Recently in Timesheets MTS Category

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 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 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.

In most parts of the world it is now 2013. This means in a lot of cases you may find that when you try to add activity to a project in Timesheets MTS that you get a message box popping up saying:

No period is defined for this date.
Someone with Super User privileges must define a period covering this date

By default for the last year the software created a single period covering all of 2012. Now that we are in 2013 this has expired and you must create a new period. To do this just log into Timesheets MTS as a super user and go to the Tools->Options->Periods menu and add some new periods covering the coming year (or several years if you like).

For your reference you can make use of periods to stop forward posting by users or to stop users editing data in previous periods.

I've decided that Timesheets MTS Software should join the social media revolution (tongue somewhat in cheek). So, I'm happy to announce that I've created a Facebook page for Timesheets Lite and Timesheets MTS (and for our other product Time Clock MTS). This page will contain links to any new blog articles I post, announcements, previews of up-coming releases, and the occasional tip for using our software better. Head on over to the Timesheets MTS Software Facebook page and like the heck out of it!

One of the changes in the last release of Timesheets MTS was to remove closed projects from the invoice details screen. It turns out that some users of the software have internal procedures requiring a project to be closed BEFORE they invoice it. So, in the interests of making the software adaptable to different business practises I've added a "show closed projects" checkbox to the invoice details screen. When checked closed projects will appear in the list, when not checked they will not appear.

Timesheets MTS Version 2.5.3 has just been released. Here's a list of the changes made to this version of the software.

• Disabled employees no longer appear on the login page.
• Closed projects no longer appear on the invoice details for newly created invoices.
• A new setting has been added to stop project managers from accessing the user maintenance page.
• The Customer PO field on on the project maintenance page now allows for up to 255 characters.
• A customer project reference field has been added to the project maintenance page.
• Total distance travelled during the reporting period has been added to the Validation Timesheet report.

A new version of Timesheets MTS has just been uploaded taking the software to version 2.5.2. This release includes a fix to the Project Detailed Billable Report, the inclusion of some debugging code to the Test Connection button on the System Options screen, and the removal of disabled employees from the Two Week Timesheet report.

I've just uploaded a new version of Timesheets MTS that takes the software to version 2.5.1. This version includes a new report, the Summary Hours report, a fix to an error that occurred occasionally when the message store was polled, and some improvements to the speed of generation of the Productivity Report. The Summary Hours report was suggested by an existing Timesheets MTS user, so if you've got any ideas for the software please do not hesitate to Contact Us.

A user of Timesheets MTS noticed that the password for a MySQL/SQL Server connection was stored in plain text in the Timesheets MTS configuration file. Version 2.4.35 of Timesheets MTS (which I've just uploaded) remedies this by encrypting the password. This is a recommended upgrade for anyone using TImesheets MTS with either MySQL or SQL Server.