This has been a long time coming but we can finally say that we've launched the next great version of ClearCheckbook! V4 is the culmination of months of hard work spent re-writing code, updating the UI, adding new features, implementing suggestions and a lot of beta testing.
The goal of this update was to keep the site as similar as possible to what you're used to while updating the UI to be more friendly across all platforms, devices and screen sizes. While the site looks different, most of the behavior and locations of tools, links, menus, etc are the same as they were in the last version.
Before I get into all the changes and updates V4 brings... let me first mention a few things:
1. If the site looks weird, graphics aren't loading or you're having problems getting the site to work, please clear the cache in your browser. The easiest way is by refreshing the page about 5-10x in a row really quick.
2. During beta testing, some users complained about issues with contrast between elements on the site. We tracked this down to monitor angle issues or screen color calibration problems. If all the colors seem washed out, try adjusting your monitor angle or running a color calibration on the screen.
Now, on to what's new in V4!
Overall
- Responsive Design
- Increased number of autocomplete items from 5 to 10
- Added 4 new video tutorials for a total of 10 (more will be coming too)
Dashboard
- Reminders gadget - show alert for recently expired reminders
- Bills gadget
- Show alert for recently expired bills
- Click on a bill to be taken to that bill
- Adding Gadgets
- Buttons for gadgets that are already on the dashboard are disabled
- Not using pop-up box for the add gadgets form
- Added icons to ClearCheckbooks Links gadget
- Added 'Other Assets' field to Net Worth gadget to track any additional physical assets
Transaction Register
- Icons for identifying Transfers and Paid Credit Card transactions
- Site now remembers your View setting (jived, un-jived, withdrawals, etc)
- Alternating background colors for jived transactions
- Temporary account view doesn't get reset on column sort
- Hover over account, category, description to see full text
- Hover over sub category to see parent name.
- Sub categories have a down arrow icon to specify them as sub category
- When 'Modify Related Transfer' is selected on edit, the related transfer will also update if it's visible on the register
Credit Card section
- If you change credit card accounts it doesn't reset your view options
Search Form
- Ability to only show split children/transfers/paid cc transactions
- Added This Quarter, Last Quarter and Last 90 Days options to date range for premium members
Reports
- Charts updated and switched from Google Charts API
- Balances timeline report updates
Debt Snowball
- Improved display of progress bar
Reminders / Recurring Transactions
- Improved / standardized navigation between view types
- Deleting a reminder from the "All" list doesn't take you back to "Upcoming" list
- Added a border to today's date even if there's a reminder on that day
- Added a link to reminder emails that lets you disable email reminders
Bill Tracker
- Improved report viewing
- Standardized navigation between view types
- Alert for recently expired bills
Budgets
- Reports show up for newly created or just edited budgets (rather than having to refresh the page first)
- Standardized navigation
- Premium - Export budgets and budget history to CSV file
Budget History
- Budget history totals are now calculated "on the fly" rather than storing the amount spent at time of reset
- Provides more accurate historical data in case you added transactions after the budget had reset.
- No need for the "reset budget history" function
- View pie chart for spending vs budget on Text history
- If a budget resets multiple times in a month period, each instance shows up correctly in the monthly text report view
- Report graphics overhaul
Envelope Budgets
- If you set a start date for the budget, clicking on the budget will only show transactions on and after that start date
Import Transactions
- Added ability to click on a transaction to edit it (vs having to select the checkbox and then click the Edit button)
- Paginating Duplicate Transaction checking
Auto-Jive Tool
- Added page numbers to list of transactions
Settings
- Icons to help quickly identify the different settings
Accounts
- Inactive accounts are now faded
Categories
- Sub categories in the category list are indented with an icon to help separate them from parent categories
As you can see, there are quite a few updates to check out. This is just the start though. One of the major driving forces behind the V4 update was to better future-proof the site by adopting modern web technologies. This will make it much easier for us to add new features, tools and updates to the site.
The next step for us is focusing on much needed overhauls to all of the mobile apps. We put those on the backburner for a while so we could get the main website updated. Now that V4 has been launched we can go back and spend time on the mobile apps.
ClearCheckbook started out as a tiny program I built and ran on my laptop so I could manage my own finances while I was in college. In the past 9 years ClearCheckbook has gone from something only I could access to a site with over 300,000 registered users managing over 60 million transactions. I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks to all of you for helping ClearCheckbook grow. Whether you've been around since the beginning or just found the site, I'm happy to have built a site that's constantly evolving to fit your financial needs.
Thanks again and enjoy V4!
Brandon O'Brien
Founder, ClearCheckbook.com