The Sente Blog

New build addresses many "Offline" errors

2013-05-20T16:05:34Z

About 5% of our sync2 users have experienced a sync error in which one or more copies of a library stop syncing and/or display "offline" in the sync status display. We have just posted a new build that we think addresses most of these cases. We recommend that all users update to this new build, which can be downloaded from our downloads page:

http://www.thirdstreetsoftware.com/site/Downloads.html

We will be incorporating these changes in the next iPad release as well, but this will take some time to make it through the approval process in the app store.

Michael

Text from the Update Message for 6.6.0.10982

2013-04-11T18:45:20Z

In case anyone did not heed the warnings to read, understand and save the automatic update message informing them about the preview release of Sente 6.6, here is that text.

Michael

THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A PREVIEW RELEASE OF SENTE 6.6. DO NOT INSTALL THIS UPDATE UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THIS ENTIRE ANNOUNCEMENT.

INSTALLING THIS PREVIEW RELEASE OF SENTE 6.6 WILL DISRUPT YOUR WORK, SO DO NOT UPDATE UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES AND ARE PREPARED FOR THE DISRUPTION.

PLEASE SAVE A COPY OF THIS MESSAGE BEFORE UPGRADING -- YOU WILL NEED THIS INFORMATION DURING THE UPGRADE PROCESS.

Sente 6.6 is a free upgrade for everyone with a Sente 6 license.

Sente 6.6 includes some very important changes, including a completely new version of sync.

DO NOT INSTALL THIS UPDATE IF YOU ARE WORKING ON A DEADLINE OR YOU DO NOT HAVE TIME TO LEARN ABOUT THE CHANGES IN THIS MAJOR UPDATE. AND DO NOT INSTALL THIS PREVIEW VERSION IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE RUNNING PRERELEASE SOFTWARE.

[If you are already running a preview of Sente 6.6, you can simply install this update -- the warnings are for people who are still running Sente 6.5.]

When you upgrade to Sente 6.6, you will upgrade your libraries to use the new version of sync. There are several things you should know about this:

0) You need to make a good backup copy of all of your Sente libraries before launching Sente 6.6. Once your libraries are converted to Sente 6.6, they will not work with Sente 6.5, so it is essential that you have backup copies in case you need to return to Sente 6.5 for any reason.

1) You will need to create an account on the new sync servers (this can be done in the login screen at launch). Even if you have an existing Sente 6 license, you do not have a sync2 account until you create it yourself. You do not need to use the same email address that you used when purchasing your existing Sente license, but you must use a valid email address.

2) You will need to convert your existing libraries to the new sync and this takes time, so do not update until you are prepared for an interruption in your use of Sente. Mostly, the time required is spent just letting Sente do the update, but you will not want to begin this process if you cannot let Sente run for an extended period of time.

3) Sente 6.6 libraries do not sync with Sente 6.5 for Mac, or the old versions of Sente for iPad. Sente 6.6 can only share libraries with a new version of Sente 6 for iPad. If you are currently using Sente for iPad, you will need to replace that app with the new app, available for free in the App Store (http://appstore.com/sente6). This new version of Sente for iPad is the only version of Sente for iPad in the app store now. Your libraries will need to be reinstalled on the iPad in the new app. This is not done through iTunes anymore.

4) If you have an existing Sente 6 license, you will need to enter that license into Sente 6.6 in order to upgrade the default, free account to a premium account with addition sync storage. This is done using the Sente 6 > Enter a Sente License command. You only need to do this one time, on one device. Once your account has been upgraded, it will be updated on all of your devices automatically.

There is much more information about Sente 6.6 on our web site. In particular, I would recommend that you take a look at our blog posts over the past few months and that you watch the new videos on our site.

Sente 6.6 is in daily use by many users, and it is close to the final release, but you may want to wait until the release is official before updating. And do not even think about updating if you cannot afford any downtime with Sente -- this is a major update and it will disrupt your work with Sente as you convert to the new system. We think you will like the update, but you should only update when it will not disrupt other work you are doing.

