Timesheet Software Weblog

In the last couple of days I've released new versions of Timesheets Lite and Timesheets MTS. Timesheets MTS was taken to version 2.5.7 and the only change was a fix to the Summary Hours Report. Timesheets Lite was taken to version 3.5.4. The only change made to that version was to check for the command line parameter "MultipleInstance". When set multiple instances of Timesheets Lite can be run on the same computer.

I've just released Timesheets Lite Version 3.5.4. Just one change in this version. A fix to the detailed activity report which was duplicating days in the report. Thanks to a couple of Timesheets Lite users who brought this issue to my attention.

Timesheets Lite Version version 3.5.2 has just been uploaded. This new release of our employee time tracking software fixes up a display bug on the main timesheet screen when the activity column was displayed. It also fixes an issue with column widths not being saved and restored correctly. A change has been made to the scaling method used when columns are resized automatically when the main window is resized manually. A final change is the addition of an "AutoFit Columns" menu item on the right click timesheet menu.

Timesheets Lite has just been updated to version 3.5.1. There's just a few things to mention about it here. First there was a very minor performance tweak made to the Employee Timesheet report. Secondly, the Detailed Activity Report has been pretty much re-written (again) with an aim to improve performance especially when the database is on a network. The final change is to fix a minor bug with the routines that import data from old versions of Timesheets Lite.

I've just released a minor update of Timesheets MTS taking the software to version 2.5.6. Here's the details of the changes made:

• Fixed a bug that could stop the program starting up properly if it was closed while minimized.
• Removed a rather pointless check when saving a non-billable time when the parent project/task were billable and non-billable fields were switched off via user preferences.
• Adjusted the form height of the add/edit times screen.
• When a project or task is copied the creation date and start/end dates are set to the current date.
• The right click "start timer for selected time" menu now works properly.
• The summary hours reports now only reports on projects and employees with activity during the report period.

I've spent most of the last week working on improving the performance of Timesheets Lite when it's using a network shared Microsoft Access database. Version 3.5.0 is the result. Here's a list of the changes in this new release:

• Much data on the Add/Edit Time screen is now pre-emptively cached to speed up loading.
• Many hours spent improving performance of the timesheet display when multiple times are displayed (think the unlikely case of 50+ times in a single day).
• Much time spent optimizing the process for loading large collections of times. This should result in much improved performance right across the whole program.
• Much time spent optimizing the time data object to pre-emptively cache project, employee, and activity data. Again should result in improved performance.
• Several single table queries have been replaced with cross tab queries to reduce the number of database accesses. Again, should result in program wide performance improvements.
• Most of the queries used by the employee timesheet report have been optimized or changed to cross table queries to speed up report generation.
• Time spent on the generation speed of the Detailed Activity report.
• Filter text box added to the Manage Projects screen.

I've spent the last couple of days working on Timesheets Lite focussing on improving performance in some key areas and adding some tweaks that have been suggested by users of the software. The result is version 3.4.7 of our employee timesheet software. Here's a list of the changes in detail:

• The time task checkbox has been removed from the Add/Edit time screen and replaced with a time task button.
• The icons for the Start / Stop timer buttons on the main timesheet have been changed.
• The login screen now only displays active employees.
• Added the "No Employee Posting" setting to the Project Information screen. When set the project cannot have times posted to it by Normal employees. Project managers and super users can still post times to the project.
• When setting the common activity of a time the description of the activity will automatically be added to the time description if there's no existing description.
• A couple of tweaks made to configuration file handling to speed up access for non-existent configuration settings/values.
• Complete re-write of the way various lists are populated. Those with very long project/employee/activity lists should see a decent speed improvement in screen loading time.
• Fix to monthly timesheet total when editing a timesheet for an employee other than the current logged in employee.
• Fixed the title on the Employee Timesheet report.

Pyramid Displays in Queensland, Australia are specialist exhibition and tradeshow booth designers, suppliers and manufacturers. They also happen to use our employee timesheet software, Timesheets Lite to track all of their project work. David Van Gent, the project manager at Pyramid Displays was kind enough to spend 30 minutes with me earlier this week taking me through how his company uses TImesheets Lite. David did this via phone hookup also shared his computer desktop with me so I could actually see Timesheets Lite in action.

Key things to come out David's presentation were:

• Pyramid Displays makes heavy use of the background color features of both projects and common activities. They use the colors to categorize projects and activities and match activities with particular project types.
• Timesheets Lite was the best match they could find to the way they did business. They had considered several (much) more expensive timesheet products but they were simply too complex and the cost could not be justified.
• They enter projects into Timesheets Lite while still in the quote phase and would love a feature to prevent employees from booking time to a project while it is still in a quote stage.
• Employees make use of the calendar based timesheet to drag and drop times between days. This speeds up the process of creating a timesheet for a new day.
• The volume of projects they put into TImesheets Lite is large and they'd love a way of archiving projects.
• Having a common activity list accessible to all projects is great but from time to time they'd like to be able to restrict the activities that are available to certain projects.

I'd like to thank David for the time he took with me and would heartily recommend contacting Pyramid Displays if you're looking for trade show or exhibition booth design or equipment hire on the Gold Coast in Australia!

I've just uploaded Timesheets MTS Version 2.5.5. This new version includes the following changes:

• The project expense report now includes the expense incurred date.
• The current projects report can now display closed projects as well as open projects.
• The employee abbreviation field is now colored yellow as it is a required field when creating a new employee.
• <PROJECT_CUSTOMER_REFERENCE> field has been added to the detailed project task template.
• Fixed a bug with projects managers not being able to edit the projects they "own" when project manager security is turned on.
• Project charge rates are now hidden from project managers for projects they do not "own" when project manager security is turned on.
• Fixed up some resizing issues on various screens, including the project maintenance screen, the user maintenance screen, the contact maintenance screen, and the who is logged in screen.
• Project budget amounts are now updated correctly when task level budgets are changed.
• Current timesheet date is now displayed on timesheet travel, expense, and issues tabs.

Editing Another Employees Timesheet

A recent release of our employee timesheet software Timesheets Lite added the ability for some users to edit other employee timesheets. Above you can see a screenshot of the employee timesheet with the employee timesheet dropdown highlighted in red.

If the logged in employee is a super user (see here for a discussion on employee security levels in Timesheets Lite) then they'll be able to select other employees names from the dropdown. When another employee is selected their timesheet data will be displayed. That data can then me added to, edited, or deleted exactly the same as the employee's own data. The task timer cannot be used to record time for another employee. This is the only real restriction on working with another employees data.