MacJournal 6.0.5b2

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Catching the leading edge of June, here's a new beta build of MacJournal. There are some more performance improvements in this build, particularly with smart journals. There are also several changes to support sandboxing, which is a required change for the Mac App Store. Sandboxing isn't enabled for these builds so those changes won't be obvious, but it's important to make sure there are no regressions the things that you use normally.

Please let me know of any issues using the Report A Bug item in the Help menu.

MacJournal 6.0.5b1

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MacJournal 6.0.5 is the next release of MacJournal for the Mac, both via direct distribution and the Mac App Store. If you don't have 6.0.4, don't worry: that release was only for the Mac App Store. There are a lot of fixes in this release, so please give everything that you do normally a thorough testing. Most of the changes are behind the scenes, so there shouldn't be many differences when using the application (except for the bugs fixed). Syncing with an iOS device has also received a lot of attention, so let me know if you have any trouble syncing with the current version of the iOS apps. Performance should also be better, especially when launching the application.

Remember that beta releases are only for testing, so please make sure you have a backup of your data before trying this out (MacJournal will also make a special backup when launching). Also, this beta is usable only in demo mode for App Store users.

Please let me know of any issues by using the Report a Bug menu item in the Help menu.

MacJournal 6.0.3

Use the "Check for Update" item in the MacJournal menu to get it, or visit http://marinersoftware.com/ to download directly.

The big goals with this release are performance and stability. Well, performance, stability, and export. Several bugs that could cause crashes are fixed, as well as issues that could prevent proper content searching. Search indexing should also be faster, as well as any other situation where you're loading a lot of entry text all at once (such as exporting). Multiple selection of entries should also be faster. Several issues with export have been fixed, including several file naming issues.

If you obtained MacJournal from the Mac App Store, you can get the update from the normal App Store update mechanism when Apple approves the update, which should be soon (judging from past experiences).

A word on localizations: unfortunately, they are still underway. We are working hard to update the localizations right now, but none of them are complete enough for this release. Once any of the localizations is ready, a new release will include them as soon as possible.

MacJournal 6.0.3b2

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A few more small fixes in this beta, and one or two larger ones. There are a few more fixes for encrypted journals, including exporting certain entries out of them. The separate entry editing windows should remember their size and position and show up when you relaunch on Lion. Performance of some things, including multiple selection, should also be improved.

6.0.3 will be out by the end of the month, so let me know if you have any problems. Use the Report an Issue item in the Help menu to report issues with this beta.

MacJournal 6.0.3b1

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This is the first beta for 6.0.3, another small bug fix release. This fixes a few crashers, as well as fixing search indexing for those that have been experiencing it (depending on how your data are structured). There are a few tiny UI differences, including reorganizing the Format menu a bit to match TextEdit better (something I meant to do before 6.0), and requiring the Command key to move something in the Sidebar or Entries List to the Trash to reduce accidental actions. Performance should also be improved.

Please let me know of any problems using the Report an Issue item in the Help menu. If you have purchased MacJournal via the App Store, this beta won't recognize that license right now. I'm looking into ways of letting App Store customers test betas in the future.

MacJournal 6.0.2b2

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This is the second beta for 6.0.2. Save for one bug with books that I'm still working on, this should be complete and the final release will come very soon. Please know of any problems that you have with this release.

This beta fixes a crash syncing with iOS, improves memory usage for multiple selection, and allows cancellation of backups in the Activity window, among other things.

MacJournal 6.0.2b1

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Here comes the most recent beta release of MacJournal 6. This is 6.0.2b1. The goals for this release are performance, reliability, and minor UI improvements.

Performance of smart journals in situations where there are a lot of them and/or a lot of entries to search should be better. You may see the smart journals update not all at once; for large amounts of entries, the search happens in the background so as not to block the user interface. In that case, you’ll see the count for the smart journal increase in situations like unlocking a journal that reveals a bunch of new entries. Smart journals searching entry content should also work better after an iOS sync.

Certain encrypted journals from version 5 that had trouble unlocking in version 6 should be fixed. Encrypted journals should also be a bit faster as well.

In other news, “Send to MobileMe” should work better, as should popovers on Snow Leopard. The Backup Browser should work better for restoring entire journals and should let you unlock journals to view their contents. In the “Send to Other Blog” menu, you’ll see a light gray indication of where that particular blog is specified, in case you want to remove it. Exporting with the new “Automatic” format should work better, and you can specify which entry metadata you want to include in textual entries.

There are more fixes, so check out the Version History in the Help menu for all of the details when you get the release.

MacJournal 6.0 and 6.0.1b1

As you may have seen from a few other websites, MacJournal 6 was released last week! After 14 months of development, I’m thrilled that it’s out for everyone to use. I’m very proud of this release.

However, any large release has its share of small issues that need fixing. I aim to pick off the vast majority of the problems that have been reported with 6.0.1. So far, the biggest issue is that for some configurations, MacJournal has trouble quitting cleanly. Either it never quits, or it quits after a minute or so of spinning the CPU. These issues should be solved for 6.0.1. Today I’m releasing the first and only planned beta for 6.0.1 for those that want to try it out.

Here is 6.0.1b1:

MacJournal_6.0.1b1.zip

Please let me know of any problems with this release via the “Report an Issue” menu item in the Help menu. Keep in mind though that this is a beta, and it’s always good to make sure you have backups of your important data when trying out a beta.

MacJournal and Lion

Apple's new operating system, Lion, came out last week and some users have wondered how MacJournal works with it. I'm happy to report that I've been using the current version of MacJournal with all of the developer seeds and the final release without any trouble. If you have had any issues, please do let me know at dschimpf@mac.com and we will work it out. Other than that, journal away!