New Article on Using Sente with Dragon Dictate

2013-04-09T20:12:38Z

Here is a nice article that was just published in The Australian Library Journal about how one user combines Sente with Dragon Dictate:

A workflow for managing information for research using the iPad, Sente and Dragon Dictate: a collaboration between an academic and a research librarian

Eric Fassbender, Jayshree Mamtora
The Australian Library Journal
Vol. 62, Iss. 1, 2013

We learned about this article here:

http://www.academia.edu/2315299/_A_workflow_for_managing_information_for_research_using_the_iPad_Sente_and_Dragon_Dictate_collaboration_between_a_researcher_and_a_librarian

Thanks to the authors for their kind words about Sente!

Michael

All Sente 6.5 Licenses Have Been Transferred to 6.6

2013-04-09T19:52:51Z

People who purchased Sente 6.5 after October 28, 2012 have not been able to use their license in Sente 6.6 because the licenses had not been transferred to the new system. This transfer has now been completed. So, if you purchased a license any time in 2013, or in the last couple months of 2012, and you have not been able to enter your license in the new system, it should work now.

In general, to apply an existing Sente 6 license to a new Sente 6.6 account, you need to:

Register for a new Sente 6.6 account either within Sente for Mac (in the login screen), or here: https://ws1.thirdstreetsoftware.com/sync/Register.jsp
Launch Sente for Mac and log in with your new account (at this point, you should have a free, basic account; the Sync > Manage My Sync Account will confirm this).
Use the Sente 6 > Enter Sente License Code command and enter your old Sente license key.
Check the Sync > Manage My Sync Account page to confirm that your account has been upgraded.

PLEASE NOTE: you only need to enter your license code once, on one machine. This will upgrade your account and the changes will automatically be visible on all of your devices, both Macs and iPads.

You can learn more about this process in the video about changes between Sente 6.5 and 6.6 on the videos page on our web site.

Sente 6.6.0 Final Public Preview

2013-03-19T02:30:00Z

[UPDATE: 2 April 2013: updated link to point to new desktop build with several bugs fixes.]

We are excited to announce that the final public preview of Sente 6.6.0 is now available for both the Mac and iPad. We expect to make the official release of Sente 6.6.0 in a couple of weeks, at which point we will stop selling Sente 6.5 licenses. If you want to get an early start with the new release, the download links follow.

Some of the most important changes in Sente 6.6 include:

Sync2 -- a major update to the sync technology that Sente uses; creating and using synced libraries is now easier than ever.
Find-in-PDF -- now supported on both the Mac and iPad.
New, streamlined PDF annotation interface on the iPad.
Support for the retina display on Mac.
A new approach to licensing makes Sente free for many uses.

Here are the links:

Download Sente 6.6.0.10958 for Mac

Download Sente 6.6.0 for iPad from the App Store

Watch a video describing the changes in Sente 6.6

While these releases are still labelled as "previews", they are very close to final releases and can be used for real work. The video above includes information on upgrading from Sente 6.5 to the new version.

If you have an existing Sente 6.5 license, you qualify for a free upgrade to a premium account in Sente 6.6, along with a significant permanent allocation of sync space. You will need to enter your Sente 6.5 license code into Sente 6.6, using the command in the Sente 6 menu. (Licenses purchased after November 2012 have not yet been transferred to the new database and so cannot be claimed yet. We are in the process of moving these licenses to the new system.)

Sente 6.6.0 for Mac Preview

2013-03-11T20:00:50Z

[UPDATED 18-Mar-2013: updated link to new build]

There is a new (nearly final) preview release of Sente 6.6.0 available for download:

http://www.thirdstreetsoftware.com/downloads/Sente-6.6.0.10939.zip

This new preview includes:

Find-in-PDF
Support for the Retina Display

This is in addition to all of the other new features described in earlier blog posts (e.g., this post), like sync2.

If you do not use Sente for iPad, you should consider switching to these preview builds. They are very close to being final. (If you use Sente for iPad, Sente 6.6 uses sync2, which is not supported by the publicly available versions of the iPad app -- this will be changing soon.)

