With 2021 behind us, there’s one thing I think we can all safely say which is that 2021 has been a weird and interesting year. Challenging for many, yet hopefully also a great one despite the ever-changing daily routines and life continuing to change for many out there.
We hope you’ve taken (at the very least) the last two weeks of the year to take a step back, reflect and get in the right mindset for 2022. Every single one of us are beyond grateful for the conscious decision you’ve made to use Atarim in your agency and our ability to support your agency’s growth & scalability as a result of that decision. And we cannot wait for what’s in store for 2022. ?
In 2021, we’ve revamped the entire platform – transitioning from a simple WordPress plugin to an agency management suite – introducing new features, pushing a whole range of improvements and laying the groundwork for a lot more to come in 2022 and beyond.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on everything that’s changed:
KPIs and Benchmarks
One of the key updates introduced this year is related to tracking KPIs and benchmarks. Now, you can view key metrics like:
- First response time
- Task completion time
- Pending urgent tasks
- Total completed tasks
This gives users more granular insights into how they connect with their customers. The lower the First Response Time, the better.
You can also see a graph of the weekly number of tasks that are assigned to different team members. You can now also see a graph that depicts the websites with the most time tracked; this will give you a better idea about which clients deserve your time more, or which ones you need to stop working with.
You can also see time tracked individually by different team members, as well as showing you exactly what each member has worked on within a specific timeframe.
Websites
A new websites section now shows all the websites that you’re working on. Just download the client interface plugin, install it, and activate it. It can be directly downloaded from the Website section now, instead of heading to the Billing page.
Pending tasks for each website are shown too. Once all tasks are completed, a green tick appears indicating that all work is completed.
You can also easily archive sites, and reinstate them by simply clicking on “archived sites” from the top.
Adding users to different projects is now easier than ever before. You can assign projects to different websites, so they only see projects that they are assigned to. This reduces clutter and helps team members focus on tasks that concern them.
Advanced Search
The new search bar is more enhanced, and works better than before. You can now search throughout Atarim and your different websites by:
- Task title
- Page title
- Websites
We’ve also reduced the size of the Atarim plugin by a significant margin. The plugin has been compressed from 4.5 MB to under 1 MB, reducing load times to 900 ms for users that are logged in. This is very good for websites with a bunch of open tasks.
The plugin also waits for the website to load so the HTML is in place before it loads up and assigns tasks.
Exporting Data
Simply click on “Export CSV/Excel” to export data from Atarim to spreadsheets. This is necessary for GDPR compliance, and Atarim is compliant.
The “What’s New?” Button
The “What’s New?” button now shows all the new features released on the platform. We aim to release one major feature, once a month!
Email Support Desk
The email support desk works identical to the agency inbox, letting you send emails directly from Atarim. It’s a rich text editor, so the text can be customized however you see fit.
You can also customize the settings to receive emails and have Atarim automatically treat them as a task. If your client’s email is associated with a specific website, Atarim automatically filters and assigns tasks from emails directly to the client’s website.
You can also sort tasks alphabetically, done to open, and other order settings. Tasks can also be assigned to users, or you can set auto-assign too.
Auto Login
With Auto Login, you no longer need to use a password manager such as LastPass. Everything is in one place, and lets you move from one client to another without having to look for passwords.
Tracking Time Is Now Easier Than Ever
Individual time tracking is now available, with the timer running at the bottom. Estimates can be added too before beginning a task. All activity records are maintained as well.
Task management has been greatly simplified, with a new urgent tab that lets you organize roles better. You can simply click on “Add New Task” to add a new task and briefly describe it.
Brandable time reports are now also available. You can go into white label settings to remove the Atarim logo and add your company’s logo in the time reports.
More filters are available to let you easily see which users have worked on which websites, as well as view billable and non-billable tasks.
Team Management
Managing team members on Atarim is also quite easy, and we’ve introduced several new features. You can now invite multiple users on the platform and automatically assign them to specific tasks. User roles can be defined too.
This way, you can give access to users to specific websites they have to work on, instead of the entire dashboard. The activity feed, colloquially known as “God Mode,” lets the admin review all activities from all users through a centralized feed. This way, all members of your team will know that someone’s overseeing their performance.
Using Zapier, you can now connect Atarim with thousands of other apps, including Slack, Trello, or any other that you use in your agency.
Minifying Images
We identified common pain points from our users, and tried to resolve them. Now, instead of having to download an image, minifying it using another tool, and then uploading it in the back-end, you can simply do it straight from Atarim.
The Client Interface Plugin
We have added email templates for inviting clients to collaborate with you on tasks. Templates are available for different stages of the onboarding process. Just head towards the Billing page, and scroll down. You’ll find all the templates there.
We’ve also introduced a new Guest mode that enables any website user to create tasks, and comment on existing ones.
This is ideal during the development process or in staging environments, when the website is only accessible to you, your team, and your client.
When the guest mode is enabled and the website is opened, you will see all tasks that have been generated on the homepage.
Additionally, after the site is up and your customer has been given login access, you can disable Guest Mode and utilize the frontend login functionality.
You can also whitelabel the login popup. When a client logs in, they can see different roles. Your client just needs to select the relevant role, and they can select the notifications they want to receive.
Users now have more control to let clients choose which notifications they can select from. A short video is available on the front-end for creating tasks, making it easy for them to understand how to use the platform.
You can also switch to Responsive mode to view how the website will look on mobiles, and leave comments based on clients’ preferences. If you go back to the normal view, you’ll see tasks attached in the right place (even those made in mobile view).
This makes it super handy for users to see what clients want, even if they are creating tasks on their mobile phone or tablet. When clients get notified of different tasks, they will automatically be directed to a specific page, and a popup will be shown to them, letting them know exactly what they want.
The bottom bar now shows activity progress at the bottom. White labelling also lets you add your logo and link to it at the bottom.
Graphic Feedback Tool
The new Graphic Feedback Tool now let’s users easily collaborate on wireframes or flowcharts with others. Creating new graphic items is easy, and lets you collaborate on different blocks straight from the dashboard.
You can click anywhere on the canvas to easily add comments. Users can also change the color and design according to their preferences and collaborate seamlessly on projects.
A static sidebar lets you filter items, search for things, and create general tasks too.
The Roadmap for 2022
There are lots of exciting features coming to Atarim in 2022 as we close this year. As promised, we’ll be releasing one new feature each month, so you can expect lots of advanced functionality from Atarim in 2022.
For instance, we are moving the Graphic Feedback Tool into the Agency Dashboard, and then we’re introducing a new feature that lets you open Atarim that’s open to all websites.
So, you can just add a URL for any website, and add a layer for collaborating with clients using Atarim. It’s extremely fast, letting you get started in a couple of clicks. That’ll generate a unique URL that you can share with your clients.
Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceberg! There are a lot of interesting things to come in 2022, so stay tuned, and we wish you a happy New Year’s from all of us at Atarim!
