The following comments are only intended to help your team improve what already appears to be an outstanding users manual. Our company is looking forward to test driving this system.

Using TimeTracker

Submitted by:

Axiom Enterprises
Software Engineering Division

Table of Contents

Introduction

What is TimeTracker?

How to use this Manual

Using Time Tracker

Section 1 -- Getting Started

How to Log-in

How to change your password

 Section 2 -- Using Your Daytimer

How to change the hours displayed

How to change the days displayed

How to change the week displayed

How to change the month displayed

How to get more information about a meeting on your calendar

 Section 3 -- Managing System Messages from Timer Tracker

What is a system message?

How to tell if you have received messages

How to access the Messages window

How to delete messages

How to exit the Messages window

 Section 4 -- Using the Meeting Scheduler

How to access the meeting scheduler

How to modify an existing meeting

How to cancel a meeting you have scheduled

How to edit the attendee list for a meeting

How to schedule a new meeting

User scheduled meetings

Computer scheduled meetings

 Section 5 -- Setting up your Availability

How to set up your availibility

Section 6 -- Using the Group Alias System

How to set up an alias

Appendix A: Creating and Maintaining Employee Accounts

How to create an employee account

How to delete an employee account

Introduction

What is TimeTracker?

TimeTracker is an integrated time management facility that allows you to manage your own schedule as well as organize meetings for groups within your organization. The personal daytimer system displays your schedule for a selected week and allows you to edit it, view different weeks and view details about meetings you are scheduled to attend. The TimeTracker meeting scheduling system is a "smart" schedule that will check if employees are available to attend a meeting, automaticaly schedule meetings (if required) and will inform participants of details about meetings that involve them.
Good start...

In general,you can use your mouse to select or activate a function. To select a function, you "single click" on the icon. To activate a function, you "double click" on the icon. You also have the option of using the keyboard to perform the above functions. By depressing the "alt" key with a letter, corresponding to the functions, you can activate the specified function. When input of information is necessary, you again have the option of using the keyboard .
Leave shortcuts aside for now, and come back to them later. When you come back to them later, be a little more specific. Refer to the summary for further suggestions in this regard.

How to use this manual

In this manual we are assuming you have used Windows in the past and are comfortable with mouse use and the basic elements of a Windows interface such as scroll bars, pull-down menus and buttons. If you are not sure about these things consult the documentation that came with your version of Windows.

This manual is divided into a number of short sections entitled "How to..." that give step by step instructions for working with TimeTracker. The easiest way to use this manual is to find the operation you want to perform in the Table of Contents and click on it. The instructions will be displayed. If you need to perform other steps before this there are cross references to other "How to" discussions. You can also read through the manual and follow the running example if you want an overview of all system functions.
This might be an appropriate place to mention where to get other help from.

In this document we will occasionally use special symbols to draw your attention something for example:

Indicates a tip on how to use the system more effectively

Using TimeTracker

Section 1 -- Getting Started

How to login:

When you arrive at the computer terminal, you may either click on the Time Tracker System Icon or simply type "timetr" at the run prompt to start the Time Tracker System.
This is unclear; What is the run prompt? Is this Windows or DOS? (Will typing 'timetr' in DOS bring up Windows?)

After the system loads up, a Login box will be displayed.



Login Box

STEPS:

  1. Type your employee identification in the box labeled Enter Employee Identification .

    For example: Type "simpsonm".

    (Make sure your account has been set up by your administrator)

    Any incorrect input can be changed by pressing the backspace key.

    Is the Delete key okay to use, as well? i.e. Is the delete key mapped differently from the backspace? How do you switch from Employee Indentification to Password? (i.e. Do you push enter, or use the tab key?)
  2. Type your password in the box labeled Enter Password

    Any incorrect input can be changed by pressing the backspace key. Your password will not be displayed, rather it will replace your characters with stars '*'. This is so no one can see your password on the screen.

  3. Click the "OK" button to proceed.

    Click the "OK" button to proceed or the "Cancel" button to cancel the login and exit the program.

    If the employee's identification is invalid, an error message will show up and then the login menu will appear on the screen shortly afterwards. You have to repeat the login procedures again.

