Release Notes
HourGlass was first developed in 2001 for internal use by HTC employees. As our branding and Web clients asked about the platform, it became clear that many other companies were still seeking the perfect time tracking and project management solution.
So we launched the publicly-available v2 in 2006. HourGlass has stood the test of time since then, and we are grateful to our users, whose feedback helps us introduce new features with every release.
Current Version
HourGlass is currently on version 3, which has brought 50 new features and functions to the platform. To read more about the updates, consult the Release Notes below.
HourGlass v3 Release Notes
| ID | NAME | TYPE | SUMMARY |
| 1 | One-click Menu System | Usability Upgrade | Directly access any page on the navigation bar by hovering over a section tab, then clicking on the desired second level page. |
| 2 | Microsoft Excel Task Upload Feature | Project Management Upgrade | Enabled Task Manager to receive XML uploads from a Microsoft Excel template to populate and update multiple Tasks at once. |
| 3 | Microsoft Excel Report Exports | Reporting Upgrade | All Reports can now be exported in Microsoft Excel 2007 or Excel 97-2003, as well as HTML. |
| 4 | Task Email Notifications | Project Management Feature | Additional feature allowing managers to notify Employees by email when adding or modifying Tasks. Email notifications are disabled by default, but can be enabled at any time in Preferences. |
| 5 | Applicable Taxes | Administration Upgrade | Created the "Taxes Charged" tab to allow Administrators to specify default Tax information and Tax Numbers to appear on the Billings Report. |
| 6 | Tax Calculations | Billing Feature | Updated the "Add Client" form to select Taxes Charged on a per-client basis. Taxes are then automatically calculated when Billings Reports are generated. |
| 7 | Recurring Charges | Billing Feature | Updated the “Add Project” form to include Recurring Charges. Billings Reports apply the Recurring Charges to Client invoices, as specified for each Project. |
| 8 | Employee Resource Report | Reporting Upgrade | Created a new Report to show which Tasks have been assigned in a per-Employee listing, with hour estimates for completed Tasks and Tasks remaining, for a user-defined period of time. |
| 9 | Employee Billable Ratio Report | Reporting Upgrade | Created a new Employee Billable Ratio Report showing how much time each Employee spent on billable work during the selected time period in the "Time Reports" sub-section. |
| 10 | Delinquent User Alerts | Project Management Feature | Established an alert system whereby managers can opt-in to receive alerts by email when an Employee's Timesheet for the previous day has no entries (weekends are excluded). Delinquent User Alerts are disabled by default, but can be enabled at any time in Preferences. |
| 11 | Task Manager Page Reload | Project Management Upgrade | Improved the presentation of modified Tasks in Task Manager, allowing Tasks to be be added, modified or deleted without full page reload by reloading specific Projects. |
| 12 | Completed Task Alerts | Project Management Feature | Implemented an optional feature notifying managers by email when Employees complete Tasks. Completed Task Alerts are disabled by default, but can be enabled at any time in Preferences. |
| 13 | Wizard Improvements | Usability Enhancement | Established a more streamlined Company set-up process, allowing new users to go through the Wizard more quickly if they are satisfied with the defaults. Improved documentation aids first-time users as they learn to use HourGlass tools. |
| 14 | Automatic End Time | Usability Upgrade | Implemented an automatic function allowing users to submit a Timesheet entry and populate the current time in the "End Time" field simultaneously by pressing the "Enter" key. |
| 15 | Page Loads | Optimization | Reduced loading times by refreshing data by section and not by page. |
| 16 | Licensing and Payments Integration | Administration Upgrade | Introduced new interface to simplify management of Licenses and Payments. |
| 17 | Total Milestone and Task Hours | Project Management Upgrade | Updated Task Manager to display a dynamically-updated total of estimated hours for a Project, indicated below the Milestone description. Milestone estimates are indicated in the Hours column, allowing Project Managers to compare estimates and track budgets. |
| 18 | Feedback System | Feature Enhancement | Updated the HourGlass feedback system to track user inquiries within the system, providing faster response time to feedback. |
| 19 | Excel Exports Retain Formulas | Reporting Upgrade | Formulas are now retained in Microsoft Excel Report export files. |
| 20 | Billing Terms | Billing Feature | Updated the "Add Client" form to include specific Terms. Billings Reports retain the Terms indicated for each Client. |
