Nexty is an easy to use To Do list manager created using GTD principles. The core idea behind this software is simplicity. I wanted to make a GTD tool that is the most easy to use. So far, I have released this two times – first when Nexty was created – and then when it was available as a online service. Now, I am giving Nexty its own domain.

Features

Some features that make nexty special…

Easy to Use

Using Nexty is very simple – you can start using it without any trouble

FREE!

Its ‘gratis’ – you don’t have to pay to use it.

Open Source

Its ‘libera’. Since Nexty is published under the BSD License, you can download and modify the code to fit your need.

Calendar

See all your tasks, reminders and due dates in one centralized location.

Next Actions

Focus on one single task at a time using this feature.

Search

For Projects, Tasks and Reminders that you have created.

And the Usual Stuff…

Nexty has everything you would expect in a GTD system – Projects, Contexts, Reminders – you know – the works.

Free Software

If you are using Nexty as a locally installed application, there is no need to worry – the source is available for download – and its still in the BSD license. That will not change.

But if you are looking for a free online GTD tool, try Nexty.

Support

Further development details and announcements of Nexty will appear on its own development blog.

If you need any support for using Nexty, post a query on the Nexty Support Forum.

You can also post your suggestions there as well.

Publicity

I am trying to get some publicity for Nexty and its launch – if anyone has any suggestions about this, your comments are welcome.

I just released the latest version of Nexty – and to celebrate that, I am making Nexty an online application. That is, you can use Nexty from the web – without having to install it on your local system.

Of course, Nexty code is available as well – you can download and install it locally if you wish. In fact, I will recommend that you install it locally. That way, the application will be much faster than the online alternatives.

This happens to be my first online app. I have worked on many online projects before – but those were for various clients. This is the first online application that I have created for the use of others! I am working on anther online application – but by the look of things, it is not going to be over soon.

And thanks to Brad Nickel for suggesting this idea.

Changelog

Search

Search for tasks, projects and reminders

Next Action

Dedicated page for the next action – and only that

Inbox Feature

Add a lot of tasks in one go using the inbox

Linux Command Line

A script to control Nexty from the Linux command line.

Code uses iFrame

iFrame is my PHP framework

Bug Fixs

Too many to list

Better Installer

Will not overwrite the old data

Printing Support

Well, its better than before

To Learn more…

• Nexty 1.01.A Demo
• Nexty Information
• Download Nexty 1.01.A

The next version of nexty is coming out very soon – and unlike the last version, Nexty 2 will require PHP 5.

The main reason behind this change is GoPHP5. Go PHP 5 is a movement to promote the use of PHP5 in hosting servers and for projects.

Another reason for this decision is that iFrame, the framework I used in Nexty, uses PHP 5.

If you are stuck with PHP 4, I cannot help it. You can still use the first version. But if you have a choice, PHP 4 is dead – move on.

More on GoPHP5

• The PHP Rift
• Drupal Joins ‘Go PHP 5′ Movement
• Leaving PHP4 behind…

Examples of Web Installers

WordPress

Joomla

Nexty

I have created an installer for Nexty – I used the same installer for Jus5 as well. Here’s a screenshot…

Functions of an Installer

Check Requirements

If you software needs the GD PHP extension, check for it – it it is not present, show an error. If any folder must be writable, check for that. Make sure that the user cannot go to the next page without solving all the problems.

Make sure you have provided clear instructions on how to solve the problems – changing the permission might be easy for you and me – but the average user will find it very hard.

Database Connection Details

The user have to provide this data if our system uses a database.

• Host
• User
• Password
• Database

In some applications, the user must manually enter these data into the config file(for eg. WordPress). In other software, the user have to enter it at the time of installation. For example, Joomla uses this method – as does my application, Nexty.

Create tables and insert initial data

Check for existing data first – you don’t want to delete the existing data when reinstalling the software. This step is necessary only if you are using a Database in your application.