We expect to make a public preview of the iPad app available in the next few weeks. The official release of both will follow shortly thereafter.

Michael

P.S. If you have been using an older preview build of Sente for Mac, it has probably just been disabled. We would like all users to move up to the new build.

Sente 6.6.0 Public Preview 1 is now available

2012-12-11T20:12:47Z

[UPDATED 2013-03-11: removed link to preview build -- see later blog posts for current links.]

We are very pleased to announce the availability of the first public preview of Sente 6.6 for Mac.

The two most important changes in Sente 6.6 are: a new sync engine (Sync2) and a new approach to pricing and licensing. Please read on for details.

Sync2

Sync2 is a complete overhaul of Sente's library synchronization mechanism, including a faster and more robust backend, and a simpler user interface. Like the old version, Sync2 lets you install synchronized copies of your libraries on any number of Macs and iPads, anywhere on the Internet. Changes in any copy are sent to all other copies almost immediately. You can also still share copies with other users, and set their permissions appropriately. The new version of sync has a number of improvements, like:

It now uses standard web protocols to communicate with the servers, so it will work behind most firewalls.
There is now no limit on the size of attachments (sync1 only supported files up to 20MB).
Sync2 is based around user accounts, so you can now install your libraries on new machines directly from the server (no need to create a copy on the "master" machine).
The user interface is better.
Sync2 is faster.
Sharing libraries with others is easier (and they can even access your library without paying for Sente; see below).

You can now install any of your synchronized libraries on any of your devices by simply selecting it from the File > Open Library menu. One big advantage to this approach is that even if you were to lose your entire computer, you can get back to just where you were by simply installing the software on a new machine and reinstalling your libraries from the server. Everything will be just as you left it.

To start using the new version, you will need to create an account on the sync servers. When you launch the app for the first time, you will be presented with a registration screen. You will use your email address as your user name (don't worry, we will never use your email address for any purpose other than Sente).

When you open a Sente 6.5 library, you will be prompted to convert it to the new sync. We would, of course, strongly recommend that you make a copy of your existing library before converting it to the new sync.

Once your library begins syncing in the new version, you will be able to open it using Sente 6.6 on any other Mac. (See below for information on the upcoming Sente 6.6 for iPad.)

New Pricing and Licensing

The other major change in Sente 6.6 is the way in which we are pricing and licensing Sente.

Beginning with Sente 6.6, both the desktop and the iPad apps will be absolutely free for anyone with libraries up to 100 references. A free license will also include 250MB of space on the sync servers, which can be spread across any number of libraries. This means that Sente will be free for many users, like people who just need to write a few papers in which they will cite a handful of references.

Users who need to work with more references will be able to upgrade to a premium account for just $29.95. This will enable them to create libraries with any number of references. It will also increase the space on the sync server to 1GB (enough for about 1,000 typical academic PDFs). There are no recurring costs for a premium account.

People with a premium account who need more sync space can purchase it on an annual basis, starting at $19.95/year for 5GB.

Current Sente users can register their existing licenses with the new sync server to be given a non-expiring space allocation (20GB for standard and academic licenses; 1GB for undergraduate licenses). Once you have created your account, use the Sente 6 > Enter Sente License Code... command to enter your existing Sente license. Please note: each license can only be added to one account, so if you have been sharing a license with someone, only one of you will be able to use the old license to get the additional space allocation. (Please note: licenses purchased on or before October 28, 2012 can be entered into Sente 6.6 today; licenses purchased after this date will be available in the coming weeks, but will not be recognized today.)

The new purchasing mechanisms found in the preview versions of Sente are live. This includes the Sente 6 > Upgrade to Premium Account command, and the Sync > Add Sync Space... command. This means that anyone who wishes to purchase a license using the new pricing can do so within the app today. Purchases made this way, however, will only work with Sente 6.6, not Sente 6.5.

