New this version!!

- Refinements to Gantt to allow for no start/end dates (More refines to come in 4.5.2!)
- Minor Gantt design changes including draggers, coloured bars.
- Basecamp Import refinements
- iCal bug fixes
- Fix to Quotes

Feedback? Please let us know via info@copperproject.com or via the Community

OK, this will be the last minor update for a while, we’re going to spend some time beefing up our support systems, building tailored solutions for our enterprise customers, building new major features for the core product, adding integrations with Google Docs, Freshbooks, Xero and others, and fleshing out our Help section!

Hosted customers will already see this build as current, and self-hosted license customers will receive notification when this build is ready to download. New this version!!

- Minor bug fix on Search
- Delete dialogue now appears centre of screen, not at top (where it can sometimes be missed)
- Fixed PDF generation issues with alternate currencies
- Fix formatting issue on Task View
- Improvements to Task Allocator to not freak out when there are no start/end dates
- Fixes on New Folder in Files
- Fixes to CSS when Parent item is opened (Child items had quirks, but don’t all Children!)
- Further improvements under the hood to improve load times
- Background provision for new People module.

Feedback? Please let us know via info@copperproject.com or via the Community

Hosted customers will already see this build as current, and self-hosted license customers will receive notification when this build is ready to download. New this version!!

- Fix to iCal sync
- Fix to Actual/Logged Hours calculations
- Fix to some Files functions (more to come)
- Improvements under the hood to improve load times
- Refinements to Alerts System

If you’re a customer and would like to be a beta tester for new features as they first become available, please let us know via info@copperproject.com

Hosted customers will already see this build as current, and self-hosted license customers will receive notification when this build is ready to download. New this version!!

- Redesign of Budgets/Quotes to allow for better Quoting/Invoicing
- Removed Status column for invoices (this will be reintroduced later)
- Fix for Task Ordering issue (was still sorting New Tasks to top after refresh. Fixed)
- Addition of Spanish Language Pack
- Improvements under the hood to improve load times
- Refinements to Alerts System

If you’re a customer and would like to be a beta tester for new features as they first become available, please let us know via info@copperproject.com

We’re underway with the next version update for Copper, and we’re working on something that we really want some feedback on, for the first time in about seven years we’re going to overhaul the permissions model. We think its really going to simplify things, and allow us to bring you a host of new resource management tools that will blow your socks off.

Why are we doing this? To make things simpler for everyone, easier to learn, easier to support. One of the consistent pieces of feedback we get is that the Copper permissions model is too confusing, and I agree with this entirely. So, we’re going to take the lead from operating system permissions models.

In essence, a good project management software tool should allow you to manage two hemispheres:
1. A bunch of stuff that needs to get done
2. A bunch of people that can get it done.

It should be simple enough to create and maintain a series of projects/tasks, review the progress of same, and it should also be simple enough to create and maintain a series of people/organizations, and review the workload of same. In this way you know where a PROJECT is at, but also where a PERSON is at.

The current access model in Copper allows you to give a user or a group read/write/deny access to a Module (i.e. what a user sees), a Client (with this they see all projects), a Project (with this they see all tasks), and also allows you to allocate users to a Task (they see this task in To Do). If a user is in a group they adopt the groups permissions. For the most part this works, but then there are Client/Project/Task owners, an Admin user (who has access to everything). Also, there are a whole bunch of ‘People’ or ‘Group’ objects in Copper that further complicate matters, including User, Contact, Group, Client, Account manager, Project Owner, Project Participant, Task Owner, and Task Allocatee. Woah! There should just be: People and Organizations.

With that in mind, here is how we simplify this. In essence this is how Copper v5.0 will work:

We’re going to remove the Clients module, the Contacts module, remove Users and Groups from Admin, remove Project and Task owner fields and replace them with a ‘People’ module. Then, we’re going to simplify how permissions work.

