Getting started with Temponia

Before anyone can record an hour, four things have to exist in your workspace: an active project, an active task, that task linked to the project, and at least one person assigned to the project. Until all four are in place, the first item in the sidebar reads Getting started rather than Dashboard.

That page lists the setup steps with a progress counter and is the quickest route through what follows. If you named projects during sign-up, on the Which projects do you want to track? step, some of it is already done.

Your workspace has its own address, yourcompany.temponia.com. That is where you and everyone you invite sign in.

1. Settle your company settings

Open Company settings from the menu under your avatar. The Settings tab holds the choices that apply to every timesheet in the workspace:

• How does your team track time? Choose Start & end-times to put entries on a calendar, or Duration only to log an amount per task per day. See duration versus begin and end times.
• Minimum time to log, which rounds every entry, plus Week starts on. See rounding and time formats.
• Active days. Time cannot be logged on days you leave unticked.
• Under Format settings: Currency, Number format, Date format, Time format and Time zone.

These affect everyone, so they are worth settling before people start entering time. The remaining tabs are covered in the company settings overview.

2. Add a client

Go to Clients under Manage in the sidebar and select Create client. Only the name is needed to begin. Address, VAT number and country matter later, when you invoice.

A project does not have to belong to a client. Invoices are addressed to a client, though, so a project without one cannot be invoiced.

3. Create a project

Go to Projects and select Create project. Give it a name, pick the client from the Search or add field, then choose a Billing type and a Billable setting. Billing type decides how the work is charged; see billing types.

Saving takes you straight to the project's own page, where the two panels on the right hold what the project still needs. You are assigned to any project you create, as its manager.

4. Give the project tasks

Tasks belong to the workspace rather than to one project, and become available on a project by being linked to it. In the Project's tasks panel, choose a task and select Add task.

A new workspace starts with a single task named General, marked Common. Common tasks are added to every new project automatically, which is why a fresh project is never completely empty. Create your own under Tasks, with Create task; after saving you are asked which projects the task applies to.

General does not count. The Create or import tasks step on the Getting started page stays open until a task other than General exists. A workspace where everything is booked to General cannot report on what the time went to.

5. Assign the people who will do the work

In the Users assigned panel on the project page, pick a person and select Assign. Only assigned people can book time on that project. Tick PM to make someone its project manager, which is what gives a manager any rights over it.

You can also work the other way round, from Users, using the Link user to projects action to tick several projects at once.

6. Invite the rest of the team

New people are added under Users with Create user, and receive an email with a link that sets their password. See inviting your team, and roles and permissions for what each role can reach.

This can wait. One person, one project and one task is enough to start tracking.

7. Track the first hour

Open Timesheets. Everything above shows up here as a project and task to book against. See entering time on your timesheet.

What to turn on afterwards

Timers, expenses, invoicing, approvals, reminders and flexfields are modules, and a new workspace has none of them enabled. You switch them on under Company settings on the Enabled modules tab. See turning modules on and off.

If the structure above is not yet obvious, how clients, projects and tasks fit together explains why the hierarchy is shaped this way.