New features in Replicon

Timesheet & Time Off

• Modification History timesheet component
• New Submission Failed timesheet status
• Updates to timesheet population
• Improved Replicon task selector

Project, Billing, & Costing

• Mass move time utility in Replicon
• Configurable assignment of All Users to new projects
• Ability to automatically assign new project team members to all tasks
• Limiting who can be assigned to a project team, by group

Other

• Quick access landing page
• Attendance Monitoring component
• User Access Details report
• Configurable decimal/grouping separator
• New Replicon uptime and incident status page
• User dynamic custom fields
• Short Time Entry ID field available in Time Workbench file formats
• Custom value separator options for imports

Administrators can now enable a new Modification History component in timesheets that shows who, besides the timesheet owner, modified the timesheet. This is particularly useful if you plan to use the new move time utility, so users know who made changes to their timesheet.

You can enable this feature in the Timesheet History section of timesheet templates; you’ll also now use this section to configure the Approval History component, as previewed on Mar 8.

We’ve finished rolling out the Submission Failed timesheet status in Replicon and Polaris which we previewed on Dec 7 and Mar 9.

This new status is available in configurable timesheets and on timesheet list pages, and displays whenever submission fails due to a validation error or workflow condition. It helps make troubleshooting submission failures easier.

On the My Replicon, Team, Billing, Costing, and Payroll list pages, the new status is accompanied by a tooltip that explains the error. You can correct the timesheet and attempt to submit it again; the status displays until the timesheet is resubmitted.

Note that:

• Users will need to refresh the timesheet page to see the updated status
• To keep timesheet statuses consistent, timesheets that allow submission of individual entries will now submit successfully even if they include unsubmitted entries
• Not submitted status still applies to failures due to other causes, like system or permission errors, and in reports and in the Payroll and Time Workbench
  
  

Renamed Overwrite With button

We’ve updated the Overwrite With button in timesheets to be called Quick Fill With, to more accurately reflect the fact that copied entries can be appended to existing entries without replacing them. We previewed this change on Dec 15.

Ability to limit which quick fill options are available on timesheets

We’ve added the ability to limit which fill options are available on timesheets. By default, all population methods are available when the user clicks the Quick Fill With button on their timesheets. You can, however, override the default and choose which methods are available for each timesheet template using the Administration > Timesheets > Timesheet Templates page.

Updates to quick fill confirmation messages

When a user elects to quick fill their timesheet, the confirmation message that displays now shows the name of the population method in use. This can be especially helpful if you’re using custom population methods.

Also, for each population method, administrators can now choose how the confirmation message will be phrased, to reflect the configuration of custom methods, via the Administration > Timesheets > Timesheet Population Methods page.

You can find more information on these updates on this help topic: Setting up timesheet autofill and quick fill population methods.

We've upgraded our updated task selector in the Replicon and Polaris web apps, and in Replicon Mobile.

Upgrades to the task selector include:

• An improved search algorithm
• Improved search performance
• Better results sorting
• Advanced filter fields
• Favorites functionality
• Display of recent searches
• Customizable layout of tasks and projects in the timesheet grid
• Search All capability in Replicon Mobile (was already available in the web apps)

We’ve fully rolled out the mass move time utility that we previewed on Nov 5. Using this tool, billing and cost managers can instantly move time from one task to another, and one project to another, without having to open, update, save, and approve each affected timesheet individually.

The Move Time button can be accessed from Billing > Timesheets and Cost > Timesheets list pages.

Note:

• Cost and billing managers need Move Time between Projects permission enabled to use this feature.
• This utility does not validate the data you move; therefore, be sure affected users are assigned to the target project or task and that you’ve selected the appropriate billing rate before moving time.
• Time can’t be moved between User’s Choice projects.

For more information using this feature, refer to Mass moving time from one project or task to another.

Configurable assignment of all users to new projects

In the past, when you created a new project in Replicon, All Users were automatically assigned to it. If you only wanted a sub-set of resources to have access to the project, you had to manually remove the All Users option.

This was annoying for those customers who, for most projects, didn’t want to grant access to all users.

