-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 44
Home
This page provides brief instructions on using the OnlyT meeting timer software. It runs on Windows 10 and later.
See this page translated into Polish, Spanish.
Download and run the OnlyTSetup.exe file. OnlyT doesn't install system DLLs, register files or otherwise mess with your system. When installation is complete, run OnlyT from the desktop shortcut or Windows Start menu.
Alternatively, you can download the OnlyTPortable.zip file, unzip it to a folder and use the OnlyT.exe to run the application.
Please also see this note about Malware.
Optionally select a Timer window in the Settings page - this is used to project the timer on a display that is facing the speaker.
This section describes each of the settings in detail. Note that I try to keep the documentation up-to-date and it may at times refer to functions or settings that are only available in a pre-release version of the software.
Main => Monitor - OnlyT lists all of the display devices attached to your PC. Select one so that the timer window is visible to the speaker. Set to "None" if not required.
Main => Windowed - Check this box if you want to display the timer in a movable/sizeable window rather than on a specific monitor. This can be useful when you want to include the timer in a composite scene for broadcast. Note that some of the timer styling options are not available when this mode is used.
Main => Mode - Choose an Operating mode (Manual, File-based or Automatic). The Operating Mode determines how the meeting items are sourced. In Manual mode, there are no meeting items and you have to specify the time of each item manually (using the "increment" and "decrement" buttons in the main window). In Automatic mode (the default), OnlyT chooses meeting items based on current date. Note that automatic mode requires an unfiltered internet connection so that OnlyT can periodically download the meeting schedules. In File-based mode you can specify an xml file named "talk_schedule.xml" containing the meeting items and store it in your "Documents\OnlyT" folder. A sample xml file is contained in the root of the OnlyT installation folder; you should modify it to suit your needs and copy it to your "Documents\OnlyT" folder. File-based mode is for advanced users.
Main => Digital clock format - Specify the format of the digital clock in the timer window. OnlyT automatically detects your regional setting at start up but you can override it here. Note that if you choose to show "am/pm" designations, the seconds are not shown (to improve legibility).
Main => Show seconds - Show seconds on the digital clock (when displaying time of day). Note that if you choose to display "am/pm" designations then this option is disabled (see above under Digital clock format).
Automatic mode => Meeting - When in automatic mode, OnlyT automatically selects either the midweek or weekend meeting based on the current date. However, you are free to manually choose the meeting from this dropdown list. If you manually change the setting, the chosen meeting ("midweek" or "weekend") remains selected until OnlyT is closed.
Automatic mode => Midweek and Weekend adaptive modes - adaptive mode is a way of automatically adjusting the times of talks as the meeting progresses. This works by analysing the planned and actual start times of the talks to determine whether subsequent items should be reduced in length (One-way and Two-way modes) or extended (Two-way mode only). As part of the heuristic, Only-T deduces the start time of the meeting based on the start of the first timer ('snapping' to the nearest quarter of an hour). Note that some item durations are never adapted - it depends on the meeting format. The adaption of the timers (whether deductions or additions are involved) is proportional to the planned duration of each item. Note that if the algorithm determines that the deviation from the planned duration would be more than 15 minutes, it abandons the adaptive mode for that item (assuming that you have abandoned the schedule).
Automatic mode => Weekend includes Friday - Check this box if your weekend meeting is scheduled on a Friday - it simply extends the weekend to Friday - Sunday.
Automatic mode => Circuit visit - Check this box if it is the week of the circuit visit. OnlyT automatically adjusts the schedule of talks accordingly. Note that this settings isn't automatically saved between sessions. See also the "--covisit" command-line argument for another way of settings this option.
Automatic mode => Circuit visit toggle - Check this box to display a "Circuit visit" toggle button on the operator page.
Automatic mode => Persist student time - Check this box if you want to display a student's talk duration after the conclusion of the talk. This can be useful for the chairman. The display shows how long the student talk took. This static display remains on-screen for a little over 1 minute so that the chairman can refer to it if needed. When the minute is up, the timer display reverts to the standard clock - giving the chairman notice that his allotted time is up. (the chairman needs to understand these cues.)
Automatic mode => JW Library compatibility mode - If checked, OnlyT will attempt to cooperate with the JW Library app (and JW Library Sign Language app) over use of the displays. This is typically used if you want to show the meeting countdown timer on the main media displays. If you use this mode it's recommended that you have a plain black Windows desktop on the media monitors. See also JW Library Compatibility.
Please also see JwMediaWin which offers a better solution to the interoperation between JW Library and other media applications like OnlyT.