New People Module
The ‘People’ module will contain People and Organizations. A Person is anyone you come into contact with when you undertake a project. A copper user will just be a person who is given log in Access). An Organization is any grouping of People, for instance a client, an internal department, a vendor or subcontractor, or a special project team.

New Permissions
In the new permissions model, you simply add People to Organizations, Projects, and Tasks
When a person is on an Organization, you can set them to have access to All Projects. Or you can add them to specific projects if you want to limit their access.
When a person is on a Project, they see all tasks in that project, and can se the Organization details, but not edit them.
When a person is on a Task, they see it in their To Do and can add commentary to it.

We’ll also allow you to set a flagbearer person in Organizations, Projects, and Tasks. This just means they are the current go to person on this thing, and they can pass the flag as needed.
Anyone can create an Organization or a Project, and you can add anyone that is in an Organization you’re already in.
Anyone can create a Person, but only Admin can give that Person log in access.

More to come, but this is simplifying…. Getting there…

Ben.

Hosted customers will already see this build as current, and self-hosted license customers will receive notification when this build is ready to download.

New this version:

- Fix to To Do iCal Sync Button
- Fix for Task Ordering issue
- Fix Project Report saving
- Fix for custom Quote/Invoice template uploads
- Fix for foreign characters in Timeline
- Improvements to Self-Hosted Upgrades
- Visual fix to New Project Footer

If you’re a customer and would like to be a beta tester for new features as they first become available, please let us know via info@copperproject.com

We’ve just dropped v4.4 which contains a number of key changes under the hood, and some handy new features and fixes. Hosted customers will already see this build as current, and self-hosted license customers will receive notification when this build is ready to download.

So, we’re almost at the point where we have Copper ready for some key changes to make everyone’s lives easier! On the slate is an overhaul of Resourcing, the Gantt Timeline, File uploads, Rates management, and integration with Xero and Freshbooks. Its a great time to get on board and help our bank balance achieve these things!

Please keep your comments and kind words coming via the Community and we’ll keep bringing the goodness! New this version:

- New Alerts system, allowing use to keep you informed of new features and upcoming events.
- New Auto db update system, now we can roll db updates that Copper recognizes and executes automatically.
- New Recent Items in Clients, Reports, ToDos, makes it easier to go back to something you were working on in that area.
- Improvements to MS Project Import, now imports dependencies!
- Improvements to Reports layout and saving.
- Improvements to Budgets tab, to allow for addition of Purchase Items you can add to your invoices/quotes
- Centralized uploaded logo, header, home, invoice, quote assets.
- Improvements to Work Analysis (Timesheets) and Project Analysis reports
- Improvements to file/folder drag and drop (beta, keep us posted on this one)
- Improvements to MYOB export in Reports
- Bug fixes for reports, IE users, Mini Calendar Selector

If you’re a customer and would like to be a beta tester for new features as they first become available, please let us know via info@copperproject.com

We’ve just dropped v4.3.3, which includes a of new tweaks and a new features. In fact, since our last email, here are the things which have been added to Copper in a few short months, and more is on the way!

- Great new Budgets tab in Projects, with handy chart showing project budget progress, and timeline of invoicing. Plus! CSV export for import into Quickbooks/MYOB
- Billing is now ready for integration with Xero and Freshbooks.
- Great new task drag and drop in project breakdown view makes it super easy to reorder, and create subtasks.
- Refinements to Time and Comment Entries (via 3 ways, in stopwatch timer, in task view, and in the To Do view)
- Improved embedded URLs across Copper allowing easy linking to external assets and other web apps.
- Improvements to special character rendering for multiple languages (Copper is now available in 5 languages, and is ready for easy translation).
- Added ability to turn off Relative Dates,
- Fixed bugs that annoyed Ben and the rest of the Copper Family.
- Added our fantastic new Copper Logo and Favourite Icon.
- Added Help Links to the menu, and debug code for better diagnosis and Support

Want to see more? Great! Provide your feedback here in the community.

If you’re a customer and would like to be a beta tester for new features, please let us know via info@copperproject.com