Who can use it ?
Almost anyone. Consultants can track the time spent on individual projects. Students can track time spent on their homework. Employees can track how they spend their time. House mom can track how much time they spend cooking.
H ow do i use it ?
When you initially add “Activity Tracker” gadget to your igoogle page, you should see a warning something similar to the following:
There is NO danger whatsoever. We DONOT modify your homepage nor do we hamper operations of any other module. So you can safely click “OK” to trust the module. Visit here for more information.
After you add the gadget, just click on “Add New” (link on top right corner) and you can then specify the Activity Name. Once the activity is added,
- Click on the green button “IN” to punch-In. It changes to a red button indicating that the activity is being tracked. To stop tracking, just click on the red “OUT” button.
- To view a log of the activity, click on “log” just beneath each activity description. It should take you to a new page that should provide you with the complete log. You have the option to either print (or) export the log as .csv file.
- To remove an activity just click on “remove” and confirm the removal.
- If you ever forgot to punch-out, you can always click on “edit” and edit the activity to modify the hours and minutes.
- If you constantly keep forgetting to update the activity status, then it might be worthwhile to set an alert to remind you. Click on “Alert” link on the top and it should provide you with an option to remind you at fixed intervals. Various interval levels are supported. You also have the option to select the type of voice (eg Male English or Female English or Female spanish etc). At the specified interval, you should hear a voice reminding you to update your activity.
- If you would like to clear all logs and start all over, just click on “clear logs” link beneath each activity. It should clear all the logs for that activity.
- Clicking on the “reset” link beneath each activity will remove all logs AND the total time information for that activity. “clear logs” will only clear the logs or past history records, but “reset” will reset the counter and remove any information regarding the total time spent in the activity.
- To view a snapshot of all activities, click on “Graph” link on the top right corner. It should take you to a new page that should provide you with a list of all activities, the total time and a cool graph. You can easily print (or) export as comma separated file.
- You can always click on “Reset All” (top right corner) to reset all activities. WARNING: This action will erase all the history. so make sure you take a print out (or) export the data before you reset.
- If you would like to keep the cumulative time spent on a project but donot need the complete log, you can always clear the log by clicking on “clear logs” link beneath the activity description. This will erase all the logs but will not erase the total time spent on the project. If you would like to erase the time spent as well, you need to click on “reset”.
- If you would like to clear the logs for all activities, you can click on “Clear All Logs” link located at the top right corner. This should clear all the logs but not the total time spent on the project.
- If you would like to visualize the total time spent in the form of a graph, just click on “Graph” on the top right corner. You should be taken to a new window that should provide you with a summary of all the activities, the time spent and a cool graph.
- You can also generate a summary of your weekly time report.
Continued in next page…
Hey Mahin,
This is cool. It would be nice , if you can insert the starting time in the graph too.
cheers
Bemly
thanks for a great gadget. this is awesome. very simple and effective. don’t know why i keep clicking on the graph always
this is awesome. I luv the alert feature… now even if i get carried away in this internet world, i always get alerted to update my timesheet. On the other hand i’am very unhappy that it reminds me constantly that i spend too much time browsing
..
This is friggin awesome !!!. Thanks .
Great work! I’ve found this tool to be very useful.
One small problem I noticed:
If I have two browsers open, both on my iGoogle homepage, and I click “In” to start activity on one of the two browsers, and after a while switch over to the other browser, forget that I was in already and click “In” on the same activity on my other browser window, the time will start and start counting from the incorrect time. (It should actually just ignore my second attempt to click in as I was already in on that activity).
A brilliant peace of software! I love it.
I’m writing a little review of your product for russian users and have encountered some problems when:
1. activity name contains cyrillic symbols and I click ‘Graph’ or ‘Log’ I get the page which uses utf-8 encoding, but it is not specified in HTML code so I need to switch it in browser manually
2. again, clicking ‘Graph’ or ‘Log’ gives question marks instead of month when the browser’s default locale is set to ru_RU (even after manual switching to utf-8)
If you wish to perform any additional testing or have questions feel free to mail me.
Thanks.