Automatic mode => Generate reports - Check this option to produce timing reports in PDF format. The reports are stored in the Documents\OnlyT\TimingReports folder. Click on the folder icon to open the folder in Windows File Explorer. Note that reports are only produced when in "Automatic" mode (covering the standard midweek and weekend meetings). OnlyT uses a heuristic to determine whether the timing values correspond to a those of a real meeting schedule, so don't be surprised if you fail to generate a test report!
See Timing Reports for additional information.
Bell => Enabled - Check this box to enable the timer bell. When applicable, a bell icon is displayed top left of the main window. If a talk runs overtime, the bell sounds (if the "Automatically sound" option is enabled). Alternatively, you can click the icon to sound the bell manually.
Bell => Automatically sound - check this box to have the bell sound automatically.
Bell => Volume - Adjust the volume of the timer bell. Note that the source of the bell audio is a file named "bell.mp3" - you can provide an alternative bell.mp3 file if you wish. Audio is sent to Windows default audio playback device.
Timer window => Full-screen clock mode - Select the elements you want to display on the timer window when it is showing the time of day in full-screen mode.
Timer window => Split-screen width - Use the slider to adjust the width of the clock panel in timer mode. Note that if you set the clock panel to 100% width then the timer is never displayed on the Timer window (you can use this feature to display a standard wall clock).
Timer window => Clock frame - Check this box to display a border frame around the clock.
Timer window => Timer frame - Check this box to display a border frame around the timer.
Timer window => Clock background gradient - Check this box to display a background gradient behind the clock.
Timer window => Timer background gradient - Check this box to display a background gradient behind the timer.
Timer window => Time of day under timer - Check this box to display the time of day under the timer (this is generally only used when you choose to hide the left-hand clock panel using the split-screen slider).
Timer window => Timer counts up - Check to make the timer count up rather than down. This is generally thought to be more difficult because there is no indication of target time (which is not really workable if adaptive timing is used).
Timer window => Show sector on analogue clock - Check to display the green timer duration sector on the analgue clock.
Timer window => Show mouse pointer - Check to show the mouse pointer when the mouse is over the timer window. Default is off.
Timer window => Flat clock - Check to display the analogue clock without the 3D effects (a subtle difference!)
Timer window => Persist talk duration - Specify how long the final talk duration should be displayed after the conclusion of a talk (this can be useful for the chairman). This only applies to talks with the "persist" attribute such as student talks in Automatic mode.
OnlyT has a built-in web server to provide a clock in a web browser (typically on a remote device), and also to allow mobile apps to control the timer functions. Information about Android and iOS remote control apps are available here: https://www.facebook.com/RemoteForOnlyT/
Remote access => Port - Select the port that the OnlyT web server listens on.
Remote access => Reserve port - Click this button to reserve the port after you have selected it. An administrative role is needed and you will be prompted to elevate.
Web clock => Enabled - Check to enable the web clock. You can view the timer (e.g. on a phone or tablet that is connected to the same network as your PC) by browsing to http://[ipaddress]/index (where "ipaddress" is the IP address of your PC). You should ensure that your PC has a static IP address in order to use this feature.
The URL for the web clock is displayed along with a corresponding QR Code.
Remote Apps => Enabled - Check to enable the use of the API to control OnlyT functions (e.g. start and stop the timer). Information about Android and iOS remote control apps are available here: https://www.facebook.com/RemoteForOnlyT/
Remote Apps => Throttled - Check to throttle API requests when they become too many. Default is on.
Remote Apps => IP address - Read-only (for reference only).
Remote Apps => Port - Read-only (for reference only). See the Remote Access section if you want to change the port.
Remote Apps => Access code - Enter a code that must be supplied by API clients (optional).
Meeting countdown => Monitor - Select a monitor on which to display a 5-minute countdown to the start of your meeting. If you are using JW Library for media playback, it is recommended that you do not display the countdown on the main media monitors. However, if you choose to do so, please enable the "JW Compatibility" mode, and read the section JW Library Compatibility.
Meeting countdown => Windowed - Check this box if you want to display the meeting countdown in a movable/sizeable window rather than on a specific monitor. This can be useful when you want to include it in a composite scene for broadcast. Note that windowed mode and transparent mode (see below) are incompatible.
Meeting countdown => Location - Specify the on-screen location of the countdown panel (only applicable when Zoom level is less than max).
Meeting countdown => Zoom level - Specify the size of the countdown panel.
Meeting countdown => Show frame - Check this box to frame the countdown timer (with a border and graduated background).
Meeting countdown => Transparent background - Check this box to make the background transparent. If unchecked, the background is black. Note that if you want to use the transparency option to display the countdown on top of the JW Library year text you must use the JwlMediaWin tool (https://github.com/AntonyCorbett/JwlMediaWin). Note that transparent mode and windowed mode are incompatible.
