SPARC Parenting Time Tracker

Release Notes
Parenting Time Tracker (PTT)
Version 5 (02-25-2002)
(c) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 SPARC & LDM

Keeping track of parenting time can be difficult. Practically every divorced person with children has seen the problems associated with keeping track of parenting time and documenting missed time, refused time, holiday schedules, etc. Disputes associated with parenting time often escalate into courtroom scenarios, costing everybody time and money. In addition, providing clear, understandable records of how parenting time was allocated, missed or denied can be a difficult thing to do.

It's a serious enough issue that the SPARC wanted to come up with some sort of solution. There is software available that tracks parenting time, but it costs about $300 or so. Although it's probably very good software, at that price it's simply out of reach of many single parents.

To answer the need for something more affordable, the SPARC staff decided to provide a software solution ourselves- the Parenting Time Tracker (PTT). The PTT software is intended to assist Custodial and Non-Custodial parents in keeping track of parenting time on a daily basis and providing accurate totals of how parenting time was exercised or denied. Parenting time can be tracked and documented in the Tracker logs, and detailed monthly and yearly summary totals of time allocation are provided in the Summary section.

The PTT printouts can be a powerful and convincing tool in court when used correctly. Printouts are formatted such that they will fit neatly in a 3-ring binder, and the printed sheets have a margin area that you can punch holes in without hitting any of the columns or data fields.

The PTT is built from a Microsoft Excel97 spreadsheet, so you'll need Excel97 or (greater to) run it. This application may run on earlier versions of Excel but we can't guarantee it. The PTT uses mostly basic functions to track parenting time and produce statistics, so it should be able to be run successfully in other spreadsheet programs that can import Excel spreadsheets (such as Lotus, for example).

The Parenting Time Tracker is free software provided by the Fathers Rights To Custody web site. It may not be sold or rented, and no fees may be charged for its use. The PTT software was created and developed by TGB and Waylon, and is the sole property of the SPARC web site.

As with any software, this application is expected to grow and evolve in response to your feedback. We're always interested in what people think should be added or expanded, and we're looking forward to getting comments from users on how it could be improved. Have a suggestion, bug report or comment on the PTT? Please e-mail us and let us know.

Miscellaneous Notes

1. Open both the PTT that you've been using and the new (empty) PTT.
2. In the older version PTT (the one with all the data you've filled in), highlight the entire Start and Stop time block (all of the yellow cells) under the Scheduled Time.
3. Select Copy from the Edit menu, or press CTRL-C.
4. Switch to the new PTT.
5. Select the January 1 'Start Time' cell in the Scheduled Time section. Make certain you select only this single cell or the data won't transfer in correctly.
6. Use the Paste command on the Edit menu to paste the data, or press CTRL-V. This will fill in that entire section.
7. Repeat this for the Actual Time section and the other months.
8. Special note regarding the Type column: If you cut and paste the Type column from an older version that doesn't wrap text, you'll lose the ability to wrap to the next line for longer 'Custom' types. If you want to be able to use longer descriptions in the 'Custom' cells, you must manually enter the Type data.
9. Save the PTT worksheet. You can now use the newer version of the PTT, with all the times and dates you entered into the previous version present.

1. Unprotect the sheet using the password at the bottom of the Help page. (Tools -> Protection -> Unprotect Sheet)
2. Select the cells where you want to turn off the message. (You can select the Scheduled Time block as a unit (start and stop columns), the Type as a unit, and the Actual Time as a unit. There doesn't seem to be a way to do them all together because they have slightly different settings. Only the yellow (input) cells in these areas have the popup message turned on).
3. Select DATA
4. Select "Validation..."
5. Select the center tab, "Input Message".
6. Click on the box marked "Show input message when cell is selected" to deselect it.

1. Unzip the file using the "c:\tracker" folder as the default. You should see a message stating that the files unzipped successfully. One file is the .XLS file, one is the Help file, and one is this file (Lotus.txt).
2. Open Lotus 123 and click the "Browse for more workbooks" button.
3. Where it says "Look in" at the top of the pop-up window, set it to the "tracker" folder on the c:\ drive.
4. About two-thirds of the way down the pop-up window is a label that says "Files of type". Click on the arrow and choose "Microsoft Excel (XLS;XLT;XLW)"
5. The Tracker .XLS file should show up. Click on it and then click the 'Open' button.
6. Click the OK button in the 'Untranslatable' message dialog box. (Ignore this message.)
7. Put the correct year in the "Year" cell on the first tab, then select the January tab. On the January sheet, select cell B5. Up on the menu, select 'Range', then 'Range Properties'. When the Range Properties window shows up, select the tab with the key on it. Uncheck the bottom checkbox to disable the protection for cell B5.
8. Type "Mon" in cell B5.
9. Click the File menu and select "Save As..." In the "Save as type" area, select "Lotus 1-2-3 OS/2 Warp 4 workbook (123)". If you have an older (or newer) version of Lotus, select the correct version.

