Project & Customer Management
Project & Customer management includes the following activities:
Note that in User Guide the default names for the time-track hierarchy levels are used:
- Top level: 'Customer'
- Middle level: 'Project'
- Lowest level: 'Task'
You can change the default names of the hierarchy levels in the general system settings.
See Adjust General System Settings section for more information.
Only users who have 'Manage Customers & Projects' access right can access the
project & customer management interfaces. Note that users who do not have this access right will not see
the project & customer management interfaces at all.
Browse Active Projects and Customers
Select option 'Projects & Customers' in the 'Tasks' top-level menu to open the interface
Active Projects & Customers.
Active Projects & Customers interface
By default this interface lists all active customers and projects
registered in the system. The list is sorted alphabetically by customer name and then by project name.
If you want to browse projects related to a particular customer, select this customer
in the top part of the interface and then click 'Show' button.
Active Projects & Customers interface provides you with brief description
of active projects and customers. For each customer/project this information includes:
-
Customer/Project name
Clicking a customer name opens Edit Customer Information interface
(see section Edit Information of Active Customers).
Clicking a project name opens Edit Project Information interface
(see section Edit Information of Active Projects).
-
Customer/Project description icon
Clicking a customer/project description icon opens a pop-up window for editing description of the corresponding
customer/project.
-
Number of users assigned to the project
This number includes the users who have access to all projects in the system.
-
Link 'add project' for adding new project to the customer
Clicking this link opens Create New Project interface (see section
Create New Project for more information).
-
Link 'add tasks' for adding new tasks to the project
Clicking this link opens Create New Project interface (see section
Create New Tasks for more information).
-
Number of open tasks
Number of open tasks shown for a customer is the total quantity
of open tasks calculated through all projects related to this customer.
Clicking a number of open tasks opens Open Tasks interface
listing open tasks related to the corresponding customer/project.
-
Number of completed tasks
Number of completed tasks shown for a customer is the total quantity
of completed tasks calculated through active projects related to this customer.
Note that this number does not include completed tasks
of archived projects related to this customer.
Clicking a number of completed tasks opens Completed Tasks interface
listing all completed tasks related to the corresponding customer/project.
-
Spent time reported for the customer/project
Spent time reported for a customer is calculated through the active projects related to this customer.
Note that spent time shown for a customer does not
include the time reported for archived projects related to this customer.
-
Option for deleting or archiving customer/project
See section Archive Projects & Customers
for information on how to archive selected projects and customers.
See section Delete Projects & Customers
for information on how to delete selected projects and customers.
When there are more than 10 active customers a pager appears.
You can switch pages by clicking the links under the customer/project list.
To change the number of customers simultaneously shown on one page
select the corresponding option in the 'Show XX customers on a page'
drop-down under the list.
If you do not want the projects to be shown in the interface, uncheck 'Show projects' checkbox
in the top part of the interface and then click 'Show' button.
After that the interface will list customers only.
See also section Browse Archives.
Edit Project & Customer Descriptions
You can edit project & customer descriptions directly in the list of
active projects and customers.
For information on how to get to the Active Projects & Customers interface see section
Browse Active Projects and Customers.
To edit a description follow the instructions below:
-
Click the description icon shown next to the name of the corresponding customer/project.
This will open a pop-up window for editing the description:
Pop-up window for editing description
-
Enter (or edit) the description.
Size of description shall be less than 2000 characters.
-
Click 'OK' button to save the entered description.
If you decided not to modify the selected description, click the 'Cancel' button.
The system will discard the modifications and close the pop-up window.
Create New Customer
You can create new customers simultaneously with adding new tasks.
See section Create New Tasks for more information.
To create a new customer from Active Projects & Customers interface
follow the instructions below:
-
Click 'Create New Customer' button on Active Projects & Customers interface to open Create New Customer interface.
For information how to get to the Active Projects & Customers interface see section
Browse active projects and customers.
Create New Customer interface
-
Enter customer information. The information in the fields marked with a red asterisk is mandatory.
Information that can be specified for a new customer includes:
-
Customer name
Customer name shall be unique among the registered customers.
Verification of uniqueness is case-insensitive.
So customer names 'Actimind, Inc' and 'actimind, inc' will be considered as the same.
-
Description
Size of customer description shall be less than 2000 characters.
-
If you want to pre-fill new customer with projects and tasks imported from an existing customer, select option
"Import projects and tasks from an existing customer" and select a source customer to import data from.
Option "Import projects and tasks from an existing customer"
You can import data from active customers only. If you need to import data from an archived customer, you should restore it from archives first.
The following information will be imported from the selected customer:
- Project and task names
- Project and task descriptions (if selected in the import parameters)
Project assignments and time estimates are available with Management Extension only
Project assignments (if selected in the import parameters)- Task estimates
- Task billing types
Please note that task deadlines will not be imported.
Status of all projects imported from the source customer will be automatically set to "active", even if the source projects were archived.
-
Select what you are going to do after registering this customer.
