ClearContext Corporate Blog

Just a quick post to announce that we are making the ClearContext v6 Release Candidate available to anyone who would like to try it. Please note that the web site still reflects v5 and that the v6 documentation is not available yet.

We have download links and additional information on our new release page.

We are thrilled to announce that the development of ClearContext Professional Version 6 is complete. The Release Candidate is now available for download to our Connect subscribers. This Release Candidate build is intended to be the production release, and will become the version available publicly on our web site, assuming no last minute issues arise.

Before Version 6 is released publicly, we do have some work to do on updating the documentation and ClearContext web site. However, we will open up access to anyone interested in trying v6 in the next week or so.

As a reminder to our Connect members, for access, please register on our online forums using the same email address associated with your Connect account. Once registered and logged in, you will see the private Connect forums where the v6 Release Candidate can be downloaded.

Also, version 6 requires new license keys and the existing v5 license keys cannot be used with v6. Connect members can claim their new v6 license keys by visiting their Connect status page.

Thanks to everyone for their interest and enthusiasm, and we look forward to making ClearContext Professional Version 6 available to all shortly!

ClearContext Professional v6 Beta 2 has been released and is available to our Connect subscribers. Beta 2 incorporates many improvements and fixes from feedback on the first beta. We invite any Connect members who have not yet tried the v6 beta to check out this latest version.

Some highlights on Beta 2 improvements include:

• Dashboard: Inactive Projects filter, user interface improvements, performance fixes
• AutoFile: configurable mail file location, revised rule creation window
• Project Selector: improved handling of long names, auto increase of window height according to number of suggestions, warning before filing to deleted Project folders
• Outlook 2010 Ribbon: toolbar optimization, customization and keyboard shortcuts
• Followup/Defer: addition of quick hours selection UI

A more complete change list is available in the Connect forums. For information on overall v6 changes, please see our prior blog posts.

With the completion of beta 2, the next milestone for v6 is the production ready Release Candidate. As the focus is now primarily on testing and critical bug fixes, we anticipate a much shorter amount of time to finish the Release Candidate as compared to the Beta releases. The completion of v6 is drawing near and we thank everyone for their enthusiasm and patience.

As a reminder to our Connect members, for beta access, please register on our online forums using the same email address associated with your Connect account. Once registered and logged in, you will see the private Connect forums where the beta can be downloaded.

ClearContext Professional v6 Beta 1 is now available  for our Connect subscribers! We appreciate all the interest in Version 6 and look forward to hearing feedback on the new v6 capabilities and improvements. For information on the the changes in v6, please see our previous post on ClearContext v6 Highlights.

To participate in the beta program a Connect membership and a registration to the ClearContext online forums is required.

Private Connect forums have been created that are visible and accessible only to Connect members. Beta information, downloads and discussion will take place in these private forums. Access to these forums is granted automatically based on a matching email address between a Connect subscription and the email address used to register on the forums. If assistance is needed in enabling the private Connect forums for your user account, please contact us at support at clearcontext.com

In our last post introducing ClearContext v6, we talked about the focus on flexibility and efficiency for this new release. Here is a brief description of some of the enhancements in version 6:

• Refreshed and streamlined user interface for ClearContext windows and toolbars
• Inbox and sent mail processing for multiple email accounts. Prioritization and automated actions such as AutoFile will now be supported in multiple mail files.
• Unicode support to properly handle multi-byte languages
• Performance improvements for Project selection to support thousands of entries
• Dynamic creation of ClearContext folders so they do not appear if unused
• Addition of Google Apps to supported configurations
• Addition of “Window 8” to supported configuration
• Other enhancements for multiple mail file support and configuration

In addition to these highlights, ClearContext v6 will also incorporate many other tweaks and enhancements to improve usability or address known issues. Some of these come from our own lists and planning, and many will come from feedback during testing from our Connect members.

As we mentioned previously, access to the v6 beta will be an exclusive benefit for Connect members. If you would like to check your membership status, please visit our Connect Subscription Status page. Also, you should be receiving a special offer in your inbox if you need to subscribe to or renew Connect. If you do not receive this email, please send an email to sales@clearcontext.com and we would be happy to add you to the mailing list.

With the release of v5.4.5 last week, we are reaching the end of our 5.x release cycle and are now preparing for the v6 launch. Since the initial release of v5.4, we have released a number of minor updates, most of which were fixes to specific issues not impacting most users.

