F.A.Q.

Contents

  • The basics

    1. What is 1stManager.com? TOP↑
      1stManager.com is a web-based application that allows users to plan and manage projects. You can add users, define team roles, assign tasks, and monitor task completion. 1stManager.com also provides other useful tools like visual representation of your projects (through Gantt charts) and an alarm system that will keep your team up to date on the state of each task and project.
    2. How can I access my account to start working on my projects? TOP↑
      You must do this by logging in by entering to the URL address specified for your account when you signed up (e.g. yourcompany.1stmanager.com). If you have registered for one paid account and would like to use your own domain (e.g. projects.yourcompany.com), you must [url="contact.aspx"]contact us[/url] to enable this service.
    3. How do I login? TOP↑
      Once you are at the login screen, you must enter your user and password. Remember that your login is always your email address. If you don’t have an account with 1stManger.com you can open one for free by going to the [url="signup.aspx"]Sign Up page[/url]. If you don’t remember your password you can retrieve it by [url="retrieve.aspx"]clicking here.[/url]
    4. How do I create a project? TOP↑
      After signing up, you can create a project by going to the 'Projects' menu and clicking on 'Add a new project'.
    5. How do I assign a task to a user? TOP↑
      First of all, you must add users to the account (you can do this by clicking on the menu item "Users", and then clicking on "add a new user") . The users you have created will be listed in the form for creating a project or a task. Simply check those users and they will be added to your task or project.

  • Signup

    1. Obligatory fields TOP↑
      Here you must enter the login and contact data for the owner of the account. Please keep in mind that your email will be your login. At 1stManager.com we don’t sell or share this information with anybody – we keep your login and contact information private
    2. Optional fields TOP↑
      Enter contact information for the Administrator or Owner of the account here.
    3. Can I have multiple accounts? TOP↑
      No. Multiple accounts for the same administrator is not allowed. However, the same e-mail address can be used in several accounts, each one with different passwords.

  • Projects

    1. Creating a project TOP↑
      Once you have registered at 1stManager.com you will be able to create your first project. Click on the item “Add new project,” under “Projects” (on the Main menu), complete the fields and add users to the project team. If you have not created any users yet, you can add them by clicking on “Add/Modify users.” You will be able to come back later without losing the data that you have already entered in the Add Projects form. If you don't understand user levels [url="faq.aspx#users"]click here[/url] to view a description of each one and its corresponding access rights. The project leader is the user that evaluates the project progress. This is an optional field. Specifying a client for the project is also optional.
    2. Deleting a project TOP↑
      To delete a project, you must go to the projects list page by clicking on the [Projects] menu item. Then, click on the “Delete” link – it will be disabled if you don’t have permission to modify that specific project. Confirm the deletion of a project by clicking on the [Yes] button. You can keep the tasks that belong to that project if you check the option [Keep Tasks]. If you do this, the tasks will become “Project-free tasks.”
    3. Modifying an existing project TOP↑
      To modify a project’s data, you must first go to the projects list page by clicking on the [Projects] menu item. Then, click on the “Modify” link – (this link will be disabled if you don’t have permission to modify that specific project).
    4. Project listing TOP↑
      To view existing projects, click on [Projects]. A list of all projects you have read-access to will show up. Depending of your user level, you will be able to modify information, and/or delete a project.