The available options are:
- Browse list of active projects and customers
- Create a new project for this customer
- Add more customers
-
When you are ready, submit the page by clicking 'Create Customer' button at the bottom of the interface.
The system will register a new customer with the specified parameters and show you
the interface according to your selection.
If you decided not to register a new customer, click 'Cancel' button at the bottom of the page.
The system will discard all the information entered in the interface and show you
Active Projects & Customers interface.
Create New Project
You can create new projects simultaneously with adding new tasks.
See section Create New Tasks for more information.
To create a new project from Active Projects & Customers interface
follow the instructions below:
-
Open Create New Project interface.
There are two ways how you can do that starting from Active Projects & Customers interface:
Create New Project interface
For information on how to get to the Active Projects & Customers interface see section
Browse Active Projects and Customers.
-
Select a customer to register a new project for.
In most cases customer will be pre-selected automatically.
However, you can change it if you need.
-
Enter project information. The information in the fields marked with a red asterisk is mandatory.
Information that can be specified for a new project includes:
-
Project name
Project name shall be unique among the projects registered for the selected customer.
Verification of uniqueness is case-insensitive. So project names 'Corporate Web Site'
and 'corporate web site' will be considered as the same.
-
Description
Size of project description shall be less than 2000 characters.
-
You can assign project teams with Management Extension only
Project team - users that should have access to this project tasks
Note that users with access rights "Manage Users" and/or "Manage Customers & Projects"
always have access to all projects of all customers
-
Select what you are going to do after registering this project.
The available options are:
- Browse list of active projects and customers
- Add tasks to this project
- Add more projects
-
When you are ready, submit the page by clicking 'Create Project' button at the bottom of the interface.
The system will create a new project, associate it with the selected customer,
and show you the interface according to your selection.
If you decided not to create a new project, click 'Cancel' button at the bottom of the page.
The system will discard all the information entered in the interface and show you
Active Projects & Customers interface.
Edit Information of Active Customers
To edit information of an active customer follow the instructions below:
-
Click a customer name on the Active Projects & Customers page to open Edit Customer Information interface.
For information on how to get to the Active Projects & Customers interface see section
Browse Active Projects and Customers.
Edit Customer Information interface
-
Modify customer information. The fields marked with a red asterisk are mandatory.
Customer information that can be modified includes:
-
Customer name
Customer name shall be unique among the registered customers.
Verification of uniqueness is case-insensitive. So customer names 'Actimind, Inc' and 'actimind, inc'
will be considered as the same.
-
Description
Size of customer description shall be less than 2000 characters.
-
If you are going to archive this customer, select 'Archive this customer after saving changes' checkbox.
-
Submit the modifications by clicking 'Save Changes' button at the bottom of the page.
The system will save your modifications and show you Active Projects & Customers interface.
If you selected to archive the selected customer, it will be archived along with all its projects.
If customer projects contain open tasks, these tasks will be automatically marked as completed.
Customers and projects that were archived can be browsed in the Archived Projects & Customers interface
(see section Browse Archives).
If you decided not to edit the selected customer, click 'Cancel' button at the bottom of the page.
The system will reject all modifications of customer information and show you
Active Projects & Customers interface.
Edit Information of Active Projects
To edit project information follow the instructions below:
-
Click a project name on the Active Projects & Customers interface to open the Edit Project Information interface.
For information on how to get to the Active Projects & Customers interface see section
Browse Active Projects and Customers.
Edit Project Information interface
-
Modify project information. All the fields marked with a red asterisk are mandatory.
Project information that can be modified includes:
-
A customer the project is associated with
By changing the project customer
you can move the selected project between the registered customers.
The list of available customers contains active customers only.
So you cannot associate an active project with an archived customer.
To associate active projects with an archived customer you should restore the customer from archives
(see section Restore Projects & Customers from Archives).
-
Project name
Project name shall be unique among all projects registered for the selected customer
(active and archived).
The check for uniqueness is case-insensitive. So project names 'Corporate Web Site' and
'corporate web site' will be considered as the same.
-
Description
Size of project description shall be less than 2000 characters.
-
You can assign project teams with Management Extension only
Project team - users that should have access to the this project tasks
Note that users with access rights "Manage Users" and "Manage Customers & Projects"
always have access to all projects of all customers.
-
If you are going to archive this project, select 'Archive this project after saving changes' checkbox.
-
Submit the modifications by clicking 'Save Changes' button at the bottom of the page.
The system will save your modifications and show you Active Projects & Customers interface.
If you selected to archive the selected project, all open tasks associated with this project
will be automatically marked as completed.
Customers and projects that were archived can be browsed in the Archived Projects & Customers interface
(see section Browse Archives).
If you decided not to edit the selected project, click 'Cancel' button at the bottom of the page.
The system will reject all modifications of the project information and show you the
Active Projects & Customers interface.
Archive Projects & Customers
To archive one or several projects and/or customers follow the instructions below:
-
Go to the Active Projects & Customers interface (see section
Browse Active Projects and Customers
for information on how to get to this page).