We’ve received inquiries asking about what specific changes have been incorporated into these maintenance releases. As we transition into v6 development, we thought it would be a good time to do a wrap-up of these changes in the v5.4 maintenance releases:

V5.4.5

• Automatically detect a loss of connection to Public Folders and attempt to restore the connection
• Use different icons in the Project selector for Public Folders to better distinguish them from local folders
• More effective deletion of Project suggestions from the Edit Suggestions function

V5.4.4

• Fix a stability issue when using Word as an editor for composing emails in Outlook 2003
• Prevent a rare problem of a loss of connection to the suggestion database in Outlook 2010 while running
• Filter out disabled AutoFile Groups in the AutoFile create rule window
• Adjust Windows XP Theme detection to prevent UI color mismatches in certain environments
• Translate Exchange addresses to more readable email addresses when creating Tasks/Appointments from messages
• Fix crash when contact support button is pressed on severe error dialog before the application is initialized

V5.4.3

• Fix issue where categories are not saved in task creation from Dashboard when Project to category synchronization is disabled

V5.4.2

• Fix issue with suggestions database where version was not being incremented

V5.4.1

• Fix stability issue with loading recurring Appointments from the MessageContext
• Set defaults for Dashboard in the TWC version
• Allow selection of !next category in Organizer review

The latest version of ClearContext is always available by downloading from clearcontext.com.

Our previous blog post was about the backlog of messages many of us start off with in the new year.  Well, we’re here to help with that! We’d like to see everyone to start the new year by letting the new ClearContext v5 help them take control of their inbox.  And we’d love for you to help us spread the word!

Through the end of January, we’re giving away a ClearContext Pro license every day.  There are multiple ways to enter the drawing, such as following us on twitter or facebook, or tweeting about ClearContext.  And we appreciate everyone who has already supported us – you are all eligible as well!  In addition to licenses to new users, we’re also giving away upgrades, ClearContext Connect subscriptions, and other prizes to people who are already ClearContext users!  Click here for more details on how to participate.

Thanks so much for your support and helping us spread the word about ClearContext to all of your friends and colleagues who could use a little help getting their inbox under control!

We’ve got lots of announcements coming between now and the end of the year.  Keep on top of the latest happenings:

Our Facebook page is up and running.  Become a fan here.

We’re also on twitter.  Follow here.

Subscribe to our corporate blog for product updates, email tips and more.

Our new Facebook page is up and running.  Become a fan here.

We’re also on twitter.  Follow here.

Finally, subscribe to our corporate blog for product updates, email tips and more.

We’re making ClearContext simpler, faster and smarter.  Previously we discussed v5 single-click filing and message prioritization.  Here are a few other near term changes coming in v5.0.

Smarter Threading

A frequent feature request is to improve the accuracy of message conversation threading.  In v4 and earlier, ClearContext uses subject name to link messages together.  In v5 ClearContext will use Outlook’s conversation ID (when available) for threading.  For those of you on mail servers that utilize this ID, the result will be smarter, more accurate conversation threading.  Subject-based threading will be used in cases where the ID is not available, most notably when receiving mail from some webmail services outside of Exchange.

Multiple Mail File Support

In v5 we are removing the filing limitation of one primary and one secondary mail file.  ClearContext will recognize all of your open mail files, allowing filing to all open PSTs.

Office 2010

Office 2010 support will include full ribbon functionality in the explorer (Inbox) and adaptation of custom UI elements (Dashboard, Scorecard, etc.).  A test version with Office 2010 32bit support will be available in Q4.  We plan to implement 64bit support in a future release, timing TBD.

Streamlined Features

We are removing some features in v5 to simplify the interface, improve performance and focus on our core capabilities.  In particular:

• FolderContext will no longer appear in each folder.  This information will still be available via Project Dashboards.
• Conversation Priority will no longer be supported.  Messages will still be automatically prioritized as they are received, but we will no longer support marking individual threads as important.
• Alerts will be removed in v5.0.  Pending feedback, we may bring this feature back in another form for a future 5.x release.

Improved Infrastructure\Performance

Many of the changes we have previously discussed result in improved performance.  In particular, startup is faster, folders open more quickly, and message conflicts are minimized.  With this improved infrastructure, the product will better support multiple machine use and mobile device access and we will be on track to expand beyond Exchange and POP support in future ClearContext releases.

v5.x

The changes we have discussed so far are all in our initial v5.0 release.  Future v5.x releases will include an overhaul of the project management features in the Dashboard, improved statistics and measurement and much more.  Keep an eye on the blog for future detail.

All v4 purchases made after August 1, 2009 and all ClearContext Connect subscribers will receive a complimentary upgrade to v5.  If you haven’t already signed up for the v5 beta, send an email to beta at clearcontext dot com.  The beta schedule isn’t finalized yet, but we will let you know when a download is available.