Meeting countdown => Elements - Choose whether to show dial, digital time or both.
Meeting countdown => Duration (mins) - Specify the duration of the countdown timer in minutes. Select from the drop-down list.
Meeting countdown => Meeting start times - Specify the start times of your meetings (1 per line). The countdown timer begins automatically.
Miscellaneous => Allow count-up toggle - Check this box to allow the user to toggle between count-up and count-down in the main window (by clicking the small arrow bottom right of the timer panel).
Miscellaneous => Always on top - Check this box to allow OnlyT to remain on top of other application windows. Note that if the media window is displayed, Only-T will automatically adopt an 'always on top' mode to prevent the application window getting stuck behind the media window.
Miscellaneous => Shrink on minimise - When checked, this option ensures that the main window is reduced in size rather than minimised to the taskbar (as is typical).
Miscellaneous => Pop-up reminders - Enable this option to have OnlyT display a pop-up window in the bottom right of your primary monitor reminding you to start the timer. This works by noting when a talk timer (or the pre-meeting countdown) is stopped and then reminding you if you don't start the timer after a defined interval (which depends on the next talk in the series if using Auto mode).
Miscellaneous => Logging level - Select a suitable logging level (default is "Information"). OnlyT records some diagnostic information to a file in the Documents\OnlyT\Logs folder. This may be of some use if you run into problems. Please only use the "Verbose" and "Debug" options when diagnosing issues.
Miscellaneous => Language - Choose a user-interface language. Note that you must close down and re-open OnlyT after making a language change.
Start and stop the timer using the button on the main window. When the timer is running, you cannot modify the duration of items, navigate to the settings page, etc. The time counts down in seconds from the initial duration. If the bell is enabled for a talk, a bell icon is displayed top left of the timer amd a bell sounds automatically at the end of the talk's duration. You can click the bell icon to toggle it on or off.
Click the Settings button on the main page to display the Settings page. In the Settings page click the Back button to return to the main page. Settings are saved automatically.
If a talk's duration is editable, use the Increment and Decrement buttons to modify the duration in increments of 1 minute. Use Ctrl-click to adjust the timer in 15 second increments, or Shift-click for 5 minute increments.
When you stop a timer, OnlyT automatically advances to the next talk ready for you to start timing again.
Note that you can't close the application when a timer is active; you must stop the timer first.
Note that the green sector displayed on the analogue clock during timing represents the duration of the current talk. For the sake of clarity, when a talk is over 60 minutes in length, the clock only displays the sector during the final 60 minutes of the talk.
You can specify the "/id=" command-line option to include a unique identifier when storing settings. For example, if you append "/id=Warwick" (without the quotation marks) to the target of an OnlyT desktop shortcut and then launch the program, any settings you create will be specific to the "Warwick" shortcut.
The "--nogpu" switch can be specified if you want to disable all hardware graphics acceleration for the OnlyT application. This should only be used if the main window does not render properly (very occasionally a graphics device driver is incompatible with Microsoft WPF applications).
The "--nosettings" switch can be specified if you want to disable the "Settings" button.
The "--nomutex" switch allows you to run multiple instances of the application, e.g. if you want to use it as a simple clock display on one monitor and as a timer on another. You should normally ensure that the instances have different "/id" values (see above) so that the settings can be configured independently for each instance.
Use the "/monitor=" and "/cmonitor=" command-line options to specify the timer and countdown monitors. These settings will override those stored in your program options. Note that the value specified must be a number and should correspond to the location of the monitor as it appears in the list of monitors (see Settings page). For example, if you want to specify that the timer monitor is the one that appears first in the list of displays, specify "/monitor=1".
The "/datetime=" option is generally only used for test purposes. It allows you to override the real date and time and make OnlyT work with a fictitous date and time. For example if you use /datetime="2020-12-01:10:00" OnlyT will assume the date and time at program launch is 1st Dec 2020, 10:00am. Use the 24-hour clock and the exact format shown above.
The "--covisit" command-line argument can be used to set the Circuit visit option. This is more commonly set in the Options page, but the command-line argument opens up some more possibilities.
OnlyT maintains a log (a simple text file) of activity which can be useful if you run into problems. The log is stored in the Documents\OnlyT\Logs folder.
If you need help, have a question or suggestion, or want to report a bug please do so in the Issues page (use the New issue button and follow the instructions). Note that all of the issues are in the public domain and the correspondence is permanent and searchable.
Important
- Search before you open an issue. Feel free to add comments to existing issues even if they are closed.
- Restrict your new issue to a single subject.
- Submit as much information as you can. Clicking the New issue button provides a good template.