Odoo Portal Users Time Tracker
Customer Need
The customer, a consulting company, required an effective solution to track and record the time spent by its employees on various projects. Although the company managed its employee data using Odoo, the majority of these employees were registered without licenses, restricting their access as internal users. Consequently, only a few licensed internal users were available for comprehensive system interactions. The company specifically opted against using Odoo’s standard timesheet module because it mandates licenses for all users, a costly option that was not financially advantageous for their business model.
Proposed Solution
After carefully evaluating the company’s specific needs and constraints, the project team recommended developing a customized solution leveraging the Odoo portal user concept. Odoo portal users are external users granted limited access to the Odoo system without requiring standard licenses, typically allowing basic interaction functionalities.
The solution involved adapting and extending the capabilities of portal users to include project time tracking features similar to those available to licensed internal users. This customization enabled unlicensed company workers to effectively record and manage their hours spent on different projects and tasks through the portal. Additionally, licensed access was strategically restricted to project managers and assistants, who managed and supervised project tasks, controlled project details, and reviewed time tracking submissions from other employees.
Development
To implement the proposed solution, the team developed a custom Odoo module, specifically designed to enhance and extend the functionalities available to portal users. The new module introduced two primary views:
- Time Tracker View: This feature allowed workers to view existing time records and submit new entries associated with tasks. The module ensured that employees could only log hours for tasks specifically assigned to them and access project details where they were active participants. The user-friendly interface featured a monthly accordion layout displaying relevant time entries, accompanied by a straightforward form to facilitate the addition of new time tracking records.
- Projects View: This view was created to give workers comprehensive visibility of tasks across various project stages. Employees could access detailed task information related exclusively to the projects assigned to them, facilitating better awareness and task management.
A critical aspect of the development involved extending the standard relationship between employees and Odoo users. By default, Odoo permits only licensed internal users to link directly with employee records. To fulfill the project requirements, the custom module successfully expanded this relationship to include portal users, providing seamless integration and consistent access for all relevant users.
Testing and Deployment
Upon completion of the development phase, comprehensive testing was performed collaboratively by the project team and the client to validate functionality, usability, and compliance with the initial requirements. After successful verification of all features and workflows, the final solution was deployed into an existing Odoo.sh project environment, previously established by the client. This deployment ensured smooth integration with the client’s ongoing Odoo operations and allowed immediate adoption and utilization of the new time tracking capabilities.
