When we introduced ManicTime Server, it became possible to share tagged time between users, but there was a problem with it. In order to create a report for multiple users, everybody had to use the same tags. Now there is a way to add tags to the server, which will show up on every client connected to that server.
To set tags on the server, visit the server with the browser, then go to Tags tab (you need to be an Admin on the server to see it)
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Server shared tags page
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You have three options to load the tags:
- From a file
- Using a service
- Or manual entry
Here I’m using manual entry. Each tag combination must be on its own line.
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Edit tags on the server
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Once this is set, click Submit to save.
Next open up ManicTime and go to Tools and settings - Server manager and click on Add server to start a wizard:
- Set Url to the server and credentials
- Select which timelines you would like to publish to the server
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Choose what to do with server defined tags. You have three options:
- Download tags and show them as regular tags
- Download tags but highlight tags from the server
- Allow only tags from the server
I’ll choose
Allow only tags from the server. Once the server is added, you can see its status in the bottom part of MT.
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Server status
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It is showing that there are 4 timelines published and that tags are set to download from the server.
If I would add some more tags on the server now, they would be updated locally in a few minutes.
Here I’m using a fresh installation of ManicTime, so there are no pre-existing tags.
Notice that when I go to tag some time, the tags I entered on the server are already suggested.
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Tags from the server are suggested on the client
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Now let's see what happens if I want to tag some time for Client 1.
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Current tags are not allowed warning
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I get a message saying this is not a valid tag. Why is that? Remember when I added a server, I chose the third option -
Allow only tags from the server.
Let's look at the tags I defined on the server again:
Client 1, Project 1
Client 1, Project 1, Activity
Client 1, Project 2, Activity
Client 2, Project 1
Client 2, Project 1, Activity
Client 2, Project 2, Activity
Notice that 'Client 1' is not among them. I can however tag 'Client 1, Project 1'.
Or if I wanted to tag as 'Client 1', I would need to put 'Client 1' on its own line on the server tag list.
Once the correct tag is entered, the textbox gets a greener background.
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Once I entered allowed tag, textbox background turns greener
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There is one more thing to be aware of. ManicTime will only check for the starting tags, so ‘Client 1, Project 1’, however you can add anything after that.
For example ‘Client 1, Project 1, Design’ is also valid. Let's say that I added ‘Lunch’ on the server on its own line. On the client I can now create tags like:
Lunch, Restaurant
Lunch, McDonalds
Lunch, Chinese
…
For easier overview of available tags we added a Tag picker view. It is a hierarchical representation of the tags. So given these tags:
Client 1, Project 1
Client 1, Project 1, Activity
Client 1, Project 2, Activity
Client 2, Project 1
Client 2, Project 1, Activity
their hierarchical representation would be:
Client 1
Project 1
Activity
Project 2
Activity
Client 2
Project 1
Activity
To launch Tag picker click on a tree like icon in the Add tag window
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Click to open Tag picker window
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On the first level there will only be Client 1 and Client 2. Once you click on Client 1, you will get an option for Project 1 and Project 2.
At the top there is breadcrumb control showing where you are in the hierarchy. Once you select allowed tag, breadcrumb control will have a greener background
(only when Allow only tags from the server option is used. Otherwise all tags are valid).
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Tag picker
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Tag picker is not related to the server and you can use it even if there are no servers defined. It is however very useful when server tags are used,
because it offers an easy discovery of server defined tags.
Add to autotag shortcut is always visible, even when autotag timeline is not used. If AutoTag timeline is not on Day view, it will ask you if you want to add it.
If you are adding a web rule you will get a different Add to autotag window than if you are adding a file rule.
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Adding a web rule
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Adding a file rule
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Autotag editor has been rewritten. The functionality is pretty much the same, but hopefully it will be easier to use.
The one thing we added is
Highlight auto filled and absorbed parts setting found at the bottom.
Those of you who use auto fill and absorption probably know that absorbed and auto filled parts could be right or wrong.
It is more or less a guessing game, where correctness depends on your rules, but in can never be 100% correct.
