You can now enter a volume of hours for a single date into a large grid.
After you activate the Add button you will make your choice of entry method:
- All placements on that date.
* Great for lots of entries for an event on a single day. - Just placements on that date for [selected volunteer].
* Great for adding hours for a volunteer, e.g., at the end of the month for multiple placements. - Just placements on that date for job [selected job].
* Ideal for adding hours for multiple volunteers at one job. - Just placements on that date for station [selected station].
* Ideal for adding hours for multiple volunteers at one station.
Hours for New Volunteer
- When you first open the Hours grid the screen title at the top says Existing Hours. All existing hours records display. (Naturally, a new volunteer and placement won’t appear here since there are not yet any existing hours for it.)
- You can sort by a column heading, as described below, to enter hours by station or job.
- After you click Add and choose the way to enter hours, and then OK, you will see the new placement and volunteer. Then enter hours as described further in this tutorial.
Sorting and Using the Find Field
When you first open the Hours grid all existing hours display. (Naturally, a new placement won’t appear here since there are not yet any existing hours for it.) You can sort by column heading, the Find field, and fast forward with the Page Down key to locate the desired record.
Select the column heading on which you will search. Keep in mind that the grid lets you quickly add a lot of hours for one date based on the Volunteer, Job/Client, or Station. If you typically enter hours from a stack of timesheets from a station, you probably will begin by sorting on the Station. But if you instead enter by the job, you will sort by Job. Alternatively you might prefer entering by the volunteer on a single date. The selected column heading is underlined. The Find field searches for the selected column.
Sort by Date – When you want to sort the hours grid by date and then find a particular date, in the find field type the date in this format: YYYYMMDD with no slashes, to match the way the computer sorts dates. In other words, to search for 03/31/2011 type 20110331 in the find field and press Enter. The first date to match appears highlighted on the Existing Hours screen.
Find Latest Hours a Volunteer Has Done – If you want to see the latest hours a volunteer has done, look in the Existing Hours screen. First, highlight Volunteers to find the person. Then click the Sort button. Put the dot next to Volunteer, Date, Job, Station. Click Sort. Now you can see all the hours of that volunteer, with the dates sorted from oldest to newest.
If you need to add hours for various volunteers at various jobs all on a single date, no need to sort—go straight to the Add button [described below].
Adding Hours by Job
There are many ways to navigate the data. Here’s one way.
Click on the Job/Client column. (Or use Alt+S.) The Page Down key zooms through the Existing Hours on the grid.
Selecting a Job/Client in the Existing Hours listed on the grid.
- Click the Job/Client heading. (Or press Alt+S.)
- Tab once to the Find field
- Type the first few letters of a Job/Client name
- Page Down key and/or Arrow Down key to the job
- Tab twice to the Add button—press the enter key. (Or click Add)
- Proceed with choosing how to enter the hours for that job.
Tip: Use the Page Down key in the navigation section of the keyboard, not the PgDn key on the number pad.
More Keystroke Aids for the Hours Grid
In this example, the job Animal Care is selected for the station PAWS.
After you enter the date for the hours, tab to the next choices and arrow down to the likely choice: “Just placements on that date for job Animal Care.” Continuing with keystrokes, tab to OK and press Enter [or use the mouse].
- The focus on the Hours field lets you directly add a number.
- Arrow down past hours that already exist.
- Arrow down, add a number, etc.
- Use the right and left arrow keys to access the reimbursement fields and Impact counts, if you use them.
- Save
Adding Hours For All Placements on One Date
This method works well for adding various volunteer hours at various jobs all on a single date, most commonly the end of the previous month. No need to do any find on the Existing Hours screen. Go straight to the Add button.
Enter the date and leave the dot next to All placements on that date. OK.
- The Hours column is already highlighted.
- The Find field is already focused on the Volunteer column.
- Page Down to the volunteer
- Or use the Find field to locate the volunteer
Enter hours using keystrokes for the fastest method.
- In the Hours field enter the number of hours.
- Arrow down, add a number, etc.
- Use the right and left arrow keys to access the reimbursement fields and Impact counts, if you use them.
- Do not click Save yet if you have more hours to enter.
Enter hours for the next volunteer without hitting Save.
- Find the next volunteer using the Find field
- Enter hours for that volunteer
- The Reporter automatically saves into a temporary table.
- Do not click the Save button since that saves and closes.