    If the password is invalid, an error message will show up and then the login menu will appear on the screen shortly afterwards. You have to repeat the login procedures again.

    How many tries before they cancel? (Locked out)
    How do you get help after you fail to log in?
    What do you do if problems persist with logging in?

How to change your password:

After you get your initial password, you may need to change your password to something else. The TimeTracker system allows you to change your password anytime you want. By selecting Change Password from the File pull down menu and the top of the TimeTracker main screen.



Change Password Window

STEPS:

  1. Type in your OLD PASSWORD in the top box.

    Any incorrect input can be changed by pressing the backspace key.

  2. Type in your NEW PASSWORD in the Enter New Password box.

    Any incorrect input can be changed by pressing the backspace key.

    What are the rules for passwords? (Can you use your old password? Are there special requirements?)
    Have *something* to state that there are restrictions. You don't need all of the restrictions listed here, but at least mention what messages the system might provide concerning this matter.
  3. Type in your NEW PASSWORD again in the bottom box.

    Any incorrect input can be changed by pressing the backspace key.

    How do you get from field to field? What order do the tabs operate in? i.e. When you tab from one field which field does it take you to next?
    You may wish to use the field's name here, for clarification.
  4. Click the "OK" button to proceed.

    Click the "OK" button to proceed or the "Cancel" button to cancel the setup.

    You may click the "CANCEL" button to cancel the whole action at any time.

Section 2 -- Using Your Daytimer

Before you use your daytimer you must be logged in. If you need help logging in go to

How to Log-in



The TimeTracker Main Screen

We experienced some confusion about the Tools section in the image.

How to change the hours displayed

When you are in your daytimer, you may wish to look at your hours of the schedule that are not displayed. Normally the daytimer screen will show times from 6:00am through to 6:30pm.


We are assuming that this a minimalist manual. We presume that there may be a larger manual to refer to details that seem to be missing.
There is more about this in the Summary

STEPS:

  1. Locate the scrollbar on the right hand side of the weekly view.

    (Picture on right)

  2. Click and hold on the arrow on the top to get the earlier hours.

  3. Click and hold on the arrow on the bottom to get the latter hours.

How to change the days displayed

When you are in your daytimer, you may wish to look at your days of the schedule that are not displayed. Normally the daytimer screen will show Monday through Friday.


STEPS:

  1. Locate the scrollbar at the bottom of the weekly view.

  2. Click and hold on the arrow to the left to get the previous days.

  3. Click and hold on the arrow to the right to get the next days.

How many days do these buttons move things? Inclusion of this information will make it easier for us to know whether or not we have done the right thing. There was some confusion about this.

How to change the week displayed

When you are in your daytimer, you may wish to look at your schedule for a different week. Normally the daytimer screen will show the current week.


STEPS:

  1. Locate the month icon at the top left corner of the screen.

  2. Click on any day of the week that you want to view, and that week will be displayed in your daytimer window.

How to change the month displayed

When you are in your daytimer, you may wish to change to a different month icon. Normally the daytimer screen will show the current month.


STEPS:

  1. Locate the two arrows on either side of the current month name.

  2. Click on the arrow on the left to get the previous month.

  3. Click on the arrow on the right to get the next month.

How to get more information about a meeting on your calendar

When you are in your daytimer, you may wish to look at information regarding a meeting that you are attending.


STEPS:

  1. Locate the meeting in the weekly view of the screen.

  2. Double-click on the meeting that you want to see information about. It will then show up in the Meeting Particulars box located in the lower left hand corner of the screen.

  3. To change the priority of a selected meeting, just click the appropriate priority underneath the Meeting Particulars box. The colour of the meeting in the weekly view will change accordingly. High priority is red, Medium Priority is yellow, and Low Priority is green.

Section 3 : The Time Tracker Message System


Before you use the Messages system you must be logged in. If you need help logging in go to

How to Log-in

In this section you will learn how to tell if you have received system messages and how to use Time Tracker's Messages system to manage your messages.

What is a system message?

