Quick Start
Setting up Staff Dog for the first time? This guide walks you through everything — from creating your account to your employees logging their first session.
What is Staff Dog?
Staff Dog is a workforce tracking platform designed to help companies monitor working hours, sessions, and team productivity. Once the desktop application is installed on an employee's computer, sessions begin recording automatically — no manual clock-in required.
Once the desktop app is installed and running on an employee's computer, sessions begin recording automatically. Employees don't need to do anything manually — the app detects the start and end of work automatically in the background.
Step-by-Step Setup
Create Your Account
Go to staffdog.app/en/register and create your company account. During registration you'll be asked for your company name, industry and team size. A verification link will be sent to your email address once submitted.
Configure Organization Settings
After logging into the web panel, go to Settings in the left menu. Set your working days (e.g. Mon–Fri) and shift start/end times. These settings form the basis for all reports, so entering them accurately is essential.
Invite Your Employees
Navigate to Users > Invite in the left menu. Enter each employee's email address and assign their role (Employee or Manager). Once the invitation email is received, the employee creates their password and their account becomes active.
Download the Desktop App
Click the Download button in the top-right corner of the web panel or visit staffdog.app/en/download. Separate installers are available for macOS and Windows.
Enter the Activation Code
The first time you open the desktop app it will ask for an activation code. Copy this code from your profile page in the web panel. Once entered, the app connects to your account and logs in automatically on subsequent launches.
Start Your First Session
As soon as the desktop app is running in the background, a session opens automatically. Switch to the Dashboard in the web panel — you should see the employee listed as online. If anything looks off, check the Sessions page for historical records.
Day One at a 5-Person Office
James runs a small software consultancy with 5 employees. He used to track working hours in a spreadsheet but the error rate was too high. He signed up for Staff Dog, finished the settings in 15 minutes, and sent invitation emails to everyone on his team.
The employees installed the desktop app in the morning and entered their activation codes. When James opened the web panel at 9 AM, he could immediately see 4 employees online and one who hadn't started yet. He sent the late employee a notification directly from the dashboard.
At the end of the day he checked the Sessions page to see exactly how many hours each person had worked, when anyone went AFK, and total shortfalls — all from a single screen. No more spreadsheets after day one.
Things to Know Before You Start
The desktop app needs an internet connection to function. If it goes offline, the session pauses and can be resumed once the connection is restored.
Installing the desktop app may require administrator privileges on the computer. Check your company IT policy before installation.
Employees must complete the invitation process before they can log in. Direct self-registration is disabled for security.
Reports are calculated in the organization's time zone. If you have employees in different cities, you can configure individual time zones in the Settings page.
⚠️Common Setup Mistakes
- •Skipping work hours: If shift times aren't entered in the Settings page, all "missing time" calculations will be inaccurate. This is the very first thing to do during setup.
- •Wrong time zone: The default time zone is Turkey (UTC+3). If you have international team members, each person's time zone should be configured separately.
- •Sharing activation codes: Every activation code is personal. Logging in from multiple devices with the same code can cause unexpected duplicate sessions.
- •Opening the app before accepting the invite: The activation code is only generated after the invitation flow is complete. Employees must accept the invite and set a password first.