AvasMom Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 One is free, one is paid. They look, at least at first glance, like they are equivalent. Just curious why so many use the paid one? What's the advantage that makes it worth paying for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Way more features and flexibility. I tried Skedtrack, and there were a lot of features I really wanted that just weren't there (and weren't coming, as I think development has stopped?). HST+ had the features I wanted. Try the free one first though. It's a good program. You may not be looking for the same features I was. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nov05mama Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Way more features and flexibility. I tried Skedtrack, and there were a lot of features I really wanted that just weren't there (and weren't coming, as I think development has stopped?). HST+ had the features I wanted. Try the free one first though. It's a good program. You may not be looking for the same features I was. ;) Ditto! I *liked* Skedtrack, but I L.O.V.E. HSTracker Plus!! And the price is actually WELL worth it. I went back and forth about actually paying for the upgrade (I was using the Basic version initially, which is free) and I am SO glad I did. You get free upgrades for life...so it's not like something bigger and better will come out and you are 'stuck'...you just download the latest upgrades and go back to work! LOVE it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvasMom Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 What features specifically? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 What features specifically? I'm on my phone now, but I'll try to go back and look at it tomorrow from my computer to remember which features. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I like SkedTrack because it's online and I can access from any computer in the house, including my iPad. We're a computer family so we work from many computers. Once a week I'm outside the house all day, so I can still work on Homeschool SkedTrack with my laptop. I can look things up if we're traveling or on vacation. That's my favorite feature. Secondly, I like it because I don't really have a strict hourly schedule, and it allows flexibility. If I don't get to art or science, no big deal, it slides to the next allotted day. So for me, SkedTrack fits my lifestyle better. I tried the HST demo, but it looked too complicated for my needs at this time. If HST+ had these features (online and flexible), I would switch in a heartbeat. (Last I checked, it wasn't online, but someone correct me if I'm wrong!) I'd gladly pay for something I use so much, knowing it would be supported for years to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Ok, got the tick to bed and am now on my computer. :D It's been several months since I tried it, so some of this *could* be a bit off. I'm going off memory and looking at my account on Skedtrack: I wanted to print out a daily task list... This was a big deal for me. I live for my daily task list. :lol: Skedtrack doesn't have this feature and has no plans of adding it because the wife of the developer never used one. :tongue_smilie: Editing large amounts of lessons was not easy. The HST+ features make this so much easier... like being able to select 100 lessons and change one field to something else all at once. I don't think you could do something like that in Skedtrack. Saving lesson plans for future kids. I'm on child #1. I have 2 more behind him that will likely use some of the same programs. I'd like to keep my lesson plans! HST+ lets me archive them and then pull them back out and use with another kid. I don't think Skedtrack has anything like this. Importing lesson plans from other users - Skedtrack doesn't have this. HST+ does. I've used this feature with some curriculum and it did save time (though this one wasn't a deal breaker for me, as lesson plan entering is quick and easy in HST+). Attendance feature on Skedtrack annoyed me. I think it marked you absent if you didn't input that day? Sometimes I might input stuff at the end of the week, and it wasn't doing what I expected. With HST+, it doesn't mark you as absent. It will automatically mark present if you complete an assignment, and that can be done days later without messing anything up. HST+ just handles attendance the way I wanted it to be handled (and yes, I have to report attendance to the state... and HST+ will print out that report for me to send to my cover school). If I need to reschedule assignments, it's easy to do. I just don't want it marking me absent prematurely! Ah... reports... Skedtrack has very few options. HST+ has a bunch of reports you can do. I still would prefer something more customizable (or just let me have a .csv dump of the data so I can manipulate it myself), but the HST+ reports have a lot of options, and I'm able to print out things pretty much how I want them (including my daily task list!!!). Hourly assignment grid... Skedtrack doesn't have one. HST+ does. While I don't necessarily stick to that schedule, I like to have one so I can see a visual of what we're