Save the inputted data

The user inputted data must be saved – in my application I just write it to the config file. But for that to work, the config file must have write permission. I also give the user an option to copy the code and place it in the config file themself.

Joomla also writes the values to a config file. However, WordPress inserts the data into the database. The only thing in the config file in wordpress is the database connection details – which the user must enter manually.

Disable the Installer

Make sure that the installer cannot be run after the installation is successfully compleated. This is important for the security of the application. You really don’t want any Yahoos opening up the install URL of your application and resetting all the data!

The easiest way of doing this is just deleting the installation script/folder. Joomla insists that you remove the installation folder before letting you use the application. In Nexty, removing the installation directory is recommended – but not enforced.

More on Web Installers in the next post.

Before starting, I must say that CSS is not the most powerful solution for templating. Using a server side solution is much more recommended. But for my purposes, CSS was good enough.

(X)HTML Code

If you want to use CSS templating, your app must be semantically valid. In other words, there is no way you can theme a tag soup.

Make sure that the stylesheet used for templating appears at the last. This will make sure that all the rules in the above stylesheets can be overwritten easily. In Nexty, I have a base stylesheet, then the theme stylesheet and at the end the hacks stylesheet…

<link href="css/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<link href="images/themes/crystal/theme.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<!--[if IE]>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style_ie.css" type="text/css" media="all" />
<![endif]-->

PHP Code

Very little PHP is involved to creating this system – I depend on it just to change the path of the CSS Stylesheet. The code used is…

<link href="images/themes/<?=$theme?>/theme.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />

The $theme variable will change if the user changes the theme.

Go to Nexty to see the icons

3 Types of Icons

I used 3 different classes for showing icons. They are..

icon

This class removes the text of the link and put the icon in its place. The icon is clickable.

You can see this technique used in the Projects page. See that ‘Edit’(Pencil) and ‘Delete’ icons? They use this class.

XHTML code

<a class="icon edit" href="edit.php?project=6">Rename<a>

CSS Code

.icon {
	font-size:0px; /*Hides the text*/
	padding:6px 8px;
}
.edit {
	background:url(edit.png) no-repeat left center;
}

with-icon

This class shows the icon left of the link text. Both the icon and the text are clickable.

The ‘Create new task’ link in the home page is an example of this.

XHTML code

<a class="with-icon tasks" href="tasks/new.php">Create New Task...</a>

CSS Code

.with-icon {
	padding-left:18px;
}
.tasks {
	background:url(tasks.png) no-repeat left center;
}

list-with-icon

This will insert the icon in every item for the given list.

The drop down menus – Sections, Projects and Contexts are created using this technique.

XHTML code

<ul class="menu-with-icon projects">
<li>...</li>
<li>...</li>
</ul>

CSS Code

.list-with-icon li,.list-with-icon dt {
	padding-left:18px;
}
.projects li {
	background:url(projects.png) no-repeat left center;
}

Icon Size

My icons were 16×16 pixels – if you are using icons with a different size, you will have to change the amount accordingly.

Remember Nexty? Recently I was able to make the 1.0 version. Currently I am planning for the second version. But before starting on that I want to document the different things I learned when creating Nexty. These are a list of things you can expect on this series…

Client Side

• CSS
  • Icons
  • Theming using CSS
• JavaScript
  • Ajax – Success/Failure Pattern

Server Side

• Installer
• Framework
• API
• Distributed Apps

Before starting, a small notice – I will include links to Nexty’s internal pages in this series. Most of these pages are behind a login. So I would advice that you get an account in Nexty and login into it using the ‘Remember Me’ option enabled. This would make sure that you have the most seamless experience.

Remember Nexty, the easy to use to-Do list manager using GTD principles? Well, that is ready for public release.

Nexty is a easy to use GTD tool created in PHP. It can be installed in a local server or in a online web server. The core idea behind this software is simplicity. I wanted to make a GTD tool that is the most easy to use.

Nexty Links

• Nexty
• Demo
• Project Page
• Code (SVN Repository)
• Download

The next project is ready – watch this space for its announcement.