FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is RemindMe?
RemindMe is a system that takes your email address, a birthday (or anniversary, etc.), and sends you an email before it happens! so you don't forget. Guilt free living!
RemindMe will optionally email you the week before, the day before, the day of, or some combination of all three - you decide! Most people opt for all three or a week before/day of combo, but it's up to you.
Then, because you're totally cool, you can start calling people on their birthday, or getting gifts and shipping them in advance so your thoughtful gifts arrive on the day! People will start to think you're more awesome. In a way, you will be!
Is it just for birthdays?
No, RemindMe has a gillion uses.
Do I need to know the year my mom was born on?
No, RemindMe only requires a month and a day; the year not needed. The old version took a year and then told you how old someone was. I took that feature out.
Can I have a one time reminder?
Sure, just enter the reminder, name is something like "Pickup Dad Airport (delete me!)" so you don't forget to delete it, and when the day passes, come back to the site and delete the reminder. Actual "one time" reminders are not available (yet).
Can I have monthly or weekly reminders?
Sure, just set up a reminder for each time per week or month. Actual "weekly/monthly" reminders are not available (yet; maybe never).
Why an Elephant?
I was suprised to learn that some people have never heard the old adage, "An Elephant Never Forgets."
What else?
Honestly, people hardly ask questions about RemindMe. Since starting this service, I've had one bug report from a user (in person, even) and several people have contacted me to say it saved their necks.
Most of the How-To stuff is covered in the help file.
Pretty Pictures! Pretty Icons!
Pictures
I'm using photographs from Flickr users that are licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. Users who's photos are displayed:
Icons
I'm using FamFamFam's Silk Icons, created by Mark James. These are the 16 x 16 icons used throughout the site. Some stand alone and some are on top of buttons. He has graciously released them under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. What a guy!
The shiny plastic logo, buttons (except the silk icons), The Elephant, etc. I made myself. The Elephant I got from some clip art site. I believe it was free. If it's yours and you're upset, we'll get a new elephant.
Version 2
Why did you update RemindMe?
I felt like it was time for an update. I wanted to try out some of the ideas in the Getting Real book by 37 Signals.
What's new in version 2?
The new version is prettier and a lot cleaner. I'm hoping it's more user friendly.
What's different in version 2?
The "week before", "day before", and "day of" options are now at the member level, not for each reminder. This is based on usage. People would toggle all their reminders for the same settings.
What's missing in version 2?
Some things are missing in the new version of the interface:
- Calendar order of reminders. What? You used to be able to view your reminders from Jan 1 to Dec 31. Now it shows them upcoming first, regardless.
- Greeting cards. No one used them. Really, no one. Sad, huh?
- Astrological signs. Hardly anyone knew they were in there or had turned them on.
- The system doesn't tell you how old people are anymore. That part was always a little confusing. On the "week before" and "day before" emails, it told you their current age. I.e. if your friend was turning 30, those emails would say they were 29. This was accurate, but confusing.
- I took out the "delete profile" link. You can never delete it now! Ha ha ha! Just kidding. If you want to be completely removed, email me.
I liked the old, boring version.
Thanks; me too. It had character. It had those funky photos I took of the screen sketches I made. But people like pretty colors.
The Usual Suspects
Who made RemindMe?
I'm Phil Harrington, the guy who sells nerdism and hosting at WebLaCarte.com. I'm cool. Have me over for dinner! Have my babies!
What did you use to build it?
Fusebox, PHP, MySql, and some Dreamweaver, Homesite and Photoshop for the actual work. RemindMe is hosted at WebLaCarte.com on their L.A.M.P. style servers. They're cool. Buy from them! Recommend them to all your friends!
Didn't ArsDigita use to do this?
Yes, in fact, I was inspired by the old ArsDigita RemindMe system describe in the Case Studies chapter of Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing. Yes, Ulla Zang's graphics for their system were better.
What makes RemindMe better than ArsDigita's?
Or for that matter, what makes it better than the Competition?
