Vulnerability in Apache Tomcat – What you need to know

On 10 March 2025, a serious vulnerability was disclosed in certain versions of the Tomcat web-server, developed by the Apache Software Foundation.

This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-24813 and the Tomcat versions affected are:

  • 9.x, from version 9.0.0-M1 to 9.0.98
  • 10.x, from version 10.1.0-M1 to 10.1.34
  • 11.x, from version 11.0.0-M1 to 11.0.2

Twproject, when installed via the executable file downloadable from the site, uses Apache Tomcat in its 9.0.46 version, thus potentially affected by the problem.

What is the vulnerability CVE-2025-24813

This vulnerability consists of a Remote Code Execution (RCE) coupled with an Information disclosure.

This means that a potential attacker would be able to execute arbitrary code and thus hack into the affected system.

As stated on the vulnerability page, this vulnerability is only dangerous and exploitable for an attack if five different conditions are met.

The most important of these conditions is that Tomcat’s DefaultServlet must state ‘writes enabled for the default servlet (disabled by default)’: in other words, writing for the servlet must be explicitly enabled, as it is disabled by default.

The standard Twproject installer is also disabled by default, so there is no danger in this case.

What Twproject users need to know

As we have seen, for those who installed Twproject without having applied any changes to the configuration files, there is no danger.

The situation is different for those who had installed Twproject using their own Apache Tomcat of one of the versions affected by the vulnerability.

To ensure that you have not exposed your server to an attack, it is good practice to follow the steps below.

1. Locate the file

The DefaultServlet is implemented in the class org.apache.catalina.servlets.DefaultServlet and is used to serve static files or provide directory listing.

The management of its properties is delegated to the web.xml file, located in Tomcat’s conf folder (in which all configuration files are located).

2. Check configuration

The default configuration of the DefaultServlet is as follows:

<servlet>
        <servlet-name>default</servlet-name>
        <servlet-class>org.apache.catalina.servlets.DefaultServlet</servlet-class>
        <init-param>
            <param-name>debug</param-name>
            <param-value>0</param-value>
        </init-param>
        <init-param>
            <param-name>listings</param-name>
            <param-value>false</param-value>
        </init-param>
        <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
    </servlet>

The parameter enabling the ability to write on the server is ‘readonly’ with the value ‘false’.

And so a configuration that exposes the server to malicious attacks should be as follows:

    <init-param>
        <param-name>readonly</param-name>
        <param-value>false</param-value>
    </init-param>
3. Intervene if necessary

If, therefore, the parameter has been specified and its value is ‘false’, it is essential to set it to ‘true’ in order to disable the writing of the DefaultServlet.

Alternatively, it is possible to upgrade Apache Tomcat to a version other than those listed above.

If, however, the parameter is not present in the file, there is no problem: the default value applies!

Please note: there may be more than one web.xml file, depending on the server architecture, so it is a good idea to check them all!

Final remarks

We hope that we have provided all the information needed to reassure our users and instruct them properly in case action is needed.

If you need more support, please do not hesitate to contact us through our channels.

For more on this topic:

https://tomcat.apache.org/security-9.html

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-24813

https://www.cisecurity.org/advisory/a-vulnerability-in-apache-tomcat-could-allow-for-remote-code-execution_2025-027

New Twproject Release 7.1.023 – Copy and paste features on the Gantt and other innovations

If one of your needs is to have an increasingly flexible and customisable Gantt chart, a real operational tool that goes well beyond the planning phase, this new release of Twproject is just right for you.

With this new release, we are meeting the needs of teams with extensive and complex projects with several phases and a repeated structure and who therefore need to simplify their work.

We are especially proud of the improvements this new version brings and can’t wait to share them! Here is what changes from today.

Copy, cut and paste on Gantt chart

The possibility of copying and pasting project phases into the Gantt chart allows you to carry a lot of information together and considerably speed up the work of the project manager.

With this new function in Twproject, all ‘master’ data relating to a project branch and phase assignments to resources are copied.

In addition, the process maintains internal dependencies on the copied branch if it has sub-phases.

But let us see how to do this in detail.

All cut/copy/paste functions can be activated by clicking on the options icon on the chosen line, or by simply positioning the cursor on the line and typing ctrl+C, ctrl+X, ctrl+V.

copy and paste on Gantt digram in Twproject

Next, we must position ourselves on the target line and paste the content.

If pasting on an existing line, the block is copied as a ‘child’, whereas if pasting on an empty line, the block is inserted at the current level.

The selected block remains in memory so that it can be copied several times, to facilitate work when there are several lines to be pasted, and the ESC key finally switches off the selection.

This function is compatible with the undo/redo commands and therefore allows you to do various operations, until you finally save and the Gantt is recorded.

New columns and additional features

But in parallel to the copy and paste functions, there are also innovations in the area of Gantt customisation.

First of all, it will be possible to add other ‘custom field’ type columns in which to enter values such as strings, dates, numbers, booleans, etc., which are very useful for making the Gantt chart even more customisable to the needs of the company or project.

shrink for date reduction

Secondly, to further optimise timing, a new feature will allow us to perform a ‘shrink’, i.e. an automatic reduction, of the time of project phases.

Other changes and optimisations

Moving on from the Gantt chart to other project views, let us briefly see what other innovations this latest release has brought, which as always you can see in detail on the changelog page.

Increased control and security in Worklogs

From now on, the security functions on the entry of hours worked on projects provide for more detailed roles: for each type of user it will be possible to specify add, read, write, delete, manage functions. In addition, the name of the person who recorded the worklog for a given user will always appear (the two do not necessarily coincide).

Furthermore, a block has been activated whereby the worklog entered by a user cannot exceed the allocated estimate and it will not be possible to enter hours on already closed phases.

Major improvement on Revenue Management

The entire revenue section has been thoroughly enhanced to allow for more advanced management.

  • Type of revenue: the revenue management page allows you to distinguish revenue into various types, which will influence the calculation shown in the overview:
    1. revenues related to the cash profile
    2. revenues linked to the completion of the phase
    3. estimated revenues
    4. invoiced revenues
overview of the revenue management
  • Entering revenue as a percentage: entering an actual/invoiced revenue from an estimated invoice now also accepts a value as a percentage of the estimated total, using the appropriate icon.
  • Invoice reminder: when an estimated revenue is entered, a checkbox can be used to automatically create a ToDo reminder for the issuing of the invoice.

