ClickTime Blog

Firefox 3.5

Firefox 3.5 was released last week. It's faster than previous versions and works well with ClickTime. If you're using an older version of Firefox or a different browser, consider downloading the new version and give it a whirl.

Web Services Update

Web Services 2.2 Beta 2 is now available for testing. For information on the changes, please review the documentation. If you're using version 2.1 please test your application or service with version 2.2 as soon as possible. We don't anticipate making any further changes to this version.

What Mobile Phone Are You Using?

We'd like to know what mobile device you're currently using. Did you run out and get a Palm Pre last week, or have you already pre-ordered a new Apple iPhone 3G S? Go to the sign-in page and fill in the user poll to let us know. (Don't worry, there's only one question. We hate long questionnaires too.)

The poll will only be up for a few more days, so If you haven't already voted, please take a second and let us know what mobile gadget you're using.

ClickTime 6.1

We released ClickTime version 6.1 today which includes a variety of minor improvements for job estimation, web services and running reports. The changes are as follows:

1. Job Estimation Improvements - when you break down your job estimates by person, you can now easily view and edit your estimates. While editing an existing job, person, division or employment type, you can click the "Estimates" link to see estimates corresponding to that person, group or job.
2. Client and Job Reporting - we've made it easier to access reports for specific clients and jobs. Now when you go into the job or client detail page, clicking on the "Run Reports" section will provide you with quick access to all of your corresponding job and client reports. Clicking a report link will pre-select the client/job filter value for the chosen report.
3. Web Services 2.2 (beta) - we've made a new beta version of web services available. This new version includes support for sub-jobs as well as a few other minor changes. You can review what's new and how to upgrade to the beta version by reviewing the web services documentation. Version 2.1 of web services is still available, but we encourage developers to adopt the new version in anticipation of the final 2.2 release later this summer.
4. Safari 4 - ClickTime 6.1 supports Apple's release of the new Safari web browser, version 4, on Mac OS X and Windows.

Job and Project Estimation

We've been getting feedback about the new job and project estimation features, but we want to hear from more of you. If you haven't already tried it out, go to your company preferences to configure job estimation. If you want to try out one of the advanced options (estimating by month or by person), please contact Professional Services.

We're currently evaluating future job estimation improvements, so please let us know what you'd like to see added or changed—from additional estimation models (e.g. estimation by task, by person & month, etc.) to Quick View dashboard improvements and additional reporting options. Whatever you want, we want to hear from you.

Since your feedback may be lengthy, please use our online form to contact us.

ClickTime 6.0

We are happy to announce ClickTime version 6.0 which introduces enhanced project and job estimation features. This update also includes a sign-in page refresh, new management dashboard, and updated reporting options. The changes are as follows:

1. Job Estimation - you can now create and manage estimates for your jobs and projects in up to six different ways. In addition to being able to define one estimate for the job as a whole, with the new Advanced Job Estimation module, you can now choose to break down estimates by person or by month (e.g. “we are expecting to work 100 hours per month for this project”). All customers can also now define estimates in hours or billed amounts (e.g. “we told the client the project will cost them $25,000”). You can enable and configure job estimation in your company preferences.
2. Estimation Management - along with all of the new estimation options, there is a new robust management interface for entering estimates and viewing progress as well as comparing multiple projects at the same time. Once job estimation is enabled in your company preferences, the "Estimates" option will appear in the top navigation bar under the Company tab.
3. Quick View Dashboard - your management dashboard has been updated with a new interface which includes easy access to your saved and favorite reports. A new estimation dashboard panel also provides at-a-glance viewing of your projects that are most in danger of going over budget.
4. Updated "Job Estimate Comparison Report" - this report has been updated to include a new design and to provide easy options for producing HTML, Excel or PDF reports from any browser and OS.
5. Updated "Export Job List" Report - this report has been updated so that either the estimated time or estimated billed amount is exported according to your estimation configuration. No estimate value is exported for the job when you break down estimates by person or month.
6. Invoice Report - you can now include your billable expenses as well as your time on client invoices.
7. Enhanced QuickBooks Support - we now support the most recent U.S. releases of QuickBooks 2009 with our QuickBooks export reports. We also updated the IIF time export report to export the billable status when either jobs or tasks are configured as billable/non-billable.
8. IE 8 - Microsoft's new release of Internet Explorer, version 8 is supported with ClickTime. A couple of features will require turning on IE 7 compatibility mode.
9. Updated Manual and Online Help - the PDF manual and our online help has been updated to include more screen shots and information regarding existing and new features.
10. New Video Walkthroughs - new video tutorials are available, including a walkthrough of the new estimation features. Click the "Video Walkthroughs" link in the right bar of the Quick View page to access them.
    
