Well planned day software

[Laura in STL 22]

Does anyone know if the software that is available for purchase right now will work on an iPad? I saw that the mobile version isn't out until August, but I'm not sure if that just means iPhone or iPad, too.

[SkateLeft 1,085]

The beta version currently available is pretty rough, just so you know. Even if it works on the ipad (which I can't tell you because I have an Android tablet), it's very much in beta.

 

After messing around with it for a while this morning, I've resigned myself until waiting until August to actually plan on using it.

[Laura in STL 22]

Thanks. My friend is sitting next to me trying to use it on her laptop and is saying similar things.

[pdalley 362]

Haven't tried it on the iPad yet. Fighting with it on the iMac currently.

 

Very rough beta. I'll update as I go. They have almost fixed my biggest issue already and I'm playing with the other parts and they weren't as buggy - so far.

[ByGrace3 1,545]

I was eagerly awaiting the release, but I am afraid it might night be what I want it to be . . . at least at first...bummer. :bigear: Those of you using it keep us posted!

[Dolphin 389]

It is pretty rough, but I can see where it is going and I think that will be good. I got it now so that I can figure it out as the updates go (I am so slow with things) Also, it is not just $40 for this year, but next year too.

 

It is very simplistic and bare bones right now, but that is all I need at the moment. I am not sure how the lesson assigning is going to work as I haven't seen any sign of that yet.

[ByGrace3 1,545]

I spoke with them at convention so think I understand where they want to go with it, but if that is all in the future, what does it do now? How does it compare to something like HST+ online? (sorry, maybe I should start another thread as to not hijack!) :tongue_smilie:

 

I used HST+ this year and am playing with scholaric this summer...I really want something on the ipad, but the biggest draw of WPD is the app component and using it offline...

[Tidbits of Learning 380]

How rough are we talking about here? Does it not look like the samples they have up now? Is everything not available to use now?

I too like the price right now, but it really depends on how rough the beta is right now.

[pdalley 362]

Ok the good news is they did fix part of the add/delete people feature. You can actually delete people but they are still showing up on the home page. But they made quick progress on that so I'm very hopeful.

 

Also it works very well on both an iMac and an iPad. Will be trying my Macbook and my iPod and updating but I really don't foresee any problems there.

 

It is a very pretty thing.

 

I'm still entering in data and so far find it much more intuitive than other online planners I've tried.

 

If there is anything in particular someone wants me to report on let me know. The Calendar feature isn't working yet and I need to get some pictures of the kids to upload.

[BugsMama 391]

Peggy- What about printing?

 

Can I have it online, but also print it to refer to?

[pdalley 362]

Peggy- What about printing?

 

Can I have it online, but also print it to refer to?

 

Reports feature isn't active yet but I'm guessing that is what that tab will eventually be for. I want to print mine too so as soon as I find out I'll update.

[BugsMama 391]

Reports feature isn't active yet but I'm guessing that is what that tab will eventually be for. I want to print mine too so as soon as I find out I'll update.

 

Thank you!!

[Emagine 22]

I have been looking at this too. We HS year round and taking a break due to surgery. I want to start planning for next week, or week after. Is that do-able with what they have now? How do you do terms etc, is it flexiable? Example I am more of a Jan-end of Nov HS mom with a few breaks instead of Aug-May.

 

TIA

[ourjourney 11]

Im thinking I'll be waiting until closer to August. It's only a year subscription, so if I start it now, I'm paying for months I won't be able to use it, since all the features aren't there and it's so rough. I would rather wait until they have it worked out, and get a full 12 months of use. I believe it is $40 until close to the end of august. It stinks, because I'm a planner and like to have things done in advance. (especially since this baby is coming any day)

 

I was so looking forward to this, even telling everyone about it, but I've been disappointed ever since the launch went haywire.

[SkateLeft 1,085]

Ok the good news is they did fix part of the add/delete people feature.

 

Yeah, that bugged me too. It created a blank copy of the last kid that I added when I hit "save and continue," and then I couldn't delete it.

 

They are making quick progress though! I emailed them with feedback yesterday and got a gracious response back very quickly. I think they're working hard to get the bugs ironed out, and they are fixing things very rapidly.

 

It's running way more smoothly than it was yesterday morning, and a lot of the initial bugs that I encountered have already been fixed!