The release is available for all!

What we have seen so far is only part of the new features introduced with version 7.1.023, which as always will be available to all users automatically.

If you are still unfamiliar with Twproject but would like to try out its countless features for more efficient and flexible project management, do not hesitate to request a free trial from our support team.

The new release is waiting for you

New Twproject release 7.1.018 – Multiple calendars: more flexibility for your projects

Twproject’s calendar has always been efficient and with a highly customisable configuration, but with the recent release it takes a huge step forward by allowing you to define multiple calendars for use on projects and resources.

With this innovation introduced with the release 7.1.018, we want to respond to the need of those who manage different teams and projects with non-uniform working hours.

The coexistence of several calendars is in fact an essential requirement for most structured companies, which necessarily have to manage different work configurations according to departments.

Target audience for the introduction of multiple calendars

With this shared development, Twproject wanted to respond to the most heterogeneous realities. We are talking, for example, about companies with departments that do not share the same working days, or international companies with branches in foreign countries and therefore with a different holiday calendar.

This was therefore an essential innovation to allow flexibility and adherence to the real needs of teams, which nowadays are increasingly manifold.

Until now, the calendar in Twproject allowed the definition of weekly working days and company holidays or closures; this calendar applied to all resources and projects.

It also allowed, from the calendar itself, to set the working hours of resources (such as part-time, etc.).

What changes with the development of multiple calendars

As we have seen, a main, customisable corporate calendar is already present in Twproject, and this is what will now be considered the ‘Default‘ calendar.

The difference will be that from now on for each resource, but also for each project, it will be possible to set a different schedule than the default.

But let’s go into detail: what changes with the introduction of multiple calendars in Twproject and how can we set them up?

Creating and editing a calendar

The system administrator can create a new calendar from the administration page, assigning it a name, description and other data that we will now see.

The calendar editor is in fact divided into two sections: the first contains the name, description, weekly working days and the ‘default’ tick.

Multiple calendars configuration

It is possible to define only one default calendar.

Please note: the default selection operation must be done with caution as it has an impact on project durations and workloads.

A change in this respect will not directly change the task data, but on first access on the WBS or Gantt the phases will show any inconsistencies due to changes on the calendar.

The second section of the editor relates to the definition of company holidays and closures.

company's closure or holidays

The first click on a cell defines a holiday with a variable date (Easter, Thanksgiving etc.), the second click sets a fixed holiday (Christmas, New Year etc.).

At this point we will have as many calendars as there are different configurations of working days at company level, whether they are determined by different types of work or geographical conditions.

Multiple calendars on resources

But that is not all: there are also important new features in the work settings section of the resource.

For each resource, the calendar to be used can be set via a drop-down menu.

If “Use default calendar” is chosen, the resource in question will use the calendar marked as default (via the tick we saw in the previous section). In this example, the default calendar is called “Default” and has an *.

multiple calendars on resources

An important new change introduced in this release is that for a resource, working weekdays can be defined, even if they are holidays for the chosen calendar.

This is useful for handling situations where the company generally does not work on Saturdays and Sundays but, for example, the maintenance department does.

Thus, the selected calendar provides public holidays, but working days can be defined for each individual resource.

Similarly to other work data, such as time, cost per hour, etc., the calendar is also inherited from the organisation chart unless otherwise specified.

If the calendar of a department is changed from A to B, all resources of that department that had calendar A will change to B. Those that had calendar C will keep C.

In the example in the image above, we see that the resource ‘Giulia’ uses the default calendar (which has five working days from Monday to Friday), but Giulia, in his specific case, has set Wednesday as non-working and Saturday as working.

Consequently, all interfaces that display the working calendar (such as timesheet, workload, timesheet overview, etc.) will show the non-working days specific to that resource. In the case of Giulia, Wednesday and Sunday.

Multiple calendars on projects

A further step forward is the fact that with the new version it is possible to set a specific timeframe for both the project and the phases.

A new project is always set to the default calendar. In the event of subsequent changes, the name of the chosen calendar will be shown to the right of the dates (as in the image below).

In this way, one could, for example, have a project using the solar calendar (365/365), but operational phases involving specific departments could use a 5/7 calendar.

calendar on projects

In the event that the project calendar is changed, e.g. by adding holidays or company closures, so as to interfere with the task dates, a small alert will be displayed the first time we access the project.

alert on calendar changed

Clicking on the alert will result in a more detailed message, highlighting the points where date changes generated interference.

But how do we change the timing of a project or phase?

To do this, we must use the Gantt diagram; this is because from the Gantt we can immediately see the effects of the change on dates and durations, and there is the possibility of saving at a later date, without the risk of permanently changing the data.

From the options on the project line, we can select the calendar change.

A pop-up will appear for choosing the calendar and deciding whether to try to keep dates or durations.

how to change the calendar on projects

It is optional to keep dates or durations as far as possible. The conditionality is that there is no guarantee that dates can be kept in full (as in the case where a start or end date corresponds to a holiday for the new calendar).

If milestones or binding dates are violated, the system will send a message and will not carry out the requested change. The user must first change the dates appropriately and then make the change.

With this new version, the first time one logs on to the Gantt, a check will be made to ensure that the start date, end date and duration of the project are consistent with the calendar in use.

In previous versions, if the unique calendar had changed, the end date was simply, and silently, recalculated from the start and duration.

In the new version, dates are kept instead and durations are changed accordingly. In the event of discrepancies, we will see an alert.

If milestones had been touched, these would be highlighted, as well as for the phases that had their duration recalculated.

fasi indefinite Gantt

It is sufficient to change even a single piece of data to enable saving and make the new durations definitive.

Effects of multiple calendars on interfaces

Having different calendars on resources and projects also has natural consequences on the appearance of certain Twproject interfaces, such as the Timesheet.

