6.21. Version 1.10 (April 22, 2008)

This version adds smart timing, better Linux integration and many other improvements. Here's a list with all the changes:

New Features

  • Runs on Linux: Fanurio now integrates with and runs on Linux. We've tested the application on Ubuntu 7.10 with Sun Java 1.5.

    Although a Linux version was available right after we released version 1.9, this release also has a Debian installer and can integrate with the tray. You can read more about the Linux version on our blog.

  • Smart Timing: Smart timing is how Fanurio figures out what you are doing in order to record time accurately. It uses idle time detection and a set of reminders to do that.

    Until now, Fanurio had only idle time notification and one reminder to start the timer. We've added two more reminders, one to resume the timer if it is paused for too long and one to stop it. You can read more about smart timing in this section.

    We've also made the start timer reminder dialog easier to use.

  • New Timer menu: We've added several new timer actions (start, discard, transfer, recover and timer info) and so we've decided to create a Timer menu to hold all timer actions. The new actions make time tracking more flexible.

    • Start... lets you start the timer for a specified project item and attach a description for the task that you are doing. When the timer is stopped, Fanurio will add time to this item with the specified description. The other Start action will simply start the timer without asking where time will be added.

    • Discard lets you discard some of the time recorded by the timer. Lets assume the timer is running for 30 minutes but for 10 minutes you've been on a break. This action lets you discard those 10 minutes.

    • Transfer lets you move some of the time recorded by the timer to a project item. Lets assume the timer is running for 30 minutes but for 10 minutes you've been doing something else. This action lets you discard those 10 minutes from the timer and move them to the project item you've been working on.

    • Info shows some information about the timer when it is running. It also lets you change the project item and the description that will be used to add time when the timer is stopped.

    • Recover lets you recover the last time interval recorded by the timer that wasn't added to a project. If you start the timer and at some point you stop it but you don't add the recorded time to a project by mistake, you'll be able to recover it. Fanurio remembers only the last time interval that wasn't added to a project.

  • View invoiced item: Double-clicking on an invoiced item shows its description and the time log. Previously it wasn't possible to view an invoiced item.

Improvements

  • Unicode support: All exported invoices (HTML or PDF) use the UTF-8 character encoding (Unicode). See this section for more details.

  • Improved Add Time dialog: The Add Time dialog is used to add time to a project item. Until now, you had to select an item and then add time to it. The new Add Time dialog makes it possible to specify both time and a project item for that time.

    You can now use the Business > Add Time menu action to add time to a project item without opening a project first.

  • Copy time: Added a new Copy action in the Time section of the New Item and Edit Item dialogs. This action lets you duplicate a time entry.

  • Replaced the Assign Time dialog: The Assign Time dialog that was used to assign time to a project item when the timer was stopped is no longer used. We are using the new Add Time dialog instead.

    This approach is better for two reasons. 1) we are using the same dialog to assign time whether it is manually or if the timer is stopped and 2) the new Add Time dialog makes it possible to assign time to new items, projects or clients.

  • Redesigned the idle notification dialog: The idle notification dialog had too many options so we've made it simpler. If you are away from the computer for a while and it becomes idle, Fanurio will ask you what you've been doing while away. You have three options:

    1. You've been on a break (coffee, for instance). In this case you should tell Fanurio to discard the away time. This means the idle time will be considered pause time and it will be discarded from the timer.

    2. You've been working on the same thing but not on the computer. In this case you should tell Fanurio to keep the away time.

    3. You've been working on something else (a client called and you had to suspend what you've been doing, for instance). In this case you should tell Fanurio to transfer the away time to some other project item.

  • Timer keyboard shortcuts: The start, pause/resume and stop timer actions no longer have the same keyboard shortcuts. The following table shows the new shortcuts for the timer actions. The new shortcuts will hopefully be easier to remember since F5 is usually used to start something (see Microsoft Powerpoint).

    For more details about the keyboard shortcuts available in Fanurio, please read this section.

    Table 6.1. Timer Keyboard Shortcuts

    Action Old Shortcut New Shortcut
    Start CTRL-D F5
    Pause/Resume CTRL-T F6
    Stop CTRL-D F7

  • Items table sorting: The items table can remember the sorted column between successive launches of the application.

  • Changed Window menu on Mac: Moved the Zoom action from Window > Zoom to View > Switch View for two reasons.

    First, it wasn't obvious that Zoom switches to the iTunes-like mini timer although that's where iTunes puts it and second, the Zoom action should do something else for a Mac application.

  • New invoice date field: The date of the invoice can be specified when an invoice is created. Until now, Fanurio created an invoice only for the current date.

  • New item name: In the New Item dialog, one can double click the name field to select the name of one of the other project items for the new item. Use this feature if you want to create a new item with a name similar to the other items.

  • Default service: You can define a service as default in the Services and Rates section from Business » My Business Details.

  • Create similar project: You can create a project similar to an existing one if you right click on it in the projects tree and select New Similar Project from the popup menu. When you create a similar project, Fanurio will copy all the items without their time log.

Bug Fixes

  • Not displayed correctly when using multiple screens.

  • Fixed Mac OS X 10.5 bug that prevented Fanurio from starting.