time-tracking Questions - FogBugz Knowledge Exchange

Feature Request: Display time intervals in case history

2011-05-13T18:24:04Z

It would be nice if the timesheet information for a case were displayed in the case's history. I feel that this would provide easier access to information that is already being recorded in the system, would prove to be informative to anyone reviewing a case's history, and ultimately provide more value to more users of the timesheet features of fogbugz.

The case history text would simply be something like

"Worked on by Jack Black for 3 hours on 5/13/2011 10:46 AM"

Example 1: John assigns Jack a case to work on, and Jack spends 3 hours doing research on how to accomplish the fix for that task. Jack logs the 3 hours using the "working on" feature, and when finished with his research, edits the case and places his findings there. John checks the case later and sees the update, but thinks it would have been nice to see the timesheet information in-line on the case history to get a general idea of how long Jack had spent working on the case prior to that update.

Example 2: A company has a forward-facing cases system so that their users can see the status of cases they have permissions to see. A developer may have logged many hours on a case that a user has interest in, but the developer's logged work does not show on the case history, and the user feels that nothing is being done about their problem. The user may have felt reassured to see that many hours had been logged working on their problem, even if a solution hadn't yet been found.

A personal note: as a "worker bee" myself, I feel that this would help me be more vigilant about documenting my time spent working on a case. As it is, I feel that the "time spent working on" and timesheet feature only provides value to the managers that are assigning cases, setting estimates, and setting up timelines and milestones. Because I find no personal value in the recording of this history, I feel it to be a "hassle". However, If my recorded work were reflected directly on the case's history, my efforts recording my work would be more tangible to me, as well as to anyone that comes to review the history of that case. One of my primary goals as a worker of cases is to be thorough in my history updates... I feel that making my timesheet information visible on it's associated case would directly lend to a more thorough history for that case, which would provide direct value to me as a worker.

Thank you.

I have installed FogBugzTimeSheetPlugin - where are the reports

2010-09-15T09:41:10Z

I have installed FogBugzTimeSheetPlugin into my FogBugz On-Demand Trial.

I expect to see some FogBugzTimeSheetPlugin reports under either "Reports" or "Extras".

I find that there are no additional reports in these places.

Where do I find the reports?

Thanks, James

Feature Request: Ability to enter a note with time intervals (a la source code checkin comments)

2010-06-10T15:47:35Z

When a client requests something that is chargeable, we add that request as a case in Fogbugz and all correspondance on that client request goes through the case (which works really well for us). We add the time spent on the request by either adding to the Elapsed field of adding it under Edit Timesheet.

The problem is that when the client queries the time spend, there is no detail attached to the hours.

Something like this would be ideal (for case 12345):

01/06/2010 30 min Specified the details of the data requested
02/06/2010 1 hour build the query and sent the data
02/06/2010 1.5 hours changed the query to included last years sales

At the moment, I'm considering adding case details like this:

CHARGEABLE TIME: 1.5 hours - changed the query to included last years sales

And then adding 1.5 hours to the Elapsed field.

But is there more elegant solution? Maybe a plugin?

Case FC2036702

How do I use EBS to track part-time and hobby projects?

2011-03-09T05:11:27Z

I have just started using On Demand Account for Students and Startups to track my personal/hobby projects. I don't work on a well defined time schedule in a week. It may range from 0-8 hours or more and may include weekends too. With the current settings, time tracking won't work well for me.

I have found two similar question, but couldn't find any workaround:

http://fogbugz.stackexchange.com/questions/4615/ability-to-customize-daily-schedules-for-hourly-employees

http://fogbugz.stackexchange.com/questions/5044/detailed-working-schedule

Does anyone have any practical experience handling this scenario? What are best practices for personal/hobby project tracking on FB?

Feature Request: Enter estimate for time remaining

2009-09-30T10:29:35Z

After a case has been started, is it possible to give an estimate of the time remaining, rather than the total time needed?

