I've been researching and testing out a variety of free project management tools for my new virtual business. After trying several, I've settled on ClockingIt for the time being. It's totally free, with unlimited projects and seems to offer just about everything I need short of invoicing which I do free with Freshbooks.

Some of my favorite features are:

The integrated timer, which instantly adds time to your task or project, that can easily be paused without closing out, and time can even be added manually for work done away from the computer.

There are one-click reports, automatic email notification of progress or tracking if needed and you can give clients access to their projects or even create a forum to use in servicing your customers' questions and/or requests. There's also a chat feature so you can speak with them in real time directly from the application. You can also upload documents to tasks or projects, tho I haven't used this feature yet.

There's not a ton of instruction available, although I've found it to be pretty user-friendly thus far.

Is anyone else using ClockingIt?

Just discovered another great feature. When using the clock timer feature, your elapsed time appears on your browser tab, as well as the timer status (paused or active), task# and title. So, you don't actually have to click on the page to see how much time you've spent or whether you've remembered to pause your time, you can just glance at the tab..loving this more and more!

I haven't heard of ClockingIt - it seems like there are more and more options like this becoming available... thanks for the rundown I just wanted to add a link for anyone who wants to check it out: http://www.clockingit.com/

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Thanks for the details Michele. On first glance this looks like quite an impressive tool, especially for free.

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Linda
Clockwise Virtual Assistance

@Tess - I'd forgotten to add the link, thanks!

@Linda - yes, it really is. I've tried a few of the free ones and there always seemed to be something important missing. Now that I'm getting past the learning curve, I'm liking it more and more.

I am definately going to check it out. Thanks so much for taking the time to share it here

Michele,

Just finding the time to play around with ClockingIT. I'm trying to figure out how you would add client logins so they could see the progress on just their projects. Would I do that through the Client tab or would I set them up as a new User?

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Linda
Clockwise Virtual Assistance

Very interested in more info, is clockingit a free service?

@clockwiseVA, I set them up as a new client and then make them users where I can give them access to the various aspects of their projects. I just had a quick minute to respond here, but if you need more info, please feel free to reply again and I'll give you whatever info you need!

Cheers,

@tecoleman - yes it's free. It's not very pretty but it seems to have the right functionality for staying on top of projects, and for producing reports to show clients progress on their projects.

I figure it should be enough to get me started until I can justify splashing out on a paid service, if necessary. Just need some clients now!

Anyway, here's the link in case you missed it: http://www.clockingit.com/

@Michele - thanks for confirming how to get clients set up. I sure appreciate you being there for "tech support" .

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Linda
Clockwise Virtual Assistance