Hi Ali and 9Val,
thanks very much for trying out. I will look at the issues that you pointed out.
thanks again,
Mahin
Mahin,
Now the second problem is solved while first still exists and became a little bit harder - now it uses utf-8, but text is wrong, any encoding switching does not correction
Perhaps I’ve got it. It seems to be double utf-ed, i.e. like it was originally in utf and after that was again utf-encoded…
This is great. i’m luving it. very simple and has everything i needed. and best of all it goes well with all my other google gadgets. thanks !!
The problem with international characters should now be fixed. Enjoy !!
Hi,
This is great. Any chance you could create it as a Vista sidebar gadget too?
Thanks.
I am working on making this gadget available for Windows Vista sidebar users. I will update this page once it is done.
Luv the gadget - a great way to track time across projects. Is there any way to collapse the view only partially, so the only thing visible are the activities and the In/Out buttons? That would allow me to see more projects on the screen and remove the LOG, CLEAR LOG, RESET, etc. buttons until I need them. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing!
I was pretty excited stumbling upon Activity Tracker (as this is pretty much the only way to find widgets - searching is futile or non existent. You might want to complain to Google) Anyway, it is cool. But I think useless. Unless I can adjust my start or end time at any time, even during the ‘Activity’ then it is useless. I never remember to ‘punch in’ on time and if I can’t set the actual time (like 30 minutes later or the next day) then what good is it, especially considering I have difficulty remebering when I started even 30 minutes later because I am so wrapped up in my work. You see… I NEED software like this to function.
Hi Ed,
Currently you can do the same by editing the total hours spent on an activity. I will look into providing a feature where one can edit the start time/end time.
thanks,
Mahin
I’d like to have more than one of these active on a tab. It doesn’t work. I’d like to be able to name each one.
Luv it!! This is great work just what I was looking for. Really looking forward to a Vista Sidebar version.
Just wondering if it were possible to have a setting where you can enter your timezone (eg I’m 10 hours ahead of GMT). The times in the logs don’t match the times/days that the tasks were done because the tool uses its server’s clock. When I look at my logs, it’s 10 hours out, which makes it a pain in the bum when it comes time to putting the info into an invoice.
Other than that, this is the first time I have ever consistently used a time tracking process of any kind - it’s so easy. Everything else takes up too much time (!).
Thank you so much - you gadget is an integral part of my Google dashboard - I run my business using it. Thanks!
Hi Michelle,
I already have code in the server to detect your timezone. I think the code was not able to detect your timezone and defaulted to GMT.
Thanks for the quick reply. Must have been a temporary glitch - the times are OK now. I really like how punching into one activity automatically punches you out of your last activity. Is it possible to download all the task logs in CSV at once?
Thanks so much. This is an awesome gadget and I’m going to run my business on it. I use a Macbook Pro now (because of Vista) and would like to be able to use this on my Dashboard, and have it sync whenever I go online. Don’t even know if this is feasible, but I can dream. Fantastic tool!
Does not work on X64 bit Vista. WHen clocked in the time just remains at 0.
This is such a cool gadget!! Is it possible to show a tally of the hours punched in for the day to see if we have enough chargeable hours in a day? Also, is it possible to show the time in 12 hour clock instead of 24 hour clock? Thanks!!
hmm.. 64 bit vista should not matter. Can you confirm that it was 0 even after an hour ?
Mindy - I will note that down for my next feature release.
thanks.
Love this gadget, just what i was looking for. Is there any way to tweak the color scheme or skin?
thanks, keep up the good work
Eric
Looks like Michelle asked the same question Nov 6th…
I love this gadget, especially the log feature. I export both the summary log and detailed logs to my computer each week, however, its very time consuming to export the detailed logs individually every week. Is there some way to export all of the details for all of the logs into one file, similar to the summary graph feature? The only problem with the summary is that it only gives the total time spent on a task, and not when it was spent. -DLT
Greetings-
Great little gadget, just what I needed. Is there anyway we could support OpenOffice Calc as an export option?
Thank you for your time and effort on this gadget, I genuinely appreciate it.
Does this also work for Google Desktop’s sidebar? I can’t find it in the list of sidebar apps (though there are several other time trackers there)
Scott - Sorry. it doesn’t work as Google sidebar gadget.
Any plans to add it?
like mindy said, an option for a 12 hour clock would be great! thank you for this amazing tool.
Scott - not right now. But if many users are requesting for it, I plan to.
