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Show HN: My side project – Laps – Client, Project and Time management

70 points| kristaps1990 | 9 years ago |app.getlaps.com | reply

49 comments

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[+] computerlab|9 years ago|reply
Nice work, UI feels good. Some thoughts: I think in this space integrations are key. For example, I would rather use my accounting software (Xero) to create invoices, so just being able to have an Xero integration that creates invoices in Xero would be more useful than Laps invoices, for me. Syncing contacts with Google apps would also be big. I feel like a lot of time tracking software (for example, Harvest) duplicates the functionality of accounting software / CMS.
[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Thanks for your comment, yes i am thinking to add some import / export / sync features, but currently I concentrate on finishing MVP - that means finish projects and add basic invoicing.
[+] ashsidhu|9 years ago|reply
Kudos to you buddy on getting it out. There's some hard-work required just to overcome the resistance to getting up to this point. And it motivates me to get mine out quicker. Thanks :)
[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Thanks! Yes - it is much harder as it seems @ the start. :) Good luck with your project!
[+] rp277|9 years ago|reply
When creating an account, if you use a short password it says 'Field name should be between 8 and 200 characters'. I thought it was trying to tell me my first name should be between a certain length at first, but it's the password field.

Tried to create a project, entered project name and the expected income field, submitting closed the modal with no errors, but no project appeared.

[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Hi, yes i am aware or not so good UX on validation process. But tell me more about that project adding failure. Did the project show'd up when you did browser refresh?
[+] the_wheel|9 years ago|reply
Typos:

"Never lose client! Easily add your client contact info, rates, links and group them by status." Never lose a client!

"Don't miss an update. Create free account!" Create a free account!

"We want to build best tool possible. Create free account!" We want to build the best tool possible. Create a free account!

Also, really love the design.

[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Big thanks for this, will update first thing @ morning! Glad you like design! :)
[+] kowdermeister|9 years ago|reply
Just one suggestion:

"Useful features coming soon"

this indicates that your service is not really useful at the moment :) I'd rephrase it to something that points towards your vision. Or just replace useful with: kickass, amazing, handy.

Do you see this as a competitor for toggl.com?

[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Yea thanks, will change it! You are not the first who is pointing that out. About toggl.com - it is a well established company. Only way how i can compete with them is build better things than they. Currently i don't even want to think about competing, i just want to build something that people use and are happy with it.
[+] chridal|9 years ago|reply
Nice colours, logo and name! You should have a look at Toggl. I just love how, in Toggl, you can start tracking something without creating a project first.
[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Hi, i am glad you like it - thanks! Yes i know toggl. Laps will have possibility to track time that is not assigned to specific task or project.
[+] accomplice|9 years ago|reply
Nice work! Honestly the design is fantastic!

I guess you are able to do this in your spare time if you are really good at managing your spare time eh?

[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Hi! Glad you like it! :) Yes, but this initial stage took more than it should. The hardest part for me is not finding the time, but staying motivated for long time.
[+] bdukic|9 years ago|reply
Nice work!

FYI: CTA button for creating an account under the "Useful features coming soon" section doesn't seem to be working.

[+] bjorntheart|9 years ago|reply
Great work on releasing your app!

I was clicking through your site and the reset password page looks like the styling went wrong. It looks very different than the login and registration pages styling. Please see the image.

http://d.pr/i/17sOY

[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Oh, thanks for showing this, will be fixed asap.
[+] whatnotests|9 years ago|reply
Hi -

After signing up with Google, I get left on a page that says "Hmm..no contacts? Lets fix that! Start adding now!"

What is a contact? - is that me? Is the hourly rate something I have agreed to pay them? Is it what they have agreed to pay me? What if it's not hourly?

Some example there would be great.

[+] ams6110|9 years ago|reply
Time tracking and to-do lists -- a good sign that nobody has really done it well is that people keep trying to recreate it. Or maybe it's just an easy subject for people to use as a project.

This looks nice, but for me nothing beats org-mode in Emacs.

[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Thanks for your comment! The main reason why i chose to build Laps as a time tracking and invoicing tool is that - i can do it. As everything is bootstrapped i decided to build something relatively simple but that works very well, and then extend it wit some complex features if the base is good rather than building something very complex and unclear from ground up.
[+] fiatjaf|9 years ago|reply
I think it is an easy subject for non-imaginative minds.

Not talking about this specific project.

[+] cheez|9 years ago|reply
Low hanging fruit.
[+] kevindeasis|9 years ago|reply
The UI/UX looks slick! What tech stack are you using in the main app for your front-end/backend? Who's your hosting provider?
[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Hi glad you like it!

React + Redux - frontend, Flask & MongoDB - backend, hosted @ digitalocean

[+] noir_lord|9 years ago|reply
UX looks very slick.

What sets this apart from the plethora of similar tools?

EDIT: Also crate should be create on the homepage ;)

[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Hi! Thanks! Will fix asap! Let me know if you find something else!
[+] ianwalter|9 years ago|reply
Looks nice but the parallax is really jerky for me (OS X Chrome).
[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
Thanks! Will try to optimise it. If performance won't improve I will remove it.
[+] palerdot|9 years ago|reply
What stack are you using for backend?
[+] vs2|9 years ago|reply
wow very impressive, how did you manage to do this in your spare time?
[+] hobo_mark|9 years ago|reply
Creating a time management system sort of assumes that the creator is good at managing time to begin with! ;-)
[+] kristaps1990|9 years ago|reply
i just like what i am doing - designing all the time & i pay my friend to help with code. Thats the short story! :)
[+] Malcx|9 years ago|reply
>>While in beta Laps is FREE.

This suggests in the future you will be charging but as there is no indication of how much, I can't justify spending any time to see if I like something that might end up being too costly to integrate into my workflow.

[+] ttwal|9 years ago|reply
I see this comment a lot on HN. It's a legitimate concern, but I'm curious about what someone can/should do to alleviate that fear for you. Pricing is....complicated...and for a side project that's still being developed, OP may not have had time to think about it yet. Would providing easy export options help? That way when pricing is announced if it's too high for you, you can easily jump ship?

Just curious, because I've had the same feedback a number of times on my side projects and I haven't figured out a good strategy to handle it yet.

[+] gkr|9 years ago|reply
UI looks nice.