 

I like the GUI more than any of the alternatives out there (HST+, Scholaric, Skedtrack, etc.), and I think this will end up working REALLY well for me. Plus, it looks very nice on my netbook. :)

[Samiam 729]

:mad: . I so want to buy this...but with the reports of it being "rough", and "very beta".....it irks me that I am expected to pay $40 for something so I can help them work their kinks out (which I know is the point of beta, on the other hand, beta products are usually free, or very near), AND during my planning season, so instead of actually getting planning done, I'll spend my money and time trying to work around and figure out kinks for them. Don't they have paid staff to do that?? And during that time, my one year is tick, tock, tick ,tocking away.

 

Guess I'll stick with HST+ which I bought last summer and won't have to pay again. Perhaps WPD will be kink-free by next year when I can consider again.

[Mommee & Baba 154]

:mad: . I so want to buy this...but with the reports of it being "rough", and "very beta".....it irks me that I am expected to pay $40 for something so I can help them work their kinks out (which I know is the point of beta, on the other hand, beta products are usually free, or very near), AND during my planning season, so instead of actually getting planning done, I'll spend my money and time trying to work around and figure out kinks for them. Don't they have paid staff to do that?? And during that time, my one year is tick, tock, tick ,tocking away.

 

Guess I'll stick with HST+ which I bought last summer and won't have to pay again. Perhaps WPD will be kink-free by next year when I can consider again.

 

:iagree: sad to admit but I'm with you! I plan during only a slot of weeks in the summer! I can't wait to do my full force planning around August! I will just continue to use iStudiez Pro on my iPad.

 

Kind of stinks! I'm off to sulk now!

[Tidbits of Learning 380]

Those that have spent the $40 and have the Beta...would you do it again now that you have seen it and played with it? Or would you wait until August when most of the kinks are out?

 

I personally think the Beta should be free until August and then you should have to pay for the year. I agree with the pp that you are paying and losing months when it isn't up to speed yet.

[sagira 449]

:lurk5:

[SkateLeft 1,085]

Those that have spent the $40 and have the Beta...would you do it again now that you have seen it and played with it? Or would you wait until August when most of the kinks are out?

 

Yeah, I think I would. Considering how much it's been improved just in the last 24 hours, I'm pretty hopeful for how it'll look within the next couple of weeks. Each time I log in, little things have been fixed or improved.

 

Also, my subscription runs until July 1st, 2013, so our 12 month clock doesn't start ticking until July 1st.

 

I've spent more money for less over all my years of homeschooling. :lol: If I end up being able to use it by the fall, it'll be $40 well spent.

[sassenach 7,860]

For the scheduling feature- Can you schedule things in a batch? Can you bump an assignment to the next day? Will it shift all of the assignments back if you do?

[beaners 1,648]

For the scheduling feature- Can you schedule things in a batch? Can you bump an assignment to the next day? Will it shift all of the assignments back if you do?

 

For right now, the actual "Schedule" button lets me put in something for what appears to be a fixed timeslot that repeats on the same day every week. That might be useful for something like a group class or for someone who does Math every Monday at 8 am, for example. We have a mix of things that we do based on either day of the week or whether my husband is home, so that isn't great for us at the moment. I need to be able to assign chores and lessons for both every Tuesday and every "Day 3," and then label days on my calendar for what number they fit.

 

I can put in individual assignments one at a time. I don't see any way to make them repeat, and I also don't see any way to mark them as completed. They can't be bumped right now, but the calendar isn't up yet so that may be a function on there? For each assignment you put in, you can: select your subject, name an assignment, fill out a lesson plan, set a due date, select your curriculum and/or a book from your library (only one at the moment?), and add notes. There is also a slot for "type" on that screen with no options, so I don't know what that is for.

 

So no batch scheduling, you can manually change the date of an assignment, but there is no bumping things as a whole.

[SkateLeft 1,085]

For the scheduling feature- Can you schedule things in a batch? Can you bump an assignment to the next day? Will it shift all of the assignments back if you do?

 

You can schedule an assignment to apply to all kids, a feature which is on by default. Personally, I'd prefer to have everyone deselected and select each kid as I enter assignments, because I don't combine my kids in anything. I can't seem to batch schedule or copy an assignment from one day to another.

