Daylite for Mac

Pros

Great interface, good software when it works

Cons

Needs to sync with a local server you setup on your network not the cloud. Trying to set up remote access and feel safe about not exposing your entire system to hackers requires an IT person and well beyond our ability despite hours of trying. If server goes down stop entering data as your local copy and everything since the last server backup is trash. Sync errors happen all the time where you loose your local data so you loose hours or weeks (our server had to be repaired) of work thinking we could sync once the backup was restored..nope, we had to clear our local copies, loose all the data and start over. So about 200 man hours were lost when our server was being repaired and we were still using the local copies. To add to matters all local data is in a host of files hidden deep in the bowels of many files in the library. Its impossible to remove and reinstall without a uninstaller program. Daylite also issues updates almost monthly which requires you to sync all systems backu

Summary

Updates require you to sync all local devices, backup your server and upgrade your server then each device, if done in any other order.. you got it all data is lost. So don't expect to feel safe when you use this. Its like heroin once you really start using it you depend on it 24/7 only if your server goes down you are screwed. Moving to Yosemite was a nightmare and we went back to 10.7 on the server for it to work. I'm at the point I'm looking for other solutions despite the 250 per seat plus another 200 each time they do an upgrade per seat. It all ads up to big bucks with little safety net. Getting service is via e-mail until you scream and someone calls you back days later only this is your CRM lifeline... so how do you do business while you are waiting for a call back to fix some sync issue caused by either apple upgrade or daylite upgrade or a hardware issue. Its impossible... look for a cloud based system that backs up as you go not this stuff. Its good if you are ok with loosing data on a regular basis and having your system go down every upgrade they issue (happens almost every month) and then when apple issues theirs... nightmare... RUN FAST! DO NOT BUY

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Pros

Client database system is strong
Incremental improvement in functionality
IPAD and IPhone integration useful

Cons

The design of the calendar and synching function is next to useless. Constantly losing invitations from clients and other staff who are on the system. Synching is so buggy that there is a constant fear of missing incoming info. I really don't understand why a calendar should be so hard to manage in this day and age!
Support in Australia is very ordinary!

Summary

The functionality we have gained in a useful CRM database is unfortunately completely offset by the bugginess of the system (in particular the calendar). Find another solution.

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Pros

Has the promise of integrated features that are superior to competitors.

Cons

Can't open.

Summary

I spent three hours installing, reinstalling, searching Marketcircle forums, trying solutions, but to no avail. I can't open the program. It seems like three hours of trying to make this work is enough. Making it impossible to open the software is not a good marketing strategy.

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Pros

Flexible basic project management.

Multi-user with separate server software.

IOS applications for remote access.

Assembles and links all project information on one neat layout: contacts, tasks, calendar, email, flexible and programmable forms and reports, notes, work lists, file and folder references.

Excellent customer help - they know their product and try very hard to solve customer problems.

Integrates with various plug-ins from outside developers.

Integrates with Marketcircle's Billings applications.

Integrates with Apple Mail, can automatically associate each email with its project and contacts, and provides followup mechanisms for email.

Integrates with Merlin.

Cons

No repeating tasks. There is at least one workaround for this but it's still a significant shortcoming.

Version 4.1.1 still has a few minor bugs.

Summary

Daylite is multi-user customer relationship management and basic project management software for smallish businesses (I'd say up to about 100 employees). It is a major step forward from OmniFocus. The only relevant comments about it on this site are those posted since last summer, as the current version 4.1.1, available since November 2012, has fixed most of the bugs and resolved many other issues. Marketcircle is also working on a cloud solution which will do away with the need for VPN setups.

Version 4 came out last May and was initially quite buggy, including a couple of serious ones. The current version 4.1.1 has fixed 99% of the bugs and works beautifully. I own a small business, the productivity enhancement is major. Version 4 is a pleasure to use (which I never found to be the case with version 3), it's easy to learn the basics, we started working with it immediately and haven't looked back. Separate contact lists, calendars etc are now a thing of the past in my business, all client and file information is available instantly from anywhere on my Mac. Highly recommended.

