Getting Started

Introduction

The minimum number of steps to begin using the Calendar & planning module is briefly described below. These steps are a basic introduction to the structure and use of the application, but this is not a complete guide for complete implementation of the Calendar & planning module. For a more complete understanding of the module, please consult other available documentation and online help

Three types of calendar items

In the Calendar and planning module, we distinguish between three different types of calendar items:

• General calendar items
• Planning items
• Appointment items

For general calendar items, we only need an employee, but for appointment items we also need contacts (customers) and optionally, contact persons. For planning items we need all of the above plus projects, project elements and resources.

Create an employee

After a fresh installation there is one administrator user present in the system with login code "ADMIN". In the page "Calendar/Planning > Administration> Employee” new employees can be entered. The following fields are the mandatory fields that must be entered for a new employee.

employee code

The employee code is also the login code of the employee. The maximum length of this field is 50 characters and the code should only contain numbers, letters, hyphens and underscores. The employee code is used throughout the application for the identification and selection of employees. Make sure that the code is a readable, useful code for all users of the system.

employee name

The employee name is the actual name of the employee.

password

This is the password of the employee with which the employee, in conjunction with the employee code, can use to log into the system.

group

The group to which an employee is assigned determines what that person sees after logging into the application. By default, two groups "ADMIN" and "USER" are included.  Which screens employees in a particular group will see can be set in " Calendar/Planning > Settings> Authorization Groups".  It is possible to create new groups and to assign pages to it. New groups are created in the " Calendar/Planning > Administration> Groups” page.

General calendar items

At this point, it is already possible to add General calendar items using the “Calendar/Planning > Calendar > Month calendar” and the “Calendar/Planning > Calendar > Planner” screen.

Calendar privileges

In the “Calendar/Planning > Settings > Calendar privileges” page for each user the privilege in regard to the calendar items can be set.

Figure 1 Calendar privileges page

Create a customer

A new customer can be created in the screen " Calendar/Planning > Administration> Customers". The following fields are required and must be entered when creating a new customer.

customer code

The customer code is similar in function to the employee code. The maximum length is 50 characters and the code should only contain numbers, letters, hyphens and underscores. Again, the code is used throughout the application for indicating and selecting customers. Make sure that the customer code is a readable, useful code for all users of the system.

customer name

This is the real name of the customer. When sending a mailing (Contact management module) or when creating invoices (Invoicing module) this is the name that will appear in the mailing.

location

This is the city name of the postal address.

Create a contact person

Contact persons in the Calendar & planning module are only used when entering Appointment items to the month calendar or planner. This step can be skipped if this type of calendar item will not be used.

A new contact person can be created in the screen " Calendar/Planning > Administration> Contact persons". The following fields are required and must be entered when creating a new contact person.

customer

This is a dropdown list of all available customers, created in the previous step. A customer must be selected before a new contact person can be added.

surname

The surname field can also be used for entering other extra contact information in combination with the “none” value for gender. This can be convenient for storing values like “financial department” or “helpdesk” that are not actual contact persons but that can be treated like contact persons for the Appointment items.

first name

When the contact person is not used for actual persons we can, for example, just enter a “-“ character.

gender

The male, female and unknown speaks for themselves. The none value can be used if the we use the contact person page for storing values like “financial department” or “helpdesk” that are not actual contact persons but that can be treated like contact persons for the Appointment items.

status

Contact persons with the closed status cannot be used for making new appointments but the person will still be visible in appointment items previously created.

Appointment items

At this point it is possible to add Appointment items using the “Calendar/Planning > Calendar > Month calendar” and the “Calendar/Planning > Calendar > Planner” page.

Appointment privileges

In the “Calendar/Planning > Settings > Appointment privileges” page the privileges in regard to the appointment items can be set for each user.

Figure 2 Appointment privileges page

Create a project

A new project can be created in the "Calendar/Planning > Administration> Projects" and “Calendar/Planning > Administration > Projects++” pages. The following fields are required and must be entered when creating a new project.

customer

This is a dropdown list of all available customers, created in one of the previous steps. A customer must be selected before a project can be created.

project code

The project code is similar to the employee and customer code. The maximum length is 50 characters and the code should only contain numbers, letters, hyphens and underscores. The project code is used throughout the application for indicating and selecting projects. Make sure that the code is a readable, useful code for all users of the system.

project name

This is the name of the project. This name is used in invoices (Invoicing module), and other areas of the application where the short code is not used.

type

Type defines if the project has a definitive end date or if it is an ongoing project. Type "project" means a project has a set start and end date. This is as opposed to the "ongoing" type, where no end date is set.

status

The status defines the current state of the project, and is broken down into three different categories. The status of the project is set to "in progress" by default, indicating that the project is currently ongoing. Projects that will take place in the future can be set to the "in preparation" status. Finally, projects that have been completed should be set to the "closed" status.

Create project elements for the project

Project elements are created in the "Calendar/Planning > Administration > Project elements” and “Calendar/Planning > Administration > Projects++” pages. Project elements are separate activities or phases of a project. The following fields are required and must be entered before a project element can be created.

project

This is a dropdown list of all available projects. The project that was created in previous step can be selected here.

element code

The element code is similar to the project code in its use. The maximum length is 50 characters and the code should only contain numbers, letters, hyphens and underscores. The Element code is used throughout the application for the identification and selection of project elements. The project and project element codes indicate where the user should record their hours on the timesheet page. Make sure that the code is a readable, useful code for all users of the system.

project name

This is the name of the project element and is used in invoices (Invoicing module) for the description of the invoicing lines.

status

The status defines the current state of the project element, and is broken down into three different categories. The status of the project element is set to "in progress" by default, indicating that the project element is currently ongoing. Project elements that will take place in the future can be set to the "in preparation" status and project elements that are completed should be set to the "closed" status.

Create resources

In this step, the project elements are connected to the employees. Only after an employee is linked to a project element can the employee register hours for that project element. This connection in MPO is called a "resource". Resources can be created on the screens "Calendar/Planning > Admin> Resources” and “Calendar/Planning > Admin > Projects++”.

project - project element

This is a dropdown list containing all of the available project elements. The project element created in the previous step can be selected here.

employee

In this field, select the employee that should be allowed to register hours for this project element.

status

The default status of a resource is set to "in progress". Resources that will be used in the future should have the status "in preparation" and resources that are no longer in use should have the status "closed".

Planning items

At this point it is possible to add Planning items using the “Calendar/Planning > Calendar > Month calendar” and the “Calendar/Planning > Calendar > Planner” page.

Planning privileges

In the “Calendar/Planning > Settings > Planning privileges” page for each user the privilege in regard to the planning items can be set.

Figure 3 Planning privileges page