Second Shootr 1.1 Tips and Tricks

Note: Oh boy. I thought I had at least a week in which to write the post below! Apple approved Second Shootr within 4 hours! I apologise in advance if there are mistakes or I lead you down the wrong path somewhere. Please note any issues with the text below in the comments and I'll do my best to sort out the mess! - 17/02/2010 Tim

So.... version 1.1 is here as promised. If you haven't already got it, it's a free upgrade for existing 1.0 users, or the price of a pad and paper if you haven't already made the jump. You can download/upgrade here. [link opens the App Store]

This blog post should help walk you through all the new features contained within version 1.1

Startup Options

You'll notice something new about Second Shootr from the moment it starts loading up. Right at the very bottom of the screen, there's a little tab called 'Startup Options'. Tap this, and you can change the Second Shootr theme before it's loaded (which means you don't have to restart the application unnecessarily).

We've also given you the option of resetting your Second Shootr database. Only use this if you're sure you want to delete all your clients from the Second Shootr database, there's no undo option. You can still delete any individual item within Second Shootr by swiping your finger from left to right across it, and then tapping the delete button.

Settings

Once Second Shootr's loaded up, head to the settings tab. You'll notice we've added a couple of extra preferences.

Drop completed items

Turning this option on will send completed items to the very bottom of a list. For example, if you have a shot list of 20 items, and you mark the top one as complete, it'll drop to the bottom. Its still there in the list, but its out of your way.

Email Settings

We've given you the option to change your email subject and signature to suit your business needs. This means that emails sent from Second Shootr can be branded to your business.

Default Client Data

You'll notice that if you tap the Default Client Data button in Settings, you're asked to choose between 'Wedding' and 'Other'. This means you can have one set of default data for wedding photography, and a completely different set for any other type of shooting you do. For example, you might also work in the Food photography arena. Just configure the 'Other' option to suit you food photography requirements and away you go!

Client List

Heading back to the Second Shootr tab at the bottom left of the screen, you'll notice a couple of extra buttons above your client names. These are the sorting options. We've got them on every single list within Second Shootr. They allow you to sort your data by Name, Date and Manually.

To choose how you want to sort your clients, tap the button in the middle of the screen. If you want to manually sort your clients, tap the sort button in the top right and drag your clients around as you see fit. When done, just tap 'Done'.

You'll also notice that your clients are sorted into 'wedding' and 'other' categories (with appropriate icons). Second Shootr sorts automatically for you, so you don't need to do anything here.

Create a new client

When you create a new client, you are asked if they are a 'Wedding' or 'Other' client. You can fill out your initial client data as normal. When it comes to choosing the date, you are now also given the option to select the time of the event. This allows you to have more than one photographic event per day.

Once you've created your new clients, you'll notice that the title bar on the main menu displays the event date and time now.

Duplicating a client

On the main menu, you'll notice a new icon in the very bottom right hand corner. Tapping this gives you an option to duplicate your clients. Think of this as a way of adding a third 'Default Client Data' option. Perhaps you also very occasionally shoot christenings? Just use this option to copy an existing christening client, and change the data as you see fit.

Adding client info using the address book

Over in the client info module, we've added a new icon next to the plus button. Hit this magnifying glass and you can select your client's details from your device's in-built address book.

Improved Google Maps

Create a new address and tap it to bring up the google maps module. The first thing you'll notice is that Google maps (probably) didn't have a hissy fit when it tried to find your address. I've explained the technology behind our improvements in an earlier post, so I won't repeat myself here.

You'll also notice a new icon in the top right of Google maps. Tap this and you can view your location relative to the entered address. You can also view the map in the standard, satellite and hybrid map views.

No more accidental calls

If you create a new phone number and tap it, you'll be shown a popup asking if you're sure you want to call that number. This should hopefully prevent those accidental phone calls to your clients.

Improved Photos Module

Now you can see at a glance which photos you've completed and which are left to take on the day. As soon as you mark a photograph as complete, it will pop into the 'completed' tab at the bottom of the screen.

Improved Kit List Module

Did you make a mistake when entering an item of kit? Well now we've enabled editing in the kit list module.

Improved To Do module

Now you can see at a glance which tasks you've completed and which are outstanding. As soon as you mark an item as complete, it'll pop into the 'completed' tab at the bottom of the screen.

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So that about sums up how to navigate your way around the changes in Second Shootr 1.1. It may only be 0.1 higher in terms of version number, but we've packed a whole lot of extra features into this release! If you've got any further queries about this new release, please get in touch. If you have any feature requests, please nominate and vote for them here.

Lastly, we want to know what you think about Second Shootr 1.1. Please spend a few minutes rating and reviewing the application in iTunes. The more copies of Second Shootr we sell, the more we are able to add in to future releases. Remember, Second Shootr is designed and created by a small photography business, not a giant software house. So we need as much help as possible from the photographic community to make Second Shootr a success. Thanks for your help.

Second Shootr 1.1 – Submitted to Apple

We are very pleased to announce that we have sent Second Shootr 1.1 to Apple for approval. Whilst nobody is ever sure how long Apple will take to approve their app (or even whether they approve it at all!), Apple are proudly boasting that 98% of app updates are being approved within 7 days.

If you've already got a copy of Second Shootr 1.0, and you haven't already done so, now is the time to prepare yourself. Whilst we've spend months testing 1.1, something COULD go wrong and you should be prepared.

We always advise that you have a backup of your data just in case bad things happen... plug your device into iTunes and it'll take a snapshot of the data on it. If something goes wrong, you can use the in-built 'restore' facility to restore your phone back to its previous state. Personally, we collect the information from our clients onto paper forms before entering it in to Second Shootr, so we have a paper backup too.

What's the deal with the picture to the left?

We've really beefed up Second Shootr's database in 1.1. When you first upgrade from 1.0, Second Shootr takes your existing data and slots it neatly into our 1.1 database. Just sit back and let Second Shootr do its thing. It'll only happen once; every time you load up Second Shootr after that, you'll be plain sailing.

If you have any queries about the update, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

Oh yeah... we might just be doing another giveaway when 1.1 comes out, so you might want to stay glued to this blog, or our twitter and facebook streams.

Support

Good software support is crucial for professional-grade applications. We pride ourselves here on giving fast, personalised, helpful answers whenever we get a support request.

I'm sure everyone out there has experienced other apps out where you'll send off a support request and not hear anything back for weeks (if at all). Its really frustrating.

I just wanted to give you a few stats on how our support stacks up:

• Around 23% of our users have contacted us with a support request at one point or another in time.
• The majority of support tickets are feature requests, or the occasional need for help getting something to work with their business needs. There have been very, very few bugs raised (less than 1%).
• 100% of our support tickets have been responded to within 24 hours.
• In fact.... 89% of our support tickets have been responded to with just TWO hours.
• 92% of non-feature requests have been resolved within 24 hours (the rest need a version update)

If you're after a professional-grade iPhone application where you can be sure that you'll get a helpful response if you have a question... look no further than Second Shootr!

Whilst I've got you here... version 1.1's coming along nicely... not long to go now!