Octaved Flow Blog

April 25th, 2024

New feature Project planning - bar extension for planning outside a work package

• If the tasks are planned outside the work package, the actual duration of the work package is shown in brackets.
• This makes it possible to see the actual duration of the work package, even when the work package is collapsed.

New feature Project planning - New columns for Type and Done

• The type can be displayed in the column between the name and the start, so that you can see at a glance whether it is a project, sub-project, work package or task.
• For work packages and tasks, the status done is displayed as a green tick.
• Note: Columns can be shown and hidden using the icon marked with the yellow arrow.

New feature Project planning - Additional zoom factor 150%

• There is a new zoom factor of 150% in the zoom setting at the bottom right of the project planning.
• On many monitors, 100% is often too small and 200% shows too short a time window.
• Our customers have therefore requested a zoom factor in the middle.

New feature Project planning - always show bar labels

• You can now set the bar labels to always be visible.
• Previously the bar labels were only displayed when the table on the left was collapsed.
• Especially when viewing large projects on a large monitor, it is very tiring for the eyes to follow a straight line to the left of the table in order to recognise the name of the bar.
• With the new feature, the label can always be displayed right next to the bar.
• This setting is made in the View menu.

New feature Team planning - Dynamic display of bar info

• To display the customer, project and sub-project to which a bar belongs, simply move the mouse over the bar.
• In large projects it is often difficult to tell which project or sub-project a bar belongs to.
• The bar info is displayed via the View menu.

April 18, 2024

New feature: Archiving projects, sub-projects and work packages

• Projects, sub-projects and work packages can now be archived.
• The option to archive work packages individually is particularly practical. This is helpful if the individual work packages have been completed and billed and you simply want to get them out of the way.
• Sub-projects can also be archived, for example if a certain project phase has been completed and is no longer being processed.

New feature: Individual options for previous status

• The status options have been improved to implement the new archiving function while keeping the operation logical and simple.
• The screenshots show the old (left) and new (right) functionality side by side.
• Locked - The existing Locked status has been optimized. It can now be clicked on individually, but otherwise retains its original function. With this status, both parts of a project and the entire project can still be temporarily put on hold and blocked for further time bookings.
• The previous status Not yet open is removed and replaced by Locked. Originally, not yet open was intended for the time between quotation and order placement. The status Locked can now be used instead.
• Approved for billing - The new status option makes it transparent that a work package has been checked and approved for billing. By improving the status options, it is now possible to see whether a work package has been released for billing even after it has been archived.
• Quote - This status has been adopted unchanged.
• Open - The status Open is no longer available as a separate option. A work package is considered Open if it is neither locked nor approved for billing, is not a quote and has not been archived.
• The switch from the old to the new status logic is automatic, so you do not need to do anything else.
• Work packages that have the status Completed are given the status Approved for billing after the conversion.

New feature: Filter for archived elements

• A new option in the filter makes it possible to show archived elements.
• These are no longer displayed by default, but are immediately removed from the view. However, they can be displayed again and accessed via the filter options.

February 29, 2024

New feature Drag & Drop for project time tracking

• Work packages can be dragged onto the time tracking calendar for project time tracking
• The start time is set when you drop
• To set the end, drag at the bottom of the time booking
• The entire time booking with start and end time can be dragged up or down with the mouse using the square handle
• It is also possible to click on the work package and enter the times manually in the detailed view on the right-hand side or select them from the defaults

Automatic docking

• Time bookings via drag & drop can lead to economic disadvantages in certain cases
• For this reason, time bookings that start outside the quarter-hour clock automatically dock onto the predecessor
• In this way, profits resulting from rounding to the quarter-hour clock are taken into account
• Note: These rounding gains are visualized in charts in the Controlling menu item
• Automatic docking only works when a time booking is created, but not when it is moved. In this case, docking can be triggered via the 3-point menu.

Creating an "empty" time entry without assigning a work package

• To enable a quick time tracking without selecting a work package beforehand, a time entry can simply be dragged with the mouse in the time booking calendar
• A work package can be assigned to this "empty" time entry by simply dragging and dropping a work package onto this time entry
• If you make a lot of short time bookings, you may find this behavior annoying - even if it is otherwise very useful and has often been requested by our users. Therefore, this behavior can be deactivated via the 3-point menu.

Further improvements

• The filter for the project roles now shows the name of the project role instead of the text "1 entry selected"
• When the path to a work package (consisting of project folder, project, subproject) is displayed in the tile view, the first part is now omitted. This is the name of your own organization, which is not required at this point. It has been removed to save space and for reasons of clarity.
• The missing English translation for the filter My project role has been added

February 22, 2024

New feature Planning simulation

• The planning simulation makes it possible to run through various planning scenarios without changing the actual planning
• At the end, the planning simulation can be discarded or applied. If it is applied, the planning simulation is the actual planning from that moment on.
• A common application scenario is that the sales department is about to acquire an order that is lucrative but under time pressure. The planning simulation can be used to run through various scenarios to determine whether the new order is even feasible.
• Another application scenario is when an employee is ill and options need to be worked out as to how the project deadlines can still be met.

