And that’s why ListPro^® is so very handy – you can make lists of absolutely anything you want to track for the holidays, put those lists on your device, and have them ready right when you need them. No more forgetting your husband’s sweater size, or which Lego set your nephew wanted, when you’re buying gifts. No more mishaps with planning the big family get-together. And when you’re buying the food – you’ll only have to make one trip, and you’ll definitely remember the gravy!

What else makes ListPro great for the holidays? Read on for more details and ideas…

Since ListPro lets you customize your lists exactly how you want them, you can build perfect lists for all your gift giving, grocery shopping, and party planning this season. Or, you can use this holiday planning checklist from our online List Exchange to get you started.

Not only is ListPro the all-in-one app for making holiday lists, but it’s currently free on the App Store for your iPhone or iPod touch. There’s no better way to help keep that holiday budget in line than free, right? And speaking of budgets, ListPro can help with that too – enter the amount of any list item and see what you’re spending as you buy.

And right now, you can also get ListPro for your Windows PC for just $4.99. Make lists on your computer and sync all your lists. If it’s easier for you to read recipes on your big laptop screen while you’re in the kitchen, make lists for your cookies, and your stuffing, and your family’s secret honey ham glaze in ListPro for Windows. Just sync those lists to your phone, head to the store, and shop for ingredients with ListPro as your guide!

So if you’re ready to enjoy a stress-free holiday this year, give ListPro a try. Read all about ListPro as a great holiday helper on our site – get more tips, see more screenshots, and find all the links you’ll need to get ListPro for your device and desktop today.

So if you’re one of the folks who are having some trouble, read on. I’ve got some easy fixes, and if you’re still having trouble let us know via our support lines! We’ll get you up and running.

Quick And Easy Problem Solving!

Before I go into details on various issues, let me give you the top ways we’ve helped people solve their problems so far!

1. Make Sure You Run Sync on the Device:If you want to synchronize, you need to start sync on both the device AND on the desktop. A lot of times folks have hit sync on the desktop but not in eWallet on the device. We do it this way for security reasons I’ll address in a future post. You can find detailed step-by-step instructions for doing this under Help->eWallet Tutorials on the desktop or in the Help file that installs with the desktop software.
2. Make Sure You’ve Installed eWallet 6.1.2 on the Desktop and Device:You need the very latest version of eWallet in both places to make sync work. The iPhone update will show up under updates in the App Store. You can download the latest desktop version of eWallet here. It’s a free upgrade if you own eWallet 6.0+ (it will auto-register when you install it) and $9.95 if you are adding it on or upgrading ( get it at the discounted price here if you already own 5.0 or less or are adding on.)
3. Create a Partnership With the Phone: Before you can start synching you have to create a partnership in eWallet between your phone and the desktop version. You only have to do this the first time you sync. After that you just sync. There are a number of reasons for doing it this way, security in particular, but I’ll talk about that in a later post. For now, if you have trouble setting up the partnership, check out the step-by-step instructions in eWallet on the desktop (Help->eWallet Tutorials) or the help doc on the desktop for detailed instructions.
4. Reinstall Bonjour:We’ve found that some folks need to reinstall Bonjour. You can get Bonjour here. It may ask you if you want to do a repair installation. If so, say yes!
5. Delete and Re-create the Partnership: Stop any wallets from synching with the iPhone using Setup under Synchronize on the desktop. Then, still in setup, remove the phone from the list of sync locations. Now recreate the partnership with the phone.
6. Close eWallet on Both Sides and Try Again: A simple one but you’d be surprised at how often this fixes things!

This may or may not solve the problems you are having, but so far we’ve found that one of these resolves most of the issues folks are having. Of course if you’re still having trouble you can always contact us. That’s what we’re here for.

Specific Questions and Problems

I called/sent an email! When will you get back to me?

We hope that no one will wait more than one business day for a reply. The response to this new release has been TREMENDOUS. We’ve got folks working non-stop here just fulfilling desktop add-on phone orders (yep – we still get a lot of orders by phone!) So if you don’t get a response right away, know that we’re plugging away and hope to get back to you as soon as we can!

