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Creating and publishing a shared configuration

Overview​

  1. Create the clients, projects and tasks you want to share, on the normal Clients, Projects and Tasks pages.
  2. Create a new shared configuration and add those entries to it.
  3. Lock the version to publish it.
  4. Export it and send the file to your team. This is covered in Distributing and updating.

Step 1: Prepare the entries​

A shared configuration does not contain its own separate copy of your clients, projects and tasks to edit. It refers to the entries you already have. So start by setting them up as described in Clients, projects and tasks.

tip

Double check that all data for the shared configuration is correct. You can still change it while the version is a draft, but once it is published, even a small change like updating a client name will require publishing a new version for everyone.

Step 2: Create the configuration​

  1. Click Shared Configurations in the sidebar.
  2. Click New Configuration.
  3. Enter a Name, for example the name of the project or team.
  4. Enter a Version. It is set to 1 by default. You can use any text, but each version of a configuration must have a different version name.
  5. Click Create.

A card for the new configuration appears. It is marked Not yet published and Editing draft v1.

Step 3: Add entries​

  1. Click in the search box "Search clients, projects, and tasks to add".
  2. Type part of an ID, name, description or label. Matching clients, projects and tasks are listed, each marked with its type.
  3. Click an entry to add it.

Repeat for everything you want to share. Added entries are listed on the card. To remove one, click the X next to it.

tip

Adding a task does not add its project, and adding a project does not add its client or its tasks. Add each entry you want to share. If you share a task but not its project, the people you send it to will have the task without its project, and the dashboard cannot group their time by project.

Editing entries while the draft is open​

While the draft is open, the entries in the configuration are not locked, even if they were part of an earlier published version. You can change them on the Clients, Projects and Tasks pages as usual.

The draft always shows the current values of its entries. There is no need to remove and add an entry again after changing it.

Name and version​

Below the list of entries you can change the configuration's Name and the draft's Version. The change is saved when you click outside the field. If you pick a version name that has been used before in this configuration, Tracer shows a warning and keeps the old name.

Step 4: Lock the version​

When the draft is complete, click Lock version.

The draft becomes a published version. The card now shows a chip with the version number, for example version 1, and lists the entries in this version. The entries are locked on your Clients, Projects and Tasks pages too, just as they will be for everyone else.

Important

A locked version cannot be edited or unlocked. Check the entries before you lock. If you find a mistake afterwards, create a new version.

Next, export the configuration and send it to your team. See Distributing and updating a shared configuration.

Making changes: creating a new version​

  1. On the configuration's card, click New version.
  2. Enter a new, unique Version name, for example 2.
  3. Click Continue.

A new draft is created. It starts with the same entries as the latest published version. The card switches back to editing mode, and the entries are unlocked so you can change them.

Add, remove or edit entries as described above, then click Lock version again to publish the new version.

note

You can only have one draft per configuration at a time. The New version button is only shown when no draft is open, and only to the owner.

Deleting a configuration​

Click Delete on the card and confirm. This removes the configuration and its version history from your browser only. It does not affect the copies your colleagues have loaded, and the clients, projects and tasks it contained stay in your lists, unlocked.

caution

If you are the owner and delete a configuration, you can no longer create new versions of it, unless you import its exported file again with the same profile. To be safe, keep the last exported file and your regular backups.