Coping with Internet Explorer

 

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer gives web developers many headaches due to all kinds of little oddities in its behavior. One those oddities is when Internet Explorer decides that it needs to keep copies of web pages to display to the user instead of getting them from the application you are using.

This is all good and dandy when you are viewing a web page that does not change often, like cnn.com for example. But when you are editing a timesheet and making changes you do not want to see the old timesheet because Internet Explorer decided to be “helpful”. You would want to view the changes immediately as you make them.

In this scenario we have couple of options. The best option is not use Internet Explorer at all and instead use one of the modern alternatives, such as Google Chrome (can be downloaded here) or Firefox (can be downloaded here).

If for some reason you are unable to use a modern browser and need to use Internet Explorer then you will need to tell Internet Explorer to always give you the latest version of the website you are viewing and not its own saved copy.

To do this, you need to go to the Tools menu. Find the “Internet Options” option, typically the last item under the Tools Menu.

Once the Internet Options dialog is open look for Browsing History which is available on the General tab in IE8.

Click the Settings button to open up another dialog. Under the heading Temporary Internet Files choose the option for: “Every time I visit the webpage”.

Click OK on the dialog windows, close your Internet Explorer and restart it and you should start seeing better results.

The following screen shot shows the settings windows in IE 8. If you are using an older version of Internet Explorer then you will need to upgrade or download one of the other browsers mentioned above.

 

After you do the steps above and restart Internet Explorer there is one more step to do once you actually go back and login into SpokeWare. When editing a Timesheet (any Timesheet) for the first time after making those changes you will need to click the Ctrl and F5 keys together to force Internet Explorer to refresh its stored copies of the webpages.

A New Release of SpokeWare is Available

 

We are excited to announce a new release of SpokeWare available as of March 27th, 2011.

Highlights of the changes are listed below.

Time Sheet Edit Screen

• Improved OT Processing:

• When manually adding a punch to a timesheet that causes the worked hours to go over 40 hours for the week OT calculations are now automatically performed and OT hours are added to the timesheet.

• Improved Punch Hour Display

• The hours display when entering punch information was realigned for easier use and the hours are now displayed using the AM/PM designation.

• Ability to Add Per Unit Amounts

• Clients that track per unit amounts, for example number of rooms cleaned, can now enter those amounts into the timesheet. Simply change the selected earning in the Earning drop down to an earning that handles units (such as number of rooms) and the entry form will hide the punch information grid and display the amount entry field. Enter the number of units and click Add Entry and your units will be saved into the timesheet and will be imported into your payroll when you import the timesheet.

• Ability to Add Dollar Amounts

• Similarly clients that track dollar amounts for earnings such as cash tips can enter those amounts in the timesheet. Simply chose an eligible earning from the Earning drop down and the Amount field will be available to enter the amount. That data will be added to the timesheet and later imported into the payroll eliminating the need for double entry.

• Job Drop Downs Default to Employees Position

The location drop down in the Job description now defaults to the employee’s location. Similarly for the Department and Job drop downs. This enable’s Managers to quickly add entries to a timesheet while reducing the chances for errors.

• Earning Drop Down Defaults to Regular Hourly Earning

Similarly the Earning drop down now defaults to the Employee’s default hourly earning. This helps in eliminating mistakes and speeds up data entry process.

• Managers can now view multiple locations

A manager that has access to more than one location can now assign the timesheet earnings to a different location. If you have access to more than one location they will all be available in the drop down. If you need access please contact your friendly support representative and we will assign you access after verifying the request.

• Timesheets now allow for updating earning codes in place

 

Due to popular demand Managers can now change a timesheet entry’s Job (location, department, job) and/or Earning code simply by overriding those values from the appropriate drop down and clicking the Update button.

Tip: if you find that the screen is too wide for your display you can reduce the font size in your browser. On most modern browser this can be achieved simply by pressing and holding the Ctrl and – (minus) keys together.

 

 

Reporting Changes

• Managers can Re-Open Approved Timesheets

The Open and Approved Timesheets report is a very handy report that can be accessed by navigating to TLM –> Reports –> Open and Approved Timesheets

This report lists all available timesheets that are either open or approved but have not been imported into payrolls as of yet.

The report has the unique feature in that it allows a manager to view timesheets on the screen in a compact fashion yet when it is printed it prints each timesheet on a separate page along with place holders for employee and manager signatures. This allows for employees to verify the hours before the manager submits the timesheet to payroll.

Every now and then a manager would inadvertently approve a timesheet and would need it re-opened. As of this release, this report now adds the ability for the manager to Open Approved timesheets right from the report. It also allows the manager to approve Open timesheets right from the report.

This allows the managers to undo Approvals without having to contact support and at the time time provides a single location where a manager can go over timesheets with employees and approve en mass.

To approve a timesheet click on the Open Status and you will be prompted to confirm before it is approved. To open a timesheet click on the Approved status and you will be prompted to confirm before it is re-opened.

 

If you have any questions or feedback you can always contact us at Support@OAESoftware.com