The beta is now completed and version 8.2 has been officially released. It can be downloaded here:
http://www.vueminder.com/index.php?page=download
VueMinder Server 1.0 has also been officially released and is available here:
http://www.vueminder.com/index.php?mact ... eturnid=61
A beta release of VueMinder Calendar Pro 8.2.0 (Beta 6) is available for download:
VueMinder_Pro_Setup_8.2.0_BETA6.exe
Before installing, first ensure the current version isn't running by right-clicking its icon in the task tray and selecting "Exit".
Be aware, this version of VueMinder now has a dependency on Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP1 (instead of 2.0). Most computers, especially ones running Vista or Win 7, should already have this installed. However, if you're still using XP, you might be prompted to install .NET 3.5 as part of the VueMinder installation. Unfortunately, Windows 98/ME are no longer supported because they can't run .NET 3.5.
If you'll be using VueMinder Server, there's a dependency on Windows Installer 4.5. If you don't already have it, you can download it here.
There's also a dependency on Microsoft Powershell 2.0. This should already be installed if you're using Windows XP SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Vista SP1, or Windows 7. If VueMinder Server doesn't properly install, ensure you have Powershell 2.0 installed. You can download it here.
The underlying technology used for calendar sharing over the local network has been changed. This change will make calendar sharing much more reliable, fixing the problems noted previously with inconsistent syncing and other performance issues.
Instead of using a Microsoft Access database, a new product named VueMinder Server will need to be installed on one of your computers or servers. VueMinder Server installs Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and a VueMinder database. Any existing shared calendars will no longer be shared after upgrading to 8.2.0. The calendars will still be present on each computer as local copies, so there won't be any data loss. To migrate the previously shared calendars to the new database, follow these steps:
1. Identify the computer you'd like to use as the server. You can still use the computer as you would normally, and VueMinder can continue to run on that computer. It doesn't need to be a dedicated server.
2. Download the appropriate version of VueMinder Server.
32-bit: VueMinder_Server_1.0.0_BETA4_x86.exe
64-bit: VueMinder_Server_1.0.0_BETA4_x64.exe
3. Run the downloaded file to initiate installation. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 will be installed with an instance named "VUESOFT". This instance runs on port 1451, so ensure your server's firewall isn't blocking connections on that port.
4. In VueMinder Calendar Pro 8.2.0, go to the Sharing Options (via the Options menu) and select your server's machine name from the drop-down list. If the machine name isn't listed, then you probably have a firewall blocking port 1451. You might also need to reboot the server or ensure the SQL services are running, including the SQL Server Browser service. These services should be configured to start automatically.
5. After selecting the server name, right-click the calendar you were previously sharing, and select the "Share to Local Network" command to re-share the calendar.
6. On the other computers that were looking at the same shared calendar(s), delete the calendar(s) from the calendar list by right-clicking and selecting the "Delete Calendar" command. This will ensure syncing goes smoothly in the following steps.
7. In the Sharing Options, select the same server name.
8. On the File menu, use the "Add Shared Calendar From Local Network" command to re-add the shared calendar. It should sync within a few seconds and all the shared events will return.
9. If you get this far, you're done. You should no longer see any intermittent problems with events not syncing. Also, computer clock differences will no longer be an issue.
If you try the beta and find any problems, please send the details to support@vueminder.com, so a correction can be made before the release becomes official.
A series of blog articles is currently in work, highlighting the many other improvements that have gone into 8.2. In the meantime, here's a quick listing:
- Added a "Save as Web Page" command to the File menu, allowing the calendar to be saved directly to HTML and optionally uploaded to an FTP server for display on a website.
- Added the ability to schedule voice (text-to-speech) reminders to any phone number, including land lines.
- Added the ability to send SMS reminders to any cell phone, using a web-based SMS provider.
- Added the ability to hear a voice (text-to-speech) reminder when a popup reminder or desktop alert appears.
