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View Full Version : Managing Your Money: WebIS Money 1.0 Reviewed


Zack Mahdavi
10-29-2004, 05:00 PM
<img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/mahdavi-sep04-webismoney-0.gif" /><br /><br /><b>Product Category:</b> Personal Productivity, Finance<br /><b>Manufacturer:</b> <a href="http://www.webis.net/">WebIS</a><br /><b>Where to Buy:</b> <a href="http://www.handango.com/ampp/store/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&amp;jid=A773159A28FC23X9B3E311181DX2XXEC&amp;platformId=2&amp;productType=2&amp;productId=125973&amp;sectionId=0&amp;catalog=30&amp;topSectionId=-1">Handango</a> [Affiliate]<br /><b>Price:</b> Free for previous WebIS customers; $5 USD for everyone else<br /><b>System Requirements:</b><br />Pocket PC 2002 or later <br /><br /><b>Pros:</b><li>Very clean, slick interface;<br /><li>Quickly view details of a transaction in the register;<br /><li>Charts display very useful information;<br /><li>Importing QIF files works flawlessly;<br /><li>Free for WebIS customers.<br /><b>Cons:</b><li>Date and amount fields can’t be entered using any of the Pocket PC input methods;<br /><li>A default category list is not provided; <br /><li>Can’t create new categories during a transaction;<br /><li>Scheduled transactions and budgets are missing;<br /><li>No trial available.<br /><b>Summary:</b><br />WebIS is renowned for making high quality Pocket PC applications including the famous PIM application Pocket Informant and the mail replacement WebIS Mail. With WebIS Money 1.0, WebIS is taking a bold step in the competitive finance application market. <br /><br />Read on for the full review!<!><br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>Basics</b></span><br />WebIS Money 1.0 is a whole new kind of application from WebIS Mail. WebIS wants to make sure they build their first finance application to be as good as it can be, so this first release is being given away for free to WebIS customers. People who haven’t purchased any WebIS products may still get WebIS Money for $5. However, no trial edition of the program is available.<br /><br /><span><b>A Clean Interface</b></span><br />As you can see, the WebIS Money interface is clean and free from clutter. The elements have a Mac OS X aqua style to them. The colors aren’t glaring, but are instead subtle, and the font is easy to read, yet small enough to show a lot of information on the screen. <br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/mahdavi-sep04-webismoney-1.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 1: Yet another clean interface from WebIS.</i><br /><br />Along the bottom of the screen are buttons to quickly take you to the categories menu, transactions, and charts. Clicking the new button brings up the “New Account” panel. All the basic account details can be entered for a new account. <br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/mahdavi-sep04-webismoney-2.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 2: Entering a new account.</i><br /><br /><span><b>Transactions</b></span><br />The transactions panel shows quite a bit of information for each transaction you enter including the date, payee, category, and amount. <br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/mahdavi-sep04-webismoney-3.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 3: The transactions panel.</i><br /><br />Tapping on a transaction shows even more details, as can be seen in the picture. This is a very clever way of displaying transaction details.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/mahdavi-sep04-webismoney-4.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 4: Transaction details are quickly displayed upon tapping an entry.</i><br /><br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/mahdavi-sep04-webismoney-5.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 5: Entering new transactions is cumbersome.</i><br /><br />The part I dislike the most about WebIS Money is entering a new transaction. I don’t think the transaction panel makes for speedy transaction entry on the go, although it does have some nice elements to it. I like the way previous similar transactions are shown in the lower window. <br /><br />Entering data in the date and amount fields is also a pain. Both fields force you to tap on the pop-up boxes to enter data; you can’t use any of the other Pocket PC input methods. This is fine for most things, but I found it hard to enter dates for transactions that occurred in previous months since you have to cycle through the calendar to select the correct date. This is extremely cumbersome. On the upside, I thought the Amounts pop-up box looked nice and was easy to enter amounts into, although it should also allow you to use a Pocket PC input method to type in values. <br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/mahdavi-sep04-webismoney-6.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 6: You must use this pop-up box to enter dates.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/mahdavi-sep04-webismoney-7.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 7: Nice looking pop-up box, but I still like to enter data using other input methods.</i><br /><br />The other problem I had is that you can’t add a new category while entering a new transaction. First of all, there are absolutely no categories provided with WebIS Money, although you can import them using a QIF file (see below). If you realize that you need to enter a new category while you are typing in a new transaction, you have to cancel the new transaction, go to the Categories panel, enter the category, go back to the new transaction panel, and then enter everything back in. I really feel that this is poor design. <br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/mahdavi-sep04-webismoney-8.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 8: Default categories are not provided with WebIS Money, so you’ll have to enter your own.</i><br /><br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>Charts</b></span><br />With WebIS Money, you can generate all sorts of cool charts, including bar charts based on Net Worth, Account Balance, Income vs. Expense Trends, Income vs. Expense, and pie charts based on category, account, and payees. The charts look beautiful and present a lot of information quickly. <br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/mahdavi-sep04-webismoney-9.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 9: The Charts feature is very well designed.</i><br /><br /><span><b>Importing from Other Finance Applications</b></span><br />WebIS Money supports importing QIF files, which can be generated by Quicken, Microsoft Money, and many online bank sites. I was able to quickly and effortlessly import my Quicken accounts, transactions, and categories into WebIS Money. Having the ability to import categories from another application makes up for WebIS Money’s lack of default categories. <br /><br /><span><b>Missing Features</b></span><br />I’d like to see support for scheduled transactions and budgets in WebIS Money. I can’t do without these features. Also, a Today plugin that shows your account balances and upcoming scheduled transactions would be a plus. Finally, I’d like to see WebIS develop an Activesync conduit to sync WebIS Money with desktop finance applications.<br /><br /><span><b>Conclusions</b></span><br />Overall, WebIS Money 1.0 has lots of potential, and I’m sure we’ll see great things from this program in the near future. Although the user interface is pleasant, there are some glaring problems that I hope will get fixed in future versions of WebIS Money. All in all, if you can get this program for free, download it and try it out for yourself. Otherwise, I suggest holding off for version 2.0 and investing in a different Pocket PC Finance application.

