Espresso

 4.1 Interface basics

Espresso 2.5 uses your favorite web browser to access the data. That means that you can navigate it in the same way you browse the web.

The information is organized in a way to allow you to get the information you need as quick as possible. Espresso 2.5 achieves it by using a uniform navigation throughout the whole application. All data is organized in three layers:

1^st level navigation: allows you to switch between various application parts. Selected part is always highlighted. Top navigation options can be enabled or disabled depending on your user role.

2^nd level navigation: allows you to navigate within a part of the application and perform various tasks associated with the record you work with.

3^rd level navigation: allows you to navigate within a record (client, resource, project etc).

All underlined words and phrases are clickable.

Espresso 2.5 makes your business transparent allowing you to access all relevant information in one mouse click. Figure 2 shows you the overview of unsent invoices:

Drop-down menu is used to make data selection. Pull the menu and click ‘Find’ to display found information. Shaded bar is the header of the table displaying found results. All underlined words are clickable and are used to sort the found information. Every row represents one found record and it’s cross-references. For example: this list shows you two unsent invoices. You can access each invoice by clicking on its identifier (like 2007-05168). Client details can be accessed by clicking the name of the company and project details can be accessed by clicking the project identifier. Checkboxes allow you to select some of found records to perform actions on them. Buttons allow you to perform actions on selected (or displayed) records. Some of the buttons can be disabled (grayed) if the action on selected record is unavailable.

Espresso 2.5 uses HTML forms to display data. Data is editable if the color of the field is white.

Use “edit” icon to enable data editing and edit the record. Please note that some fields accept only certain type of data. That means that Espresso 2.5 will not allow you to enter wrong data type and warn you about it.

Use “delete” icon to remove the record. Espresso will check if the record can be removed before executing your request. You cannot remove data that is cross-referenced within the application.

Use buttons to perform actions on selected data.

4.2 Color coding

Espresso uses uniform color coding scheme to attract your attention to the urgency of various events. Each event will be color marked depending on its due time. The standard settings are:

dark green/blue – more than a week to go
light green/blue – between a week and a day to go
dark orange – due today
red orange - overdue

This scheme is used throughout the application and is fully customizable.

Red and orange colors are also used to mark items that need your immediate attention like unassigned tasks or overdue invoices.