When Time Tracker undertakes actions that may affect your schedule it generates a system message to inform you. The five different system messages are:

  • You have been scheduled to a Meeting
  • Time Tracker has attempted to include you in a meeting but failed.
  • That someone you have invited to attend a meeting has declined to attend
  • That a meeting you were scheduled to attend has been canceled
  • That the details about a meeting you are attending have changed

Excellent idea, smashing! We like the five different messages, and the provision of them.
In all of the above cases enough information will be provided that you can find the meeting on your daytimer.

How to tell if you have received new messages?

If the mail box icon looks like this you have NEW mail.

How to ACCESS your Messages

Click on the MESSAGE button or the mailbox to call up the MESSAGES window.


The Messages Window

How to DELETE Messages

STEPS:

  1. Highlight the message(s) you want to DELETE at the Messages screen.

    From the list of messages, the selected message will be darkened.

  2. Click on the minus "-" button to delete the message.

How to EXIT the Messages screen

STEPS:

  1. Click on OK to exit the MESSAGES window and save your changes (Clicking Cancel quits the Messages window without saving).

Section 4 -- Using the Meeting Scheduler


Before you use the Meeting Scheduler system you must be logged in. If you need help logging in go to

How to Log-in

The meeting scheduler system allows you to schedule meetings for employees of your organization.

How to access the Meeting Scheduler:

STEPS:

  1. Click on the "Scheduler" button on the bottom left corner of the main screen to access Meeting Scheduler.

    The Meeting Scheduler window will now appear, you can return to the main screen by clicking on the "OK" button.

    To get information on the meetings, you can select the desired meeting from the Scheduled Meetings list by clicking on it. All of the information about the meeting will be displayed in the appropriate boxes on the Meeting Scheduler window.


The Meeting Scheduler Window

How to modify a meeting you have already scheduled

This feature allows you to change information about a meeting that does not affect its scheduling. To change Time, Date or Duration of a meeting, cancel the meeting and reschedule.

If you want to modify information about a meeting you have scheduled, select the meeting then typeover the information that you want to change.


STEPS:

  1. Select the desired meeting from the Scheduled Meetings list.

    You can do this by moving the mouse cursor over the meeting you wish to modify and clicking the left mouse button once to select it.
  2. Type over the information in the box(es) you want to change.

     Now that you have selected the meeting you wish to modify, you can start changing the information in the "Topic", "Agenda", "Location", and "Attendees" boxes. You can do this byselecting the box with the mouse and typing in the new information. To modify Attendees list please refer to How to edit the attendee list for a meeting

    . Any incorrect input can be changed by pressing the backspace key. You will also notice that any changes will enable the "Accept Changes" button.
  3. Click the "Accept Changes" button to process the changes you just made.

    We might want to see how to schedule before seeing how to change your schedule.

    The Meeting Scheduler Window (Note change in location)

    When you have completed modifying the meeting information, click the "Accept Changes" button to save the changes. If you do not click this button the changes will not be permanent

    A dialog box will appear requesting confirmation that you really want to make those changes. You can click on the "OK" button to process changes, or the "Undo" button if you do not want the changes to be permanent.

    What happens when you hit undo?

How to cancel a meeting you have scheduled

If you want to cancel a meeting you scheduled, simply select the meeting then cancel it from the Scheduled Meetings list.


STEPS:

  1. Select the desired meeting by clicking on it from the Scheduled Meetings list.

  2. Click the "Remove Meeting" button

    A dialog box will appear requesting confirmation that you really want to cancel the meeting.
  3. Click on the "OK" button to confirm cancellation, or the "Undo" button to undo.

    If you click on the "OK" button, then a message will indicate that the meeting you just selected was cancelled. TimeTracker will notify all attendees.

    If you click on the "Undo" button, then a message will indicate that no cancellation was made.

How to edit the attendee list

If you want to edit the attendee list, you can do this from the "Meeting Scheduler" screen by clicking on the "Edit Attendee List" button.


STEPS:

  1. Add attendees from the Add Attendees screen.

    After you clicked on the "Edit Attendee List" button, the Add Attendees screen will appear. You can add an employee or a block of employees to be the attendees of your meeting now.

