WrenchReminder.com progress
12-06-2009, 05:15 AM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
WrenchReminder.com progress
Guys (and gals);
I've made a lot of progress on the maintenance manager web site I've been working on. Please feel free to give it a shot. In addition to a complete site redesign (now that I have a better idea of content), functional additions include the ability to copy existing templates to your vehicle (and I have a pretty thorough one on my 928 you can use), you can add photos, you can create a blog, you can create an interest group (like SoCal 928) and there's a very bare wiki system there for documenting stuff.
Some things of note:
I wrote a "Vision" document so you can see where I'm going with this:
http://www.wrenchreminder.com/index....splay&pageid=5
At this point, you basically can add your car, create a schedule, convert items to a work order, then mark items as complete. The item should automatically reschedule accordingly.
There's a "quick start" summary in the help forum:
http://www.wrenchreminder.com/index....&fid=7&topic=3
Lots more to go, but it's pretty useful now. Feel free to report bugs, suggestions, etc. I plan to support building a history of past work as well, but I suspect there's going to be an issue with each item until it's initial schedule is complete; try if you like, no guarantees.
I will be in Rhode Island on business next week, but will be monitoring what's going on.
I've made a lot of progress on the maintenance manager web site I've been working on. Please feel free to give it a shot. In addition to a complete site redesign (now that I have a better idea of content), functional additions include the ability to copy existing templates to your vehicle (and I have a pretty thorough one on my 928 you can use), you can add photos, you can create a blog, you can create an interest group (like SoCal 928) and there's a very bare wiki system there for documenting stuff.
Some things of note:
I wrote a "Vision" document so you can see where I'm going with this:
http://www.wrenchreminder.com/index....splay&pageid=5
At this point, you basically can add your car, create a schedule, convert items to a work order, then mark items as complete. The item should automatically reschedule accordingly.
There's a "quick start" summary in the help forum:
http://www.wrenchreminder.com/index....&fid=7&topic=3
Lots more to go, but it's pretty useful now. Feel free to report bugs, suggestions, etc. I plan to support building a history of past work as well, but I suspect there's going to be an issue with each item until it's initial schedule is complete; try if you like, no guarantees.
I will be in Rhode Island on business next week, but will be monitoring what's going on.
12-06-2009, 12:01 PM
#3
Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Hey Rob - Great idea!
I signed up but found a few things amiss. On the "Buy" selection where I can input my purchase date info, I can't seem to figure out what format that field is asking for. The "slect date" icon is not active. Therefore, I could not get my info added to the details about my car.
I don't understand the need for License Plate and State. That can be used to find out all manner of personal information. Almost as bad as asking for someone's SSN. Should be optional not required.
Though I edited my personal information, to include my name, it is not reflected anywhere that I can tell
Some basic typos in your intro letter and other places. A few "won" for "own" sorts of things.
I think this site could evolve into something large. I'd rewrite you vision page so it reduces the 928 component. Might just list you car as an example. It reads more like this site is for 928's only.
There should be an option to print out the maintenance report and also to be able to export to an external spreadsheet, like Excel. Would also be good to be able to print a report so it could be provided to a prospective buyer. I love online services like this and photo sharing sites but it scares the hell out of me that the data can be lost should a server go down or the hosting site disappears, etc. Then where are we? Why being able to download to Excel is critical to me.
I signed up but found a few things amiss. On the "Buy" selection where I can input my purchase date info, I can't seem to figure out what format that field is asking for. The "slect date" icon is not active. Therefore, I could not get my info added to the details about my car.
I don't understand the need for License Plate and State. That can be used to find out all manner of personal information. Almost as bad as asking for someone's SSN. Should be optional not required.
Though I edited my personal information, to include my name, it is not reflected anywhere that I can tell
Some basic typos in your intro letter and other places. A few "won" for "own" sorts of things.
I think this site could evolve into something large. I'd rewrite you vision page so it reduces the 928 component. Might just list you car as an example. It reads more like this site is for 928's only.
There should be an option to print out the maintenance report and also to be able to export to an external spreadsheet, like Excel. Would also be good to be able to print a report so it could be provided to a prospective buyer. I love online services like this and photo sharing sites but it scares the hell out of me that the data can be lost should a server go down or the hosting site disappears, etc. Then where are we? Why being able to download to Excel is critical to me.
12-06-2009, 12:02 PM
#4
Three Wheelin'
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Ridgecrest, California
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I just visited the site, read the vision and registered for an account. I'm not familiar with other tools or sites that may provide this service/capability but I think this one has excellent potential!! Right now, I keep my service records in a MS Works Spreadsheet and have to manually set future maintenance due dates. Having the ability to report out all scheduled maintenance events and when/what was completed historically would be a great tool for buying/selling 928's.