If you want to speed up response/solution time, make sure to include the following info:

• Version of Windows you are running (and is it running on a Mac)
• If Vista, are you using UAC
• Are you on a commercial/work network, or a home network
• Are you using AdHoc wifi to connect
• Is your phone Jailbroken.

Why don’t my pictures and custom icons sync?

Unfortunately, eWallet hasn’t ever done image synching and iPhone is no exception. The original reason (for Windows Mobile/Palm) was sync speed and device memory. These aren’t issues with the iPhone so we are working on this for a future release.

It keeps saying the wallet doesn’t exist and asks if I want to create it!

This one is a puzzler and we’re working on it. We haven’t seen it here nor have our beta testers. We’re trying to replicate it and if you’ve seen this problem, please email us. We’d love any additional input folks have! In at least one case, trying some of the Quick and Easy steps solved the problem but I’m afraid it didn’t tell us why someone might run into it. The good news (to anyone who hasn’t seen it) is that the problem is pretty rare. The bad news is that this makes it tricky to diagnose!

UPDATE 9-10-8: Matt, one of our developers here, figured out why this happens! He is working on it as we speak! We’ll keep you updated!

Ahh! I updated but my wallets are gone!

In theory, Apple should be handling the updates in a way that this won’t happen. This is one ball that is firmly in the Apple court though. The good news is that normally this doesn’t happen. IF it does happen, try restoring your device. iTunes is supposed to be backing up even the data files when you sync to iTunes.

It can’t find my iPhone but I’m connected!

Again, for some folks the Quick and Easy steps did the trick but for a couple it didn’t. One of the most common secondary problems is a network using subnets. In simple terms, it’s like driving in the Express lane on a highway with a Local/Express split. You’re both going the same speed on the same road in the same direction but there is a wall between you. Another common problem is that the Firewall is blocking the connection. To see if this is the issue, try turning off the Firewall (temporarily) just to see if that makes any difference. (It will be good for support to know you tried this if you’re still having trouble!)

Oh – And one thing one of our posters here reminded me (Thanks M!). Although I don’t usually give ANY Firewall settings advice, he mentioned that in the Vista built-in settings there is an Exceptions tab where you can check to allow eWallet through! Might help folks with this problem!

OK! I’m going back to help with answering emails. Hopefully this will help some of the people who have run into challenges. If not, let us know!

Let us know if you find this type of article (or others) useful; we want to continue to add information that you’ll find helpful.

• 43% of respondents never change their password
• 24% use the same password to access all online accounts
• 59% ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ use the same password for everything
• 30% of respondents surveyed use passwords of only one-to-six characters in length
• 22% use only alpha characters

While I don’t believe everything I read on the internet, and I do understand that surveying a few thousand McAfee users isn’t the most representative group, the numbers are still pretty alarming.

Strong passwords, changed frequently, aren’t that hard to use. They’re hard to remember, but tools like eWallet mean that you don’t have to. eWallet – and other password managers – will safely store, and even generate, all your passwords.

Whether you use eWallet or not (and of course I hope you do), you should use good security – both online and off. Identity theft and other fraud is becoming more and more common, and it’s a real problem. Using good passwords, and shredding your paper info are two of the easiest and most effective way to protect yourself.

If you’re using passwords that are easy to crack, or haven’t changed them in a while, or use the same one too many places, change them now. Don’t put it off.

And to encourage and help everyone to use strong passwords, we’re giving half off eWallet (Professional Edition) until Monday, October 15. Use the following links to purchase eWallet at this special price for your: Pocket PC, Windows Mobile Smartphone, or Palm OS handheld. Remember, these come with the Windows PC version as well, so start protecting yourself now!

Well, even though it took a while, I finally had time to fix the script – hopefully for good. We tested it every way we could think of in the office, and I’m confident enough to put it online today. So, guinea pigs, do you want to try it out for me and make sure you don’t have any trouble? Here’s the behavior you should expect from our home page now:

1. If you’re on your desktop, you should never, ever see the mobile version, unless you specifically click a link to go there
2. If you visit www.iliumsoft.com on a mobile device, it should automatically redirect you to the mobile version. If you decide you really want to be on the “big” version of the site, and you click the “Visit Main Website” link at the bottom of the mobile version, you should be taken to our regular site, and you should stay there

So, if you check it out and think you’re being sent to the mobile site when you should be on the main site (or vice versa) please just drop a comment in this post and let me know what happened and what you saw, so I can fix it. Thanks!