In this case, we note from the bottom line that the employee does not work on Wednesdays and Sundays.

multiple calendas on timesheet

At the same time, however, the projects she works on have different timetables:

  • A.365/365‘ (highlighted in red) is always active
  • B.LMM‘ (in yellow) is active for the first three days of the week
  • C.MMGV‘ (in green) is active from Tuesday to Friday

Users will be able to mark their worklogs freely, while taking into account the information on the timetable of each project, also made clearer by a more comprehensive legenda.

Twproject never inhibits the insertion of worklogs (except in the distant past or in the future), but simply reports the ‘suspicious’ worklog.

For example, if hours worked are recorded on a date that is non-working in both the resource calendar and the project calendar, this will be considered a ‘suspicious’ case, and consequently reported.

In the case of views with several resources, such as the Workload, the different calendars for each resource will be shown:

multi-calendari nel Carico operatori

Or, as in the case of the Timesheet Overview, since this includes an overall group of resources, the company calendar will be shown:

calendar shown in the timesheet overview

However, indications and reports from the calendar of the resources involved will appear within it.

We have seen how the use of multiple calendars for resources and projects can improve and make scheduling more realistic.

Now you just have to try out this important feature, which helps to make Twproject a tool that is always one step ahead of the others.

Twproject’s multiple calendars allow you to make your time management process much more efficient and to achieve greater flexibility in scheduling resources.

All customers using a Twproject cloud licence have already had the update automatically, while those who have Twproject on server can find the new installers here.

Try this and other features free of charge for 15 days. Start planning and setting work schedules now!

The new release is awaiting you

How to manage project tracking with Twproject’s Timeline

The Timeline is a very useful tool designed to constantly track the progress of your projects.

With the Project Timeline you can keep track of changes and events that have happened over time; it is in fact the historical memory of a project.

Thanks to its slider, you can “navigate” back and forth in time and see the initial situation; you can see what and when it has changed from the baseline (i.e., the initial planning), pointing out the highlights.

Twproject offers you an incredibly functional and complete version of it. Want to discover this timeline with us? Here’s everything it allows you to do.

Features of the Timeline on the Statistics page

On the Statistics page, in the tab following the Project Overview, you will find everything you need to make a comprehensive and accurate project monitoring and tracking plan.

And this is where we placed our Timeline, to have at first glance a dynamic temporal line: this allows us to immediately see the dates of relevant changes from the initial planning (baseline).

The baseline, as the word implies, is in fact the base of the project, established before the project is started. It is meant to capture the initial situation, to see if and how far we will deviate from it later.

It mainly includes: timelines (start and end date), expected costs, and resources involved. In Twproject it is always visible in the Statistics page.

But as we know, it is natural for these variables to change during the actual course of the projects and thus deviate from the baseline.

All quantitative project variations are automatically recorded on the Timeline, without the project leader having to manually annotate them.

Recording events on the Project Timeline

So, what is meant by quantitative project variations?

We are specifically talking about changes in delivery dates and in budget; we will see all these changes highlighted on our timeline with a specific icon based on the event.

events on the timeline

This is what our Project Timeline looks like.

The icons within it show the times when something in our project was changed, and specifically:

  • Date: calendar icon indicates that a project start or end date has been changed. Since the Timeline is also available for project sub-phases, any time changes in these phases will also be visible on their related statistics pages.
  • Budget: any budget changes are recorded and shown on the Timeline with the coin icon.
  • Update: the small balloon icon instead tells us when a reminder has been manually added about a salient event that occurred on a certain date. Reminders can be added directly from the main page of our projects, in the section dedicated to updates

Free scrolling of the Project Timeline

But of course it is also possible to drag our cursor on the Timeline, to view the progress of the project over time.

As we scroll we will see the percentages of work done changing, along with all the other data shown in the graphs on the Statistics page.

timeline scrolling

We will be able to move back to any time point in our project, to monitor progress at a certain date or simply see what and how it has changed from the baseline.

An extra monitoring tool: the Project Snapshot

But there is a tool that complements and collaborates with our Project Timeline: the function that lets you take a Snapshot of the current state.

This will allow us to check this state easier at a later date.

project snapshot

On the Overview page of the project or of one of its phases, you will find the small camera icon.

With this you can ‘take a picture’ of the situation at any time and then display it clearly on the Timeline.

After you have captured the moment, you can write a note to link to this Snapshot: e.g. a time reference, a turning point in the progress of the project, or any other relevant aspect.

You will also find your snapshot icon among those in the Timeline; you can simply click on it to see the status of the project at the saved date.

This step is very useful in the case of long-term projects.

In fact, it will prevent you from scrolling through your Timeline randomly in the future, instead allowing you to have the most interesting moments already highlighted.

Bottom line

We have seen how important it is to keep track of a project’s progress over time, and Twproject offers you a unique tool to perform this analysis.

This is useful both for accurate reporting, but also for making more reliable future forecasts on similar projects.

In the seventh edition of the PMBOK, the project work performance domain is discussed.

This domain defines the basic principles for project process management.

These include the need to constantly monitor changes that may affect the project.

With Twproject’s Timeline, this is done in an agile way. You can ensure that every change is followed by appropriate adjustments.

Furthermore, you can use this data for better planning on future projects.

To start keeping track of all events related to your projects right away, try Twproject free for 15 days. Our support team is at your disposal!

Discover a brand new feature

New Twproject Release 7.0.007 – An increasingly comprehensive and interactive Kanban board

With this release we have made some important changes to our Kanban board and we are sure you will find them very useful!

Twproject offers excellent solutions for teams working in an agile mode, and its flagship is the Kanban board, which is characterised by flexibility and efficiency.

For example, it allows you to customise the column sorting: in addition to the classic method by priority, you can also sort by project, by assignee, by status and by type.

But let’s come to the new features introduced with this latest release, of which you can find a detailed report in our changelog as always.

Expanded view and compact view of cards

We know that everyone has their own style when creating ToDo’s: there are those who are concise and dry and those who do not spare details and precision.

So the full view of all the information contained in a ToDo may or may not be included in a tab on our Kaban board. In case it is not, we can choose to activate the ‘Expanded view’ mode, which shows a preview of the entire ToDo content.

expaned view of ToDo's in the Kanban board

Conversely, if we do not tick the option, we will see a preview of the description in the card, which will therefore be more compact.