MacJournal 5.2.7

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This is a small bug-fix release for 5.2.6 to fix some of the issues discovered in that release and provide parity with the Mac App Store release. There are very few changes over the last beta. Thanks to everyone that tested the betas!

MacJournal 5.2.7b2

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This is the second beta of 5.2.7. There are some fixes for iOS device syncing, especially in the case of "Keep Both" conflict resolution. Also, any deleted entries on the Mac will be placed in the Trash instead of deleted immediately. There are a few other assorted fixes, including ones for dragging journals between documents, and display of the word count field and search options buttons in extreme situations.

Please let me know of any issues via email by using the Report Issue item in the Help menu. Thanks for testing MacJournal!

MacJournal 5.2.7b1

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This is a small round of betas aimed at syncing up a release with an imminent Mac App Store release. There are a few fixes, including one for uploading movies to a blog and tag suggestions. Please let me know if you have any trouble with it.

MacJournal 5.2.6

Another release; more syncing fixes. On that front, the "system clocks are too different" warning has been modified to show up only with a 60 second difference or more. Even if it shows, you can also still continue with the sync. An issue preventing the Mac from showing up in the device list should also be fixed. There were some other sync issues that are fixed as well.

But it's not all syncing! There are fixes for Magic Mouse users, blog servers with self-signed HTTPS certificates, smart journals, and more.

Use "Check for Update" in MacJournal to get the new release and let me know of any issues you run in to.

MacJournal 5.2.6b2

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There is an important fix in this beta: a fix for iOS devices that don't show a Mac you want to sync with on certain networks. The issue was in MacJournal, but it only presented itself on certain network configurations, so you may not have seen it. But if you were in a situation where the Mac didn't show up on your iPhone or iPad even though you're sure the two devices are on the same network, this could be the fix for you.

There are also some other fixes for rare crashes, blogging to servers with a self-signed HTTPS certificate, and others. Please let me know of any issues.

MacJournal 5.2.6b1

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Another day, another series of betas. There are a few minor fixes in there, but if you're having trouble with the new "your clocks are too different" check with touch device syncing, this beta for you.

A word about this check: I had a conversation with a user a few weeks ago that was seeing consistent data loss—entries were getting deleted every time he synced. We traced this down to a difference in clocks between the two devices. MacJournal uses the modification dates of the entries compared to the date of the last sync to decide what to sync. If one machine thinks it's really 30 or 40 seconds later or earlier than it really is, the syncing can go awry because it might decide something should be deleted that really shouldn't. The check was meant to prevent issues like that. The threshold is set at 25 seconds in 5.2.5. This release extends it to 60 seconds and also allows you to continue syncing after seeing the warning. It's still important to keep your system clocks as close as possible (since there really is only one correct time and all of your computers should be as close as possible to that), but since so many people were syncing successfully even with incorrect system clocks, it seems like a good idea to re-enable that. Please give it a try and let me know if you're having problems syncing.

MacJournal 5.2.5b1

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5.2.5 will be a smaller release than 5.2.4 and meant to address some issues in that release and some issues discovered with syncing the recent mobile releases. To that end, there is a fix for an error that can occur during syncing that some people with PDFs were seeing. There’s also a fix for blogging with PDFs. VoiceOver support is improved in the calendar and tab bar, as well as better international support. I also reverted behavior for the “shaded” days in the calendar to include just the entries in the current journal until I can work out a better way to accomplish what I was going for in 5.2.4.

Please let me know of any problems using the “Report an Issue” item in the Help menu. If everything looks okay here and no more mobile support is required, this should be reaching public release status soon.

MacJournal 5.2.4

As is my custom, I forgot about posting something about the final release. However, 5.2.4 came out a week or two ago. Going forward, there will likely be a 5.2.5 at some point soon, but as a much smaller release than 5.2.4. I will likely post a beta of it soon once I get fixes finalized, so stay tuned if you are interested. Please let me know if you have any problems with 5.2.4. Email or the Support Forums are the best route to get in touch. Thanks everyone for your help with 5.2.4!

MacJournal 5.2.4b6

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“Synchronize” is now available when syncing with iOS devices for the first time. What happens is that if the data sets are completely distinct (as in created separately), they can be safely merged. If there is some overlap and some other issue causes the system to think the two devices have never synced before, a Replace sync will be necessary to restore good working order as before.

As a historical footnote, upgrading data from MacJournal 2.1 and before is supported once again.

MacJournal 5.2.4b5

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Here is the next beta of MacJournal 5.2.4. This is an unofficial final candidate build. That is, I'm not expecting to have to change anything before the final public release. In terms of what has changed in this beta, a few bug fixes and a few syncing changes. Starting a sync with an iPhone will do a backup first (just like with MobileMe). The automatic sync behavior is on by default now, but you can disable it. MacJournal entry URLs are now created with their IDs instead of topics, making for greater stability if you rename the entries. Also, you can sort search results in the entries list and that sorting will be remembered separately.

Please let me know of any problems you have by emailing me.

Macjournal 5.2.4b4

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It's another beta! This beta adds an explicit "Import from Journler" menu item in the File menu that does a much better job than dragging a specific folder into the sidebar ever could. It also fixes a regression in an earlier beta with creating links to entries and showing the status sheet for the daily backup. Holding down the Option key when clicking the back or forward buttons in the calendar will now jump a year in that direction. The "magnify" gesture to change text zoom is now off by default since it seem it got more accidental use than intentional. There are other changes, so check out the Version History when you get it and let me know of any problems.