 

At this point, there is no sequencing like in HST+ or Skedtrack, so each and every assignment needs to be entered individually. I've only messed around with entering a few things for my youngest, for that reason. There are also no stored lesson plans for a single course, like in other programs. I'm hoping at some point that we'll have an option to import and export, but right now, assignments are the weakest feature and probably the beta element most lacking features.

 

I also don't see a way to sort or filter assignments (even clicking the headers in the assignment table doesn't work), so if I take the time to enter a lot of things, it's going to get very big and messy very quickly.

 

It's very easy to change the due date on an assignment by editing it, but since assignments aren't in sequence, it doesn't affect any other assignments. I can't edit a sequence of assignments or select a range of dates.

 

I can't figure out how to mark an assignment complete. I can enter an assignment for today, but there's no option on the assignment listing to mark it complete. If I click on "Grades" the assignment doesn't come up even if I filter by incomplete or all.

 

I'll keep you all posted as I mess around with it over the next few days, and see how they end up implementing stuff.

[sassenach 7,860]

You can schedule an assignment to apply to all kids, a feature which is on by default. Personally, I'd prefer to have everyone deselected and select each kid as I enter assignments, because I don't combine my kids in anything. I can't seem to batch schedule or copy an assignment from one day to another.

 

At this point, there is no sequencing like in HST+ or Skedtrack, so each and every assignment needs to be entered individually. I've only messed around with entering a few things for my youngest, for that reason. There are also no stored lesson plans for a single course, like in other programs. I'm hoping at some point that we'll have an option to import and export, but right now, assignments are the weakest feature and probably the beta element most lacking features.

 

I also don't see a way to sort or filter assignments (even clicking the headers in the assignment table doesn't work), so if I take the time to enter a lot of things, it's going to get very big and messy very quickly.

 

It's very easy to change the due date on an assignment by editing it, but since assignments aren't in sequence, it doesn't affect any other assignments. I can't edit a sequence of assignments or select a range of dates.

 

I can't figure out how to mark an assignment complete. I can enter an assignment for today, but there's no option on the assignment listing to mark it complete. If I click on "Grades" the assignment doesn't come up even if I filter by incomplete or all.

 

I'll keep you all posted as I mess around with it over the next few days, and see how they end up implementing stuff.

Thank you for taking the time to answer all of my questions. You've given me peace of mind about not making the purchase at this point!

[Emagine 22]

What has everyone done or been able to do? I finally got my family added but really yet to figure out anything else. The screen shots look great, but no where near mine lol. Wish we had some sort of manual or something.

[pdalley 362]

Those that have spent the $40 and have the Beta...would you do it again now that you have seen it and played with it? Or would you wait until August when most of the kinks are out?

 

I personally think the Beta should be free until August and then you should have to pay for the year. I agree with the pp that you are paying and losing months when it isn't up to speed yet.

 

Uhm.... I'd wait. As much as it has the potential to be everything I ever wanted in a planner and they are truly working very hard to fix it my frustration level is very low at the moment due to life events around here. It wasn't worth the savings of 25 bucks for the frustration. If it all works the way it should work when the bugs are worked out I'd gladly pay 65 dollars a year for it.

 

And I second the wanting a manual. The screenshots are not getting it for me. :tongue_smilie:

[SkateLeft 1,085]

What has everyone done or been able to do? I finally got my family added but really yet to figure out anything else. The screen shots look great, but no where near mine lol. Wish we had some sort of manual or something.

 

I got some entries into the curriculum section, and then set up some assignments. I can't figure out how to mark them complete though.

 

Oh, and I marked attendance for the day. :lol: But that's about it.

[Amy Jo 300]

You can schedule an assignment to apply to all kids, a feature which is on by default. Personally, I'd prefer to have everyone deselected and select each kid as I enter assignments, because I don't combine my kids in anything. I can't seem to batch schedule or copy an assignment from one day to another.

 

At this point, there is no sequencing like in HST+ or Skedtrack, so each and every assignment needs to be entered individually. I've only messed around with entering a few things for my youngest, for that reason. There are also no stored lesson plans for a single course, like in other programs. I'm hoping at some point that we'll have an option to import and export, but right now, assignments are the weakest feature and probably the beta element most lacking features.

