Today brings good news. The official Teamwork Project Manager Desktop Timer App has been released into the wild.
We built this app using Adobe AIR so it will run as a native desktop application on Windows, Mac and Linux. The app lets you to create timers and log the time directly back into your TeamworkPM account.
Downloading the app....
The app can be installed from the Desktop Timer Download page
Quick start guide.....
Once you have installed the app, you will need to authenticate yourself using your API key. This key is found in your account settings within your TeamworkPM account. Click on your name in the top right of the web app, select 'My details" and on the pop up click on the tab 'API". Copy the key from here and paste it into the Options dialog in the Desktop Timer App.
The options dialog also allows you to set other key features such as;
- Pause timer when you're idle after a set amount of time - When you go back working the timer will start again auto-magically.
- Return only starred projects when logging time
- Option to keep the Timer App on top of all other desktop windows - Perfect when you're using the mini view!
With the timer app authenticated, you can choose to create timers in a number of different ways.
The first way is to manually create a timer using the Add timer button. This creates a Plain-Jane timer where you choose the Project (and optionally the task) when you are finished.
The second way is to use the import function. This pulls back a list of all upcoming tasks that are assigned to you in Teamwork. You can then select the tasks you wish to bring through to the timer app. Holding down CTRL (on PC) or CMD (on Mac) will allow you to select multiple tasks at a time.
Once you have finished logging time on a task, click the Log Time button. If your timer is associated with a task, it will automatically place this logged time into the right project but if it's a manually created timer, clicking this it will give you the option to pick which project to log the time against. You also have the option to dig in further and select which task the logged time belongs to. You can then enter a description and choose whether the time is billable.
The last option here is reset timer or remove it from your list once the time is logged. Resetting a timer sets the time to 00:00:00 but keeps the timer in your list so you can log more time against it later.
If a timer is against a task, you also have the additional option of having the task marked complete when the time is logged.
Another nice feature is switching to mini-mode. If you double click the circular part of the logo it will minimize the app down to a more compact view that can sit out of the way on your screen.
We hope you enjoy this new addition to TeamworkPM and as with all our features we invite you to provide us with feedback on what you think.
Words of thanks...
We hoped to have this Desktop App released in January but due to some great feedback from our Beta testers (special thanks to Mike B. and Dennis M.) we moved some features from Version 2 to Version 1. This forced the expected release date back but allowed us to deliver a much better product. The app has an auto-update feature so as we add new features (and bug fixes!) you will be prompted to update to the latest version. Thanks for your support over the last few months and pushing us to make a better app...
Also make sure you check out our timer FAQ's page if you need any help.