Download the Preview

Sente 6.6.0, Public Preview 1, can be downloaded here:

[link removed -- see later blog posts for new links]

We have also updated Sente for iPad to use the new sync engine, but it is not yet available in the app store, so only our registered preview testers are able to run it. We expect to add it to the app store in the next few weeks.

Please note that your existing libraries will need to be converted to the new sync when you run Sente 6.6. If you also use Sente on the iPad, you will not be able to sync your libraries to that device until the new version is available in the app store. Because of this, if you depend on Sente for iPad, you will not want to switch to the previews at this time.

For everyone else, you can switch to the previews for your daily use, although we would strongly encourage extra caution during the preview period. The private previews have been used on a daily basis by dozens of testers, but there may still be bugs that could cause trouble. Keeping good, current backups is always recommended.

Some important work remains before we release the official version of Sente 6.6.0, but this build is solid and we look forward to receiving any feedback you may have.

Sync2 Load Testing (Public Preview 0)

2012-10-19T15:51:22Z

[Update 2012-11-29: The current build can be found here: http://www.thirdstreetsoftware.com/downloads/Sente-6.6.0.10627.zip]

[Update 2012-10-29: All licenses purchased up through 2012-10-28 have been added to the sync2 database, so if you were previously unable to register your license because you had purchased it recently, it should now work.]

Most of you know that we are hard at work on the next major updates to our desktop and iPad applications, with the biggest change being a conversion to our next-generation synchronization engine. (We normally refer to the version of sync in Sente 6.5 and earlier as sync1 and the upcoming version as sync2.)

We have had private previews of both the desktop and iPad apps in testers' hands for some weeks now and we are satisfied that most of the early issues with sync2 have been ironed out. So far it is working well and we have had some very positive feedback on the private previews.

The most important aspect of sync that we have not yet been able to test is performance under load. Our initial rounds of testing have involved about 50 users. We would now like to see how everything holds up with hundreds, and then thousands, of users.

Toward that end, we are making a preview version of Sente 6.6 available for download by anyone with an existing Sente license. If you would be willing to help us with the load testing, please see the instructions below. It will not require much time or effort -- mostly you just need to create a new copy of one of your libraries, open it in the preview build, and let Sente convert it to a sync2 library, reporting any problems you have along the way. This will not affect your original, sync1 library.

Please note that if you participate in this testing, you will be creating a copy of one or more of your libraries and these new copies will not sync with your old copies. You will not want to use these copies for real work, just for testing. When we release Public Preview 1 (this is Public Preview 0), you should be able to switch to the preview version for real work, but for the purposes of load testing, we would encourage you to continue to treat your Sente 6.5 library as the "real" library.

Note also that you will not be able to sync with the iPad until the iPad app is available in the App Store. This will not happen during this load testing phase.

So, if you are interested in helping us with load testing, please read on...

Installing and Using Public Preview 0

Please start by downloading the preview build here:

PLEASE SEE THE UPDATES AT THE TOP OF THIS POST FOR THE NEW URL

Make sure that when you unzip the archive you save the executable with a name that clearly distinguishes it from your production copy of Sente 6.5. (Remember, you will continue using Sente 6.5 for your real work, right?)

Next, make a copy of one of your Sente libraries. I would recommend that you open the library in Sente 6.5 and use the File > Synchronization > Create Synchronized Copy command and create a copy that is prepopulated with all references and attachments.

When you launch the preview version of Sente you will be asked to create an account on the sync server using your email address. This is a fundamental change from sync1 to sync2. In fact, while the underlying concepts have not changed much, the interface to sync2 is very different from the interface to sync1. We think the new design is clearer, easier to use and more powerful.

After you have logged into Sente using your new account, you should enter your existing Sente 6 license key in order to "unlock" the application (so you can create libraries of any size) and to obtain your space allotment on the server. This is done using the Sente 6 > Enter Sente License Code... command. Until you do this, you will have only 250MB of sync space, which may not be enough to sync your library. If you purchased your Sente license in the past two months, it may not be in the new sync2 database' please contact us and we will add it for you.