E.g. I estimate a task as one day, then after half a day I realize there's more work that I hadn't considered, so I think it'll take 2 additional days of work (for a total of 2.5 days).

It would be nice if I could enter an estimate for the remaining work, rather than having to update the total estimate (which I forget to do, then get confused when the 'renaming time' column looks wrong).

Case FC2036664

FogBugzTimeSheetPlugin - Report Timezone offset

2011-11-17T20:59:21Z

What are you supposed to enter here? I'm using Hosted Fogbugz which shows:

(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

I'm located outside Chicago, and I can't figure out what to enter to get my Timesheet Report to look right. Entries keep showing up on the wrong days. I haven't been able to find any OLH for this plugin.

Estimation History not working

2010-01-06T06:05:31Z

I'm using FogBugz On Demand. I have several cases that have been opened, estimated, worked on, and resolved as "(completed)" by me, yet when I go to the "My estimation history" report, I get the message that I have no historical estimates. Why?

I use a customized category of "task" for most cases instead of the standard bug, feature, inquiry, schedule item, etc., would that make a difference?

Is there a minimum number of cases that must be resolved after estimating before they show up in your estimation history?

Does the "time charged against it" have to be through "Working On" then stopping? Several tasks were done offline and my timesheet was manually edited later.

Case FC2152377

Add an fIncludeDeleted=1 option to the cmd=listIntervals API call

2011-05-27T18:53:53Z

I'm trying to extract time sheet data from FogBugz, via the XML API, in to my own system.

I've hit a snag though: when someone deletes an interval that I previously pulled in to my own database I have no simple way to detect this. The XML API just stops returning deleted intervals via the API calls. They're still in the SQL database, marked with an fDeleted=1 value, but the API offers no way to access these deleted interval entries.

Can I get an fIncludeDeleted=1 option on the cmd=listIntervals command call so I can get deleted intervals included in the output from the API call?

Let customers view escalation of time in projects

2011-09-14T22:44:52Z

I would like to let our customer view escalation of time use in a projekt. I hope its possible without the need og buying licenses to all out customers. :)

We have like a busticket system where i need to keep rapporting when 15 min. is used.

It is not possible with RSS feeds.

I have been looking at the Field plugin but find it to complex.

Are there any way to selvservice to our customer without other than retrieving the timesheet on manuel basis?

Quick way to enter Elapsed Time

2011-09-07T06:32:35Z

Possible Duplicate:
Feature Request: Allow editing in Grid View

In the case list there is a way to quickly and easily enter Current Estimate by clicking this column in the list.

Would it be possible to do the same for Elapsed Time to enter non-timesheet elapsed time for a case?

How can we track EBS for QA testers if they are part of the story workflow?

2011-08-28T20:21:23Z

I'm not currently having our QA testers track time in FogBugz out of the fear that it will throw off EBS, but I hate this. Is my fear well-placed, or totally unfounded? We're a professional services company, so this is certainly a point that effects us quite directly. Please advise.

Here's the workflow we have today for stories:

Active

1. Not Started [Default status for active cases] <-- Assigned to developer
2. In Progress <-- No assignment change
3. Ready for QA on Staging <-- Assigned to QA tester
4. Verified by QA on Staging <-- Assigned to project manager (AM)
5. Ready for Client UAT <-- Assigned to account manager
6. Ready for Production <-- Assigned back to developer for deployment

Resolved

Resolved (Verified on Production) [Default status for resolved cases] <-- Assigned back to PM
No Action (Already Implemented) <-- Assigned back to case opener
No Action (Duplicate) [Duplicate case status] <-- Assigned back to case opener
Out of Scope (Works as Designed) <-- Assigned back to case opener

Feature Request: Ability to set the Working On (CPerson.ixBugWorkingOn) via a plugin

2011-07-13T15:43:52Z

Plugins can read the case number a given person is working on, but not change it.