    Add Attendees Screen

  2. Add one attendee to the Attendee list

    You can do this by moving the mouse cursor over the employee you wish to invite and clicking the left mouse button once to select it from the "Available Employees" box. Now you click on the single right arrow button to put his/her name in the "Attendees" box. The employee's name will now appear on the Attendees box.
  3. Add all employees in the Available Employees box to the Attendee list

    You can do this by clicking on the double right arrow button, this will move all the employees in the Available Employees list to the Attendee list. The employees' names will now appear on the Attendees box.
  4. Delete one attendee from the Attendee list

    You can do this by moving the mouse cursor over the employee you wish to invite and clicking the left mouse button once to select it from the "Available Employees" list. Now you click on the single left arrow button to put his/her name in the "Attendees" list. The employee's name will now appear on the Available Employees list.
    Probably want to use 'uninvite' instead of invite in this area.
  5. Delete all employees from the Attendee list

    You can do this by clicking on thesingle left arrow button , this will move all the employees in the Attendees list to the Available Employees list.
    This should probably read double, not single.
  6. Add Alias of group to the Attendee list

    Alias of a meeting group are enclosed in ["alias name"], which will be shown in the Available Employees list after the names of all the employees. To add an alias to the Attendee list, click on the alias group, then click on the single right arrow button. This will move all the employees in that alias group into the Attendees list and their name will appear on the Attendee list instead.
    Are individual employees listed on the right side? What about employees that are already included because of an alias? (Visual question - we're trying to make sure that we really understand what is being described here.)
  7. Delete Alias of group from the Attendee list

    Alias of a meeting group are enclosed in ["alias name"], which will be shown in the Attendee list after the names of all other attendees. To delete an alias from the Attendee list, click on the alias group, then click on the single left arrow button. This will move all the employees in that alias group into the Attendee list and their name will appear on the Available Employee list instead.
    Is it a name or an alias that you would see?
  8. To process the additions or deletions made on the Attendee list

    If you click on the "OK" button, then a message will indicate that the employee/s you just selected is/are being added or deleted in the list. TimeTracker will proceed to notify all the attendees affected by the changes automatically.

    If you click on the "Cancel" button, then a message will indicate that no additions or deletions is made and the Attendee list remains unchanged.

How to Schedule a New Meeting:

Time Tracker allows you to schedule employee meetings in two different ways:

User scheduled where you pick the specific time for the meeting and the computer schedules it

Computer scheduled where you specify a range of times and dates and the computer finds the best time , that is, where the most people can attend.


Schedule a new meeting by selecting add meeting from list

I. User Scheduled Meetings:

The computer will schedule a new meeting for the exact date and time that you specify.

STEPS:

  1. Access the Meeting Scheduler screen.

  2. Click on the Add Meeting entry in the Scheduled list.

  3. Fill in the Topic, Agenda and Location fields.

  4. The Attendees list box displays those employees who are to attend a given meeting. Determine which employees will attend the new meeting by editing the Attendees list.

    To edit Attendees list please refer to How to edit the attendee list for a meeting

  5. Click on the User Scheduled button. At this point, the Manual Scheduler screen will appear.


    The Manual Scheduler Screen

  6. On the Manual Scheduler screen, fill in the following information:

    Type of Meeting: This option allows you to schedule a meeting which is One Time Only (meeting occurs only once), Weekly (meeting occurs once a week), or Monthly (meeting occurs once a month).

    Date: Select the Month, Day and Year which indicate the desired date of the new meeting.

    Time: This is the start time of the new meeting.

    Duration: This indicates how long the new meeting will take.
  7. Once you are satisfied with the new meeting's particulars, click on one of the following buttons:

    Cancel: Returns you back to the Meeting Scheduler screen without scheduling a new meeting.

    OK: The Time Tracker system will attempt to schedule a meeting corresponding to your specifications. At this point, the Confirmation screen will appear.
  8. If you chose the OK button in step 7, you will now be viewing the Confirmation screen. At this point you may examine the information pertaining to your meeting, including a list of those employees who can attend. Then, decide if you want to in fact commit to the meeting or not by clicking on one of the following buttons:

    Cancel: Returns you back to the Manual Scheduler screen without scheduling the meeting.