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Pros

I expected the installation procedure to be a nightmare, but it was actually very simple, if a little long, given how much data I have.
Larger projects are vastly easier to manage.
Being able to create Tasks from within Mail, in addition to tracking messages and linking them to the various people, is just a dream come true.
Tabs!
The new UI is so unobtrusive, which is exactly as it should be.
Search is much more intuitive and very powerful.
Finally, I can run Daylite on my iPhone.

Cons

The link to Billings was never that great, but it was there. So now that's gone, it's a little more effort tying things together.
The synchronising with Calendar clearly needs some work, as I now have duplicates, although Market Circle appear to think this behaviour is appropriate.
Not being able to edit the stages of an Objective is a bind, especially the dates.
Daylite can be a little over eager when suggesting what to tag in Mail, though it's easily resolved.

Summary

Market Circle say they had to cut loose a bunch of things to make Daylite fly, and for my money, they clearly did the right thing. The improvements to the Tasks means I'll actually use them properly this time, whereas the previous iteration just seemed to get in the way of things.

I admit to some apprehension when — having just upgraded to Mountain Lion — I had to contemplate upgrading to Daylite 4. After a false start (my fault, actually), things just flew from that point onwards, giving me no reason to look backwards.

I'm just one guy, and Daylite continues to revolutionise not only how I run my business, but my life. If you own a Mac and run a business, or you have a busy life, buy Daylite.

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Pros

None to be seen.

Cons

Can't open appointments in separate windows to enter notes. If you do want to enter notes, there are several button clicks to even start editing.

Typing in fields (especially notes) is like using an old golf ball typewriter with the text lagging several words behind typing!

I'm ok with innovation, but this isn't a matter of 'getting used to a new interface'. Now I have to go back to paper minutes of my client meetings!

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Pros

none that I can think of at this point. Concept is great, execution is horrendous

Cons

Takes over 60 seconds to start, hangs constantly, every piece of data entered makes the color wheel spin. Daylite Touch is COMPLETELY Unusable.

Summary

Severely disappointed.

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Pros

The new screens in Daylite 4 are a vast improvement over the crowded and sometimes confusing appearance of Daylite 3.

It appears to have a better interface with Mac OS X apps, such as the Contacts and Calendar. (Unless you are willing to purchase a license, you can't be sure about this because the demo version won't let you try it.)

As with Daylite 3, the new version offers almost unlimited options to customize the database to meet the specific needs and characteristics of your business.

Cons

One of the big flaws in Daylite 3 carries over into Daylite 4 (at least in the demo version). Daylite 4 still overlooks a lot of badly needed relationships between its tables.

This produces a time-consuming need for too much manual data entry to keep records current. For example, changing a company's address does not update the company addresses for individual contacts linked to that company. You have to edit each individual contact one-by-one.

The lack of a clean interface with iCloud is a major and puzzling disappointment, especially when other, fully integrated applications are available at much lower cost. We had expected that as a standard feature in Daylite 4.

The number and sophistication of the standard reports provided in the demo version are pitiful.

Summary

MarketCircle is asking us to buy a pig in a poke. The demo version does not include a number of the most important functions such as database backup and restoration; : calendar sharing and contact sharing. So it was impossible to test Daylite 4 in a real-word business environment.

The absence of a fully-functional trial version -- even if the license is only for 10 days -- is reason enough for our firm to disqualify Daylite from further consideration. The weaknesses in the demo version outweighed our hope that, if we paid for a license, the unknown benefits of the full version would overcome the weaknesses in the demo.

The "pig" appears to be attractive in some respects, but we can still hear the squeals of frustration over a CRM application that has too many basic weaknesses and is too high-maintenance and time consuming for businesses that do not have in-house IT support.

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Pros

Good thought. Very poor execution.

Cons

"Before you upgrade to Mountain Lion, we wanted to let you know that Daylite is currently not compatible. We are working hard on providing updates as soon as possible, but recommend not upgrading to Mountain Lion at this time". This is again what they tell us last time for "Lion" they did not even send an email out. Terrible company there product lines are not even compatible for "LION".

Summary

Not worth $5. Poor business plan, that Market Circle has, and since I have owned their products this has for 3 years or so, been there strategy, rip off their client base as much as possible.

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