 

I also don't see a way to sort or filter assignments (even clicking the headers in the assignment table doesn't work), so if I take the time to enter a lot of things, it's going to get very big and messy very quickly.

 

It's very easy to change the due date on an assignment by editing it, but since assignments aren't in sequence, it doesn't affect any other assignments. I can't edit a sequence of assignments or select a range of dates.

 

I can't figure out how to mark an assignment complete. I can enter an assignment for today, but there's no option on the assignment listing to mark it complete. If I click on "Grades" the assignment doesn't come up even if I filter by incomplete or all.

 

I'll keep you all posted as I mess around with it over the next few days, and see how they end up implementing stuff.

 

I got some entries into the curriculum section, and then set up some assignments. I can't figure out how to mark them complete though.

 

Oh, and I marked attendance for the day. :lol: But that's about it.

 

Thanks. I think I'll be passing for now since pretty assignment scheduling and reporting are what I need the most.

 

Is the money/budget section a bills list or is it a checkbook register? It was hard to tell from the screenshots.

[pdalley 362]

Thanks. I think I'll be passing for now since pretty assignment scheduling and reporting are what I need the most.

 

Is the money/budget section a bills list or is it a checkbook register? It was hard to tell from the screenshots.

 

So far it's just a bills list with due dates.

[ByGrace3 1,545]

As much as I want an online/ iPad planner, I admit to being baffled by the price tags. $60/$65 a yr for a planner seems a little ridiculous.... :001_huh:

[Mommee & Baba 154]

As much as I want an online/ iPad planner, I admit to being baffled by the price tags. $60/$65 a yr for a planner seems a little ridiculous.... :001_huh:

 

You're not alone! :glare:

 

I want a planner that would work on my ipad online AND offline but I won't pay that much per year. I'd rather go back to the free version of homeschool tracker on my laptop and leave my ipad in the dust for that price!:001_huh:

 

I guess I'm CHEAP! :lol:

[Tidbits of Learning 380]

Well, I broke down and spent the $40. I think the home features are much more up to speed than the actual home school features. They aren't ready for beta. I have beta tested before with Microsoft and others and most of the time it is a fully functioning version for free that they need to find bugs and errors in code that makes it not function as intended.

So far, it has taken me 2 attempts to set up my account in order to be able to log in. I have attempted to add subjects and curriculum. It is not intuitive and there is a big lag time between what you are doing and what you are seeing on the screen. I was adding subjects but could not see them on the screen or when I attempted the scroll bar within the subjects box. It turns out that I needed to click on the title subjects which did not have an arrow or symbol beside it for it to expand and then an arrow appeared. I only realized that the subjects were there after attempting to put in curriculum and again they do not just show up...you have to realize that you need to click on the curriculum bar to expand for anything that you didn't originally put in when set up occured. Although if log out and wait about 10-15 minutes and log back in...it will all appear. Also after they all appeared I no longer had the bar that I could expand???

Apparently, it has different issues in different browsers. I received an email reply from a query about the login issue and was directed to try it in IE, Firefox, and Google Chrome. I am not sure why my browser would change whether I could log in properly.

For where they are at in the process, the beta should be free. But personally I think it should still be in the in-house testing stage. There is too many categories unfinished and some of the menu setup is not intuitive. It is very easy to think you have not created a subject (ie-reading) and then you have 3 subjects by the time it catches up to you from lag time. The same goes for deleting or editing the 3 readings into other subjects. The lag time is huge from what you are seeing and what you have entered. I can go to the add curriculum and it has changed in that menu but on the subjects page it still looks like 3 reading subjects.

I would save my money for now. I think it might be to "true" beta stage by August. I would pay the $40 at the very last minute if I were really wanting to use it. From the setup right now, I do not think it will get to the point with batch scheduling and course re-use similar to homeschool tracker plus for a while or even if they intend to have those options. The cost is too high per year if they aren't going to offer those options. It is very much the well-planned day on the pc with lots of work to go.

I am glad that I ordered a paper copy of the well-planned day also when I ordered the Beta.