This new choice of visualisation makes it possible to work in a customised and consequently more agile manner, which is the primary goal of Twproject.

Introduction of links and project id in the tab

Another small but valuable new feature we are introducing with this release is the presence of the project identification code (ID) and the direct link to its main page.

This introduction arose from the need reported to us by some customers who wanted to be able to use the Kanban board and at the same time access project data.

Making the Kanban boards interactive and with clickable areas was therefore the turning point to enable this process.

The project page opens on a new tab and thus allows a parallel view.

Direct entry of the worklog on the Kanban board

In the context of improvements to the interactivity of Kanban boards, here is yet another new possibility that we provide with this new release.

This is the possibility to enter the daily log directly from the Twproject Kanban board, which helps to optimise working time.

Clicking on the appropriate icon opens the classic worklog entry window, which can be entered more easily.

This improvement comes to the aid of those who find themselves performing two tasks at the same time – checking current activities and recording work times, for example – and thus want to optimise their timing.

Bottom line

CAs with every new release, we take the opportunity to publish several improvements and fix any errors, which we always list precisely.

In all of this, the feedback from our users is the key factor in continuing to grow and improve.

Twproject firmly believes that enabling everyone to work in the way that suits them best is a priority, which is why the flexibility with which we have equipped our Kanban board is unparalleled among competitors.

Finally, here is a video tutorial on how to use the Kanban board in Twproject. It’s really simple and intuitive!

To discover this and many other useful tools for monitoring your projects, you can try Twproject for free for 15 days. Start now and discover how useful it is!

New features await you

New Twproject Release 7.1.011 – ToDo list and Gantt are now together: a new view to simplify meetings

During project meetings, would you like to always have the ToDo lists at hand when consulting the Gantt? It is now possible, thanks to the new functionality developed by Twproject.

It is thanks to our continuous listening to our customers’ needs, and the efforts we make to turn these needs into growth opportunities, that Twproject’s Gantt now offers a unique and comprehensive overview.

The role of the Gantt in project meetings

This significant new functionality stems from a need that arose during project meetings; several project managers reported having difficulty switching between the two most frequently used views in these situations: the Gantt chart and the ToDo lists.

In other words, there was a need to have a synthesis between the general view on the structure and timing of the project (the Gantt) and its punctual development marked by the execution of single activities (the ToDos). The two aspects are in fact extremely interconnected, as a phase cannot be considered closed if all the activities associated with it have not been carried out.

Of course, the Gantt is definitely the main tool that we chaeck during project meetings, or at least it should be. Having an overview of the timelines and dependencies between phases is crucial for informing the entire team about the progress of phases.

Good use of the Gantt allows for crystal-clear communication with the entire team; in fact, this fundamental tool works when it concentrates much of the information in itself and becomes the ‘command centre’ for the entire project.

The new feature in Twproject: Gantt and ToDo list together

Twproject’s Gantt is one of the most dynamic that has ever been developed: it allows you to act in real time on all its components, by moving dates, creating various types of dependencies and managing milestones. In addition, it allows you to operate in ‘test’ mode and only save changes at a later stage, to explore various possible scenarios.

Furthermore, the data contained within it updates automatically as operators complete tasks, enter worklogs and so on. And finally, the Gantt also links and interacts with other important functions of the application such as assignment and workload management.

Now it takes a step further: it connects the Gantt view to ToDo management, thanks to a simple interface that allows you to see a summary of activities for each phase, and also their detailed list, allowing you to act on them in real time.

Let us now see all these innovations in detail.

The ToDo summary for each phase while consulting the Gantt

Show ToDo data

By clicking on this icon in the horizontal function bar of the Gantt, and selecting ‘ToDo data’, it will be possible to display a summary of the ToDo status for each individual project phase in a new column of our Gantt.

The overview will show a column with a summary of the ToDos (open – closed – total) for each individual phase. And all this will be visible without having to open additional pages.

ToDo summary in Gantt

This new way of reading the Gantt and ToDo summary together is useful to see at a glance where delays are accumulating and/or where there is the greatest active workload.

The extended list of ToDos in a side tab to the Gantt

Show ToDo lists

Then, if you want to have a detailed overview, you can click on the ToDo list button, which will show the extended list of ToDos for each phase in another window which can be placed side by side with the current one.

By clicking on the various phases within the Gantt, the list will update showing the ToDo’s for each selected phase.

ToDo list and Gantt side by side

By default, the list shows open ToDos for active phases and closed ToDos for completed phases. But this display can of course be changed using filters. For example, if you also want to see closed tasks for a phase that is still in progress, just set the filter ‘Status’ to all so that you see the complete list of open, closed, or else, ToDos.

From this window you can also act on the ToDo list as usual, adding items to the list, changing assignments, dates, priority, etc.

In short, it will be possible to act instantaneously without losing focus on the overall point of view and at the same time share these operations with everyone involved.

Final remarks

As anyone who frequently conducts project status meetings knows, one of the main causes of wasted time in these situations is the inability to keep the focus on the topic. Vagueness, in short, is always just around the corner when there is so much data and information to analyse.

This is solved by using more comprehensive and accurate tools that allow us not to lose the thread and keep the focus on the details we want to examine.

With Twproject, it is easier to have all the available data at hand and thus to keep a clear and transparent line, sticking to the real situation.

We have seen that a contextual action on the Gantt and ToDo lists is very useful during meetings (and not only) and allows an insightful and detailed view at the same time, involving the whole team in the path to results.

To get to know this and many other very useful features for the development and management of your projects, you can try Twproject for free for 15 days. Start now and promote transparency and sharing within your team!

The new feature is waiting for you

New Twproject Release 7.1.008 – Assignments and load for departments

Despite the summer period, the Twproject development team has certainly not stopped and today we are releasing a new version that we are sure you will appreciate. This new release, which is free for all customers, includes an important new feature on the workload and in particular on the use of department on projects, but let’s see all the details.

In Twproject, it was always possible to assign a department to a project, but the assignment had the sole function of giving all those belonging to that department specific permissions on the project.

From today, this assignment will have even greater value.