Then, when you use Sente 6.6 to open the copy of your library that you just created, you will be asked whether you want to convert it to sync2. Please do this (it is just a copy, right?). Sente will turn off sync1 and turn on sync2. This requires that everything from your library be uploaded to the server; how long it will take will depends on how large your library is.

If you have additional Macs, you can download and install the program onto those devices and log into the Sente servers on those machines using the same account. When you do this, the File > Open Library command should immediately list your (just synced) library as being available to be installed. Select it and the process will begin.

Please try some basic edits / additions / etc. to make sure that everything sync properly between the devices. Also, with sync2, you can simply delete a local copy of a library in reinstall from the server (again, using the File > Open Library command).

Sending Feedback

We would, of course, really like to hear about your experience with the new build. We will be watching the server to see how it bears up under the load of many more users than it has had to date, but we also need to hear about any glitches you may experience along the way.

Send your feedback to support@thirdstreetsoftware.com. And please mention Sente 6.6 in the subject line so we can find it easily.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Michael

Sente v6.6 and Sente for iPad v2.0: Previews coming

2012-08-16T19:11:49Z

[UPDATE: 25-Sep-2012: Thank you for all the offers to help with the private previews! We have all the participants we can handle, and we are about to begin the testing. We will make public previews available to everyone as soon as we have gotten through the initial private testing.]

We are a few weeks away from releasing private previews of the next major updates to both versions of Sente (desktop and iPad). As with other recent releases, we intend to make both applications available as private previews for the first rounds of testing. If you are interested in participating in the private previews, please read on for more information.

Here are the major changes coming in these new releases:

New Sync Design

Sync has long been an important feature of Sente. For the most part, users can just turn it on and forget about it, and their libraries will be automatically synchronized across any number of Macs and iPads, anywhere in the world.

On the other hand, there have been some issues that we have wanted to address for a while, starting with the stability of the sync server. Most users have not been overly aware of problems with the servers, but we have and we would like to spend our time on more interesting tasks than babysitting the servers. This required a complete overhaul of the sync servers. With the frequency of server issues increasing, we finally reached the point where we could not put this work off any further.

As long as we were going to be reworking big chunks of our sync server architecture, we decided to address several other sync issues that we thought important. Here are some of the other new features we have been able to include as part of these changes:

Unlimited attachment size. Many users have at least some attachments that are bigger than the 20MB limit imposed by the original sync engine. With the new version there is no practical limit on file size. Furthermore, attachment uploads and downloads will automatically pause and resume, even across Sente sessions, so very large files can be synced efficiently, even on unreliable network connections.

Eliminate firewall issues. Some users have had trouble using sync in some contexts because of institutional firewalls. The new version uses standard, secure web protocols, so if you can access a secure web page, you should be able to sync.

Internet-based library installation. The need to create a synchronized copy of a library to install it on another computer has been eliminated. With the new version, if you are connected to your sync account, you have immediate access to all of your synced libraries. To install a library on a new computer or iPad, just select it from your list of libraries.

Easier library sharing. One consequence of having Internet-based library installation is that sharing libraries with other users is now much easier. To share a library with a colleague, just add their name to the access list for the library, along with their permission settings, and then click a button. When the user next opens Sente, the library will be available for download.

Simpler library backup. With the new version of sync, you could lose every one of your computers and iPads in one cataclysmic event, and still recover all of your research libraries, including all attachments, by simply installing Sente on a new computer, logging in to your sync account, and selecting the libraries you want to restore. The old version required at least a stub copy of a library for this to work; this is no longer needed with sync2.

The ability to have any number of libraries automatically synchronized across any number of devices, anywhere in the world, has long been one of the most important features in Sente. We think these changes make it even better.

New PDF viewer on the iPad

The iPad has changed so much about how people work with their research libraries. It is now just expected that you can carry your entire research library around on your iPad and read papers, highlighting and taking notes, anywhere. To make this experience as productive as possible, it is essential that the PDF viewer on the iPad be as good as it can be.

