A few questions: Future of plus for trello, possible alternatives, and syncing estimates with custom fields via Butler

[danrthompson]

Hi!

I want to start off by saying thank you so very very much for making such an incredible extension that has been so useful for so many people. It’s really unbelievable. Especially since I’m sure it’s a side project for you. You added a ton of value to my workflow when I used it in the past, and I’m very excited about using it again now that I’m using Trello again. And thank you very much as well for being so communicative about the potential issue with web-sql. And even though this project is on the back burner for you now, I saw that you replied to a few issues on GitHub recently, and thank you very much for staying in touch with your users even though you don’t have time to maintain the project anymore. A lot of people don’t do that. And of course you’re not obliged to do it at all. So I certainly won’t be offended if you don’t get back to me on this issue! But it’s really thoughtful that you have been so responsive and I wanted to thank you for that.

I’ve just started using Trello again after a long hiatus. I previously used this extension and absolutely loved it. I was very sad to see that the deprecation of web-sql might mean that this plug-in won’t function in the future.

But I was heartened when I saw that you found somebody to take over development and to reimplement the relevant code so it will continue to work. I haven’t seen much news about that since, though, and I wanted to check in about the future of the extension.

I love this extension and I think it takes Trello to an absolutely new level. As an aside, I think you should absolutely convert this into a monetizeable solution. Im sure you've thought about this plenty and none of this is new to you, but I’ll throw it out there anyway for whatever small amount it’s worth. I suspect you could reuse a lot of this code and make a reporting platform like Corrello or blue cat or screenful. Or if you don’t have time, you could hire somebody to do it. It seems like those companies have quite a few paying users, and I think a lot of people that use this extension would be more than happy to pay for it if it means it continues to exist. Not to mention, the functionality you have is better than those companies and I’m sure a lot of their users would switch. I know when you started, the ecosystem was a lot different, and it does seem like a very different era now. I suspect this could make quite a lot of money for you as a passive income stream, if you set it up that way.

But anyway, those are just my random ideas, motivated by the fact that I want to see this generate revenue for you, so it continues to exist forever!

But, that aside, I wanted to ask about the future of the extension because I’m just getting back into using Trello and if I’m going to use this as my primary reporting tool, I’ll put some time into shaping my workflow around it, and I don’t want to do that only to see it go away a month or two down the line. Of course, feel free not to answer if you don’t feel comfortable.

Also, I know these are a lot of questions. Don’t feel like you have to spend a bunch of time answering. If you want to, great. But if you’re busy, I would appreciate even just very basic answers. Whatever you have time for.

1. What’s the status with plus for Trello getting a new owner? Does it look like that’s going to happen and that they are going to be able to migrate the code base to function without web sql? I guess the first question is, do you feel confident that a solution will eventually be found? And the second question is do you think that there may be a period where the extension does not work before the cove bases reimplemented? My main concern is around the first point, because it would really be unfortunate to get into the flow of using this extension again only for it to become unusable forever at some point. So, even if there is a hiatus, that’s OK, as long as it’ll eventually work again
2. Any idea how long they’re going to keep web sql around for extensions? In other words, if you’re not sure about whether the extension will be reimplemented, do you have any idea how long it might work for at least? No problem if you don’t know.
3. If you’re not sure about the future of this extension, are there any other reporting solutions that you recommend? I wasn’t sure if Corrello or blue cat or screenful use estimates / spent time in their charts versus just using card completions. Do you know if there are any power ups or external services that offer as complete a solution as plus for Trello? For me, it’s extremely important that they use estimates or points rather than simply card completion because the cards differ enormously in the amount of time they might take to complete. I don’t mind using a paid solution, I just don’t want to use one that’s not nearly as good. Another big advantage would be any solution that works on mobile. I don’t need the charts or anything like that on mobile, not even basic reporting, but just the ability to set estimates and spent values on mobile would be really nice. It seems like a lot of these power ups do not store the values in a way that is accessible to Trello at all. Unlike plus for Trello which stores them in the card comments. So if you know of any solutions that do make that information available that would be awesome (ideally by syncing with custom fields, but worst case just available in some other way, so that I can do the syncing myself with Butler). But if there are no options that work with mobile, or if you’re not sure about that, any basic suggestions that at least fulfill, the first criteria would be amazing. No pressure if you’re not familiar with what else is out there, I just figured you might know, given that you’ve obviously worked in the space for a long time.
4. One disadvantage to plus for Trello, at least right now given that the web app is not functional, is that it does not function on mobile. I was wondering if you know if/how it might be possible to sync the spent and estimate values with custom fields (2-way sync), perhaps using Butler? Since custom fields work on mobile, if sync is possible then I could use all the functionality on mobile as well. I think it should be doable. As long as that is strictly adhere to doing all of the estimates using card comments. But it might be a little tricky. Don’t worry about figuring this out if you don’t already know how to do it, I just thought I’d ask in case you have thought about it, since it would save me some time.

that’s it! Sorry again for the length of this comment. Thanks in advance if you have time to answer. And even if you don’t, thanks regardless for all the time and effort you put into this project for free.