- When you have finished adding for all the volunteers on that date, click the Save
button to save permanently and close. - You are now back at the Existing Hours screen.
Adding Hours For One Volunteer’s Placements on One Date
There are many ways to navigate the data. Here’s one way.
If the volunteer has already served hours in the past, you can find that volunteer on the Existing Hours grid.
Select the Volunteer in the Existing Hours Grid
- The Volunteer heading is selected by default [underlined]
- Tab once to the Find field
- Type the first few letters of the volunteer’s name
- The Up Arrow moves from the Find field to the person now at the top of the list.
- Page Down key and/or Arrow Down key to the volunteer
- Tab twice to the Add button—press the enter key. (Or click Add)
- Proceed with choosing how to enter the hours for that volunteer.
On the Add Hours on a Single Date screen:
- Enter the date
- Arrow down to the second choice, Just placement on that date for {selected volunteer]
- Tab to OK.
- Enter
Adding Hours by Station
There are many ways to navigate the data. Here’s one way.
Click on the Station column. You can hereafter rely on keystrokes if you prefer to free your hand from the mouse. The Page Down key zooms through the Existing Hours grid.
Selecting a Station in the Existing Hours Grid
- Click the Station heading
- Tab once to the Find field
- Type the first few letters of a Station name
- Page Down key and/or Arrow Down key to the station
- Tab twice to the Add button—press the enter key. (Or click Add)
- Proceed with choosing how to enter the hours for that station.
Tip: Use the Page Down key in the navigation section of the keyboard, not the PgDn key on the number pad.
More Keystroke Aids for the Hours Grid
In this example, the Traveler’s Rest State Park station is selected.
After you enter the date for the hours, in the Add Hours for a Single Date screen, Tab to the next choices and arrow down to the likely choice, the last one: “Just placements on that date for station Traveler’s Rest State Park.” Continuing with keystrokes, tab to OK and press Enter [or use the mouse].
- The focus on the Hours field lets you directly add a number.
- Arrow down past hours that already exist.
- Arrow down, add a number, etc.
- Use the right and left arrow keys to access the reimbursement fields and Impact counts, if you use them.
- Save
Add a New Placement
The New Place button 
becomes available once you are in the Adding Hours Screen. Click on Add. It opens to the familiar Add New Placement screen.
- New Place
- Add
- Find the volunteer
- Find the job
- Enter a Started date
- Save
- Close and return to Hours
Edit Hours
The Edit Hours screen offers choices based on the record of focus. If you simply click Edit without selecting the Volunteer, Job, Station or Date of interest, the first record on the list populates the choices. So you usually will sort the grid to select the record you intend to edit.
Edit which Hours?
- Just this one record.
- All hours on [selected date].
- All hours for [selected volunteer] at job [selected job]
- All hours for job [selected job] on [selected date].
- All hours for station [selected station] on [selected date].
One customer describes that all the hours entered via their Touch-Screen Assistant on the weekend are doubled. In that scenario, the fourth method, All hours for job [selected job] on [selected date] might be the appropriate method of editing hours. Sort & Find on the Job/Client field and then Page Down or Arrow Down to the date for which to edit hours.
Doubling the number of hours for multiple volunteers in this scenario become a quick procedure.
Rearrange Columns
You can rearrange the columns to suit your own data entry style. To move the Car Miles column next to the Hours, for instance, click on the Car Miles column heading, hold the mouse button down, and drag the column to the left where you want it. Let go of the mouse button.
Keystroke Aids for the Hours Grid
Sort by column heading whether you want to find a Volunteer, Station, or Job.
- Click the desired field column heading – note underlining.
- Tab once to the Find field.
- Type the first few letters of a the record’s name
- Page Down key and/or Arrow Down key to the exact record
- Tab twice to the Add button—enter key. (Or click Add)
- Proceed with choosing how to enter the hours for that record.
With the Sort button you can skip using the mouse entirely to sort the hours grid.
Sort with the Sort button using keystrokes:
- Press Alt+S on the keyboard
- Or Tab to the Sort button | Enter
- Continue using keystrokes to arrow down to the sort order of choice
- Tab-Enter to execute your choice.
Note the underlined letter on a button to find the keystroke to the button. For example:
- Alt+S = Sort
- Alt+A = Add
- Alt+E = Edit
- Alt+D = Delete
Activate buttons which have no underlining by using the Tab key and Enter.