Now, we’re giving you a choice. You can leave this setting as is if, for most of your projects, all users need access. Or, you can choose to have no users assigned to all new projects.

This is a system-level setting, configurable on the Project Settings page, that applies to all new projects.

Ability to automatically assign new project team members to all tasks

Previously, project managers had to manually assign new team members to each task, which was time-consuming, especially on large projects.

Now, project managers can choose to assign any new resources to all existing tasks, on a per project basis. This ensures new resources can enter time against all of a project’s tasks.

To enable this feature for a project, you'll need to go to the Project Info page, and select Assign them to all tasks in the When Adding Team Members field.

Limiting who can be assigned to a project team, by group

We’ve finished rolling out our limiting team assignments by group feature, which we previewed on Sep 22. Project managers can now specify the groups (locations, divisions, etc) whose members can be assigned to a project team.

This feature makes finding appropriate resources quicker and easier, and reduces the risk of setup errors.

PMs will need Team Restrictions permission to use this feature. Once permission is enabled, new Assign Team From group fields will display on the Project Info page. From those fields, the PM can select the groups whose users can be assigned to the project.

This new option is available in our TimeBill Plus, Project Portfolio Management, Professional Services Automation, and ProjectTime Plus products.

Note that:

• This new feature replaces the old option that allowed a PM to only add groups to which they were assigned to project teams
• On the Project Info page, the pre-existing fields that limit who can access the project are now grouped under a Project Belongs to label, as we mentioned on Oct 20
  
  

We’ve now finished rolling out our new landing page, which we previewed on Apr 13. This page provides approvers and end users with shortcuts to key features, like timesheets and pending approvals, and useful information, like time off balances and Replicon’s help system.

Administrators can also set a custom help link that will be available on this page, in end user permission sets.

Users can choose whether this new page displays each time you log in to Replicon, via the > Settings > Preferences page.

And, you can always access this new page by clicking the icon, located in the top menu.

As part of the new landing page, we’ve rolled out a new Attendance Monitoring component available to all shift managers and schedule managers, which we previewed on Jul 11,

Using this component, managers can monitor shift attendance in real-time, allowing them to quickly identify lates and absences, and find suitable replacements. They can also track who’s on a break and who’s working, and add missed punches.

We’ve finished launching our new User Access Details report template in Replicon, that shows a full history of who accessed the Replicon web app or Replicon Mobile and when, and from what IP address.

Configurable decimal/grouping separator

International users who want to use a number format that doesn't correspond to their language setting in Replicon, can now choose from one of three number formats:

• The format that’s the default for the selected language
• 1,234.56
• 1.234,56

For example, those are accustomed to using business software in English, can still choose to use the number format that’s standard to their region.

New Replicon uptime and incident status page

We've launched a new Replicon system status page located at https://status.replicon.com/.

You can visit this page to view uptime stats by ‘swimlane’ (swimlanes are where Replicon tenants are hosted), along with details of any incidents that may have disrupted Replicon service.

You can also use this page to subscribe to be notified about any new incidents via email, text, Slack, feed, or webhook.

If you want to access status details programmatically, we also offer an API integration that provides status information.

Refer to How can I check the uptime status for Replicon? for more details.

User dynamic custom fields

We now offer a dynamic version of user custom fields, in addition to the existing fixed user custom fields, in Replicon.

Unlike with fixed fields, you can add as many dynamic fields as you want. Plus, you can attach files to user dynamic custom fields.

Like fixed user fields, dynamic user custom fields display on the main page of user profiles.

You can set them up at Administration > Employees and Organization > User Settings.

Refer to Creating custom fields for more information.

Custom value separator options for imports

You can now choose to use a different multiple value separator when using the data import feature, in case your data includes the default pipe separator. This option is available by clicking the Settings icon on the import page.

Note that, currently, only the pipe separator works for task and group hierarchy imports.

Short Time Entry ID field available in Time Workbench file formats

We now offer a new Short Time Entry ID field for inclusion in Time Workbench exports. This 20-digit numeric value is useful in systems that don’t support the complexity of our existing Time Entry ID column.

Note that this field only supports time entries; it does not support time off and punches.