The
Highlight auto filled and absorbed parts option will reveal these parts on the day view, so you can see which parts were guessed.
Then you can add additional rules when needed.
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Highlight filled and absorbed parts option
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Highlighted filled and absorbed parts on day view
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You can now export and then import autotags on a different machine.
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Export/import of autotags
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Autotags are now loaded even if there is an error.
If some autotags used remote timelines like Google calendar, when that timeline was not available it just showed an error.
Now it will apply the rules it can't and still show the result even if there was an error.
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Timesheet - more preconfigured date ranges
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Timesheet rounding to .1
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In previous versions, when you saved a timesheet in previous versions, it saved all the settings except the date range.
Now you have an option to save the date range as well, which means that the next time you load a timesheet, date range will also be updated.
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Timesheet - Save date range option
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Delete saved timesheets
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There were a lot of requests for Quickbooks export and we tried our best to make it as useful as we could.
You can find it under exports button, it becomes active once you generate a timesheet.
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Timesheet - export to Quickbooks command
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On the left you can see names of the fields as they are presented in QuickBooks. On the right you can choose one of the following options:
- Leave empty
- Custom value - When this is chosen you can enter some text which will be the same for all the rows.
- First level tags - In tag 'Client 1, Project 1, Activity 1', Client 1 is the first level tag
- Second level tags
- Third level tags
- Fourth level tags
- Notes
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Timesheet - export to Quickbooks view
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Once you click Ok, ManicTime will generate an iif file which you can then import into Quickbooks. Please use this feature with caution, because
QuickBooks will import just about anything, so make sure the output is correct before you use it.
You can now export and import all your tags. This can be done in Tag editor. Tags are exported to a txt file, each tag combination is on its own line. You can also use exported text file as input for tag repository on the server.
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Tag editor - import/export
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Use tag replace when you want to rename multiple tags. Let's take a look at an example. My tag combinations are displayed on the image below
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Tag editor - Tag combinations
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Let's say I want to rename tags like so:
Old name | New name |
Client 1, Project 2, Activity | Work, Client 1, Project 2, Activity |
Client 1, Project 1 | Work, Client 1, Project 1 |
I select both tags, then click Replace.
In the Replace window, on the left you write what to look for. Once ManicTime finds the text it will replace with the value on the right.
In the listview below you will see the results of this operation before you apply it. Once you click Ok, the changes will be applied.
In the image below I searched for "Client 1" and replaced it with "Work, Client 1".
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Tag editor - Replace window
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Up until now there was no way to deploy ManicTime to multiple machines with preconfigured settings.
To deploy ManicTime to multiple machines you need ManicTime.msi file, which you can get on our download page.
Then you need to create ManicTimeSettings.xml which needs to be in the same folder as msi.
The easiest way to get ManicTimeSettings.xml is to use the server. On the server go to Setup tab and choose the options you want.
When you are done click on Create file to get the ManicTimeSettings.xml. Put it in the same folder as msi.
You can now rename tags on Advanced search. You can do this by selecting Tag timeline, then write a filter. Once the results are loaded select some lines with
Shift-click or Ctrl-click, then right click on selection and choose Rename selected tags.
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Advanced search - rename selected tags
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Use this option if you want to rename tags in specific date range. If you'd like to rename all of them then use Tag editor.
You can now use these shortcuts for the hours on Add tag view:
135p -> 1:35 PM
1335 -> 1:35 PM
800 -> 8:00 AM
2300 -> 11:00 PM
...
While dragging on the timelines, if you move the mouse over the hour bar and drag there, it will snap to minutes, not seconds
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Dragging over hour bar will snap to minutes
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Time selection also shows seconds
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Plugins are used to gather the data displayed on the Documents timeline. Up until now we had plugins for most of Office apps, but not for Outlook.
Outlook plugin will show which email you were reading or writing as well as if you are using a calendar, tasks...
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Outlook plugin on Documents timeline
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Usually when you use a stopwatch you are already working on something, so the Away pop you receive when MT comes from Away is unneeded.
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Don't show Away view while stopwatch is running setting
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