Case FC2090773

Can I pop-up a warning any time a user saves a case without updating the elapsed time?

2011-08-16T17:39:02Z

People are constantly forgetting to update their elapsed time on cases that have estimates. If only I had a BugMonkey script that validated this and popped up a warning whenever the elapsed time is missing or hasn't been changed!

How can I modify another user's elapsed time intervals?

2011-07-25T15:22:36Z

I'm pretty sure there's no way to do this currently beyond directly modifying the time interval data in the DB, but I figured I'd publicly ask this question, if only to serve as a feature request.

Until this can be done in-app, what are the appropriate data modifications that should be made when modifying the elapsed time interval data directly in the DB? As an example, it seems as-if the total elapsed hours for the case itself (i.e. the value in the column hrsElapsed for the relevant row in the table Bug) needs to be updated when a time interval for that case is modified.

Feature Request: Filter Cases by Time Worked On

2011-07-19T00:29:59Z

So I love the "Working on" feature, is there a way to filter all cases that's been "WorkedOn" time logged, within a certain date range? ('Last Week' as an example)

Thanks.

Feature Request: Set "working on" using FogBugz for mobile

2011-07-13T14:37:01Z

I would like the ability to set my Working On using the mobile version of FogBugz on my smartphone.

Feature Request: Stop my "Working on" when I assign my case to another person

2010-10-14T08:56:16Z

Hi,

if I work on a case and then assign it to another person, FogBugz still thinks that I work on that case. But it is not so, I gave case to another person. I think, that if I assign case I'm working on to another person, fogbugz should trigger "stop working" for me. We have FB 8 on our server. Is it a bug or a feature?

Case FC2035792

Working schedule == PC switched on?

2011-07-11T10:32:47Z

I work irregular hours but would like all my work time to be logged on my Fogbugz timesheet.

I always shutdown/sleep my PC when I leave work so it would be neat if this action could inform Fogbugz that I'm going offline.

Is there any way that something can run on my PC at startup/resume and shutdown/sleep to update current timesheet interval accordingly? Alternatively, is there something browser based (e.g. a page that pings Fogbugz whilst I'm working) that would achieve the same thing?

Many thanks.

Show amount of time logged in "Edit Timesheet"

2011-05-02T11:31:39Z

I would really like it if each line-entry in my daily timesheet showed the amount of time as well as start/end times. Normally my logic is I want to log X hours and it's easy to have a mistake if you want to add 5.25 hours starting at 1330 for instance.

Even more useful would be the timesheet editing window showing the total number of hours. In fact that would be my main request, but both seem pretty useful and like they wouldn't be a big ask for your developers.

Case FC2085749

Quickly log work in 1d3h30m format by clicking on task

2011-07-01T07:42:10Z

We've evaluated FogBugz against Jira many times over the last few years, and time tracking has always been a showstopper for us. In Jira you can click on a task, enter 1h30m and that time will be logged on the task immediately.

In Fogbugz I have to invent a start time and a stop time, which is really unintuitive and tedious.

We don't work on a task one by one in an orderly fashion. We prefer to get a bunch of work done and then log time for that day against the various tasks. Maybe we're doing it wrong, but I'm not going to be able to make 17 consultants change their way of working to something more tedious and less user friendly. Only the amount of time spent on a task is important, not what time of day it was actually done.

Acually, in a filter list the Estimate (current) column has this exact functionality. You can click on the current estimate, enter 3h in the popup and the estimate will immediately be updated. I'd like to log work the same way.

What report shows an overview of spent per project per week

2010-01-07T07:43:29Z

I use FogBugz to track issue and features of several I work on and diligently use the "Working on" to keep track of the time spent on these issues.

Can FogBugz show me an overview of the hours spent on each project in a week?

Do developers need to track 100% of their time for EBS to work?

