

Show HN: Tasskr - dan335

Tasskr is a task manager.  It's aim is to be as simple as possible but still have great features.<p>Tasskr has been up for a month and had 850 signups.  150 of those are using it regularly but only 3 have upgraded to the paid version.  Any tips on how to increase that conversion?<p>http://tasskr.com<p>edit: At the moment it doesn't have a demo.  If you want to use it without signing up use email:hn@tasskr.com pass:hackernews
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evoltix
\- Add a plans & pricing section. All I see is "Sign up for a free account"
with no mention of prices. So, I assume it's free for full access.

\- Add a demo. People like trying stuff before having to sign up.

\- Add more screenshots.

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fluidcruft
Just my feedback:

I've never seen tasskr before. It looks simple and I like that and I
particularly like the progress bars--this seems to be begging for a phone
client. However, I didn't sign up even for a free account because I don't see
how to use this with my smartphone. You may or may not support phone, but it
was pretty easy for me to conclude that you don't and also don't plan to,
either.

I've been slowly moving through the various online task managers looking for
one that "fits" and most don't work out, but some sort of phone support effort
has become requisite before I will even bother because that's what I'm looking
for. Frankly, I'm also sort of burned out looking for task managers and
hunting for something that works well in the desktop and on the phone--there
are so many half-there implementations that I just don't chase them all
anymore.

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dan335
It has a basic mobile site. <http://tasskr.com/?mobile=1> And plans for more.
I should add something to the front page mentioning it.

~~~
revorad
This might be useful - [http://sahillavingia.com/blog/optimize-a-website-for-
iphone-...](http://sahillavingia.com/blog/optimize-a-website-for-iphone-
in-10-minutes/)

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awulf
My suggestion would be to specialize in a particular direction. A generic task
organizer doesn't get people too excited. However, if you offer something like
a "collaborative task manager for small development teams," you have my
attention.

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thekevan
Great idea but you really need a dummy demo account or even a brief video to
show what it does. I don't give out my email address lightly.

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bdclimber14
This is a very crowded space, but one that still has a ton of room for
innovation.

I would gladly pay a hefty ransom for a seamless workflow between my MacBook
Pro, Android device, and iPad. Sure, now you're thinking "there's a mobile
site, and the apps are coming soon!" but coming soon still means free. I'd pay
$20-30/month for this workflow, plus a fee for each app even.

Currently I use Remember the Milk (Pro Version) because I love the Android
client. In fact, I never use the web client. I really wish there was a native
desktop client, but current attempts leave a lot to be desired.

Personally, 95% (actually, 100% but if I had a good desktop client it would be
95%) of my task-related entries are done on my phone. I may be an outlier but
it seems that the approach shouldn't be a web app, but an array of mobile
apps.

I've tried Wunderlist, but the Android app is very buggy and slow.

For some actual feedback on the product, it has a great design, looks clean
and usable.

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dan335
Clickable: <http://tasskr.com>

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seanMeverett
Hey man, very cool. You've got me signed up and I think the Sharing feature is
going to be bananas. My problem with simple task lists is that sometimes I
want to assign people tasks but I don't want a huge application like basecamp;
it just moves to slow for our purposes.

If someone can figure out how to make a task app move at the speed of thought
where I don't have to do "anything", then I'll pay $100 bucks for it.

I've actually thought about doing it through gmail somehow (and yes I'm
familiar with all the plugins out there). I'm talking about an algorithmic app
that mines your emails and when you haven't replied to someone in say, a week,
it will send you a reminder (i.e., "You haven't talked to Steve in a week. Is
this project over with? Y/N").

Then, I don't have to enter tasks, I just go about my business as usual and
get automatic reminders sent to me. Clearly, this is very preliminary, but
thought I'd throw it out to the community...

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thinkdevcode
\- You have this written 3 times on the front page: "Tasskr can send you text
message or email reminders before your task is due. Set as many reminders and
as often as you like for each task."

\- Add a sign up button that's going to catch a persons attention, big and
flashy, don't just leave it at the bottom/small print at top

\- You mention a paid version - where is it and how do I know the diff between
free and premium (before signing up)?

\- Offer a demo +++

\- Have more screenshots, make the current primary image rotate through
different screenshots or something

\- Link to your mobile version

~~~
thinkdevcode
\- Add an "Upgrade Now!" link to the top menu bar when a user is logged in

\- Your upgrade page is a lot of text, too much reading. Add graphics or
charts to convey your message.

\- Link to a separate refund page to cut down on the clutter in upgrade

\- "It is required of us to have these here but please use the contact form
above instead of calling." in your contact page doesn't sound too friendly.
Gotta act like you actually care about your customers and want to talk to them
on a one by one basis.

Good luck

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codesink
I've used 37signals tada lists in the last few months and the main pain points
are:

1) no indenting 2) cumbersome reordering 3) editing sucks

your tasskr fixes all the above issue, well done.

for me what is missing to make the switch is sharing (anybody in the team is
allowed to add or check an item).

if tada list is one of your main competitor I'd add an import page to make the
switch easy (I'd prefer pasting the HTML in a textarea instead of give you my
credentials).

~~~
dan335
Thanks for the feedback.

Sharing is coming in the next couple weeks. What I'm planning is if you add
:someones@email in the task name then that task and it's children will show up
in their tasks and be editable by both people.

I'm guessing the biggest competitors are tadalist and remember the milk. Added
an import feature to my todo list.

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joebo
Your 'More Features' coming soon on the home page is missing a translation and
it's a broken link

 _Tasskr is actively being developed. Check out the _Roadmap Link Text_ of
planned features._

There are other examples on the page with the same issue

~~~
dan335
Wrong translation tag. All fixed, thanks.

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damaru
for online service - I think 1 paid user per 100 free user should cover your
fee - I am not sure if this is standar but I would assume having more people
coming in will turn more people in paid (at least 1.5%)

There are plenty of task manager out there - what often is missing is a
desktop clients for these task manager - for me being able to use dropbox on
my intel mac/powerpc mac/linux (puredyne) with a native client is the main
reason i am using it.

~~~
bmelton
If you intend to use the service across a variety of different platforms, why
wouldn't a web service be enough?

I'm having a hard time figuring out a good reason to justify writing client
software for even 'the big three' platforms, much less one for your PowerPC
Mac. And I'd think that, honestly, having it be a web service is the answer to
that need.

I understand that saving to Dropbox gets you access to the same data
everywhere, but if you already have access to the same data everywhere,
without having to involve Dropbox (which not everybody has), why would you
want the added complication?

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petewailes
Demos are better than screenshots. Let me play with it, without signing up.

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brosephius
fyi, <http://tasskr.com> works for me, but when I initially went to
www.tasskr.com, it didn't

~~~
dan335
Should work soon, thanks.

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suking
What's the difference between free & paid. Front page makes no mention of
benefits of those two or any mention of a paid version. If I were signing up
all I see is FREE - and any thoughts of paying are out of my mind later on.
Set up some expectations.

~~~
dan335
Yeah right now there's a page that sells the upgrade but people can only get
to it after they login. <http://tasskr.com/upgrade> Know of some good examples
of sites that setup expectations?

~~~
suking
<http://www.mailchimp.com/pricing/>