  • Tasks

    1. What is a task? TOP↑
      A task is a piece of work. Tasks can (but don’t have to) belong to a Project. Including tasks in projects is a good practice, since allows for a better tracking of the work progress.
    2. Creating a task TOP↑
      To add a task, click on [Tasks] and then on [Add new task]. To create a new task, you are only required to specify the name of the task; all other data is optional. Assigned users are the people who are responsible for performing the task. You can select among the available registered users, or click on [Add/Modify Users] to go to a page where you can add other users. When you return to the tasks form all the data that you have already typed will be there. A task reviewer is a user in charge of monitoring the work progress.
    3. Viewing task details TOP↑
      To view a task’s details (such as its name, start and end date, project it belongs to, etc.) you must go to the task-list page by clicking on the [Tasks] menu item and then choosing a task by clicking on its respective “View” link. While viewing a task, you can add comments and review other users’ comments.
    4. Task listing TOP↑
      To get a list of tasks, click on the [Tasks] item of the menu bar. You will see all the tasks for which you have read-access. This page also displays relevant information about the tasks, as well as commands, such as View, Modify and Delete. However, the Modify and Delete links will be activated only if you have write permission on the corresponding task. You can change the list of tasks by specifying a filter (for example, to get only a list of tasks that belong to project “A”). To do this, go to the “filter by” drop-down menu, and select a filter (by project, by assigned user, by status, etc.). On the right, you will see a second drop-down menu with items reflecting your selection. Filters are accumulative. This means that you can get more accurate results by specifying multiple filters, for example, filter all tasks that belong to project “A” and have “Completed” status. To remove all filters, press the [Clear all filters] button.
    5. Modifying an existing task TOP↑
      In order to modify a task, you must have write-access to it (which depends on your user level). Go to the tasks-list page (by clicking on the [Tasks] menu item), and select the tak you want to modify by clicking on the “Modify” link. The form for modifying a task is similar to the form for adding a task, except that when you are modifying a task, you can see all the data available to be edited. Don’t forget to confirm the modification of the task by clicking on the "Update task" button at the foot of the page.
    6. Deleting a task TOP↑
      In order to delete a task, you must have write-access to it (which depends on your user level). Click on the [Tasks] menu item to go to the tasks list page and, once there, select the task you want to delete by clicking on the “Delete” link. Confirm the deletion of a task by clicking on the “Yes” button.

  • Users and Permission Levels

    1. How can I manage the people in my account? TOP↑
      Users management can be accessed through the [Users] menu button. To add a new user click on the [Add new user] link.
    2. What are Permission Levels? TOP↑
      Permission Levels define the access rights of one single user that can have in the entire account. This means that depending on the user's permission level, they will be able to view, modify or delete certain sections of your account. Below is a description of the different user's permission levels
    3. General Manager TOP↑
      Can be created by an Administrator (that is, a person who owns a 1stManager account). A General Manager can create users with lower permission levels and has the ability to manage everything on the account, except general account settings such as the account type. This includes project creation, team management, and task management. A General Manager does not need to be part of a project to make changes to it. She or he can add users of any type (except General Managers and Administrators) to the account. If you are the Account owner, you should name General Manager that person who will have the responsibility of planning and overseeing the general progress of all projects, and distributing specific responsibilities among team members. Alternatively, if you want to keep that responsibility for yourself, you may not need to create a General Manager at all.
    4. Global Project Leader TOP↑
      Has rights to create and modify projects/tasks in which she or he is the Project Leader. In addition, this user has read-only access to the remaining projects which have other leaders. When this user creates a project, she or he will always be the Project Leader of the project created. A Global Project Leader can add Global Users, Specific Project Users and Specific Task Users to the account. We suggest that Global Project Leader permissions be given to those users who will be team leaders of one or more projects, especially when it is beneficial that these users are informed about the state of all projects and tasks included in the account.
    5. Specific Project Leader TOP↑
      This user is authorized to view/create/modify items belonging to projects where she or he is a Project leader. A Specific Project Leader cannot view/modify/delete other projects/tasks that he does not own. In Addition, this user is able to create projects, but she or he will always be their Project Leader (that is, this user cannot create a project and assign the role of Project Leader to another user). This user can add Specific Project Users and Specific Task Users, so that she or he can organize the team which she or he leads. Create Specific Project Leaders when you want to assign a user management and leadership responsibilities over a specific project, without this user being able to view any information about the progress of other projects included in the same 1stManager account.
    6. Global User TOP↑
      Has read-access to all the contents (projects, tasks, users, clients, etc.) of the account (except general account settings). This user cannot create new tasks or projects, but she or he can add comments to, and modify the status and percent completed of, any tasks that are assigned to or reviewed by her or him. A Global User can’t add other users to the account. Add Global Users when you want to be able to assign tasks to a specific user, especially when it is beneficial that this user is informed about the state of all projects and tasks included in the account.
    7. Specific Project User TOP↑
      Has read-access to all projects he is member of, the tasks that are included in those projects, and the tasks that don’t belong to any project but are assigned to him. A Specific Project User cannot create new tasks or projects, but can add comments to, and modify the status/percent completed of, tasks that are assigned to or reviewed by her or him. A Specific Project User can’t add other users to the account. Create Specific Project Users when you want to assign tasks to a user, allowing this user to be informed about the state of the project she or he is part of, while barring this user from seeing any items in other projects included in the same 1stManager account.
    8. Specific Task User TOP↑
      Has read-access only to the tasks that are assigned to /reviewed by her or him. A Specific Task User cannot create new tasks or projects, but can modify these tasks’ status or percentage completed, as well as add comments. A Specific Task User can’t add other users. Add Specific Task Users when you want to be able to assign tasks to a specific user, especially when you want this user to have no access at all to any items in the account, except for her or his assigned tasks.