Mahin, thanks! This may finally allow me to start tracing my time. It is intuitive and the toggle feature makes it even better. The edit feature was giving me trouble but I think I figure out the user errr part - I also moved to use it under IE and there it seemed more stable.
A suggestion: ability to see a log across all activities, ordered by In Time. That would allow me to fix entries more easily when I forget to punch out/in but still have sme recolection of what I was doing.
Thanks for putting this out. Great work!
This is a brilliant gadget, thank you for this!! So easy to track your time..
May I request functionality..
I see that the gadget simply adds the time on each activity and continues to append the data over many days.
It would help if I could run a report at the end of the week and it would detail how long I’ve spent per day on a task
i.e. Monday, [amount of time] spent on [task 1], [task 3], [task 5]
Tuesday, [amount of time] spent on [task 1], [task 2], [task 6]
Wednesday, [amount of time] spent on [task 1], [task 3], [task 6], [task 7]
?
Mahin, I too would encourage you to have this gadget work for Google Desktop’s sidebar? Thanks for a great tool.
i think an activity tracker for google desktop would be very helpful too. thanks for the handy tool.
Great gadget/widget! Any way to redirect the graph tool to build off-line?
Mahin,
I would love a google desktop version of this gadget. It would be much easier to access instead of having to have a browser open all the time.
Thanks again.
Cheers,
Sacha
Mahin,
My vista sidebar gadget is crashing when I choose “edit.” Any thoughts? 1.2.0
Great tool, Mahin. Thanks very much.
One suggestion: in the next version (soon hopefully!) could you add the ability to export the log for all tasks, rather than one at a time? It seems others also have expressed the opinion that this would be very helpful.
Thanks again!
I’ve loved your product - excellent for reviewing why I am putting in overtime with my supervisor. However, I need to track one more week after a few days, one of my activities has gotten stuck and no matter what I do, it shows out of this one activity - for 10 days. I have tried resetting, clearing the logs, deleting the activity but nothing has worked so far. An help would be appreciated.
Barbara
Mahin, this is exactly what I always dreamed of since I´ve started working as a freelancer. There is nothing remotely as intuitive, fast and yet multifunctional. Thank you so much. If I may still request improvement, I would stress
a) the google-desktop-function because I´m using XP - would that be an offline function or would I still have to be online?
b) the export-all-at-once function
I’ve just started using this gadget and I must admit it makes time keeping a lot easier.
Could you tell me where the logs are stored and what the file names are. I would like to take a copy of the logs before resetting them at the end of the month.
Thanks
JohnH
I am often working on multiple projects at the same time, it would be great if I could have several activities running simultaneously, so I know how long each takes.
I am a software consultant and support many of my clients remotely. While running a program or diagnostic on one machine, I am often also looking at another machine.
Activity tracker is great, but I can only have one activity at a time logging time.
The tool is great, though. Best I have seen yet and I have been looking a long time.
Hello,
Thanks for the wonderful software, and for addressing the issue I posed a loooong time ago. I’m switching back to using Activity Tracker from my old kitchen timer after deciding to use my computer to study, rather than having it locked away to avoid distractions.
I’ve noticed a time zone issue. Everything is fine with the “Started” and “In Time” on the actual interface and the detailed logs. The problem is with the new “Show Summary” option. Even though it says I time in at “In Time: 00:56″ (which is technically Tuesday) the minutes are still being added to Monday’s record.
Thanks again for the wonderful piece of software!
Mine’s not working at the moment, it says “New Feature Update” in red where my categories were and no options to resume using it as normal.. anyone else getting this?
I like the sound of the new changes, similar to what I requested in my previous post, thanks
Just want to make it work now lol
Hi Mahin
Great product, which I now use all the time. One small problem I have encountered. As a company we are looking at using Google Apps as it offers neat collaoration tools. I loaded punchclock successfully, but it is the older version. For the life of me I cannot see how to do the upgrade!!
Thanks in advance for any help.
Mahin,
Just downloaded gadget today. Great concept! A couple problems though. 1-Cannot export to Excel or Google docs. Attempts to load but no data appear on the worksheet. 2-Lost all data when moving from graph (opened in a Firefox window) to iGoogle page (opened in second Firefox browser window). Yikes! Glad it was only my first day using the gadget.
Any suggestion how to resolve exporting prob?