I think RemindMe is better than the old ArsDigita service, or the competition, (of which there are many examples, such as RemindMe at OnLogic), because RemindMe started with the interface, has less features, fewer fields and inputs, a prettier interface, and The Elephant!.
Technology and Nerdism
Pretty URL's! Is this Rails?
No, you don't need Ruby on Rails for pretty urls. People were doing pretty urls on boring "web/db" apps long before Rails came along. I accomplish this with .htaccess and mod_rewrite.
So, wait? What did you use?
Pay attention! I used PHP, MySQL, a great little methodology called Fusebox and it's all hosted on Apache. We're running PHP in CGI mode w/ our own custom php.ini.
Is this Web 2.0?
In the technology sense, RemindMe is not using any Feeds, AJAX, Tags or anything like that. I'm trying to figure out the coolest way to use those technologies; watch for that stuff coming up later. It is Web 2.0 in the sense that it is simple to use.
Money
Is it really free?
Yes. Really.
Why?
I built it for myself, first and foremost. I'm paid in goodwill and good karma for helping people out. I'm already running the web server and database for my business. The additional cost of RemindMe on top of that is marginal. Finally, it's advertising. RemindMe is a terrific example of what WebLaCarte.com can do for you and your web tool.
Will it always be free?
I might add a feature to the tool that makes it so incredibly delicious that people become willing to shell out their hard earned money for it. If and when I do that, I'll roll that part out and make it a "paid" service level. Everything currently in the tool now will remain free forever.
I love it! You're great! Can I just give you money?
Thanks! Yes. Send me some of that money from the will now that I kept you in it! PayPal is easiest. Send it on PayPal to philsown at gmail dot com. Don't spam me.
Stuff You Could Be Asking
Does the elephant have a name?
No. In the tradition of The Casey (a.k.a. The Cat) and The Fish, I'm considering sticking with The Elephant. When I do name him, his name will be "The {something}" like all my pets. Suggestions are welcome. Here's the one's received so far:
- My friend Jon, of Blueline Media, suggested Max, after the name of an Elephant in a cookbook.
- Babar is too obvious. Besides, this elephant isn't a king; he's a warrior!
Are you available for hire?
You bet. Check out WebLaCarte.com and my resume for more info.
Web Site Philosophy
I think web tools ougha be simple. I don't make you confirm your email; I hate that. I don't make you confirm your password either. And when you change your password, it echos to the screen. I think this balances out the lack of a "confirm password" field. Some may say it's a security risk, but this isn't Fort Knox. I've tried to make this as simple as possible; if there's something obvious that I'm not seeing, suggest it.
Maturity
Am I a loser if I need a reminder tool?
No, you're not. We're all human and we forget. Maybe not all the time, but everyone needs a reminder now and then. The fact that you are going to the trouble of putting your reminders into a tool that will help you tells me that you accept reality for what it is and you are taking steps to shape it to your liking. In my opinion, that's maturity.
Infrequently Asked Questions
Can I buy the code?
Answer #1:
I foolishly quoted an outrageous price to the last guy who asked me this. Oops! He said he found a simple PHP script for $60. How can anyone work so cheap? The answer is volume!
In all honesty, the current version is mature and robust and has all the login stuff. Plus the tool is fusebox'd out and that gets somewhat involved. People generally don't want to learn fusebox just to use this system, even though they really should because setting up fusebox is easy!
So I'm working on a $50 version ;-) It will just have the reminders part, for integration into your own user/member system. Soon I'll have that up here for purchase and 15,000 people will buy it.
Answer #2:
I programmed this because the old ArsDigita RemindMe went offline and I wanted to have something to practice fusebox ideas with. I made a version 2 because I wanted to experiment with the Getting Real concepts. I.e., if you're a nerd and you want a system like this, make one yourself. Check out the case study linked above and go for it. Yours will be so much better! Try it in fusebox. Try it in Rails!
More Help
I'm hard to get a hold of. No not really; it's easy! Send email to remindme at weblacarte dot com.