As we launch our third release of 2022, we remain focused on your feedback. Throughout Q1 we have had the opportunity to meet with many of you to hear about areas that we can streamline or add functionality to increase your efficiency. Our March release is all about adding personalized experiences for BigTime users, including project templates, custom timesheet fields, Dark Mode, and more. These features will continue to streamline the user experience and ensure that your BigTime workspace matches your workflow.
In addition to these great features, we are also excited to launch a new way to interact with the BigTime product team in our new Resource Center. This new Resource Center allows for you as administrators to enter your feature request directly from the application. You can also see the status of the request live in your own personalized portal. This is just one of the many ways we will continue to ensure your voice is heard and that we are transparent with what is on our roadmap.
March 2022 Release Highlights
Core Solution
- User-defined UI – Dark Mode
- Ability to add custom timesheet fields
- Project templates
- Character limit countdown on time/expense notes
Reporting
- Payroll/overtime report
- Timestamp on project’s modified date field
- Custom timesheet fields (reports & configurable grids)
BigTime Resource Center
- Product announcements
- Feedback portal
Core Solution
User-defined UI – Dark Mode
Dark mode is here! Many BigTime users are used to using Dark Mode across other devices and platforms in both their professional and personal lives, such as when developers are coding or when employees are communicating via Slack. People often find it easier to read in Dark Mode, and it’s important to us that our users are able to work as comfortably as possible within BigTime. Dark mode can also help reduce eye glare, strain, dryness, and fatigue, and is a better contrast for orange, yellow, and green (colors frequently used in charts and graphs).
Dark Mode is now available on a per-user basis as long as the firm has switched to Vibrant Mode. Each user can enable this from their personal profile settings.
Click on the person icon at the top right > click My Profile > under the Profile tab, select Dark > Save > refresh the screen to see your interface update
Ability to add custom timesheet fields
Custom fields can now be created and included as part of the timesheet entry configuration. This will allow you to further personalize your timesheets and ensure you are capturing any additional data necessary that may not be included in the standard fields provided.
Like other fields on the timesheet, a custom field can be added as part of the timesheet row or as a detailed field. Additionally, it can be configured as a required field, forcing the user to input a value prior to saving the time entry.
Project templates
Project templates will speed up the basic project creation process immensely, allowing users in BigTime to be more efficient in their day-to-day activities. These templates provide firms with the opportunity to create a baseline for those projects that often have the same tasks, teams, rates, general settings, and so on. When creating new projects, the templates can be applied and the projects will inherit any of the settings from the selected template.
A firm can create as many templates as they need, assuming there are many “types” of projects that are created. For example, a building design project may have a different set of phases and billing rates compared to a site development project. Simple settings can also be configured in the templates, like cost centers and custom fields.
Once the templates are created, any user who has the ability to create new projects will be able to select a template within the +Add Project modal, which will apply any of the data configured on the template to the new project.
Character limit countdown on time/expense notes
BigTime allows for 1000 characters on the time and expense entry notes field. The character limit countdown has been added on the entry screen and in the edit entry details modal so a user knows exactly how many characters they have remaining. This will keep the user informed and help prevent any over entry that could result in losing important notes after the character limit is reached.
Reporting
Payroll/overtime report
A new system report has been added to the report center called Total Hours by Staff Member (Input vs. Capacity). This will be especially useful when running payroll. You will be able to see all hours for a specified period while identifying any overtime hours. This will be based on the staffer’s capacity as set in their staff profile.
Timestamp on project’s modified date field
This is an enhancement to an existing field, allowing more insight into when a change was made. In the Project Details field section within reporting, there is a field allowing users to see the date when a Project was last modified (field label = modified date). A timestamp is now included as a part of this field, so a user can see exactly what time that project was modified.
Custom timesheet fields (reports & configurable grids)
With the addition of being able to add custom fields to the timesheet, these fields will be available to add to any time type reports. These fields will appear under the time, general field section.
These fields will also be available to include on any grids in BigTime that include time data. For example, on the staffers time history tab, project list timesheet history, invoice time detail, etc.
BigTime Resource Center
Product announcements
Last but not least, the launch of our new Resource Center exclusively for BigTime Administrators is here. The Resource Center will be located in the bottom right-hand corner of the application and will provide the ability to see individual write-ups and links for each new feature released along with providing the ability to submit product feedback within your BigTime environment!
Feedback portal
Here at BigTime, we take product feedback extremely seriously. We believe that listening to you, our customers, team members, and prospects, and ensuring those ideas and those voices are represented in the projects we choose to invest in is a sure-fire way to build a better product. We use your feedback to identify the most important features, ideas, pain points, and opportunities so that you can get more value from our product as efficiently as possible.
Submitting your feedback couldn’t be simpler. Within your BigTime environment, simply look for the teal icon in the lower left corner of your screen to access the Resource Center. Once open, simply select the Share Feedback option to be directed to the feature request form. In addition to submitting requests, this new feature also gives you a personalized link to see all of your requests and their status, along with the new ability to vote and follow requests made by other BigTime administrators. By submitting or voting on a request, you become attached to the request and will get updates as the request moves through our product management pipeline and into the product.
We’re really proud of the enhancements and features we have planned for the rest of the year, and we want your feedback on all of it! From early focus groups to pilot programs, we welcome your participation as we continue to evolve the BigTime solution. If you’re interested in having your voice influence our design, please reach out to us at product@bigtime.net.
