Hi hacknplanners!

This update comes with few but very important new features. First of all, we have rebuilt our authentication and authorization system to make use of the OAuth2 protocol, which allows you to use external providers to get access to the application among other things. And… surprise! We have implemented the first one: Google. This is the first step of a deeper integration we will build to add features like Google Drive or Hangouts to HacknPlan.

On the other hand, we have implemented the first of a series of improvements regarding UX. We have been listening to your suggestions and thoughts about how to make the application more efficient, how to reduce clicks and simplify the experience, and we have come up with a restructuring strategy that will change a bit the HacknPlan you know. The first one comes with this update: a task editor panel embedded into the board, which simplifies the planning sessions where you have to update several tasks in a row. These changes may be a bit shocking for the people who have been working with the tool for a while, but we really believe it will be worth it. We are more than open to hear your thoughts and feedback about these changes, as usual.

Features and improvements

• Google authentication: As you have probably noticed already, we have implemented the login/registration with Google. This allows you to create an account in HacknPlan without having to deal with another registration process, another user and password… An important note is if you registered previously into HacknPlan using a Gmail address and you access using the external login with Google using that account, they will be linked automatically, so you can login with user/email and password or Google login indistinctly.

• Google account linking: Another feature of our Google integration is the ability to link Google accounts to existing HacknPlan accounts which used another email for registration. In order to do this, there is a new section in the User Settings page which allows you to add and manage all the external accounts that are linked to the user account.

• Embedded task editor: In order to enhance your productivity, we decided to get rid of the task details page and create a new task editor which is displayed directly in the board. This makes editing tasks a lot more efficient, as you can quickly move from one to another while keeping the context of the board, the category, the scroll… The attachments and comments have been moved to another tabs in order to keep it clean and not saturate the view. While the panel is open, a single column version of the board is displayed showing the one the task belongs to. You can navigate through the different columns by clicking on the arrows in the header.

• Automatic model element: When you are creating a task while being at the game model page, the selected game model element is automatically assigned to the task, simplifying the process.

Bug fixes

• There were some issues using the browser back and forward buttons in some places of the application, but now they are fixed.
• We found and fixed an error when login into the application using email accounts with some symbols like +.

What’s next?

Before continuing with the features in our roadmap like task search, backlog and others, we will keep doing some UX improvements we believe will enhance your productivity. If you want to know more about these changes, follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Happy planning!