1. The Macintosh must be running system software version 7.5 or later, have PC Exchange installed, and be equipped with a disk drive that can read MS-DOS floppy disks. The Macintosh Excel version must correspond to the Excel for Windows version. For example, to move files from Excel 2000 to the Macintosh, you must be running Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition.
2. Save your Windows-based file to a 3.5-inch floppy disk.
3. Insert the floppy disk in the Macintosh floppy disk drive.
4. In Excel on the Macintosh, click Open on the File menu.
5. Locate and then double-click the file you want.

Revision History

1. There is a new column on the monthly sheets and Summary page for tracking time where the child is in school or otherwise not in the custody of either parent (can also be used to record time with both parents);
2. It revises the calculations so that a custodial parent or joint custody parent can more easily use it. The main difference is that a STOP time can be entered that is before a START time if the child was kept overnight, goes to visit the other parent for a time (or otherwise leaves your custody), and then returns for another overnight;
3. It adds a column to the Child Support page for interest on arrearages;
4. It allows midnight to be entered as a time.
5. It hides zero values in the automatically calculated cells and includes a few other cosmetic changes.

1)

Corrected a number of errors in the formulae in the top section of the Summary page. The Scheduled Days with Contact column was actually counting the Actual Days with Contact, and some of the various monthly totals were not counting the last couple days of their respective months.

2)

Allowed any date to be entered in Date Support Paid/Mailed column of the Support page (it was previously limited to the same month as the paycheck).

3)

Allowed the Type field to wrap if a custom type is used that is longer than would otherwise fit in the available space.

1)

Corrected formula errors in the January row of the lower section on the Summary page. (Some of these cells had a #REF! that did not belong there).

1)

Corrected an error in the formula in cell B24 on the Summary page.

2)

To correct this error in earlier versions:

• Go to Tools => Protection => Unprotect Sheet and enter the password from the bottom of the Help page.
  
• Select the cell in question. In the edit window at the top of the screen you will see the formula used in this cell. Just delete the #REF! from the formula, so that the resulting formula is
  =COUNTIF(January!$F$5:$F$35,$A$40)

1)

Corrected some minor mathematical errors in the March worksheet.

1)

Corrected an error in the Monthly Percentage calculation in the Actual Time section of the Summary page.

2)

Changed the 'Annual Percentage' total under the 'Monthly Percentage' (both Actual and Scheduled) to calculate annual percentage, instead of adding up the percentages from each month. In effect it is an average percentage. Leaving it the other way produced a meaningless number which would easily exceed 100 percent.

3)

Fixed bad "#REF" error messages caused by the addition of the Child Support Tracker worksheet. If you don't want to re-enter all your data, you can perform the 'fix' yourself. The instructions for doing this are fairly simple:

a)

Unprotect the sheet using the password and instructions from the bottom of the Help sheet.

b)

Select rows 38 and 41. Right click on the selected rows and then click on Unhide.

c)

Change the "#REF!" in each of the cells in row 40 to "Summary!" leaving the cell reference alone. In other words, change the one in cell A40 from "=#REF!A40" to "=Summary!A40". Change the one in cell A41 to "=Summary!A41" and so on across the row (this can be done by using the quick fill feature from cell A40).

d)

If desired, hide rows 39 and 40 and reprotect the sheet.

1)

Added Child Support tracking page.

2)

Fixed miscellaneous bugs and errors. This version ships with the password that allows unlocking of the worksheets. This lets users alter the Tracker at will (i.e. change cell colors, modify formulas, row heights, etc.) The password is located at the bottom of the Help page. To unprotect a worksheet, select Tools|Protection|Unprotect Sheet and type in the password.

1)

Fixed year-entry cell.

2)

Fixed 'late-mode' calculation error.

1)

Please note that January and February have sample data in some of the cells to show how the Tracker Logs can be filled out. You should erase this sample data so it doesn't interfere with the data you will enter.

Using the cursor, highlight the cells that have entries in them already. Right-click with the mouse and select "Clear Contents". When you have cleared all of the sample data, select "File", then "Save" to save a "clean" copy of the PTT.