TaskMan

TaskMan is a plugin for the Geeklog framework which keeps track of your tasks. With it you will record your to do list, and as you work on each item, you check in and check out each task. Once you have added and completed all your tasks, you can view the calendar to see just exactly what you did each day. And when your boss needs to know what you did, you can go to the reporting page, and print out a nice excel spreadsheet of all your activities, grouped by client and project!

Return to Top

If you have ever installed a plugin on Geeklog before, and even if you haven't, the TaskMan install process is very straight forward. Follow these 8 easy steps and you'll have TaskMan installed in no time!

1. Obtain your copy of TaskMan from our plugins repository.
2. Extract the TaskMan package to [geeklog]/plugins/
3. Copy the contents of the jscalendar folder to [geeklog]/public_html/jscalendar/
4. Copy the contents of the public_html folder to [geeklog]/public_html/taskman/
5. Copy the contents of the admin folder to [geeklog]/public_html/admin/plugins/taskman/
6. Copy the contents of the themefiles/taskman folder to [geeklog]/public_html/layout/[theme]/taskman/
7. Navigate to Plugins in the admin menu on your Geeklog site
8. Click Install beside the TaskMan plugin

And that's it! If you receive an error message, check your error.log file to find out what went wrong. Otherwise, you can begin to enjoy TaskMan!

Return to Top

http://support.example.com

view.php?id=

Return to Top

The first thing you want to do when you install TaskMan is create a few clients and projects. Creating clients and projects is mostly for the purposes of reporting, so that you know who to bill your many hours of work to ;). If you don't actually have any clients just create a generic client, such as 'General'. For the project, just make a name that relates to the work you are doing. Clients and projects will also help you keep organized on which tasks to work on.

Figure 1-4-1 describes how to create a client. Fill in the name and description, and some client resources. Resources can be assigned at two levels: client and project. If you assign resources here, at the client level, then any projects in this client will inherit the resources of this client.

Figure 1-4-1

There are a few different areas of focus after you have created a client. You will see a new 'window' which displays relevant information to that client, i.e. the information you just added. Figure 1-4-2 highlights some of these areas. The close button is to delete a client. The maximize button is to view a more detailed view of that client. And, for added effect, the minimize button will collapse that client from view. That is probably only effective when there are many clients on the system. Click on the edit button to edit the project.

Figure 1-4-2

Once you have configured your client the way you like, it is time to add a project. First maximize the client by clicking the maximize button. This is the detailed view of the client, which lists all that client's projects. Adding a project is very similar to adding a client, only this time you'll have the option to add project timelines. Figure 1-4-3 explains:

Figure 1-4-3

Again, similar to the client details, has a 'window' type look, as shown in figure 1-4-4.

Figure 1-4-4

Once you have your clients and projects created, you can move into the user guide section, so you can begin creating tasks!

Return to Top

After you have added at lease one client and one project, you can begin entering tasks to the system. In order to create a new task, you must first select a client and a project from the client/project selectors. Once you have chosen both a client and a project, the New Task link will appear. Click this link, fill out the required fields as outlined in figure 1-5-1.

Figure 1-5-1

Return to Top

Once you have added a few tasks you'll notice them appear in the task list. At that point you'll have a few options. Here is a list of the actions you will in the task list:

	Description
	Click this icon to let TaskMan know that you have started working on this task. Before the task is started, the status of that task is 'Not Started', which is symbolized by a red dot. When a task is checked-in, the status of the task becomes 'Active', which is symbolized by a green dot.
	Click this icon to let TaskMan know that you have stopped working on this task. When the task is checked-out but not yet completed, the status becomes 'Started', which is symbolized by a yellow dot.
	Click this icon to let TaskMan know that you have completed this task. The current task status must be 'Started' in order for the complete option to appear. Once the task is completed, the status of that task becomes 'Completed', which is symbolized by a green checkmark.
	Click this icon to open up the bug tracking software, such as mantis, that you configured.
	Click this icon to drop down the task edit form. Follow the guidelines in Editing a Task.
	Click this icon if you want to delete the task.

Return to Top

To edit a task, click the notepad icon in the Actions column, in the row of the task you want to edit. Doing so will drop down the edit task/edit checks forms, as shown in figure 1-5-2. These are two individual forms, so make sure you click the right save buttons! To edit the task details, use the form on the left. It will be pre-populated with the current details of the task, awaiting your edits.

The form on the right is to edit the check log. There will be times when you get busy and forget to check in a task, or you are so eager to finish up work and go home that you forget to check out your task. Don't worry! That is what the edit check log form is for. You can use the pop-up calendar to make your changes, or check the box in a row to delete that row. When you are done making your changes, click the save on the right side.

Figure 1-5-2

Return to Top

The calendar is the place to go to view the tasks you've worked on in a more time-oriented way. It will give a brief overview of what projects you've worked on and for how long. If you click the 'Report' link from this page, it will give you a report of the month that you are viewing. You can also click on a specific day to get a report of the actual tasks you completed that day. Figure 1-5-3 shows the calendar.

Figure 1-5-3

Return to Top

Reporting one of the main desired results of TaskMan. With it you can find out exactly what you did over a period of time. If you have taskman.reporting rights, you can also view what other people have spent their time on.

This is especially handy for someone who handles the payroll at a company. Assuming each employee used TaskMan to track their work, the administrator would at the end of the month choose to create a report for that month. You can report by a specific employee, or all employees. You can report for a specific project or all projects. You can even choose only to view the tasks that are marked as billable. Finally, once you've generated the report you want, you can click on the excel link to export your report to excel.

To get to the reporting page, click the Report link at the top of the task list page or the calendar page. Figure 1-5-4 describes the reporting page in more detail.

Figure 1-5-4

Return to Top

Return to Top