    Commit: Schedules the new meeting and informs those employees who are required to attend.

TIPS:

If you have a specific meeting time in mind, use the User Scheduled scheduling option.

An effective way to use the Manual Scheduler is to specify meeting particulars and then examine the Confirmation screen. It is here that you can determine if it is worth actually scheduling the meeting or not. If you would like to see how a different time would work for example, simply go back to the Manual Scheduler screen (via the Cancel button) and try again. This very useful when you have specific meeting details (e.g., time, date, etc.) in mind and wish to manually determine the best meeting for everyone involved.

II. Computer Scheduled Meetings:

Given a specified date and time range, the computer will schedule a new meeting for the time when the most employees can attend.

STEPS:

  1. Access the Meeting Scheduler screen.

  2. Click on the Add Meeting entry in the Scheduled list.

  3. Fill in the Topic, Agenda and Location fields with information corresponding to the meeting that you are scheduling.

  4. The Attendees list box displays those employees who are to attend a given meeting. Determine which employees will attend the new meeting by editing the Attendees list.

    To edit Attendees list please refer to How to edit the attendee list for a meeting

  5. Click on the Computer Scheduled button. At this point, the Automatic Scheduler screen will appear.


    The Computer Scheduler Screen

  6. On the Automatic Scheduler screen, fill in the following information:

    Range of Acceptable Dates: The new meeting will be scheduled sometime after the From date and before the To date.

    Range of Acceptable Times: The new meeting will be scheduled sometime after the From time and before the To time.

    Duration: This indicates how long the new meeting will take.
  7. Once you are satisfied with the new meeting's particulars, click on one of the following buttons:

    Cancel: Returns you back to the Meeting Scheduler screen without scheduling a new meeting.

    OK: The Time Tracker system will attempt to schedule a meeting corresponding to your specifications. At this point, the Confirmation screen will appear.
  8. If you chose the OK button in step 7, you will now be viewing the Confirmation screen. At this point you may examine the information pertaining to your meeting, including a list of those employees who can attend. Then, decide if you want to in fact commit to the meeting or not by clicking on one of the following buttons:

    Cancel: Returns you back to the Automatic Scheduler screen without scheduling the meeting.

    Commit: Schedules the new meeting and informs those employees who are required to attend.

TIPS:

If you are flexible as to the exact time of a meeting, use the Computer Scheduled scheduling option since this method will result in the highest possible employee attendance without you having to manually examine possible solutions.

Section 5 -- Setting Your Availability

How to Set Up Your Availability:

Before you can set your availibility you must be logged in. If you need help logging in go to

How to Log-in

To allow scheduling of meetings and appointments, you must specify when you are available at work. From the daytimer window, you can enter the Availability Screen to set the hours and days during which you are available.


STEPS:

  1. Click on the button marked Availability in the Main Screen.


    Availability Screen

    The Availability Screen will appear, which lists the seven days of the week in a column with boxes entitled "Available From" and "Available To:".
  2. Click on the down arrow on the right hand side of the "Available From:" box for a day


    Availability Screen with pull down menu open

    A pull down menu will appear beside the box listing all the half hour intervals in a day

  3. Select a start time by clicking one

    This time will now appear in the "Available From:" box

  4. Click on the down arrow on the right hand side of the "Available To:" box for a day

    A pull down menu will appear beside the box listing all the half hour intervals in a day

  5. Select an end time by clicking one

    This time will now appear in the "Available To:" box

  6. Repeat this for each day.

  7. Ensure that all days you do not work have "N/A" (Not Available, Not Applicable) in the boxes that relate to them

  8. Click the "OK" button to exit the Availability Screen and save the changes you have made or the "Cancel" button to cancel any changes you have made.

TIPS:

You can move among the text boxes without moving the mouse by pressing the 'Tab' and 'shift-Tab' keys on the keyboard.

Section 6 -- Setting up an alias


Before you can set up an alias you must be logged in. If you need help logging in go to

How to Log-in

How to set up an alias:

To begin setting up your aliases, select the Alias button from the main menu. When the system is loaded, the alias screen will be displayed on the screen. All employees in the database are listed in the left box under the "Available Employees" list and all aliases that the user has created are listed in the "Available Aliases" near the top (provided they click the down arrow). The members of the highlighted group alias are displayed on the right side in the "Alias list" box.



