Setting up time tracking

A tab of type TimeTracking adds time tracking to the app: Clock in, Break and Clock out at the push of a button, manual entries through a form, a list for today and a week overview. Every recorded time is a row in a Grid of your ApptiveGrid account.

Your staff needs no access to the Space holding the times. The app works through shared links only: a view for reading, a form for creating and one edit link per row for changing. Everyone sees only their own times, and you keep the evaluation in the Grid.

What you need

Building block	Where	Purpose
Grid with the time entries	time-tracking Space	Stores the times
Form on the Grid	time-tracking Space	Creates entries, also used for changes
Filtered, shared view	time-tracking Space	Delivers a person's own entries to the app
Flow "create edit link"	time-tracking Space	Makes break and clock out possible
Tabs row of type TimeTracking	team Space	Shows the tab in the app

The time-tracking Space can be a Space of its own that only you can see. That is the recommended setup.

1. The Grid

Create a Grid with these fields. Names are up to you, the Keys must match exactly. → Assigning keys

Field Key	Field type	Required	Description
start	Date and time	yes	Start of the working time
end	Date and time	yes	End of the working time; empty while it is running
breakMinutes	Number	yes	Sum of the breaks in minutes
breakStart	Date and time	yes	Start of a running break; otherwise empty
editLink	Weblink	yes	Edit link of the row, written by the flow
note	Text	no	Note, for example "client meeting"
createdBy	Created by	yes	Set automatically; the view filters on it

Further fields such as project or attachments may live in the Grid; the app leaves them untouched.

Net hours in the Grid

A formula column such as (end - start) - breakMinutes gives you the net working time right in the Grid – for evaluations and exports, without touching the app.

2. The form

Create a form on the Grid with the fields start, end, breakMinutes, breakStart and optionally note. Share it restricted to Any registered user: that way each entry records the signed-in person as "Created by".

The flow in the next step uses the same form for the edit links. → Sharing a form

3. The view

Create a view on the Grid, filter on Created by is the signed-in user and show all fields from step 1. Share the view via link, again for signed-in users only. → Sharing a view

The filter is evaluated on the server. Through the same link, every person receives only their own rows.

4. The flow

Without an edit link the app cannot change a row; break and clock out stay locked. A flow creates the link automatically:

Trigger: entry created                  (Grid from step 1)
   ↓
Pre-filled form link                    (form from step 2)
   ↓
Update entry                            → field editLink = created link

Activate the flow. After clocking in, the app shows "Syncing with ApptiveGrid …" until the link is in the row, usually a few seconds. → Editing entries via form

A forgotten flow is the most common mistake

If the app keeps syncing after clocking in, the flow is not active or writes to a different field. Check the row for a value in editLink.

5. The tabs row

In the team Space, add a row to the tabs Grid:

Field Key	Value
title	for example "Times"
icon	single-colour SVG
type	TimeTracking
uri	the link of the shared view
formUri	the link of the form

formUri is a new Weblink field in the tabs Grid. Add it if it is missing, and add TimeTracking to the Single Select of type. → Setting up tabs

Times inside the team Space

If the times live in the team Space itself and members may see the Grid, point gridUri at the Grid or view instead of uri. formUri is still needed. If both are set, gridUri wins.

How the app works

• Clock in immediately creates a row without an end. The timer keeps running on all of the person's devices, even after restarting the app.
• Break stores its start in breakStart; End break adds the minutes to breakMinutes. Breaks are rounded to whole minutes.
• Clock out sets the end. Net time is end minus start minus breaks.
• Manual entries via the plus button may be on any date. Editing is only possible for today's entries; there is no deleting in the app, corrections happen in the Grid.
• After six hours without a break a hint reminds of the break.
• The app shows its texts in the device language (German or English) and uses the team Space's primary colour.

If something is missing

The app names missing field keys right in the tab, together with the fields the view or form actually delivers. If breakStart is missing in the form, for example, this shows up as a message after the first clock in.

Symptom	Cause
No tab in the app	Tabs row incomplete: type, uri or formUri missing, or the icon is not an SVG
"Missing field keys: …" when opening	Field missing in the view or without a key
"Saving failed" with missing keys after clocking in	Field missing in the form
Permanently "Syncing with ApptiveGrid …"	Flow not active or editLink not visible in the view
Someone sees other people's times	View not filtered on "Created by is the signed-in user"

Next

• Setting up tabs
• Editing entries via form
• Sharing a view
• Tips and troubleshooting