supposed to do and how things fit together. I don't stick to those times, but I do have it setup so that things are morning or afternoon, like we do them now. I also like that it will let me say we do grammar M/W/F, so when I submit assignments from the lesson plan, it will automatically those assignments on M/W/F. I don't have to think very hard. :D When I am homeschooling 3 kids, I think this feature will be even more helpful, as I'll be able to see how all 3 kids fit together. Flexibility of lesson plans... Looking at Skedtrack again, it seems like if you have something in the lesson plan, you need to do it? I can't remember for sure. Anyway, HST+ lets you setup lesson plans with no dates attached, then you assign them as you go. You can easily skip assignments and mark them "used" without using them (so you won't see them anymore), yet still have the full plan for the next child (who might need that assignment). There may have been other things that I'm not remembering now. I've been using HST+ since November and really like it. It makes scheduling the week super easy. It's all in one place. I don't use HST+ throughout the week. I just use it on the weekend, submitting lesson plan assignments, printing out daily task lists, and marking the previous week's assignments as done (at which point the days are marked "present"). The program is HUGE and some things aren't that intuitive (like how to archive or unarchive lesson plans), though once you learn where the features are and use them a few times, you tend to remember them. There is quite a bit of flexibility in the program, sometimes to the point of you being not sure how to proceed. :D But once you figure out how you want to lay out your subjects and lesson plans and such, it's really pretty easy to use. Just a steep learning curve. They have excellent documentation and videos, plus a very helpful forum (I've never posted there, but I got a lot of questions answered via searches). Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 (edited) Oops, somehow double-posted, took out the smilies in what I quoted. Edited April 11, 2011 by Satori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 (edited) HST+ is more robust and has more feautres, but since I have experience with Skedtrack, so I can address this list from Boscopup with either a YES if Skedtrack can, or NO if it can't, or other explanation. There's just probably been some updates since she last used it. Keep in mind, although I use SkedTrack, I'm not the most loyal to the program, as it's not secular, has ads all over the place, and doesn't have as many features, updates, or support as a paid program would. If another program came out that was online and had more features, I'd probably switch to it. I wanted to print out a daily task list... This was a big deal for me. I live for my daily task list. Skedtrack doesn't have this feature and has no plans of adding it because the wife of the developer never used one.- YES, SkedTrack does have a Print Schedule feature. It has Checkmark if done, Duration, Course, Description, Sequence # columns and total duration. It does not however have specific time slots, which I think some families would want. Editing large amounts of lessons was not easy. The HST+ features make this so much easier... like being able to select 100 lessons and change one field to something else all at once. I don't think you could do something like that in Skedtrack. - NOT REALLY for SkedTrack, you cannot make one edit for bulk lessons. You go to their Edit Activities page and make all your edits at once and then save. I do miss a bulk edit function. Saving lesson plans for future kids. I'm on child #1. I have 2 more behind him that will likely use some of the same programs. I'd like to keep my lesson plans! HST+ lets me archive them and then pull them back out and use with another kid. I don't think Skedtrack has anything like this. - YES, Skedtrack allows you to do this several ways. You can copy all or selected lesson plans and move them to a specific Year, Child, and Course. You can also Export to World (for benefit of all Skedtrack users or to a specific member like yourself or a friend using an email address). Importing lesson plans from other users - Skedtrack doesn't have this. HST+ does. I've used this feature with some curriculum and it did save time (though this one wasn't a deal breaker for me, as lesson plan entering is quick and easy in HST+). - YES, Skedtrack has an Import function, in which you can import From World or From Friends (see above about exporting). Attendance feature on Skedtrack annoyed me. I think it marked you absent if you didn't input that day? Sometimes I might input stuff at the end of the week, and it wasn't doing what I expected. With HST+, it doesn't mark you as absent. It will automatically mark present if you complete an assignment, and that can be done days later without messing anything up. HST+ just handles attendance the way I wanted it to be handled (and yes, I have to report attendance to the state... and HST+ will print out that report for me to send to my cover school). If I need to reschedule assignments, it's easy to do. I just don't want it