2011-04-14T12:12:09Z

Ok, so I think I know the answer to this, but I'd like some confirmation... Our developers are working on one (big) project. We've estimated a lot of stuff into FogBugz, and we're now working through it. One of the observations I have is that currently the developers aren't recording meetings/email/etc in any form in FogBugz, so they typically record (say) about 5.5 hours a day rather than 8.

My assumption is that FogBugz has no way of coping with this automatically. I believe I have 3 options:

Get the developers to record this time against the task they were last working on, and allow EBS to extend the schedule accordingly (this seems the best option to me). Requires policing to ensure that people are recording ~8hrs of time each day.
Create schedule items for meetings etc for each developer to try and allow for this extra time. Error in these estimates will be factored into EBS but it's a pretty arduous way of tracking this stuff and it's likely to have a much higher error rate than normal estimates which will skew EBS generally.
Attempt to work out how much time we spend in meetings and adjust the % of time spent on FogBugz cases accordingly. The simplest method AFAICT, requires least effort from the developers, but doesn't take advantage of EBS to keep track of the reality. If it changes everyone needs to go and adjust their % time manually as well (zzzz).

Have I missed another way of doing this? What do people think is the best approach?

Lucian

Delete Time Interval

2011-05-25T00:12:27Z

Is there a way to delete time intervals?

Extending Command Line for Time Tracking

2011-04-13T18:59:07Z

Is there a way to edit the current estimate and elapsed time via command line?

Thanks

Why is it allowed to log time against closed cases in fogbugz without re-opening it?

2011-03-30T06:15:34Z

I am able to charge time against a closed case in fogbugz without reopening it. I thought a case with a closed status should be blocked from charging time. So if I want to make a change in a case so that others can't log time against it what is the procedure for that?

Moving the "Add Interval" modal changes focused field

2010-10-07T22:32:04Z

When inputting data into my timesheet, the popup window for "Add Interval" appears directly over the case number of the case I'm looking at (which is annoying in itself). If I've entered my start & end times, tabbed to the case field and the case field has focus, moving the modal causes input to shift to the Start field. This is similar to a previous case (#832 which I cannot find any info on how to link to it within SE).

Case FC1959915

Editing Elapsed Hours using the API

2009-12-09T19:11:59Z

I'm using an external application to track hours on cases, and I notice the only way to add hours via the API is using "hrsElapsedExtra".

Is there a way (existing or planned) to just overwrite all the hours elapsed to a case? It would be near impossible for me to regularly synchronize my timesheets into Fogbugz until the project timesheets were locked in this case, and in my case, that probably wouldn't happen until I closed the project.

Case FC1335014

Is there a way to view a chart of the time elapsed on the cases covered by the current filter, broken down by day, week ?

2011-03-16T14:22:50Z

As a contractor that charges by the hour, this feature would come handy to keep an eye on my productivity.

How can I track help-desk persons efficiency?

2011-04-07T02:07:49Z

We have a small "distributed" company, with 3 people in various parts of the world answering helpdesk questions as they come into fogbugz. I'd like to act like a Pinheaded Manager and try to evaluate the effectiveness of my various helpdesk people.

In particular, I'd like to know how many cases each person deals with and solves over time.

Bigger picture, I'd like to get a global sense of how well we're doing as a company by asking how long it takes, on average, for us to respond to a helpdesk request (and solve it).

I can't seem to find an easy way to generate these types of reports, but then again, I'm merely a Pinheaded Manager, so maybe I am missing some very obvious FogBugz functionality that is sitting right in front of my nose.

planning fixed time tasks

2010-09-10T12:58:45Z

I am working in a organization where every programmer is a part time programmer. Other tasks are visiting conferences, organize courses etc etc. These non programming events have a fixed time span: for instance a conference takes 3 days is not variable. These non programing jobs consume every week an other amount of time, but they are known weeks before they happen.

One very strong feature is tracking the completion dates. But if I try to combine programing tasks with my non programming task, these times are not reliable anymore (or I 'm a very bad planner;)) How do I keep these completion dates reliable ?