[ByGrace3 1,545]

it seems like what Well Planned Day software aspires to be is awesome, but what it is. . . not so much? I cannot see spending that kind of money for what it "might" be. Scholaric does way more than that for a fraction of the price...I will certainly wait it out. I hope it is great, but I will only pay for it when it is. ;)

[Tidbits of Learning 380]

I had been using it within my AOL browser and it had lots of issues. In Firefox, those issues all but disappeared. So it matters a lot what browser you have with how many issues and how it functions.

The bad part about that for me is when the multi-user log-in feature is enabled. My kids only use the AOL browser b/c I have it totally set up for them and with controls and blocks.

[Mergath 32,587]

Wow, I'm glad I decided to wait on trying this. Definitely doesn't sound like it's worth forty bucks.

[Professormom 4,971]

You can use it on your iPad, but there isn't an app that resides on your ipad and gives you access in the sense that all of your info is there if you are offline.

 

I noticed it is rough as well. But, if you are having problems, do give them feedback, as they seem to be trying to implement feedback as quickly as possible.

 

I used to work in tech and agree that this isn't ready to be a paid product yet, but I caved because I love all of their other things so much! I also like the people and company, and am way too impatient to wait for August to get my mits on it, hee hee.

 

I just hope that the next couple of months of feedback yield some awesome upgrades in August! (Fingers crossed!)

[tkeller 11]

it seems like what Well Planned Day software aspires to be is awesome, but what it is. . . not so much? I cannot see spending that kind of money for what it "might" be. Scholaric does way more than that for a fraction of the price...I will certainly wait it out. I hope it is great, but I will only pay for it when it is. ;)

 

I totally agree. In fact I am so tempted to buy this I am reading the "negative" reviews every day to stop myself. I am also busy putting in my entire next years plans (very easily I might add) with Scholaric with the hope I won't accidentally buy it if I know I will have to re-enter everything.

 

I love the function on Scholaric where if you have to skip a day (sick days etc) you can bump the entire subject course a day. I love that! I won't ever be able to use WPD if I can't do that.

 

I do wish Scholaric was prettier though. But at only $1/ month I'll just deal with that.

[BugsMama 391]

Did any of you see the q and a they put up on facebook? It looks like you will be able to print the planner pages and use it as a paper planner as well as online, and you'll be able to use it offline (to refer to it, but not add to it) on mobile devices.

[pdalley 362]

Ok I've had it for a week and the improvement has been amazing. The preview of what they are about to do with makes me satisfied that I haven't wasted my money. At first I was frustrated and disappointed but the responsiveness and the quick turnaround time on issues has made me more patient.

 

Looking at all it will do - and they are making steady progress to that goal - I will have no trouble justifying the expense for myself. App access, drag and drop calendar, I can access it anywhere on any of my myriad of devices....

 

The Q & A's have been very informative. I can wait as long as a company gives me good communication and they have and are.

 

And on a purely shallow note - it's pretty.

[Tidbits of Learning 380]

Did any of you see the q and a they put up on facebook? It looks like you will be able to print the planner pages and use it as a paper planner as well as online, and you'll be able to use it offline (to refer to it, but not add to it) on mobile devices.

 

Thanks!

 

Link to the Q&A

http://vimeopro.com/homeeducatingfamily/my-well-planned-day-live-qanda-session/video/43947662

[beaners 1,648]

I'm also happy with how it's been improving and where it looks like they're going. I've sent a message about them adding in rotation days as well as days of the week, and I'm really hoping they add it. Assigning things to a Monday or Thursday just does not work when your husband's schedule is different every week. I really don't want to manually enter each and every assignment manually for each day of the week, and I also don't want to rearrange our chore schedule every week. They're doing a lot already, so hopefully this will get added in too.

 

Does anyone know of something free I can use to run apps on my main computer? I don't anticipate our internet service being reliable all the time, and I'd like to be able to view my information on the laptop if we lose service for a few days. My only other "device" is a kindle with a keyboard. I can go online when I have wireless but I don't believe it runs apps.

[chepyl 161]

As much as I want an online/ iPad planner, I admit to being baffled by the price tags. $60/$65 a yr for a planner seems a little ridiculous.... :001_huh:

 

I have been playing with It a little bit. I won't really have time until next week, but the progress they have made in a week is huge. Things that are coming soon, according to the q&a and an email from them in response to my question: you will be able to batch add assignments and move things around. You will be able to drag and drop calendar items. By August there will he apps for ipods and other devices. It syncs to various calendars...Google and on for iPhone.