Toward this end, we have rewritten our PDF viewer on the iPad from the ground up. The new version supports continuous, vertical scrolling and a completely new interface for highlighting text and regions. We have a series of exciting updates planned after the initial release of the new PDF viewer, but even this first round of changes should make reading papers on the iPad more enjoyable and productive.

Previews

Our preview process for these updates will involve several phases. We will first release a private preview of the desktop version to make sure that sync works well with many, simultaneous users. Then we will roll out a private preview of the iPad app (to a smaller number of users, due to limitations imposed by Apple), to test sync on the second platform, as well as the new PDF viewer. Then we will release a public preview of the desktop application for wider testing with more simultaneous users. Finally, we will release the official versions of both products.

If you would be interested in participating in the private preview testing, please open a new, private support thread by sending a message to our support email address (support@...). Please include:

your name
your Sente license number
an approximate count of the number of references in your main Sente library
an estimate of the total space used by the attachments in this library
the number of Macs on which you maintain synchronized copies of this library
the UDID of your iPad, if you use Sente for iPad

We are still a few weeks out from the first private preview, but if you let us know that you are interested, and tell us the above information, we will let you know when you can download the software.

And, of course, everyone else can participate in the public previews that will follow not long after the private previews.

Sente for iPad (full version) v1.1.0 released

2012-04-30T04:26:24Z

Sente for iPad, v1.1.0, with support for the new retina display, has just become available in the app store in the U.S. It should be available everywhere within the next few hours.

Michael

Sente Viewer 1.1.0 Released

2012-04-28T03:59:13Z

We are happy to announce that Sente for iPad v1.1.0 is now available in the app store. This update includes support for the new iPad with the retina display.

The full version of Sente for iPad was submitted at the same time, but is still awaiting review.

Michael

Sync2, Coming in Sente 6.6

2012-03-27T21:52:21Z

I wrote recently about some changes coming in Sente's support for synchronized libraries and I promised more details. Here is some additional information on what is coming.

First, some things that are not changing. Sync will continue to be cloud-based, operating on any number of copies of a library on any number of Macs and/or iPads, located anywhere on the Internet. Sync will continue to support permission restrictions on copies so you can distribute, for example, a read-only copy of a library to colleagues or students. Sync will continue to replicate everything in a library, including attachments, PDF highlighting, notes, etc.

One thing that will change is that sync will no longer use port 993, but will instead use the same port that secure HTTP uses. The transmissions will continue to be encrypted, but there should be very few cases where sync cannot get through a firewall. Sync will work wherever you can access a secure web page in your browser.

The upper limit on attachment size will also go away. You will be able to control whether very large attachments are uploaded or downloaded, but there will not be a hard limit enforced by the server.

Sync2 will also make it easier to install copies of a library on new devices. Instead of creating a synced copy on one machine and moving that copy to the second device, you will be able to install a library directly from the server on any device.

One consequence of this change is that using sync for backups becomes trivial. As long as a library has sync turned on, you can install an up-to-the-minute copy from the server anywhere at any time. Replace your computer? Install Sente and download your libraries from the sync server. Purchase a new iPad? Same thing, just install Sente and download your libraries.

Sync performance is also being improved. In our early testing, uploads and downloads happen at speeds much closer to the raw connection speed than in the current version. Uptime will also improve because we are eliminating a third party component that has caused reliability problems in the past.

When Sente 6.6 is released, previously synced libraries will continue to work, but we will be encouraging users to convert their libraries over to sync2. It will not be possible to create new synchronized libraries using the old sync technology, and some features will be disabled on old sync libraries (like the ability to create new synced copies). At some later time, Sente will no longer be able to open old synced libraries, so any old libraries will have to be converted by that time. Converting from the old sync to the new sync is simply a matter of turning off the old sync, turning new sync on, and then open the library from the server on all of your devices.

We have the new sync mechanism running here and we are refining the user interface to use this new technology. We will make a beta version of Sente 6.6 available in the next month or two so people can try it out for themselves. It is pretty slick -- we think you are going to like it. And then you will probably just forget about it, except when you wonder why all your programs don't work like this!

