Along with final testing and video production for our new accounting software, there’s one more thing to throw into the mix: a new website.
Our first site was a few pages of text in the mid ’90s. It grew to dozens of pages in 2000, after the release of Goldenseal. That version had screen shots and better layouts. Later, we added an Answers button with links to many hundreds of support pages.
The current site looks old. It’s hard to maintain. So, this week we started work on a modern website. The code is simpler, and it looks good on phone, tablet, laptop or whatever.
We already own a second website, updated in 2016. After copying SmartKnives and making some tweaks, Turtlesoft already looks pretty decent. It now uses frameworks that didn’t even exist when we built the current site (jQuery, Foundation, a couple others). We paste in our text and graphics, and they make it look good.
As we test and record videos for each part of the new accounting software, we’ll also update their support pages. As a bonus, reading those helps our staff to remember exactly how things work, for testing and the videos.
Setup for this final phase has been a game of musical computers. The new accounting app runs on Mac 10.14 Mojave or newer. For website coding, DreamWeaver for desktop is stuck at Mac 10.12 Sierra. Anything newer needs Adobe Creative Cloud and a monthly fee. There’s no way to run both apps on the same computer.
The current KVM setups may be enough, but the process may need two monitors per desk, side-by-side. On top of all that, newer Minis don’t have an audio jack. A USB microphone is on the way so we can record voice-overs while running the new app.
Progress can be annoying. Too much good stuff gets lost at each transition.
Our staff probably will be in a cycle of test->debug->video shoot->web page through the entire fall/winter season. Maybe into spring. We could have rushed to release an app in 2022, but this way it will be tested better, and fully supported at the launch.
Also, jumping between three tasks is a better use of human resources. C++ programming is like building or defusing IEDs: exciting, but risky. If you’re careless, something blows up. Software testing is a 1,000 page book of Where’s Waldos, and you’ve got to find them all. Website HTML is like cooking: you can be creative, but mostly it’s just mindless chopping, stirring and dish washing. Each type of work is an antidote for the others.
Some time during the testing process, the app will be far enough along to release an alpha or beta version. We’ll figure out when to do that, TBA.
Dennis Kolva
Programming Director
TurtleSoft.com