- Added a "New Appointment for Contact" command to the File menu, for automatically associating a contact with an event. This feature could be used for quickly scheduling client appointments.
- Added a new "Add Outlook Calendar" command to the File menu. This command streamlines and simplifies adding an existing Outlook calendar to VueMinder and configuring it to sync.
- Added an option for selecting which columns should be visible in the popup reminder window.
- Improved calendar sharing over a local network to sync via Microsoft SQL Server instead of Microsoft Access. This will fix the performance and reliability problems of calendar sharing.
- Improved the layout of the popup reminder window. The controls at the bottom of the window now use less space and button positioning is more intuitive.
- Improved media playback on the popup reminder window to be more reliable and use less memory. The look and feel of the playback controls have also been improved.
- Improved the popup reminder window to recall the number of visible reminder rows.
- Improved the desktop alert reminder settings to allow looping of a wav file.
- Improved the performance of desktop alert dismissal. Alerts will immediately be removed, instead of having a several second delay on some computers.
- Improved desktop alert snoozing so each individual reminder will recall its previously snoozed time, and will use that as the default when snoozing again.
- Improved performance of calendar sharing over a local network to use significantly less CPU time.
- Improved the Google Calendar sync settings to allow events older than 4000 days to be included.
- Improved the Year view so clicking a month's name will result in the clicked month being activated and shown in the Month view.
- Improved printing of the Monthly layout to show a "more activity" indicator when there are more events defined in a day than will fit in the printout.
- Improved activation of calendars in the Calendar List. When a calendar's box is checked to make it visible, the calendar will become active and will be the default for any new events.
- Improved the icons in the Calendar List to more clearly indicate the types of calendars (Google Calendar, Outlook, subscription, published, shared).
- Improved the active calendar indicator in the Calendar List to be separate from the calendar icon.
- Improved the active row indicator used in various lists, such as in the Recent Reminders window, popup reminder, Event/Task/Note list, etc.
- Corrected problems with reminders sometimes not appearing or being transmitted when expected.
- Corrected previewing popup reminders for recurring events that have occurrence numbering enabled.
- Corrected the popup reminder window to recall its previous location after being minimized to the task bar and then restored.
- Corrected the Task List to not show tasks that are due after the specified ending date range.
- Corrected slow program performance on some computers where 100% of the CPU would eventually be used.
- Corrected performance problems when a large number of recurring events are defined.
- Corrected deletion of categories, priorities, and locations when calendars are shared over a local network, so the deleted items won't return the next time a sync occurs.
- Corrected a problem where a duplicate locations and category names could be created, and then unable to be removed.
- Corrected the Week view on the Desktop Calendar to not switch to the current week after syncing with Google Calendar or Outlook.
- Corrected initial syncing of a Google Calendar containing many recurring events. Previously, it could take several minutes to complete the sync and some computers would report an error message. Syncing should now be significantly faster.
- Corrected a problem with duplicate events being generated if event titles are changed in Google Calendar and synced 1-way to VueMinder.
- Corrected a problem with single occurrence events sometimes becoming recurring events after syncing with Google Calendar.
- Corrected exporting calendars containing recurring event variations to ICS. When the ICS file was imported in other calendar programs, the variation would appear along with the original recurring event.
- Corrected an error when importing and exporting recurring events from/to ICS files, if the recurrence pattern is set to the last day of the month.
- Corrected event ending times when importing or subscribing to ICS files containing events that end at exactly 12:00 AM UTC.
- Corrected saving of the desktop calendar opacity when the slider is clicked instead of dragged.
- Corrected editing of the Location and Calendar fields in the Event Editor when the backspace key is pressed or text is pasted.
- Corrected initiation of text messages from the Contact Editor for contacts that don't have an email address entered.
- Corrected entry of addresses in the Contact Editor when a state or province isn't entered. The postal code was not appearing.
- Many other minor improvements and corrections.