Michael

p.s. Sente 6.6 will, of course, be a free upgrade for everyone with a Sente 6 license.

Syncing attachments

2012-02-10T01:52:47Z

We believe that we have fixed a problem with the sync servers that cause some users not to be able to download some attachments. If you were having this problem, you might want to read on, but no action is required; the fix was entirely at the server end.

For the past month or so we have had several reports of errors downloading attachments. The symptoms were that Sente would show a message about the file possibly having been deleted. We tracked this down to a particular query on the server that sometimes took so long to run that Sente gave up. This was a relatively rare event, but users who saw the problem tended to see it frequently.

It is worth noting that all attachments were stored fine on the server; the problem was simply getting them back from the server in all cases.

So, if you were seeing this problem, you should now be able to obtain the files by clicking on the link in the error message. If this is not the case, please open a support thread and tell us about what you are seeing.

Coming Changes to Sync

I will also take this opportunity to tell everyone that we are actively working on extensive changes to our sync server design. While we are, in general, very pleased with the way sync has been working, there are a few aspects that we have wanted to improve for a while. For example, we would like to:

Remove the size cap on attachment size. Currently we cannot sync attachments over 20MB. This works for most attachments, but there are more and more files over this size that people want to sync.
Switch from using port 993 to standard HTTP ports so people who are behind very restrictive firewalls can still sync.
Improve performance and reliability. Our current sync engine relies on a third-party tool that works pretty well, but not perfectly and we wanted more control over this key part of the Sente ecosystem. The new version will be entirely under our control.

These are the issues that drove us to redesign the backend, but while we are at it we plan on adding some enhancements that we think people will like. I will write more about this project in the coming weeks and explain the changes in more detail.

Sente 6.5.0 Released

2011-12-17T23:40:13Z

We are very pleased to announce the official release of Sente 6.5.0.

Sente 6.5 is a major update to the application, and the result of almost a year of development here at Third Street Software and months of testing by Sente users. We had several goals for this major update, including significantly improving the user experience for both new and existing customers.

Because of the extent of the user interface changes we were making in Sente 6.5, we knew that we had to be sure that existing customers, the people who depend on Sente every day, liked the changes. To achieve this goal we made a series of private previews available, and then a series of public previews, and we listened carefully to what we heard. Sente 6.5 is a much better program because so many people took the time to give us detailed feedback on these preview releases.

So, what is new in Sente 6.5? A lot. I will not be able to list all of the new features here, but here are some highlights:

The new multiple-line reference list view is much more attractive and readable. While the old, grid view is still available, most users prefer the new view for most work.

Single collection tabs let you open tabs containing only those references in any collection in your library, like one showing all references with a particular status.

The completely new reference editor is more attractive and usable. It supports custom layouts based on reference type, and all layouts can be tailored to meet your specific needs.

The new notes interface features color coding to match the highlighting you added to your PDFs, and the ability to jump from any note to its original source in the PDF.

New window layout options let you set up each tab to make best use of your particular screen setup. You can, for example, place the reference list at the left edge of single collection tabs, making them particularly useful on a large monitor.

Support for Full Screen Mode under Lion (OS X 10.7).

Improved citation lookup now supports many more data sources. The new Citation Lookup sheet, which can be used either as files are being added to your library, or after the fact, makes it easy to locate the citation data for a paper using dozens of common sources.

Scan-in-place support for Microsoft Word and Apple Pages lets you work with a formatted version of your document at all times. When you select the scan-in-place option, Sente formats any recently added citations and lets you keep right on editing without missing a beat.

Compatibility with Word + EndNote lets you easily collaborate with colleagues who still use EndNote with Word. You will be able to edit and scan their documents, and they will be able to do the same with yours.

Common customizations now sync between copies of your library. Items like your custom statuses, reference type definitions, custom reference attributes, web bookmarks, QuickTags, hotword definitions, reference editor configurations and more are all automatically synchronized to all other copies of a library. (These changes do not yet appear in Sente for iPad -- this is coming.)