Project and resource planning in parallel

• The planning simulation has an equal impact on project planning and resource planning
• This means that the project progress and resource utilization can be viewed in parallel in the simulation

Multiple planning simulations

• Several planning simulations can be carried out in parallel
• For example, variants can be run through in order to select the best one at the end
• Or different planning simulations can be created as what-if scenarios
• These different planning simulations can be used one after the other and even time-shifted

Improvement Compressed planning view for a better overview

• The project planning has been greatly compressed in height to display more information at once
• We are pleased that our customers are planning and managing ever larger projects with Octaved Flow and are happy to comply with the request for more bars on one page

New feature Copy & Paste for images in the board

• Images can now be copied directly from the clipboard to the board
• Previously, it was only possible to drag & drop image files, for example from the desktop, into the board. Screenshots therefore had to be saved first before they could be inserted using drag & drop.
• With the new feature, images can be created with a screen shot tool (Snipping Tool under Windows), annotated and then pasted directly into the Octaved Flow board
• If there is an image in the clipboard, press Ctrl-V on Windows and Cmd-V on the Mac at the corresponding position in the text. The image is then inserted directly.

Further Improvements

• The project folder is now also displayed in the path in the tile view of the work packages. It is possible for projects in different project folders to have the same name. A clear assignment is only possible if the project folder is also displayed.
• With the newly introduced feature in team planning to plan work packages via drag & drop in one step and simultaneously assign them to a responsible user, the customer name is now also displayed, as the project name alone may not be sufficient for clear identification.

February 08, 2024

New feature Batch tool for responsibilities

• With the batch tool for responsibilities, responsibilities for work packages in a project can be set automatically
• An example of an application scenario is when a user is removed from a project (or becomes ill) and all work packages for which this user is responsible are to be assigned to another user
• The screenshot above shows exactly this example
• In smaller projects, such replacements can usually be solved manually without any problems
• In larger projects with many work packages and many people responsible, manual replacement is too time-consuming. With the batch tool, it is easier, faster and errors are avoided.

• Additional conditions can be defined in advanced mode
• Complete logic editor with AND, OR and NOT for those who also need more complex conditions
• The example above shows a scenario from mechanical engineering and is applicable to all companies that work in an interdisciplinary way
• Michael Pabst is head of the design department
• Although there is also a general project manager, Michael Pabst assigns the employees in his department to the work packages himself
• The design department is (of course) not responsible for all work packages in the project
• The corresponding work packages are identified by assigning Michael Pabst to these work packages with the project role Department Manager
• With the settings in the screenshot above, Michael Pabst assigns his employee Alexander Weiß as the person responsible for all work packages for which his design department is responsible
• The setting for which work packages are completed by the design department was previously stored in a project template
• If the project template becomes a real project, each department manager can assign their employees with one click, see screenshot
• Even if the preparation of the project templates takes some time, the process is then very efficient. The more work packages there are (and the more departments are involved), the more efficient the process is.

Further improvements

• For long project and work package names, the full name is displayed in the detail view when hovering over it with the mouse
• Due to its importance, the menu item Team analysis is now one level higher in the menu and therefore easier to find (now directly under Controlling)
• Avatars of groups have a slightly lighter color and are therefore less dominant compared to user avatars
• In the project menu, "Copy" has been replaced by "Copy project" to avoid confusion with copying to the clipboard. Analog for work packages in the work package menu.
• The selection dialog for a date or a period from/to has been simplified. Switching between day and period is no longer necessary. To select a single day, it is sufficient to click twice on the same date or once on the date and then on OK. This is only a small improvement, but in project management a date is selected very often every day, so that even small improvements add up.

December 19, 2023

New feature Separate setting for responsibility

• This feature changes the type of operation in the area of responsibility in a detail
• Previously, all project roles were defined in one place:

• In future, the responsibility will be defined in a separate area:

• Responsible means that a user added under Responsible is responsible for completing the work package
• Term Executing is omitted. The new terminology is Responsible.
• The change is necessary to ensure simple and transparent functionality for future features
• All data was transferred automatically, manual intervention is not necessary

Improved Project planning with Gantt charts

• New technology for project planning with Gantt charts
• The technical platform is now Canvas
• The development effort for Canvas on our side is many times higher
• The advantage lies in significantly better performance, especially for large and very large projects
• In order to fully utilize the technology, we have reproduced projects with a duration of 30 years
• Nothing has changed in terms of design, function and operation, only the technology in the background has been replaced