But this release does not only include this important change, we have also significantly enhanced Twproject’s financial management, making it more suitable for highly structured companies.

Also included are numerous bug-fixes, a complete list of which can be found on the changelog page.

This upgrade is free of charge for all Twproject users and includes updates to the database. A full backup of the application is therefore recommended before upgrading.

Let us now see the new features in detail.

New features

Department assignments

This important new change has several consequences.

As we have already mentioned, the assignment of a department to the project has always been possible, but the function was only to grant permissions to people who were part of the department/section (permissions are those given by the role with which the department is assigned).

Resources could not record hours worked on the department, but required their own allocation.

From today this will be possible! Being part of a department assigned to a project will give you the possibility to report directly on this assignment, you will be able to see the project and work with the to-do’s.

This major change will allow you to assign a department without worrying about who will be in charge of the activities specifically, knowing that everyone in it is fully operational.

In work environments where there are large teams and where there is a tendency to work in agile mode, it will be very convenient to have one assignment to which everyone reports.

Also, the assignment of a ToDo to a person will no longer create an assignment to the person if that person is part of a department/team already assigned on the project.

In the worklog analysis interfaces, however, the detail of the persons who reported on the departmental allocation is shown, while all analysis, control and approval procedures remain unchanged.

This is a new default behaviour of Twproject and therefore does not need to be activated.

Consequently, in all interfaces where one’s own assignments are shown or where one can record one’s worklogs, in addition to one’s personal assignments, those of the department to which one directly belongs are also shown, with the possibility of reporting on them.

If, on the other hand, a person also has his or her own nominal assignment on the same stage, the departmental one is ignored and only the personal one is shown.

Department workload

Obviously, this change, which gives the department an even greater importance than it has had up to now, could not remain incomplete, which is why the optimised load calculation on the department as a whole was also added.


Until now it was only possible to view the workload of people; with this release it becomes possible for departments as well.

The workload calculation takes into account many parameters such as dates, status and type of projects, estimated assignments, planned hours through the plan and/or ToDo’s, actual workable hours net of leave/vacation/illness, hours already worked on each assignment, for each person belonging to the department. Once this data has been extracted, the algorithm tries to optimise the allocation of resources so as to obtain the most plausible load possible, based on the available data:

  1. Hours worked by the resource (both person and department)
  2. Work capacity for that day. It is the sum of the capacities of all the resources belonging to the department; it takes into account working hours (horizontal or vertical part-time) and can therefore differ from day to day.
  3. Total load calculated as the sum of all contributions.

Colours are assigned on the basis of the phase/project. If several resources are allocated to the same phase/project, the box represents the total of all contributions.

Unavailabilities, shown at the bottom of the bar in pale pink, are holidays, leave, etc., entered in the Twproject diary indicating their type.

For more details on the algorithm implemented by Twproject for this calculation, we recommend reading this post on resource workload.

Improved cost management

Let us now move on to the part concerning cost enhancement.

Project budget

Several configurations have been included that can be switched on and off by default, giving you greater control over budgets and estimates.

The activation of the parameter BUDGET_OVERFLOW_FORBIDDEN makes the application prevent the input of financial costs, or costs arising from allocated resources, if these exceed the allocated budget. In addition, the sum of the budget distributed over the phases must respect the budget defined on the higher level.

This behaviour is intended to facilitate the financial planning activities of the project manager, who is then guided by Twproject in entering consistent estimates with the available budget for each individual project phase.

If we then analyse in detail the control exercised by the budget, we see that:

  • each sub-phase cannot have a budget greater than that of the phase to which it belongs (overflow) and, similarly, the budget of a parent node cannot be less than the sum of the budgets of its own sub-phases (underflow).
  • the estimated costs of a phase cannot exceed the budget of the relevant phase as well as the costs arising from the work of the assigned resources (hourly cost of the resource multiplied by the estimated hours of work on his or her assignment).
  • the real costs, in turn, are subject to the control of the estimated costs to which they must necessarily refer and which they cannot in fact exceed.
  • lpersonal expenses are tied to one’s personal budget, which in turn contributes to eroding the phase budget.

In order to better manage finances, Twproject shows for each node the budget allocated to all its sub-phases, if any, as well as the residual usable amount (value given by the budget on the phase minus what is allocated to the sub-phases and the costs of the phase itself).

As mentioned, by symmetry with the overflow, the underflow is also controlled, so an already entered budget may not be changed below what has already been distributed or estimated, and likewise, an estimated cost may not be lowered below the actual cost already incurred.

Two new budget management permissions have been created.

Management of resource cost per hour
USE_REAL_RESOURCE_COST

Twproject has two cost per hour indications: one on the resource, the other on the assignment.

This is done in order to differentiate the cost of the employees to the company (cost on the resource) from the value with which the resource is ‘sold’ to a customer (cost on the allocation).

However, should it be necessary or more convenient to always use the cost of the resource, this new flag has been introduced, the activation of which disables the hourly cost on the allocation, which is then ignored.

As a consequence, any change of hourly cost on the resource will be propagated immediately to all task assignments with active or pending status. The display of historicised consumptive costs (worklogs) and estimates, discounted to the new cost, is also activated.

The historicised worklog cost (actual cost) is the sum of the individual worklog costs to the hourly cost of the resource at the date of entry, while the estimated cost is the historicised hourly cost, on what was actually recorded, and the current cost for the residual part:

actual worklog cost + (estimated hours – hours worked) * current hourly cost

Please note that if the hourly cost of a resource is changed, the project cost page should be interpreted by taking into account the above calculation, not simply by multiplying the hourly cost by the hours.

Management of final reports (worklog entry)
WORKLOG_OVERFLOW_FORBIDDEN

Linked to the management of the project budget, but independent of it, is the blocking of worklog entries in the event of overruns.

Once this property is activated, it will no longer be possible to enter hours in excess of the estimate; therefore, in the case of non-estimated hours, worklog entry is disabled.

In the case of assignment to a department (see next paragraph), the block is activated on the total number of hours entered by the whole team.

In the event of an overrun, an alert warns of the error and shows the remaining number of hours that can be entered.