Thanks,
David
If you click “log” in an activity, it takes you to a page where you can see the export icon. This exports your data in CSV (Comma seperated format). I am working on an option to export all your data to Google calendar
Regarding problem 2: When you click browser back button, I think the browser gets data from the cache instead of hitting Google.Can you try again by clicking “Shift+Refresh”. Also make sure you wait for atleast 1 second after punch-in or punch-out as depending on your network speed data might take a while to save to Google servers (for IGoogle gadgets).
Mahin,
I think this is a helpful gadget for time tracking. But even better is a person like you who is willing to share this wonderful staff.
I have just tried your gadget this morning and find it would be very usefull in tracking my time and activities: personal and work. But I do have one question for you. How can I export all the logs for all the acivities so I can save time instead of exporting each log for each activites.
Your reply is much appreciated.
Good on you Mahin
@ Khouth Chhea
Exporting all activities in one click will be included in next version of activity tracker.
Just wanted to say, I love this app.
However, I’ve recently decided to switch to the Google Desktop Sidebar instead of Vista Sidebar (seems to use less memory, and has more apps available, though it definitely has problems of its own).
So, add my vote for a Google Desktop version.
I was able to add Activity Tracker to my iGoogle page but it is not working - I have no add button, only links for “Alert| | | Graph|
Help?” - any suggestions?
Never mind - figured it out! NoScript was blocking googlecode.com… sorry about that
Is anyone else having a problem with the Activity Tracker on iGoogle today? It takes a couple of minutes to load my home page, and when it finally does, only the Alert, Graph, and Help? links are showing up; none of my activities. The page lags with a message “Waiting for screeperzone.googlecode.com…”.
@ArcherID: there were some temporary network issues connecting to googlecode servers.
It works now. Thanks for the reply. BTW, I love the tool. It’s perfect for tracking my billable hours.
When I did a new entry for an item today from the edit item interface, it saved, but did not show up in “graph”. It shows up in “log”.
Does this happen to everyone?
kind of a problem if you forget to record your time on something….
I just installed the Vista sidebar and am really excited to use it as time goes on. As an entrepreneur I spend my time on a thousand different things, and now I can track just how well I’m using my time in the office.
I love the graph that compares where I’m spending the most time. I’d love to see a time-line feature so I could see what times of the day I’m really productive and when I’m distracted by less important tasks.
Excellent gadget. Would love to be able to export all activities at once. Also, will a version be available for the Android phone? My phone goes everywhere so that would be fantastic!!!!
This is a godsend piece of software! I just wish there was a way to use it with WinXP. Maybe a port to Stardock’s software goodies?
IMPORTANT: There is a temporary issue with IGoogle Activity tracker gadget.
I have raised this issue in Igoogle developer forum
http://groups.google.com.ng/group/Google-Gadgets-API/browse_thread/thread/34f9391602b40cb3
Thanks
IGoogle users please follow this link
Backup your data.
http://screeperzone.com/2009/04/03/activity-tracker-sorry-this-gadget-uses-the-inlining-feature-which-is-no-longer-supported/
Never mind: the problem is w/me, not the gadget :-(. I was just interpreting the legends & colors of thebuttons as the opposite of what they really represented. Sorry.
Hi, I’m new to Vista and can’t figure out how to install your Vista Gadget zip file as a gadget under Vista. This gadget looks like something I’ve been looking for a long time now to track time at work. Can you point me in the right direction?
Rob,
Just double click the .gadget file in Vista and it should automatically add to your sidebar.
Mahin
Hi Mhin,
Thank you very much for the great gadget. I have been using it for almost a year now.
Just a few hours ago, I have accidentally deleted one activity. Is there a way I can restore it?
Here’s my other suggestions:
1. Enable users to select the starting day of the week.
2. Enable users to reset to 0 the number of hours if starting a new week.
Those are all for now. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks again.
Weng
Is there a downloadable activity tracker widget for macs?
This tool is brilliant! Two suggestions.
Is it possible to have a single CSV of all Ins and Outs for all activities with dates and notes. Once in a spreadsheet it is very easy to filter and summarise but getting the detail in one place has eluded me.
Also is it possible to have it auto-minimise. The minimised window on the Vista sidebar is so useful but having to click on Minize each time is a drag. A keyboard shortcut would be a next best thing.
Thanks.