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Version 2.0 of Our Cat Herder

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Version 2.0 is 🚀 Launching 27th April 2025

We are pleased to announce that Version 2.0 of Our Cat Herder will be released on the 27th of April 2025.

This will mean system downtime and intermittent access between 5AM and 5PM AEST on Sunday 27th April 2025.

  • Sydney: 5AM to 5PM AEST
  • Perth: 3AM to 3PM AWST
  • Adelaide/Darwin: 4.30AM to 4:30PM ACST
  • Auckland: 7AM to 7PM NZDT

More timezones at world time buddy.

We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. Due to the nature the updates required to release this version, downtime is unfortunately unavoidable. We recommend scheduling any meetings well OUTSIDE of these times.

Our Cat Herder Version 2.0

As you might be aware Version 2.0 of Our Cat Herder has been in the works for a while now (well over 12 months).

In the below post you can read more about it and what it means for you and your board.

Why make a new version?

The Our Cat Herder you know and love has been constantly updated for almost every day of its life since its release in 2014.

However this Version 2.0 update is different to previous updates. Instead of an incremental change it is a complete ground up re-build of the entire Our Cat Herder codebase - more than 150,000 lines of code re-written from scratch!

The version of Our Cat Herder you currently use is useful and practical, but we think it could be better.

We wanted to utilise some newer technologies that we couldn’t include in the existing version without a lot of workarounds. So we decided to rebuild from the ground up. This allows us to do several things once it is complete:

  1. Leverage new technologies
  2. Enable a smoother process for developers working on updates
  3. Build on better underlying infrastructure

These three things will allow our team to deliver more advanced features, faster, and with a modern user experience for you.

Will I need to do anything to update?

The new version sits on the same data structures that are in the current version of Our Cat Herder.

There is no need for you or your users to migrate, update or do anything.

When Version 2.0 is live you’ll automatically be able to use it with your existing login and data as you do today (it’ll just look a little different and have bunch of new features).

Why has it taken so long?

As a small independent software provider we have limited resources. Combine this with the unexpected twists and turns of developing software as well as team changes during the process, and the other things life throws at us (while also maintaining the existing product) and our planned (possibly overly optimistic) timeline was completely blown out of the water.

🗓️ Pre-release Preview Webinar

We know that some of you, especially Administrators, might feel a bit apprehensive about such a big update. We get it - you open your trusty software you use every day and suddenly things are different - argh nothing worse!

We have made every effort to ensure the new version is still the OCH you know and love... so to help you to prepare we're creating an opportunity to familiarise yourself ahead of the change with a Pre-release Preview Webinar on 15 April 9.30AM - 10.30AM AEST.

If you’d like to make sure you’re ready to go when the update drops, sign up to our open Preview Webinar on 15th April 2025 via the following link- Register for Preview Webinar

A recording will be available to registered webinar attendees.

So what is different?

When it launches, Our Cat Herder Version 2.0 will come with over 100 improvements, changes and adjustments. Here is a taste of what is coming:

  • Updated User Experience/User Interface
  • New Minute Taker Tool
  • Profile Pictures
  • Meeting Attendance Stats & Reporting

Will it have feature X?

With hundreds of requests for new features on our team's to do list we’ve got a lot to choose from. While we’d love to add them all, to keep our team on track we have had to cherry pick specific features to work on to ensure that the new version is released to customers in the most efficient timeframe.

If your favourite feature hasn't been implemented yet, be sure to email your request to support@ourcatherder.com so we can add your vote to it and move the feature up the list.

Unavoidable Downtime

Remember there will be system downtime and intermittent access between 5AM and 5PM AEST on Sunday 27th April 2025. Please schedule any meetings well outside of this time.

I have more questions..

As always we always love to hear from our users - however if you have questions about Version 2.0 please attend the webinar above as we will not be able to answer further questions in advance.