Posted by: Steve
Wednesday at 4:00pm PDT (11pm GMT) the Google App Engine servers are going to be switched in to read-only mode. They anticipate that this will last for up to 30 minutes. Instead of running WeighTracker with degraded performance and producing error messages when trying to save weights, we will be going temporarily offline during this time. Since Google is taking the opportunity to do some maintenance, so will we.
This last week we switched some of our underlying infrastructure that generates the web pages here at WeighTracker. It did have a few hiccups and a couple users were treated to unceremoniously blank pages. We do apologize for that inconvenience. We will also be rolling out some error handling pages so if problems happen in the future you should see someting a little more informative than a blank screen. As always, please don't hesitate to use the contact page if you do encounter one of these errors.
Posted by: Steve
Over the last week and a half, we've been steadily rolling out improvements behind the scenes. None of these were new features that you would notice, but small things. Some include: implementing transactions to improve data integrity, reducing file sizes for quicker downloads and better caching on portable devices, and preparations to support longer information articles.
Unfortunately, making these changes sometimes introduces bugs. Last night one user encountered a bug which prevented them from logging their weights. It turns out there was a corner case that worked fine before moving to transactional data storage that now doesn't. I'm rolling out a fix for that problem right now. But the point is that if you are using the site and you get a blank screen, please don't hesistate to use the contact form to let us know that something is broken.
Posted by: Steve
We have a new feature for your enjoyment. Our previously static weight charts have been upgraded with slightly interactive flash charts. These really cool charts are thanks to the Open Flash Chart project. While everyone has been defaulted to using the new flash charts, if you don't like them you can switch back to the old static chart images through the new preference on your User Settings page.
The new charts are cool, but they are not without some minor bugs. Because our charts are fairly sophisticated we're actually using a pre-release patched development version of the open flash chart object. One of the things I don't care for is the longish animation. Oddly, disabling the animation is one of the features that is broken in our pre-release build. Related to that is the biggest problem that I am aware of. If you move the mouse cursor over the chart while the data is animating in, you can accidentally stick a data point at a position below its intended location. This can give an erroneous trend appearance. To avoid this, don't mouse over the chart while its animating. If you find any other errors or problems don't hesitate to use the Contact page. Hopefully, there won't be too many instances of that.
Posted by: Steve
The big day is finally here. WeighTracker goes into open beta today! There is still a lot of work to be done, but all the major functionality is implemented. If you find any errors or broken links don't hesitate to use the Contact page. Hopefully, there won't be too many instances of that.
Currently there is no error handling built in to manage if the App Engine datastore goes read-only. If that happens, things could get messy fast. It's not likely, but while we're in beta there is always a small chance that your weight data might get corrupted or disappear. It's very unlikely, but that is the risk you take being a beta tester.
Posted by: Steve
Today was a monumental day. WeighTracker registered its first user. Admittedly, our only users are alpha testers, but it was inspiring to see the first real weight charts. Over the next couple weeks we'll be signing up additional users to help prove out all the functionality.
Speaking of functionality, there are still a lot of areas of the website that are unimplemented. Thankfully our alpha testers are kind enough to overlook the sharp corners. These will all need to be working or at least papered over before we go into an open beta test. Specifically, the monthly charts, yearly charts, monthly data reports, explanation page, and history page are all left to be done.
Posted by: Steve
Great news! The website is currently under active development. It's been many months in the paper napkin stage and now finally real action is being taken. It may take a while for all the functionality to come online, but pretty soon you should be able to use the basic services.
I hope you like the look of the site. I am using a free template made by Erwin Aligam of styleshot.com. I'm not an artist myself, so please bear with me if some of the rough edges need a little work. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
WeighTracker is a website which provides free charts and indicators which give you clear, simple, realistic guidance on your diet performance and path forward to reach your weight goals. Counting calories is hard and fickle scales are demoralizing. Here calorie counting isn't required and peace with your bathroom scale can be achieved.
© 2009, Stephen Anderson All Rights Reserved Design by : styleshout | Valid XHTML | CSS Written in: Python | Hosted on: Google App Engine