| 21 | Client Contact Listing Report | Reporting Upgrade | Created a Client Contact Listing Report in the "Administration Reports" section, generating a detailed list of Contacts for all active and/or inactive Clients. |
| 22 | Client Listing Report | Reporting Upgrade | Added a Client Listing Report in the "Administration Reports" section, generating a detailed list of active and/or inactive Clients. |
| 23 | Reports Section Interface Improvement | Usability Upgrade |
Improved the usability of the Reports section by implementing global filters, allowing users to generate multiple reports based on the same selection criteria. |
| 24 | Employee Listing | Reporting Upgrade | Added an Employee Listing Report in the "Employee Reports" section, displaying Employees and their profile information (optional). |
| 25 | Project Listing Report | Reporting Upgrade | Developed a Client Contact Listing Report in the "Administration Reports" section, generating a list of Projects for a user-defined period of time. |
| 26 | Time Reports | Reporting Upgrade | Enhanced presentation of Time Reports, allowing users to filter by Client or Project with the page reloading or moving. |
| 27 | Time and Expense Reports | Reporting Upgrade | Added "Start of Project" date selector to the Reports section. |
| 28 | Licensing Alerts and Notifications | Administration Upgrade | Improved the presentation of Licensing-related warning messages and alerts to notify users when action is required. |
| 29 | List View | Project Management Upgrade | Improved the standard List View in My Tasks, now displaying them in ascending Due Date order and allowing users to sort by column header. |
| 30 | Milestone View | Project Management Upgrade | Added the Milestone View in My Tasks to facilitate viewing Tasks grouped by Milestone. |
| 31 | Task Filtering | Usability Upgrade | Improved Task filtering capabilities by adding the Status filter and enhancing the display of date selectors and current status in My Tasks, Task Manager and Project Reports. |
| 32 | Project Filtering | Usability Upgrade | ‘All Active Projects (with Tasks)’ is the new default filter setting in My Tasks and Task Manager. |
| 33 | Add/Modify Task Pop-ups | Project Management Upgrade | Updated the display of the Add/Modify Tasks pop-ups to improve usability. |
| 34 | Task Modification Tally | Project Management Upgrade | A tally of Task modifications is recorded for each Project. |
| 35 | Delete Confirmations | Usability Upgrade | Added confirmation pop-up to prevent accidental Task deletions. |
| 36 | Task Assignment Improvement | Usability Upgrade | Task Manager now displays "OT" in the listing when "Other" is selected. |
| 37 | Back to Top Links | Usability Upgrade | Added Back to Top links in Task Manager after each Client to improve navigation for longer listings. |
| 38 | Time Zones Adjustment | Usability Upgrade | Enhanced to support multiple time zones, configured on a per-Employee basis in the Preferences section. All Timesheet entries are automatically converted to the curent user's time zone. |
| 39 | Original Time Zone Retention | Usability Upgrade | Implemented the ability to view entries in their original time zone and remove the time zone column if undesired. |
| 40 | Sample Retention | Usability Enhancement |
Sample Rates, Workcodes and Expenses that were available for selection in the Wizard Tutorial remain accessible in the application after setup. |
| 41 | Date and Time Handling | Usability Upgrade | Users can now choose between a 12-hour or 24-hour clock format in which to view and complete Timesheets. |
| 42 | Expense List Update | Project Management Upgrade | Commas now accepted in the Amount field, in addition to decimals. |
| 43 | Calendar Additions | Usability Upgrade | Added calendar to all pages with date fields (pre-populated with current date). |
| 44 | Province/State Selectors | Administration Upgrade | Optimized the interface of the Licenses and Company sub-sections in the Administration section by filtering the Province/State list based on the Country selected. |
| 45 | Full Access/Clear Privileges | Administration Upgrade | Added "Full Access" and "Clear" buttons allowing Administrators to grant or revoke full access privileges to Employees in one click. |
| 46 | Details Entries | Cosmetic Enhancement | Corrected the alignment of long description entries in Timesheets. |
| 47 | New Client and Projects Integration | Administration Upgrade | Created a workflow from adding a Client to adding a Contact and/or a Project. |
| 48 | Task Completion Enhancement | Usability Upgrade | Checking off Tasks as completed no longer reloads the entire page. |
| 49 | Login Page Bookmark | Usability Upgrade | Added the ‘Bookmark this page’ link to the login page, allowing users to save the location easily. |
| 50 | Client and Contact Listings | Usability Enhancement | Reorganized the presentation of Client Contacts and Clients to simplify management. |
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