How does 7pace Timetracker use cookies and why should I enable them?

QUESTION

7pace Timetracker has asked me to enable cookies. What does this mean?

ANSWER

This warning appears if your browser blocks 7pace Timetracker cookies / cookies are disabled for 7pace Timetracker.

7pace Timetracker only uses technical cookies to cache some frequently used local data to enhance your overall user experience and for anonymous usage statistics to allow us to enhance our application in the future. Granting access to cookies also grants access to local storage, which further improves the quality of your experience using 7pace Timetracker (such as overall speed and page load time).

You can choose to not enable cookies and continue to use 7pace Timetracker without any showstoppers, but with slightly degraded performance.

Please read below on how to enable cookies for your specific browser and enjoy 7pace Timetracker at optimal performance.

How to Enable Cookies

Chrome

In "Settings", open "cookies" using this URL: chrome://settings/content/cookies?search=cookies. Check that the "Allow sites to save and read cookie data" feature is turned on. Go to the "Allow" section and click "Add". 

Copy and paste this [*.]timehub.7pace.com into the site edit field and "add "dev.azure.com" and select "allow all 3rd party cookies" and click save.

Firefox

Open the security settings using this URL: about:preferences#privacy. Check that the "Accept cookies and site data from websites" feature is turned on. Click on "Exceptions..." button inside the Cookies and Site Data section. Copy and paste https://timehub.7pace.com as the "Address of website" field and click "Allow". "Save Changes".

Internet Explorer 11

Open the settings menu by clicking on the gear wheel icon at the top-right corner of the browser. Then click "Internet options". Choose "Privacy" tab and click "Sites" button in the Settings section. Copy and paste 7pace.com as the "Address of website" field and click "Allow". Then click OK. Restart the browser.

Edge

Open the settings menu by clicking on the "..." button at the top-right corner of the browser. Then choose "Settings". Scroll down to "Advanced settings" section and click on the "View advanced settings" button. Scroll down to "Cookies" section and choose "Don't block cookies" in the dropdown box.

Safari

The default in Safari is to only accept cookies from sites you visit. When you use Timetracker, it is loaded inside DevOps Serices as an iframe from another domain and uses cookies; Timetracker relies on browsers that allows this. Safari, however, blocks its cookies.

For 7pace Timetracker for DevOps Services cloud-based version, configure your browser "Security" settings to always accept cookies. Or open https://*.timehub.7pace.com.

For 7pace Timetracker for DevOps Server on-premise version, please add the domain name found in the Timetracker Configuration Tool, highlighted below, to trusted domains: 

IMPORTANT: The two questions, below, refer to older versions of 7pace Timetracker.

QUESTION

Note: this answer is valid only if you are using our on-premise versions below 7pace Timetracker version 5.6.0

I'm getting a 400 error or message that cookies need to be enabled when trying to use 7pace Timetracker. What can I do to fix this?

ANSWER

This error appears if your browser blocks Timetracker cookies / cookies are disabled for Timetracker; our application can't perform any modifications without cookies being enabled.

To solve the issue, please follow the instructions, above, depending on your preferred browser.

QUESTION

I'm still getting this error, but cookies are enabled. 

ANSWER

Note: this answer is valid only if you are using our on-premise versions below 7pace Timetracker version 5.6.0

Due to the latest cookies security policies, browsers are now using stricter cookies policies (SameSite was introduced - here are details https://blog.chromium.org/2019/10/developers-get-ready-for-new.html).

1. Update 7pace Timetracker to version 5.6.0+
2. Disable SameSite support in your browser (not recommended)

If you are using the on-prem version of 7pace Timetracker with http protocol, you still won't be able to use secured cookies with SameSite, therefore, you will have to use https for DevOps Server and 7pace Timetracker or disable SameSite cookies.