Note that this ban does not take into account budget overruns (provided the functionality is active), but only the estimate on the allocation; this is to avoid blocking normal work activities in the event of changes in the hourly cost of resources.

The property WORKLOG_ROUNDING_TO instead, controls the rounding to ‘n’ predetermined minutes. The value 0 (default) does not round and therefore deactivates the property.

Management of cost centres

With the same aim of simplifying the management of large teams and complex projects, several innovations concerning cost centres were introduced.

Cost centre propagation

A new default behaviour means that when the cost centre on a task or resource is changed, all ‘children’ having the old cost centre are updated to the new one. If, however, a child had a different one, it is not changed.

Choice of cost centre type
USE_DISTINCT_COSTCENTER_PRJ_RES

Its activation involves the appearance in the cost centre editor of a new drop-down menu, the ‘type’, having only two values, project and resource, and the task and resource drop-downs will only show the respective cost centres.

Cost centre inheritance
COSTS_INHERIT_COST_CENTER

This new custom feature has been introduced so that additional project costs inherit the cost centre from the phase, with no possibility of modification.

Security

With this release we have introduced 5 new permissions related to phase/project management of the budget, revenue and cost centre.

The application update procedure automatically adds them to all existing roles that have similar cost permissions.

To increase security, ownership of project phases will automatically be inherited from the parent node.

Thus, if even the individual project phase will have a different manager (e.g. a junior project manager) than the main project, this manager will not acquire ownership over all aspects of the phase, such as costs, etc., by default.

Many other new features

  • Kanban: added search in each column.

  • Assignment list: the printout now also includes any customised fields.

  • Operator loading: in the detail popup, we have increased and improved the summary information.

  • Tasks with an undefined status: their progress percentage is always zero and they are not taken into account in the project progress calculation.

But all this is but a brief extract of what you can find in Twproject 7.1.007!

With this release, Twproject has made many other system improvements and bug-fixes, a complete list of which can be found on the changelog page.

The new release is awaiting you

New Twproject Release 7.1.004 – All types of Gantt dependencies

After months of study and implementation we are really happy to announce that a new version of Twproject has been released and it includes, among other optimizations, a particular step forward on the use of the Gantt chart.

The Gantt developed by Twproject is undoubtedly one of the best on the current market in terms of flexibility and interaction with other pages in the application. It is also one of the few that allows you to do all sorts of tests on project duration and dependencies, thus proving to be a useful tool not only when sharing timelines but also in the process of studying them.

As always, the new release will be for the immediate benefit of all our customers, who can start using the new features right away!

Dependencies in the Gantt

According to definition, in the context of project management, “dependency” is defined as the relationship between two activities in a project or between an activity and a milestone (a precise point that defines the beginning or end of a relevant phase).

Dependencies thus allow one phase to be linked to the next in a way that indicates that they are consequential.

dependency

Introduction of new types of dependencies in the Gantt

Until now in Twproject, the dependencies between project phases that the user could enter were of one type, the so-called classic Finish to start (FS). This means that activity A must finish before activity B starts, or in other words, activity B cannot start before A is finished.

But as we delved deeper into this topic and also through feedback from our clients, we realized that limiting the possible relationships that exist between the phases of a project to this classic type of dependency was reductive. In fact, there are additional relationships that can develop between the activities to be performed and that have been theorized in the principles of project management. Let us look at them in detail:

  • The Finish to finish (FF) relationship type implies that activity B cannot finish before A is also finished. For example, if activity B is the completion of writing a book and activity A is the writing of the last chapter, it becomes clear that A must necessarily finish for B to be considered finished as well.
  • Furthermore, there is the case that a certain activity cannot begin before another activity has in turn begun, and in this case the relationship will be Start to Start (SS). A classic example is the project management activity (B) of a project that cannot start before the project itself (A) begins.
  • Finally, a very specific case is the last type of relationship called Start to finish (SF), which is probably the most complex to understand and applies only in certain contexts. In this case activity A must start before B finishes, or in other words B cannot finish until A is started. Such a scenario may arise, for example, during shift change in a manufacturing plant whose machinery needs constant monitoring. The initial shift (A) cannot be said to have ended unless the next shift (B) has already started, on pain of putting the plant at risk.

We are therefore overjoyed to announce that in the new release of Twproject we have introduced the ability to assign all of the above types of dependencies to project phases.

After creating the dependency between two phases, you can possibly change the default value represented by the FS dependency and select another type of relationship.

modify dependency type

The application of the concept of “elasticity”

Another important paradigm shift, which makes us very proud of our work, is that we have made all the newly added dependencies “elastic.”

Indeed, if until now the assignment of a dependency established the linear succession of one activity after another, we know well that in the real world the downtimes.

That is why Twproject decided to allow the user to freely manage this elasticity.

So from now on when you enter a dependency it will be saved at first with the default FS hard type. But this classic “hard” dependency can be converted into “elastic” and with any type of relationship.

This means that two interdependent activities may also not be chronologically consequential and move apart, leaving any gaps between them, or overlap for a time, as long as the logic of chosen dependence is respected.

This is a big change in terms of sticking to the facts when carrying out a concrete project and reinforces the concept of delegation that is central in Twproject.

Imagine a project tree where a Project Manager (PM) is assigned for the whole project and then a specific one for each phase, one for the analysis(PMA), design(PMG) and production(PMD) phase, these phases are linked by an FS dependency.

The PM can define a total project duration and assign a specific duration to the phases, thanks to the elastic dependencies, he can, while maintaining the logic of the dependencies, create a lag between the phases and therefore leave to PMA, PMG and PMD great freedom of action (moving end and start data) without affecting the overall dates!

This was not possible before, since a postponement of an end date, for example of the analysis phase, would necessarily have led to a postponement of the consequent phases, phases over which PMA has no right.

Other news

But it doesn’t end there. With this release Twproject has made really a lot of improvements to the system, a full list of which you can find on the changelog page.

Here’s a sampling of them:

Revenues: a useful tool for turning an estimated value into actual revenue has been introduced to further facilitate the entry of these items.

Worklogs: filters by ToDo and by project have been added to the worklog analysis sheet, and in addition a column with the sum of total worklogs on a phase or project has been added on the timesheet.

