Activity & Screenshots

Understand Activity Levels and Time Slots

Learn how ten-minute time slots, minute-level keyboard and mouse signals, tracked time, and contract-based Productivity differ in ZMorning.

How does ZMorning represent tracked activity?

ZMorning stores work in fixed ten-minute slots. Within an automatic slot, it can store keyboard-hit and mouse-click totals for individual minute positions. Today colors a minute green when its combined enabled input count is greater than zero; the slot's recorded time remains ten minutes regardless of how many segments are green.

Understand the fixed ten-minute slot model

Each hour is divided into six boundaries: :00, :10, :20, :30, :40, and :50. A stored slot begins on one of those boundaries and represents the full ten-minute interval in totals.

Start at 9:00

9:00–9:10 slot

The recorded minute belongs to the slot beginning at 9:00.

Start at 9:07

Still the 9:00–9:10 slot

The slot label follows the fixed boundary, not the exact second when Start was selected.

Continue after 9:10

A second slot can be created

A later minute record in the next interval belongs to the 9:10–9:20 slot.

How keyboard and mouse counts are recorded

  1. 1

    Settings load at Start

    The desktop app retrieves the selected employer's screenshot, keyboard, and mouse settings for the employee.

  2. 2

    Enabled input events increment counters

    While tracking runs, each enabled keyboard press or mouse click on the computer increases its current-minute counter.

  3. 3

    The minute totals are queued

    About once per minute, ZMorning queues the keyboard and mouse totals with that minute's position inside the ten-minute slot, then resets the counters.

  4. 4

    Today groups repeated minute positions

    If more than one record reaches the same minute position, Today sums its keyboard counts and mouse counts before deciding whether that segment is active.

Read green and gray minute segments

Green segment

Enabled input was recorded

The keyboard count, mouse count, or both were greater than zero for that minute position.

  • Keyboard-only activity can make it green.
  • Mouse-only activity can make it green.
  • Green does not measure output or quality.

Gray segment

No enabled input was recorded

The combined stored count for that minute is zero, or the slot is manual.

  • The employee may have been reading, thinking, or in a meeting.
  • One or both input settings may have been disabled.
  • Gray does not prove that no work occurred.

Separate time, activity, and Productivity

Recorded timeTen minutes per stored slot

Used by Today totals, weekly time, earnings, project attribution when a task exists, reports, and billing calculations.

  • Does not shrink when segments are gray.
  • Includes automatic and manual slots.
  • Uses fixed slot duration, not exact elapsed seconds.
Activity signalPer-minute input counts

Shown as green or gray segments and, when available, keyboard and mouse totals in the slot detail view.

  • Depends on the employee's enabled settings.
  • Shows input volume, not work value.
  • Does not determine the slot's time value.
Dashboard ProductivityTime versus contract

Compares recorded slot minutes in the selected period with the employee's configured weekly contract hours.

  • Does not use keyboard counts.
  • Does not use mouse counts.
  • Returns zero when useful contract hours are not configured.

Account for settings, manual time, and delayed uploads

Keyboard setting disabled
Keyboard events do not increase the stored counter. Enabled mouse clicks can still make a minute green.
Mouse setting disabled
Mouse events do not increase the stored counter. Enabled keyboard input can still make a minute green.
Both settings disabled
The session can still create time slots, but its minute segments remain gray unless other stored records affect them.
Settings changed during existing work
The desktop app loads settings when Start is selected. Stop and start a new session to load a saved change.
Manual slot
Today intentionally returns no automatic keyboard or mouse counts and shows gray segments for that slot.
Temporary connection problem
The desktop app queues minute records locally and retries them later, so activity can appear on Today after the session.

Understand what slot deletion removes

The current Today page shows Delete only in the employee view, shown as Employee in ZMorning. The action removes the entire ten-minute slot rather than clearing only its activity signal.

  • The ten minutes are removed from daily, weekly, reporting, earnings, and billing totals.
  • All minute-level keyboard and mouse records in the slot are removed.
  • Every screenshot attached to the slot is removed.
  • The current interface has no restore action.

Troubleshoot activity and slot totals

Worked Today is higher than the visible active minutes
This is expected under the fixed-slot model. Worked Today counts ten minutes for every stored slot, not only green segments.
A very short session created ten minutes
Start queues an initial minute record, which can create the current ten-minute slot. Stop at clear boundaries and review the resulting slot before billing.
All segments are gray
There may have been no enabled input, both settings may have been off, or the slot may be manual. The slot can still count as time.
Activity appeared after the work ended
Pending minute records can synchronize after a temporary connection problem. Allow Today to refresh before adding replacement manual time.
First tracked or Last tracked shows --
Automatic slots need a minute with a positive keyboard or mouse count for those markers. Stored time can exist without one.
Dashboard Productivity does not match activity
Productivity uses recorded slot time and weekly contract hours. It is not calculated from the green segments or input totals.