PeterLake
10-29-2004, 09:39 PM
http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/mahdavi-sep04-webismoney-0.gif


Based on that graph, I think that Zack better spend a little less time reviewing software and more time at the shop. :D

cmorris
10-29-2004, 09:56 PM
Yikes - and to think I just spent $20 on Spb Finance! :oops:

Zack Mahdavi
10-30-2004, 05:06 AM
Based on that graph, I think that Zack better spend a little less time reviewing software and more time at the shop. :D


Hahaha, thanks.. :) The college student in me doesn't want to.. :)

hamishmacdonald
10-30-2004, 02:44 PM
In theory this program imports QIF files. In practice, it didn't for me. I bank with HSBC, which I imagine would use a tested, standard format for their QIF exports. I've also read an acknowledgement from the programmers that this feature isn't fully implemented in the 1.0 version of the application.

I don't want to enter every single transaction by hand, especially not when my bank can export all that data for me. So in the end I bought SPB's finance program, and am very happy with it (and all the others of their programs I've bought).

ctmagnus
10-30-2004, 08:22 PM
I've never tried importing a downloaded QIF file into it; however, QIFs exported from Quicken work just dandy. My only complaint with the import feature is the steps to do so are somewhat non-intuitive.

alex_kac
10-30-2004, 09:45 PM
In theory this program imports QIF files. In practice, it didn't for me. I bank with HSBC, which I imagine would use a tested, standard format for their QIF exports. I've also read an acknowledgement from the programmers that this feature isn't fully implemented in the 1.0 version of the application.

I don't want to enter every single transaction by hand, especially not when my bank can export all that data for me. So in the end I bought SPB's finance program, and am very happy with it (and all the others of their programs I've bought).

Well Money 1.0 is meant more for promotional purposes than anything else. It is something we're building on for 2.0 where 2.0 will be a full fledged program with 1.0 staying as a free promotion.

1.0's QIF is a standard's compliant QIF importer. It worked on every Quicken 2004 QIF I could export. The problem is that some QIFs out there are slightly non-standard (which is fine because QIF itself has evolved from the original spec) and we choke on those. We have several of those non-spec QIF files in our bug tracking and plan to address them in 2.0 only.

Zack Mahdavi
10-31-2004, 06:30 AM
In theory this program imports QIF files. In practice, it didn't for me.

Yes, the QIF didn't work the first time for me either. I was trying to export everything possible (account, categories, transactions) from SPB Finance to WebIS Money. WebIS Money crashed and burned in doing so. However, then I exported each part as separate QIF files. Those imported just fine into WebIS Money.

Do you have multiple accounts with you bank? If so, you may want to try to export each account individually to see if that works out better for you.

ctmagnus
10-31-2004, 08:50 PM
then I exported each part as separate QIF files. Those imported just fine into WebIS Money.

That's the other qif issue I had. I knew there were two. ;)