  • Clients

    1. What are Clients? TOP↑
      1stManager.com allows you to store basic information about your projects’ clients. In many situations, it is important that project members have clients’ contact information handy. You can add clients to the account, and relate projects with clients while creating/modifying a project.
    2. How can I manage my clients? TOP↑
      To add a client, go to [Clients] on the main menu and then click on [Add new client]. You must enter a company name; the rest is optional. To get a list of the account clients, click on the [Clients] menu item. You can modify or delete clients by clicking the respective link in that page. These links can appear disabled if: - the client is assigned to projects for which the user is not a leader (when you are a Global/Specific Project Leader). - you don’t have write-access on clients.

  • Alarms and Notifications

    1. What are the alarms and what they are for? TOP↑
      The alarms can be configured by the administrator and general managers to send email reminders about tasks on specific dates and targeted to specific user types.
    2. How do I set one or several alarms? TOP↑
      You can configure alarms for a specific task, or set the default alarm configuration for tasks that will be added later, by clicking on the [Alarms] menu item. Use the drop down list to select the task you want to configure. The table shows the user types the reminder will be sent to (on the left column), as well as three different set-off times for the alarms (as indicated on the first row: two days before the task deadline, at deadline, and after the task deadline, every two days). To set an alarm, check the respective checkbox (for example, “Assigned user” >> “Two days before deadline” – “Reviewer” >> “At deadline”)

  • Privacy and Security

    1. What are your Security Policies? TOP↑
      We routinely employ firewalls, encryption, passwords and other policies and procedures to ensure the security of our data as well as our customer's. We do not store highly sensitive information such as credit card numbers on any computers that can be accessed by the public. All incoming attachments and files uploaded to our servers are scanned for viruses. All passwords stored on the Web server are encrypted. We log all of our visitors activity. We perform daily backups of our database. Our Web servers are protected from buffer overflow attacks. If you have a paid account, you can request that we enable encrypted (ssl) communication with the server for you.
    2. What are your Privacy Policies? TOP↑
      Information saved by 1stManager.com is regarded as private and is kept in the strictest confidence. We fully respect the right to privacy, both for individuals and organizations. No information saved in our system is divulged to any third party. All of our clients' data is displayed only to the authorized members of each account, and is used only for the purposes of the normal functioning of our project management solution. As a customer of ours, you will find that we are secure, reliable, and discreet. We do not distribute our customer's email addresses to anyone. You will never receive spam, junk email or any other unsolicited advertising from anyone who was given your email address from us. All customer information is considered private, and we do not sell, share or otherwise distribute our customer profiles to anyone. We may occasionally send you email regarding changes in our services. Please note that it is our duty to cooperate with law enforcement officials when compelled to do so through a court order or other legal means. Persons engaged in objectionable or illegal activity that involves us in any way are not covered by our Privacy Policy.