Role security: we have made permissions on task management even more secure in relation to cost and form entry.

Agenda: various improvements have been made to the agenda, including the ability to view the duration of ToDo’s, and in addition, events entered in the agenda have been integrated into a dedicated row on the ToDo and resource planner.

So, don’t waste any time and go find out now how much these latest innovations from Twproject will benefit the efficiency of your work!

All clients using Twproject on the cloud will get the update automatically in the coming days, while those who have Twproject installed on their own servers can find the new installers here.

The new release is waiting for you

Twproject 7.1.000 – Introduction of mentions and other improvements

Communication is an essential requirement within a team; that’s why in Twproject you can find many different features having this goal.

Today we added an brand new one: the mentions!

Twproject 7.1.000 includes also several security fixes and improvements.

Mentions are now available in Twproject

Nowadays, using constantly messaging applications, we got used to mentions, an efficient way to refer directly to one or more people within a larger group.
Their purpose in Twproject is therefore to simplify the interactions and dialogue between the members of a work group, improving communication and alerting people when something requires their attention.

But how do they work and where?


People can be mentioned:

  • in chat messaging
  • in project/phase updates
  • in ToDos comments
  • in worklog action (text)
mentions in the chat

If you aim to mention someone in any of these contexts, insert the @ character and start typing the name of the person. Select him with the mouse from the list and repeat this step for all the people you want to quote.
Obviously, the more you type the more refined the search result will be.
Save or send the message and that’s it.

The person mentioned will receive one or more notifications, according to the channels he has enabled in his user options tab (email, digest, sticky note or application log).

mentions options

The new widget “My mentions” is another way to receive notifications. It displays any quotes you receive in real time.
It can be placed in any dashboard.

But what if an user does not activate any notification channels and does not insert the widget?

No problem at all!
Once mentioned, a counter appears in the recipient’s menu and it disappears only once the user has read the message.

Finally, it is worth highlighting three aspects:

  • in chat messages only people who are part of the chat itself can be mentioned. On the other hand, in other interfaces, it is possible to mention all the persons you have permission to see, therefore a wider set
  • if a text containing a mention is modified or deleted, the person previously quoted will not be notified.
  • if someone is quoted in a context he can not read (for example a project he’s not assigned to), he will see only the text within which he was mentioned.

Mentions are active in all Twproject plans!

Security fixes

Within this realease, Twproject has been deeply tested to align it with the directives promulgated by the foundation “Open Web Application Security Project” (https://owasp.org). Its goal is to create guidelines, tools and methodologies to improve the security of software applications.

This makes the adoption of Twproject accompliant to Public Administrations prerequisites.

https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/star/registry/twproject-srl/services/twproject/

And many other new implementations

Dropdown menus: they have been redesigned so as to make easier and more immediate the identification of what is sought among people and tasks.
The search for people returns a list to which have been added personal avatar and company/department.

The search for projects/phases shows the status of the task, its code and ancestors tree.

ToDos: it is now possible to assign a todo to a department so that it can be seen and performed by any of its members.

Hints: new contextual tips and videos have been added.

Task public page: todos list has been splitted into as many tabs as todo types.
Thus reading is much easier!

But all this stuff is just a short excerpt of what you can find in Twproject 7.1.000!


For the complete list of all the features, please consult the changelog!

Download the new release

New Twproject Release 7.0.009 – Two-factor authentication

With this release we have made great strides in navigation security and data protection.

In fact, we implemented two-factor authentication, the most secure system for account security so far, with a temporary password linked to your device.

Vogliamo perciò parlarti brevemente di questa novità, sia per spiegarti cosa cambierà da oggi, sia per avvalorare questa scelta con le sue implicazioni.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), MFA is an authentication method that requires more than a single authentication factor to access a website, application or system.

The multi-factor approach is one of the pillars of modern IT security. Due to the increase in digital threats and data breaches, it is crucial to seek more robust solutions to protect sensitive information.

The MFA addresses this need by introducing different levels of verification to prevent unauthorised access.

But let us see in detail how this new two-factor authentication works in Twproject.

Access with One Time Password (OTP)

An OTP is a temporary password generated by an external application that allows you to avoid certain types of cyber attacks, such as phishing and password theft.

Two-factor authentication

The use of the OTP guarantees security not only within the account that is being accessed, but also against other applications for which the user might have used the same password recklessly.

From now on, you will find the classic login mask to enter your Twproject account, with your username and the usual static password you have chosen to log in.

But this first step will be followed by another, quick one that will effortlessly protect your account from unauthorised access.

Two-factor authentication with OTP

Here is the second login mask, which after recognising your user will ask you to enter the temporary OTP that you can generate from any authentication application available on your phone.

Other security innovations

If you know us, you know how important security is to us at Twproject. But it is equally important that in carrying out measures to ensure it, we do not burden the user’s browsing experience.

Fundamentally, Twproject security is based on roles: having a role means obtaining the ability to do a certain operation, (create a project, insert worklogs, visualise a resource…). Each of these abilities is called a ‘permission’, and a role is a collection of permissions.

Twproject roles are highly flexible and customisable according to requirements.

With this release, we have further extended the variety of permissions to ensure a truly efficient distribution of tasks within the team.

For more detail, you can see everything that has been done on the changelog page.

Try the new features of this release now

But that’s not all: Twproject is constantly working to improve itself, responding promptly to customer needs and requests raised by our studies and research.

New releases are always available to all users in real time and automatically.

So, if you want to join us and start managing your projects safely and conveniently, take a free trial with Twproject: you will have our support team on hand for any doubts or special requests.

The new release is waiting for you

New Twproject is out!

We have been waiting for this day for a long time and it has finally come! What a thrill to show you the new Twproject!

These past few years have taught us many things. One of these is how important are project management software for managing projects deadlines and shared ToDo.

Smart working made it clear: relationships and communication are important as well as not having information scattered in different places, on different Excel sheets, suddenly not reachable.

We created the new version with this in mind, to ensure that a software is truly helpful to everyone and therefore usable by everyone. The bet is to do this while keeping the wealth of features that project managers needs.

Here are the news in our Project management software

Without a doubt the most exciting news is the WBS.
This is the feature that will most improve usability in Twproject.

