: AgendaAtOnce

Posted on July 16, 2008 by
Categories: Review,Software

Wednesdays are software days at SimpleProductivityBlog

Disclosure: I was asked to review this software by the developers, but I receive no affiliate fees from customers. I was given a key for the software in order to review it.

Summary

AgendaAtOnce, by Dataland Software, is a full-featured information management system, including tasks, schedules, contacts and notes.

Details

Manufacturer: Dataland Software
Platform: Windows
Current Version: Windows: 3.0.6
Price: $39.95

Overview

Agenda at Once is a powerful information management software package. It does all the non-email tasks of Outlook, without the Outlook bugs. Able to run off of a thumb drive (and the help file provides detailed instructions how to do this), and supporting multiple databases, it is the most flexible PC program I have seen.

Made up of four main sections, (tasks, scheduled tasks, contacts and notes) the application allows you to see just one type, or everything in a customizable view. You can drag tasks into the schedule, and assign both categories and people to the tasks. Each type of item allows for categorization, assignment, and attachments.

The tasks section allows for parent/child tasks, rolling up percent complete and completion status. The calendar gives you an overview of what is scheduled, with many views, some customizable. The schedule will display blocks of colors to indicate working hours, break time and non-working time.

The notes section of the combined screen displays both stand-alone notes and those notes entered with scheduled tasks. The notes section itself is a great place to put journal entries.

The help file will tell you exactly how to set up the software for use with GTD, as well as covering all the entries in the menus and option boxes.

Conclusion

As a standalone solution, or for someone just starting out in the GTD methodology, this is a great piece of software. Its ability to run off of a USB is wonderful, and the help file shows the developers have truly thought through the applications.

As a software developer, I have rarely seen a more solid, user-friendly software: there are no features that don’t have multiple paths to get to, and the help file is outstanding.

If this software were able to interface with the Palm databases, I would drop both Bonsai and Agendus in a heartbeat. But without that capability, it would have limited use to me.

Feature In A Nutshell

Current Features

  • Allows multiple database files
  • Autodelete of completed tasks
  • Screen layout customizable
  • Statistics shown (number of contacts, tasks, scheduled tasks, database size)
  • Alarms will repeat if the program detects no mouse activity on the computer
  • Can be run from a thumb drive
  • Excellent help file
  • Easily adaptable to GTD (following included instructions)
  • Schedule allows you to set working time and break time (lunch time)
  • Easy drag-and-drop between tasks and scheduled tasks
  • Nice set of sliding percentages for todos
  • In-place filtering
  • Tray icon shows tasks and scheduled tasks for the day on mouse hover

Suggested Improvements

  • Warn about conflicts in schedule
  • Sub-tasks get automatically sorted in alphabetical order; default to manual
  • Implement drag-and-drop support for contacts using standard formats, rather than csv
  • Allow filters to be implemented per page
  • Allow customization of the default duration of a new scheduled task
  • When a task is dragged to the schedule, allow the category or assignee to change
  • Implement Windows standard print setup options
  • Speed up printing (I found all printing extremely (> 2 minutes for 10 tasks) slow)

Other Posts You Might Find Interesting:

If you enjoyed this post, please buy me a cup of coffee!

Comments are closed.