 

I think it is worth saving $50 over two years to get it now. They are taking feature suggestions and correcting bugs quickly.

 

Plus as PP said....it is pretty ;)

[sagira 449]

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I think I'm going to hold off on this for a year or two until bugs are ironed out and the price drops. I tend to fall for pretty, but functionality needs to be right up there too, next to cost :)

[ByGrace3 1,545]

This may have been answered here already, but can it schedule multiple incrementing assignments yet? Like WWE week 1 day 1 through WWE week 1 day 4 for 36 weeks? That is one of my main needs. Also can you schedule days off/ field trips and those are skipped when group lesson planning? Also can you input plans but not assign them to a day like in HST +?

 

It looks so pretty, but i really need functional! Thanks!

[BugsMama 391]

Also can you input plans but not assign them to a day like in HST +?

 

 

This is what I really want to know. I've planned out a full year of social studies, and I want them on there, and want to be able to print the social studies lesson plans. I don't want them attached to dates yet, but I do want to be able to go over it, and pick the ones I want to schedule as I go....

[Professormom 4,971]

Also, I thought I'd let the group know that I sent an email regarding whether you will be able to add to the library via ISBN versus typing in each.and.every.book:). They sent a note back saying this was in the works, yay. This was a big deal for me...

[PollyOR 1,228]

Well....you all did it. You sucked me in. :tongue_smilie:

[BugsMama 391]

Well....you all did it. You sucked me in. :tongue_smilie:

 

Me too, Polly, Me too. :blush:

 

Now to figure it out....

[Tidbits of Learning 380]

In case you don't have an hour to watch the video or just want some questions answered-here is a breakdown of the video

 

New Interface in next 10 days and another webinar in about 10 days

 

Lesson Plans

 

 

• Will possibly automate in the future
  
• Undated lesson plans in the new interface
  
• Auto generate lesson plans from 1-180 in new interface
  
• Sharing lesson plans with other users?? More info in Aug. after release
  

 

Curriculum

 

 

• Access to database of ISBN's soon
  
• Course description option coming soon
  
• New interface will have option of choosing particular school days (ie-Jonny does Math on Tues. and Thurs.) per student and auto fill of lessons (1-180 lessons)
  
• Will have sort options soon
  
• Talk of autofill curriculum plans-not much detail given...
  

 

Grading

 

 

• Option for weighted grading coming
  
• Will give option for letter, performance, or just completed as grade
  

 

Attendance

 

 

• Will automate as assignments are marked complete
  
• Track hours spent coming soon
  
• Still have option to label sick day, snow day, vacation day in notes
  

 

Calendar

 

 

• Individual appts. or items by day by end of this week
  
• Click week view to give items specific times (drag and drop to the time you want)
  
• Calendar is going to be central to organizer with menus opening from it instead of new pages opening.
  
• Possibly by August will link to Google calendar, ICAL, and other calendars
  
• Lay out school calendar in advance for duration of plan subscription + 6 months. So you can plan 6 months in advance of when your subscription will end
  

 

General Info

 

 

• Once you purchase a subscription you will always have access to records and print ability, but will not be able to add to it without extending subscription after subscription end date
  
• Assign admin and students in new interface
  
• Menu is consolidating to 2 rows of buttons at the top instead of Custom lists on the side
  
• Will have to do list on right side of calendar after new interface
  
• Will have catechism, Bible verses, and quote of the day after new interface
  
• 10 days to new interface which will be more compact and consolidated
  
• Online tutorials (screen by screen) in the future
  
• Chores will turn to schedule items
  
• Printing options-calendar will be robust with reports eventually
  
• Alerts for finance section and possibly for the to do list
  
• In Aug.-3 types of users-admin, teacher/student (access to some admin items-high school student), student (not have full access)
  
• Transcripts will be traditional 9-12 grade with section for high school credits from middle school
  
• Recipes are coming in about 3 weeks-description will change to ingredients in menu planning
  
• Apps will have offline access to view and print planner
  

 

I think they are working really hard and have some great plans. The glimpse of the new interface really made me feel better about trying it out early.

[PollyOR 1,228]

In case you don't have an hour to watch the video or just want some questions answered-here is a breakdown of the video

 

Thank you!