The Alias Window

STEPS:

  1. Click on the "Add" button.

  2. Type the alias group name in the "Alias Name" box.

    For example: Type "Banana Group" in the "Alias Name" box.

  3. Add members to the alias.

    The arrow buttons between the two lists are used to move items between the "Available Employees" and the "Alias list". By highlighting the members in the "Available Employees" box and clicking the single arrow that points towards the "Alias list", the system will add the highlighted members to the new group alias.

    The system also has the option of adding all individuals from the "Available Employees" list by clicking on the double arrow icon pointing towards the "Alias list" box.

    If the member(s) you wish to move to the "Alias list" was not moved you may have not highlighted the member(s) from the "Available Employees" box.
  4. Remove members from the alias.

    Highlight the member(s) from the "Alias list" and click the single arrow key that points to the "Available employees" list will remove the highlighted member(s). The double arrow icon will remove all members from the "Alias list"

    If the member(s) you wish to remove from the "Alias list" was not removed you may have not highlighted the member(s) from the "Alias list".
  5. Click the "OK" button to proceed.

    Click the "OK" button to leave this screen or click the "Cancel" button to cancel the current operation.

The Alias Window with pull down menu open

TIPS:

Double clicking any user in either box will transfer that user to the other box. To add all employees from the "Available Employees" list you may want to use the double arrow icon that points toward the "Alias list" box and as well to delete all members from the "Alias list" you may use the double arrow icon that points toward "Available Employees" box.

Appendix A -- Creating and Maintaining Employee Accounts


When new employees enter your organization, they will need to have a user (login) name and password given to them so that they are represented in the system. As well, when employees leave the company their accounts should be deleted from the system. These tasks may be done from within TimeTracker using the special 'System' account.

Creating a New Employee Account


STEPS:

  1. Login to the system as employee 'System'. (Note that the default password for 'System' when TimeTracker is shipped is 'System'. THIS SHOULD BE CHANGED IMMEDIATELY to a password of your own choosing.

    The Employees Screen will appear, but with two additional buttons present marked '+' (Add Employee) and '-' Remove Employee'.
  2. Click on the button marked Add '+'. Enter the new employee's user name and an initial password.
  3. Click on the "Check Mark" button to create the new employee account, or on the 'X' to 'Cancel' to abort the operation.



The Employees Window in System Mode

How to Remove an Employee Account


STEPS:

  1. Login to the system as employee 'System'. (Note that the default password for 'System' when TimeTracker is shipped is 'System'. THIS SHOULD BE CHANGED IMMEDIATELY to a password of your own choosing.

    The Employees Screen will appear, but with two additional buttons present marked '+' (Add Employee) and '-' Remove Employee'.
  2. Locate the user name to be removed from the system in the left listbox, marked 'Employee Ids'.

  3. Click on the user name to select it for deletion.

  4. Click on the button marked '-' (Remove Employee). An alert box will appear asking you to confirm the deletion.

  5. Click the 'OK' button to confirm the deletion, or 'Cancel' to abort the operation.

TIPS:

Prolonged pointing with your mouse cursor at the control bar at the top of the screen will advise the user as to the purpose of these buttons.

Summary/Appendix of our comments:

  1. You don't describe the Help button.
  2. Please put together an appendix of buttons to make things easier for us to recognize (I.E. Commonly used symbols.) Maybe the best place for shortcuts and button appendices to be would be within the different Tips sections.
  3. We feel like there could be more provision for error, to help a new user of the system recover from errors.
  4. We assume this is a minimalist manual, and there will be a larger full manual to refer to for particulars.
  5. We might want a clearer indication of where the shortcuts come from.
  6. You might want to change the tone of the document so that it is more personal. I.E. The user might be changed to you.
  7. In the next version of this manual, we would really encourage altering the order of task descriptions to correspond to the sequence a novice would require to use the system. In addition, the 'How to use this manual' section could recommend how novice, intermediate and advanced users might proceed through the manual.