This blog will follow the progression of the a new project from Turnssoft - Mini Mouse Macro. The project will step through development as it happens and will cover everything from the initial conception Alpha, design, coding, social media integration the release of the Beta and the final end goal of a fully running program at version 1.
The Idea...
Probably one the hardest parts of the project. Just getting the idea of what exactly you want to achieve and then taking the first step to actually start the project. The idea behind Mini Mouse Macro is to build a mouse macro application. A basic app the will record your mouse movements and clicks and then play them back to you. There will also be a save like function where mouse macro's that have been recorded can be saved locally and played back.
So yeah sounds simple enough....so next step is to start testing and writing code.
So yeah sounds simple enough....so next step is to start testing and writing code.
The Test Bed
I have been at the this stage at a few projects and realized my ambitions are well above my means. I have been fooling around with VB.NET programming on and off for about 4 years and will never be a professional programmer so sometimes it ends here. Often I start writing code and find myself spending most of the time on forums and with my head in the MSDN library trying to find solutions to just make the code work a little bit.
After a few hours and molding my original idea slightly I come to the conclusion that where I am at now with programming and my skill level this is achievable. So now getting the code right...
After a few hours and molding my original idea slightly I come to the conclusion that where I am at now with programming and my skill level this is achievable. So now getting the code right...
Mini Mouse Macro - The Test Bed
Getting the Code Right
So the first step to the coding is to place some buttons on a form and chuck some code behind them. The first code I need to write is code that interacts with the mouse and more specifically code that tracks the mouse movement and the mouse clicks.
The video below is the first release of Mini Mouse Macro.
The video below is the first release of Mini Mouse Macro.
With version 0003 the application is starting to come to life. The initial hurdle in programming the code for the capture of clicks has passed and now work is needed on getting the application ready for beta testing to the public.
Before the beta release more work needs to be done on presentation of the app. As you can see from the version slide show, version 0.0.0.3 looks very simple and needs a major update on the GUI. The next step is to pretty up the GUI with icons for the buttons and animation to indicate when Mini Mouse Macro is actively recording macro's.
Before the beta release more work needs to be done on presentation of the app. As you can see from the version slide show, version 0.0.0.3 looks very simple and needs a major update on the GUI. The next step is to pretty up the GUI with icons for the buttons and animation to indicate when Mini Mouse Macro is actively recording macro's.
The Beta Release
After a good response to the pre-beta release's on sourceforge the final product is complete for the beta release. There still is one feature that is not added in yet (recording keystrokes) but that can wait. The final product has everything a good mouse macro recorder needs and I am looking forward to see what the response from the public will be.
I am hoping to receive feedback from the beta release however I am not holding my breath. For the life of me I just cant seem to get any feedback from any project. Simple File Encryptor is at the moment is averaging about 300 downloads a week from sourceforge and the only feedback I have was from a youtube clip. If anyone has any tips on receiving feedback let me know.
The next step now is to start advertising Mini Mouse Macro by building up the website, releasing a youtube video and uploading the latest software release to the major file sharing sites like softpedia and cnet.
If the response is good the final step will be to release the final version....
I am hoping to receive feedback from the beta release however I am not holding my breath. For the life of me I just cant seem to get any feedback from any project. Simple File Encryptor is at the moment is averaging about 300 downloads a week from sourceforge and the only feedback I have was from a youtube clip. If anyone has any tips on receiving feedback let me know.
The next step now is to start advertising Mini Mouse Macro by building up the website, releasing a youtube video and uploading the latest software release to the major file sharing sites like softpedia and cnet.
If the response is good the final step will be to release the final version....
The Final Release
The final release includes the addition of the long awaited recording of key stokes. Mini Mouse Macro now looks and feels like a proper macro recording application. The response from the release of the beta was not as good as I had hoped however the beta release was simple and in hindsight should have been delayed until the addition of recording keys was available. I am usually to keen to release a product without waiting for its full potential.
There was no feedback given from the beta release. I maybe need to take a different approach to soliciting feedback in the future.
Mini Mouse Macro beta had approximately 150 downloads in the 14 days before the full release. The exact amount of downloads is impossible to count as other subsidiary download sites throughout the globe pick up the download once it is release on Sourceforge.net. I am expecting that to increase now with the added key strokes functionality.
Again I have released the full version to early as there is still a lot to add. More key actions are needed to the macro recorder, such as key combinations, and also a play options page to set detailed play options, however they will come in future updates.
There was no feedback given from the beta release. I maybe need to take a different approach to soliciting feedback in the future.
Mini Mouse Macro beta had approximately 150 downloads in the 14 days before the full release. The exact amount of downloads is impossible to count as other subsidiary download sites throughout the globe pick up the download once it is release on Sourceforge.net. I am expecting that to increase now with the added key strokes functionality.
Again I have released the full version to early as there is still a lot to add. More key actions are needed to the macro recorder, such as key combinations, and also a play options page to set detailed play options, however they will come in future updates.