Thanks to the WBS you can create phases and sub-phases without going thorough the Gantt editor that still remains at a click distance. We improved it as well including also baselines.

WBS is integrated with contextual alerts.
It will warn you if there are any phases that have inconsistencies, such as overdue dates or excess costs.

Alerts refers to different project’s sections like assignments, costs, documents and ToDo.

Yes, you got it right, ToDo not issue.
Another big news, in fact, is that you will no longer find “issues” in Twproject.
Don’t worry, we just changed its name.
Issues have definitively abandoned us, but they have been replaced by ToDo’s which inherit their enormous flexibility with even more capabilities.

ToDo (old issues) now have a title, to make the list much more compact. They can recur, and can you can organize them with a completely redesigned Kanban and Planner. You won’t believe your eyes!

Another big news refers to the resource workload. We did a great job here beacuse we know that you love this feature a lot.

One of the first improvements is the introduction of a new type of assignment to manage unplanned activities.
This will allow you to finally take into account those spot projects that generate load from time to time, convenient, right?

The second news, and certainly the most interesting one is the integration of the workload with Gantt editor.

On a project Gantt you can now see load percentage of the resources assigned. Move activities and balance the loads. But that’s not all, Twproject can suggest a project end date (or a phase one) based on current loads.

The new version of Twproject introduces a further level of statistics. It is on a specific project tab, with project history navigation.
Data collected by Twproject are represented in reports for costs, worklogs, Todo, but also graphs relating to individual assignments, and a new graph for user score.

Twproject costs are now more readable and a we also added a brand new section for revenues and cash flow.

Twproject user interface has been completely redesigned so, as you can guess, the new things are many.

I will mention just some of them: lists with editable columns, new indexing machine to find all the information with a click, private projects, enriched public pages, new dashboards, enhanced filters and much more.

Twproject is ready to help your company tackle the projects of the future effectively.

The new version will surprise you

If you are a customer with a valid Twproject license and you want to upgrade write us or follow the instruction on our support site.

New Twproject Release 6.5.65011 – Project progress check bars on Gantt

Twproject is out with a small new release including some bug fixes and a new interesting feature.

Twproject 6.5.65011 includes a new bar that can be activated on your Gantt showing task progress over time. You can pick a date, or more than one and see the progress status of your task at that specific date:

You can check the entire list of features/bug fixes in our change log.

 

 

New Twproject Release 6.5.65009 – Attendance Overview & Task File Storage

We are finally out with a new great release (6.5.65009). Among lots of improvements and fixes, we include 3 new fantastic features: a dedicate page for resource attendance, 1 new widgets that will enrich your dashboard and last but not least a new way to link a specific file storage to your entire task tree.

You can download the new release here, it includes some database schema updates so do a complete backup before upgrading.

Widget dashboard

A new widget will help you having an idea of the load of your team, you can also change tho workgroup checking the load of different resources.

Attendance Overview

The other great feature we added in this new release is a dedicated page for attendance overview.

For this purpose we changed the event type behavior. Since this new release you will not have the unavailable check anymore in your event, but you will need to specify a type, types are now marked as unavailable or not:

So, for example, to create an unavailable event for holidays, you will need a holidays type marked as unavailable.

The update procedure will create automatically a new event type called”unavailable” and will assign it to all events marked that way. After you create the correct events types, like permit or trip, you should change events, at least those in the future, with the correct types.

To help you in this procedure we also changed the event list page to bulk change types.

Thanks to this the attendance overview will look like this:

You will have the list of your event types with relatives events, a specific row for worklogs (red if missing) and one specific row for overtime: calculated according to your work settings, worklog inserted and unavailable events.

Task File Storage

The first step to assign a file storage dedicated to your tree is to create it (tools -> file storages).

Once You have it (copy the filestorage code) you can go in the dedicated section from admin -> project defaults:

In this case FT is the code of the file storage that I have created before, a folder in my file server I pick to save projects file:

Thanks to this simple step, from now on you will have on your project/tasks a dedicated folder for your files. The system will create a dedicated folder for every node of the project tree, and the name of this folder will follow the specification you insert, in my example I chose the task code.

The complete list of all new features is available on the change log page.

Monitor your team with Twproject

New Twproject 6.5.65004

A new Twproject release is out today, with some small enhancement and some bug fixes. This release is free for all plan and does not contain any schema update. For the complete list of changes take a look out our change log.

Features

This new release includes a new rich HTML editor that you can use for sending messages, writing notes and meeting minute.

We also introduced a new repository type to organize uploded twproject document in folder by day/month/year and a new bar in task statistics for task’s helth.

The list of small improvements is rich as well so just go take a look!

Check the list of improvements and fixed bugs.

Twproject 6.4.64001

A new Twproject release is out with some great features included in all plans. This is a free upgrade for all Twproject users and includes some database changes so do a complete backup before update.

If you are updating from a version before 6.3 remember to check the upgrade guide here:
https://twproject.com/support/twproject-advanced-usage/installation/update-twproject-6-3/

Gantt PDF export

The first and more important one is the new Gantt print functionality that generates a pdf with the entire Gantt finally solving the big images print browser issue.

The print button has been reintroduced in the Gantt editor to generate the pdf:

Resource operating hours

A great new feature introduced in 6.4.64001 is the resource operating hours available in the work settings tab. Thanks to this new functionality you can specify resource working hours day by day. Operating hours are considered in operator load and plan for every day load calculation.

Project progress calculation

Twproject includes now nine different automatic rules to calculate task progress.

By worklog / estimated: task progress is calculated according to the work inserted on the estimated one.

By sub-tasks (weighted): in this case Twproject considers the relevance of each sub-tasks and its progress to calculate the parent progress.

By sub-tasks completed: in this case the parent progress follow the status of its children, for example if the half of its children are closed the progress is at 50%.

By issues closed / total: project progress increase according to the number of its closed issue.

By cost / estimated & by cost / budget: Project progress increase according to costs bear in relation with estimated ones or budget.

By date: Project progress increase with end date approaching.

Different sub-tasks calculate their progress using a different rule.

You can check the complete list of new features and fixes on our change log here.

Let’s check these new features.