Having repair/maintenance procedures available on the site and linked to the reminders would be a great way for newbies like myself to easily see what's involved in performing a specific repair or maintenance procedure when it comes due. I'd be interested in uploading some repair procedures.
Cool idea, Rob!
Having repair/maintenance procedures available on the site and linked to the reminders would be a great way for newbies like myself to easily see what's involved in performing a specific repair or maintenance procedure when it comes due. I'd be interested in uploading some repair procedures.
Cool idea, Rob!
12-06-2009, 12:24 PM
#5
Rennlist Member
Very well done, and a huge amount of work. I'll be trying it this week.
And Dwayne (and others), if you could upload your repair procedures it would be a great addition to the site as a resource.
And Dwayne (and others), if you could upload your repair procedures it would be a great addition to the site as a resource.
12-06-2009, 10:24 PM
#6
Drifting
Thread Starter
Thanks for the comments guys. I've been offline all day and this is my first opportunity to see how it's going. I'll check on the date picker issue; it's been operational every time I've used it, but I see several incomplete vehicles and I was wondering if anything was amiss.
A more complete rationale for some of the required information... and I am open minded about it. Beyond the ability to track the growth of the site, and the ability to use that information to find others near you, eventually there will be ads and sponsors to help pay for it. Zip code information will help deliver more relevant ads to your browser. As long as you gotta see them, they might as well be relevant, right?
As far as the vin info... I would like to do some interesting things with it, and it's really hard to collect data after the fact. Such as option code lookups, and - long term - the ability to say, when someone enters a new vehicle, "hey, we already have some data on the car. Wanna see it?"
Also could be use, in theory, to spot stolen vehicles. License number stuff the same issue. I see that the vin isn't being hidden in one place, I've already coded a fix but haven't uploaded it yet.
Dwayne, I would *love* for you to put some of your howtos on the site. Either in the blog or in the wiki. You might need me help to get the launched though.
A more complete rationale for some of the required information... and I am open minded about it. Beyond the ability to track the growth of the site, and the ability to use that information to find others near you, eventually there will be ads and sponsors to help pay for it. Zip code information will help deliver more relevant ads to your browser. As long as you gotta see them, they might as well be relevant, right?
As far as the vin info... I would like to do some interesting things with it, and it's really hard to collect data after the fact. Such as option code lookups, and - long term - the ability to say, when someone enters a new vehicle, "hey, we already have some data on the car. Wanna see it?"
Also could be use, in theory, to spot stolen vehicles. License number stuff the same issue. I see that the vin isn't being hidden in one place, I've already coded a fix but haven't uploaded it yet.Dwayne, I would *love* for you to put some of your howtos on the site. Either in the blog or in the wiki. You might need me help to get the launched though.
12-20-2009, 05:51 PM
#7
Drifting
Thread Starter
OK, with my travels and the holidays I've had distractions but have now gotten some fixes done on the site:
* The date issue is resolved. I updated one component just prior to announcing this and it hosed the date function. Took awhile to find a fix, but it should be working now.
* I found a bug with copying templates to your car, and it's been fixed.
* Sensitive info should be completely hidden now. Let me know if you find any others.
* Several IE6 errors found and fixed. I wasn't going to support it but one of my buddies uses it so I caved
* date formatting errors fixed that cause the month part to always display the current month
* Print version of work order includes the wrenchreminder logo in case you give it to your mechanic and he wants to see where it came from
I have a list of new features I want to add in, but if you have something you think is particularly important, say so. User input counts.
Also, I looked at adding Worf928's inspection information in as a template, but it's not really in a month/mileage format. If someone wants to put it into that format, I'll add it as a template if you don't want to do it yourself.
* The date issue is resolved. I updated one component just prior to announcing this and it hosed the date function. Took awhile to find a fix, but it should be working now.
* I found a bug with copying templates to your car, and it's been fixed.
* Sensitive info should be completely hidden now. Let me know if you find any others.
* Several IE6 errors found and fixed. I wasn't going to support it but one of my buddies uses it so I caved
* date formatting errors fixed that cause the month part to always display the current month
* Print version of work order includes the wrenchreminder logo in case you give it to your mechanic and he wants to see where it came from
I have a list of new features I want to add in, but if you have something you think is particularly important, say so. User input counts.
Also, I looked at adding Worf928's inspection information in as a template, but it's not really in a month/mileage format. If someone wants to put it into that format, I'll add it as a template if you don't want to do it yourself.