For example, a file Letter to John Smith.doc may appear in folder 0001 and folder 0002, but MS Word simply displays Letter to John Smith.doc in the title bar.įor this reason, I think that a few add-ins for popular applications that are likely to be used with ManicTime may be the best way to get the data you need to really track time spent without getting confused over window title changes. Additionally, while not a problem for me since the client file number is in the file name of most documents I work on, some people may run into issues with files of the same name but in different folders. I believe that it may be effective to target certain applications for this behavior, since it is difficult, if not impossible, to generalize the behavior of window titles. Gmail when you have a new Google Talk message). For example, some applications may add a * to the window title when a change has been made, or a web page may change its title (e.g. It is also important of course, to recognize the slight variations that may occur in window titles without affecting what the window is actually presenting. This has the advantage of being able to incorporate web pages and documents in any location, but the disadvantage of having to target each window. This has the advantage of being a 'set and forget,' but the disadvantage of not being able to easily target the outside documents and webpages.Ģ) Being able to target windows open windows of documents associated with the project once, and using the title and/or the process of the window to determine which project with which to associate the time spent in them. Rather, I suggest two different solutions that meet my circumstances:ġ) Being able to choose a folder and whenever a document in that folder is open, associate the time spent with the active window on the document as being for the project. Since I may stop and start or switch projects mid-stream, it is not enough to be able to tag a 'block' of time as being associated with the project because 1) the time periods may be frequent but discontinuous, which means a lot of time spent tagging, and 2) the system should be able to track my progress on hundreds of different projects over time without getting bogged down (I anticipate that the SQLite DB is capable of this, I just haven't tried since the time required to input each period of time is not worth the benefit gained (see #1). This must include the time spent researching and reading in the other documents in the client file and particular web pages. This means more than just the time spent with the active window being the document I drafted. It is necessary for me to track my time to complete the drafting and/or editing of the project document(s). Occasionally, I will need to incorporate the use of other documents in other client files and/or web pages into this workflow for additional reference information while writing. When I am working on a particular project within a client file, I am usually writing and/or editing one document while reading or referring to one or several others in the same client file. Each client file is handled separate and apart from other client files. Each client folder is currently organized as a subfolder of the particular client for whom the work is being done, with some additional folders underneath that represent different documents that make logical sense. I work at a place where I work on a number of different client files each day. I'm not sure whether you are referring to my first situation or the second, and since they are two different ways to give the same result, I will explain both: That's just kind of creepy and, for my needs, it isn't worth it. I very much like the way your software looks and the fact that the name of every Web page and document I have ever opened isn't sitting out on the Internet somewhere. That would be a fantastic addition to an already great product. As some of the competing products have recognized, it is advantageous to be able to mark documents, folders and/or windows that should automatically be associated with a particular tag or some data structure that allows me to say "How much time did I spend on Project X?"įrom a user standpoint, a use case that really resonates with me is being able to set a particular folder to be associated with a particular project and/or client. Hi there, I wanted to stop in to say that I just checked out MT and it is really great.Īs for auto tagging, I came looking in this forum to see if anyone has brought this up, because it's essentially the only thing I can see as missing in the software at first glance.
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