-
Select projects and customers to archive: select the corresponding checkboxes in the rightmost table column.
When you select a customer to archive, customer's projects
are automatically selected along with the customer.
If you want to select all customers and projects shown on the page, click the 'All' link in the header of
'Select Customers & Projects' column.
If you want to deselect all selected customers and projects,
click 'None' link in the header of 'Select Customers & Projects' column.
-
Click 'Archive Selected' button at the bottom of the page.
The system will archive the selected customers and projects and show you
Active Projects & Customers interface.
All open tasks of the projects selected for archiving will be automatically marked as completed.
Customers and projects that were archived can be browsed in the Archived Projects & Customers interface
(see section Browse Archives for information on how to get to this page).
Browse Archives
Select option 'Archives' in the top-level menu 'Tasks' to open the
Archived Projects & Customers interface.
By default this interface shows all archived customers and projects.
The list is sorted alphabetically by customer name and then by project name.
Archived Projects & Customers interface
If you want to browse projects related to a particular customer, select this customer
in the top part of the interface and then click 'Show' button.
Archived Projects & Customers interface provides you with brief description of archived
projects and customers. For each customer/project this information includes:
-
Customer/Project name
Clicking a customer name opens Edit Customer Information interface
(see section Edit Information of Archived Customers).
Clicking a project name opens Edit Project Information interface
(see section Edit Information of Archived Projects).
An archived project can be associated with an active customer.
In this case word 'active' is shown in the brackets after the customer name.
-
Customer/Project description icon
To view the description of the corresponding customer/project,
click on a customer/project description icon.
-
Number of users assigned to the project
This number includes the users who have access to all projects in the system.
-
Number of completed tasks
Number of completed tasks shown for a customer is calculated through archived projects only.
-
Spent time reported for the customer/project
Spent time shown for an active customer is calculated through archived projects only.
-
Option for restoring customer/project from archives or deleting it
See section Restore Projects & Customers from Archives
for information on how to restore selected projects and customers from archives.
See section Delete Projects & Customers
for information on how to delete selected projects and customers.
When there are more than 10 archived customers a pager appears.
You can switch pages by clicking the links under the customer/project list.
To change the number of customers simultaneously shown on one page
select the corresponding option in the 'Show XX customers on a page' drop-down under the list.
If you do not want the interface to show projects, uncheck 'Show projects' checkbox
in the top part of the interface and then click 'Show' button.
After that the interface will list customers only.
See also section Browse Active Projects and Customers.
Edit Information of Archived Customers
Editing information of archived customers is similar to editing information of
active customers. The only difference is that you should select a customer to edit in the
Archived Projects & Customers interface.
Edit Customer Information interface (for an archived customer)
See section Browse Archives for information on how to get to the
Archived Projects & Customers interface.
See section Edit Information of Active Customers
for the detailed description of editing customer information.
If you select option to restore the customer from archives, the system will restore customer after saving the changes.
However all customer projects will be kept archived.
Edit Information of Archived Projects
Editing information of archived projects is similar to editing information of
active projects. The only difference is that you should select a project to edit on the
Archived Projects & Customers interface.
Edit Project Information interface (for an archived project)
See section Browse Archives for information on how to get to the
Archived Projects & Customers interface.
See section Edit Information of Active Projects
for the detailed description of editing project information.
In contrary to the active projects you can move archived projects between
all customers registered in the system - active and archived.
Restore Projects & Customers from Archives
To restore one or several projects and/or customers from archives follow the instructions below:
-
Go to Archived Projects & Customers interface (see section
Browse Archives for information on how to get to this page).
-
Select projects and customers to restore.
To do that select corresponding checkboxes in the rightmost table column.
When you select a project to restore, the project's customer
is automatically selected along with the project (if this customer is not already active).
If you want to select all customers and projects shown on the page, click 'All' link in the header of
'Select Customers & Projects' column.
If you want to deselect all selected customers and projects,
click 'None' link in the header of the 'Select Customers & Projects' column.
-
Click the 'Restore Selected From Archives' button at the bottom of the page.
The system will restore the selected customers and projects from archives
and show you Archived Projects & Customers interface.
Customers and projects that were restored from archives can be browsed in the Active Projects & Customers interface
(see section Browse Active Projects and Customers
for information on how to get to this page).
Delete Projects & Customers
To delete one or several projects and/or customers follow the instructions below:
-
Select projects and customers to delete either in the
Active Projects & Customers or in the Archived Projects & Customers interface.
To do that select the corresponding checkboxes in the rightmost table column.
If you want to select all customers and projects shown on the page, click 'All' link in the header of
'Select Customers & Projects' column.
If you want to deselect all selected customers and projects,
click 'None' link in the header of 'Select Customers & Projects' column.
-
Click 'Delete Selected' button at the bottom of the page.
The system will delete the selected customers and projects along with all their tasks and time-track reported for them.
Be careful when deleting customers and projects. This action cannot be undone.
When you delete a project with tasks and reported time-track, all this information is deleted permanently.
After deletion it will no longer be available in the system reports.