Alternative applications providing a tagging feature similar to Quicken's classes

eN0ch's Avatar

eN0ch

06 Jan, 2012 11:34 PM

This follows on from [this thread] (http://help.infinitekind.com/discussions/bugs/14-missing-aspects-of...) about tags implementation, and I'm speaking on behalf of myself and anyone else wishing to migrate data to another application, particularly where the key issue is the adequacy of MD's tags for the user's needs.

As more recent posts in the other thread acknowledge, it's now clear that MD will not in the foreseeable future have a tags implementation that mirrors Quicken's classes. As such some users of MD will be wishing to switch to another application at some point. Unfortunately for those of us who want this feature, the options are limited outside Quicken itself. Further, some of us came to MD precisely because of the tags feature, not realising that it lacks the universality that gives classes their particular power. What this represents is a mutual misunderstanding between Quicken refugees and MD's developer. But with all respect to Sean, I do feel that he might have examined Quicken's implementation of classes more closely before announcing the implementation of a feature that would meet our needs, on the basis of which we've migrated our data to MD and purchased licenses.

Its generally considered poor form to promote competitors of an application within that application's support forum. However in these circumstances I'd like to ask the peculiar indulgence of allowing this thread to serve as a forum for that purpose.

The second and related request is that MD's export functionality might be made as robust as possible, so as to minimise the complexity of moving data out of MD in a form that will readily import into another application. Specifically, please ensure that transaction tags are exported consistently in a form that will mean the tags are consistently applied to transactions imported to the new application.

  1. 1 Posted by eN0ch on 06 Jan, 2012 11:42 PM

    eN0ch's Avatar

    I'll now launch the discussion of alternatives. I'm still investigating options myself. But I have two leads so far.

    1. MyMoney - the developers did agree to add tags a few years ago, at least in a beta. I'm not sure whether it's now fully implemented, but that's worth asking.

    2. iFinance does have tags. I've yet to confirm the extent of the implementation.

  2. 2 Posted by sara.nolan1965 on 07 Jan, 2012 01:37 AM

    sara.nolan1965's Avatar

    Thanks, eNOch. I agree that generally it would be inappropriate to have this thread in the support forum, but we do need to look for alternatives. At a minimum I would hope we (read you, eNoch), could at least post a link to a blog elsewhere. I'll be watching for what any of us find.

    I appreciate a lot of what the developers have done and their general responsiveness. For those who have simple needs, with minimal support for investments and reports, it's a good deal. The rest of us still have to keep looking.

  3. 3 Posted by Angie Rauscher on 07 Jan, 2012 07:07 AM

    Angie Rauscher's Avatar

    Hey all,

    We do recognize that the way Moneydance treats tags doesn't work for everyone. We know that people have different needs in personal finance software, and that there are some people our program won't work for. I just tried a QIF export of my own file, and tags did travel successfully with each transaction. You can also export data in .xml and tab delimited formats, but I didn't do any specific testing there.

    I'm going to leave this discussion open, but Moneydance Support won't be commenting or following up on it. If anyone has a question for us, please start a new discussion thread and we'll respond to you there. I do genuinely hope everyone finds a solution which works for them, even if it might not be our program.

    Angie Rauscher
    Moneydance Support

  4. Angie Rauscher closed this discussion on 07 Jan, 2012 07:07 AM.

  5. Angie Rauscher re-opened this discussion on 07 Jan, 2012 07:07 AM

  6. 4 Posted by james f on 07 Jan, 2012 09:58 AM

    james f's Avatar

    As well that MD shouldn't mirror Quicken's classes. Moneydance is not, nor will ever be a Quicken substitute. Nor a Quicken competitor. Moneydance is a Quicken alternative. Stop comparing Moneydance to Quicken! Get used to how Moneydance functions instead of trying to get it to conform to act like Quicken!

    Quicken has patents on it's implementation of classes. If Moneydance's tags had code in it that even came close to resembling Quicken's classes, InfiniteKind,LLC would be sued royally.

    Everybody has an opportunity to test Moneydance and all of it's functions prior to purchasing a license. So I, for one, have no sympathy for anybody crying sour grapes because a function doesn't meet up with their expectations of how that function ought to work.

    My advice, GET USED TO IT!

  7. 5 Posted by eN0ch on 07 Jan, 2012 10:08 PM

    eN0ch's Avatar

    Angie,

    Thanks for all that. Helpful to know that the tags go ok with the QIF export. And thanks too for the willingness to let this thread stay open for those of us who need it. We'll just chat away in the corner over here .... ;-)

    Lance

  8. 6 Posted by eN0ch on 07 Jan, 2012 10:20 PM

    eN0ch's Avatar

    James,

    I won't even attempt to respond here. But one of the risks of speaking strongly on an existing thread is that you may be unaware of the context. In this case you could have checked the other thread I referred to in the opening post. It's quite lengthy, but if you were interested enough to check it out you'd discover that this subject has a very long history. It's not as simple as a few users being a bit idealistic.

  9. System closed this discussion on 31 Mar, 2015 03:41 PM.

Comments are currently closed for this discussion. You can start a new one.

Keyboard shortcuts

Generic

? Show this help
ESC Blurs the current field

Comment Form

r Focus the comment reply box
^ + ↩ Submit the comment

You can use Command ⌘ instead of Control ^ on Mac