The new Print-to-Sente command, available in all print dialogs on your system, lets you quickly send any document as a PDF to Sente.

There is a completely new user manual, available in both PDF and EPUB formats.

As always, there are some high-priority features or changes that did not make it into this release, like the ability to search for text within a PDF, or a command to share a reference and PDF through email. These are high on our list and should be appearing in upcoming releases in the near future.

We are also announcing a complete overhaul of our web site, designed to reflect the changes in the application itself. If you are accessing this blog post through an RSS feed, I would encourage you to visit the site to learn more about Sente 6.5.

Sente 6.5 is a free upgrade for everyone with a Sente 6 license.

Sente 6.5 requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. We recommend the use of 10.7.

So, please take a look at Sente 6.5 -- we think you are going to like what you see!

Michael

Sente 6.5, Preview 5

2011-12-10T22:07:30Z

Sente 6.5, Preview 5 is now available for download. There are some nice new features in this preview. We are getting very close to the official release of Sente 6.5, so if you have not yet taken the time to try out the previews, this would be a great time to get started.

A New Notes Interface

The notes editor has been significantly updated. Visually, each note is now presented as a "sticky" with the same color as any related highlighting (if any). This means that if you are one of those users who use highlighting color to convey meaning about the selection, it will now be easier to spot particular kinds of notes in the note editor. And if you do not currently use highlighting color to signify anything, perhaps you will start once you use the new design!

Also, each note now has a menu of commands. This menu appears when the mouse hovers over the note. This menu of commands includes:

Open / Close (this replaces the disclosure triangles from Sente 6.2)
Source (to jump to the text in the PDF that was originally selected when creating the note)
Delete
Copy

Holding down the Option key before clicking on a command in a note changes several to apply to all notes (e.g., Open All).

Revised Add File Interface

We have made some important changes to what happens when you drop one or more files onto Sente.

In this preview, if Sente is able to locate the citation information using the first DOI in a PDF, the reference will be immediately displayed for review.

If Sente is unable to reliably identify the citation information for a PDF, you will be given the chance to retrieve the citation data using targeted browsing.

Conveniently, if you select some text in the PDF in the Citation Lookup sheet, you will immediately be presented with a list of web pages that Sente can load to help you find the correct citation. This list will contain your favorite bookmarks. Also, the list will include any autolink-based URLs that are designed to work with a text selection, rather than data in a reference. These links might, for example, perform a search on a data source using the selected text as the search string. This makes it very easy to search many literature sources.

By supporting targeted browsing in the citation lookup sheet, Sente now makes it easy to use many more data sources for citation information than were supported in version 6.2.

For more information on this new feature, please download the new version of the user manual and read the chapter on Adding PDFs and Other Files.

Scan-in-Place Support for Pages

This release also adds support for scan-in-place with Apple Pages. This new approach to the file scanning process makes it much easier to work with documents in which all the citations are in their final format. This feature is currently still in testing, so there are probably some bugs. If you write with Pages and have a few minutes to test, please send us bug reports.

Ignore Cover Page on PDFs

This is a small, but important, change. There is now a command that lets you tell Sente to ignore a cover page on a PDF. The command appears in the Edit > Attachment menu, and in the context menu when viewing a PDF. You can toggle this setting on and off on a per-PDF basis. When turned on, the first page in the PDF will not appear, and page number calculations for notes will be adjusted accordingly. Existing page numbers on notes will not be affected by toggling this setting on or off.

Downloads

Here are the download links:

Sente 6.5, Preview 5

and the current draft of the user manual:

Draft User Manual (EPUB)

Draft User Manual (PDF)

If you click on the EPUB link in Safari on an iPad or iPhone, you should be given the chance to load the file into iBooks.

Feedback

As always, please provide feedback through this forum:

https://sente.tenderapp.com/discussions/sente-65-preview

If you have not yet tried any of the Sente 6.5 previews, please also read the announcements for the earlier versions on this blog. There is important information there that you will want to know before you get started.