“Great idea!” I said! So here it is! Please take a moment to share your favorite eWallet shortcuts, tricks, and advice!

GTD focuses on helping you dump your brain into this trusted system, so you don’t leave obligations looming in the black uncertainty raincloud over your head. If you don’t have time to read his book, you can probably get a good sense of how the core of GTD works by looking at this flowchart [PDF file, 30KB].

GTD is pretty popular with geeks, probably because it takes quite a bit of fiddling to get it done (geeks love to fiddle with things, in my experience), and because it’s a “Life Hack”, a way of optimizing your life to make things work better.

GTD is also something that is basically a bunch of lists. We make a product called ListPro that is very good at making bunches of lists. So inevitably, the two will collide. For the collision, keep reading after the cut thingy below.

Disclaimer: I am not the master of GTD. I am still ‘trying it out’, so to speak, figuring out what the best way to implement it is. That’s one of the downsides of GTD – there’s no 100% right answer for how to make it work. The important parts of GTD are:

• Making a trusted system, that you can rely on 100% without thinking
• Making a trusted system, that you can rely on 100% without thinking (is there an echo?)

If you can’t rely on your GTD system, then you’re no better off than before you tried implementing it. This is one on of the downsides of a lot of organization tips and tricks – you have to do it, and you have to stick to it. One way to help you stay stuck is to find a system that’s comfortable for you. I’m still looking – so far, I’ve tried LifeBalance, the eerily-similar MyLife Organized, our very own ListPro, and am about to tack a program called Ultra Recall. If you want a good smattering of GTD aids in one spot, check out this blog post on 52Reviews.com .

Disclaimer 2: I don’t think I’m going to use ListPro for GTD. This doesn’t mean you should stop reading. If you like ListPro, and want to do GTD, give it a shot. You can certainly do it, and it may work perfect for you. I just feel like I need to say this so I’m not purely saying ListPro is the best thing since sliced bread. It’s like how I drive a Toyota – I don’t hate other car companies, I’m just familiar with them and found my car to suit my needs. ListPro works great for testing checklists, daily process lists, call logging, my groceries… just not my GTD.

Anyway, enough yap. I present to you the ListPro GTD template. [Warning: 122KB .CLF download, requires ListPro!]

Just download that file, stick it wherever you want, and peruse it. You’ll find helpful hints written by me.

Is this the only way to use ListPro for GTD? Probably not. Is it the best GTD implementation there is? Probably not. Is there a best GTD implementation? For you, yes. For everyone, no.

So go get some things done. [Kevin now checks off the 'push publish button in Wordpress' Next Action...]

Here are some tips:

• On a Pocket PC, to sync your GTD list, make sure you have Files turned on in your ActiveSync settings, then just drop the GTD template into your Pocket PC’s synchronized My Documents folder.
• On a Palm, you’ll want to open your regular ListPro list file on your desktop and go to Tools -> Import Lists…, then point to the GTD file.
• Get familiar with the shortcuts for copy and paste (Ctrl-C or Ctrl-X if you want to cut, Ctrl-V for paste), since you can’t drag items between lists.
• If you want to change your columns, you may need to re-build the entire template. This just is a limitation to how ListPro works – each List has its own format, and you may not be able to copy items between lists of different formats.
• If you really want to stick with ListPro for GTD, make a shortcut for your actual GTD file and place it in your Start Menu’s Startup folder. This will launch the file whenever you boot up or log into Windows. Then, right-click on the shortcut and pick Properties, and assign a keyboard shortcut. Whenever you want to add something to your list, just press that shortcut and ListPro will open right up – it should open up to displaying your Inbox, but it may change to whatever list you had been working in last.

If you make modifications to the template or have any feedback, feel free to either send a message to Ilium Software or leave a comment below! I’ll be glad to post different templates or update it based on user requests.

If you have any problems getting this to work in your ListPro, or have any other problems with our software, just contact Ilium Software directly and someone will help you. I’d like to put my email here, but I haven’t figured out how to effectively spam-proof it in Wordpress yet.