marking me absent prematurely! - You can edit Skedtrack at any time, even years later, so you're not stuck being absent for that day if you weren't. Ah... reports... Skedtrack has very few options. HST+ has a bunch of reports you can do. I still would prefer something more customizable (or just let me have a .csv dump of the data so I can manipulate it myself), but the HST+ reports have a lot of options, and I'm able to print out things pretty much how I want them (including my daily task list!!!). - YES - I'm sure HST+ has more reports, but SkedTrack has several, including transcripts. I don't use this feature though, yet. Hourly assignment grid... Skedtrack doesn't have one. HST+ does. While I don't necessarily stick to that schedule, I like to have one so I can see a visual of what we're supposed to do and how things fit together. I don't stick to those times, but I do have it setup so that things are morning or afternoon, like we do them now. I also like that it will let me say we do grammar M/W/F, so when I submit assignments from the lesson plan, it will automatically those assignments on M/W/F. I don't have to think very hard. When I am homeschooling 3 kids, I think this feature will be even more helpful, as I'll be able to see how all 3 kids fit together. - NO - May be a deal-killer for potential SkedTrack users, but since I don't schedule by the hour, it is great for me. SkedTrack only allows you to schedule by day and has a couple more advanced scheduling options, such as repeatable every 1-4 weeks and other features I don't use. Flexibility of lesson plans... Looking at Skedtrack again, it seems like if you have something in the lesson plan, you need to do it? I can't remember for sure. Anyway, HST+ lets you setup lesson plans with no dates attached, then you assign them as you go. You can easily skip assignments and mark them "used" without using them (so you won't see them anymore), yet still have the full plan for the next child (who might need that assignment). - SkedTrack does not assign dates so if you don't do a lesson, it slides to the next date. You just assign lessons sequentially and it tracks by sequence number. You cannot skip/mark them "used" without using them though. SkedTrack has a faq, videos, screenshots, and forums. Since it's free, there haven't been a lot of updates that I'm aware of in the past year, but when I used their forums to request something, they've always addressed my question and usually added my requested feature. Edited April 11, 2011 by Satori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Plus for Skedtrack -online -free Why I'm going to HST+ -weekly printout (this is the biggest reason) -it now runs under WINE in Linux (no virtual box/VMWare - Mac users will understand) -more reports -the weekly schedule should be a nice place for my MOTH schedule -it doesn't log you out every 10 minutes like Skedtrack -doesn't have that huge, annoying warning about the number of scheduled hours It seems Skedtrack isn't doing much now, they've said there will be a weekly printout, after they finish some other project. I think it's been a year now. Try Skedtrack out though, it's free as long as you have the time to enter things. I thought of using it for tracking only, but it doesn't have a journal type printout like I wanted. Unless you print each student, each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaofredheads Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 -it now runs under WINE in Linux (no virtual box/VMWare - Mac users will understand) I'm a new Mac user. I've been using Skedtrack for the last few weeks and like some things about it but, like you, not having a weekly report drives me crazy. Both the kiddos and I do better if we can see what we need to complete for the whole week. There's also not an easy way to put outside appointments into the schedule. I've only had my Mac for a few months and am still learning, so sorry if my questions seem elementary. :001_smile: What is WINE. Do I automatically have Linux? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuzor Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I use SkedTrack but I tried HST+. Although HST+ had several more features the learning curve was too steep. I tried the basic and it was okay but something about the basic I did not like. I cant remember now. So I have decided to stick with SkedTrack I hate that it has the hour requirement since that is not required in my state but I have found a way to use it that works for me. So this year I front loaded all my information and used SkedTrack as a guide. This was helpful because each day I could just look on SkedTrack and see what I needed to do. I found that chaning things around could be a bit of a hassle though. So what I am going to do next year is only input my courses but use SkedTrack as a log instead of a planner. So at the end of the day I will write down what we did. I will have to plan out 2 subjects on paper science and history but I am okay with that. I chose to stay with SkedTrack because its free and has the basics that I need Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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