11. QuickDay and Zero-Hour Time Entries - QuickDay will now replicate zero-hour time entries from a previous day to your current day. This works when your account is configured to allow zero-hour time entries.
12. Updated Sign-In Page - We figured the sign-in page was finally due for a face lift.
13. Estimation Value Defaults - The default value of a job estimate changed from zero to being blank (no value). Any existing jobs that had an estimation value of zero hours will now appear as blank. This helps distinguish jobs you haven't entered an estimate for (i.e. blank) versus jobs you expect to perform no work on (e.g. “I estimate putting in zero hours this month on project A”).

Going to SXSW

I'll be attending the Interactive festival at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin during the next few days (March 13-17). If any customers will also be at SXSW or just in Austin that week and would like to meet up, please let me know.

What's next?

We're working on the next update to ClickTime and it includes some of our most frequently requested features. One of the those hotly requested items is enhanced job and project estimation. We've talked with many customers during the past 12-18 months about this feature and we're excited to see it approach release.

If you'd like to get a sneak preview of the new estimation features, please contact us and request an invitation. We're making the preview available for only a limited time so get in touch with us soon.

And in general, if you'd like to take part in future sneak peaks or are interested in seeing a particular feature added to ClickTime, please let us know. Your feedback helps make ClickTime better.

Federal Mileage Reimbursement Rate Decrease

For our U.S. customers, we want to alert you that as price of gas changes, so do the federal mileage reimbursement rates. Thus, while gas prices have happily declined during the past few months (unless you own an oil company), as of January 1, 2009 the federal mileage reimbursement rate decreased from 58.5 cents per mile to 55 cents/mile (see the IRS web site for details).

We recommend that you change your company's mileage reimbursement rate in ClickTime if you haven't already done so. In order to edit your company's mileage rate, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to ClickTime (you need to be an administrator)
2. Click the "Expenses" link on the menu bar under the Company tab.
3. Click the "Expense Types" link.
4. Click on the name or "edit pencil" icon of your "mileage" expense type.
5. Edit the rate value. For example, enter .55 for the new federal rate.
6. Choose whether to apply the rate change to expenses that haven't been approved.
7. Save your changes.

If your company has multiple mileage expense types, remember to repeat steps 4-7 above for each appropriate expense type. You can also choose to apply the rate change to expenses that haven't yet been approved.

To see how the federal mileage rate has fluctuated during the past several years, check out this Wikipedia article.

ClickTime 5.95

A couple of weeks ago we quietly released version 5.95. This update includes improvements to automated timesheet notifications, Week View time entry, Report Builder and custom alerts. The changes are as follows:

• Automated Email Notifications Updated
  We added a new email template for sending manual and automatic incomplete time notifications. The new template references the specific days or weeks that are incomplete.
• Week View (beta) Updated
  We made several improvements to the beta version of the Week View time entry. The newest version (Beta 3) is now available to all customers.
• Report Builder Enhancements
  The Report Builder has received various improvements and interface updates.
• New Custom Alert
  You can now add a custom alert message to the Timesheet Approval screen. Go to the Advanced section under the Company tab to enable and customize this alert message.
• Web Browser Support
  We continue to fully support version 3 of the Firefox and Safari web browsers. We no longer support versions 2.x and older of Firefox and Safari.
• Maximum Password Length Increased
  You can now specify a password up to 24 characters in length using any combination of letters and numbers.
• Web Services Update
  Web services now supports time entry submissions for people who are required to enter comments. For more information on accessing and using web services contact support.
• Sorting Sub-Jobs
  You can now choose to alphabetize the sub-job values (a.k.a. phase, sub-phase, etc.) by name or label. You can also define a custom order if you prefer. These options appear in your company preferences.