views:

203

answers:

6

I am looking for an issue tracking application, which has two levels in its task hierarchy. This is because I find myself very often creating informal "TODO" lists within my issues. It seems to me that a FEATURE is usually bigger than a TASK - one feature usually requires several things to be done - e.g. "check if this sth will affect efficiency", "add the control in the GUI", "implement new extension to the core engine", "update documentation". Without stating all these sub-task, I find it impossible to estimate the time needed and the real complexity of the complete task.

I know I could create several issues, but it is often not feasible because these sub-tasks:

  • are related to a single feature from the user's perspective,
  • can be tested only together, when everything is done,
  • have the same developer assigned-to,
  • should be displayed together all the times,
  • should have only two states: todo or done.

Do you know any (commercial or not) applications that allows this? I am not just interested in hierarchies of issues or issue linking, but I need something with full issues on one level and with smaller and quicker "todo" lists on another one.

+1  A: 

I've used both Jira and TeamTrack in previous jobs, and they both have sub-tasks.

Graham Lee
+1  A: 

Some suggestions:

(*) FogBugz - fogbugz.com
"FogBugz allows you to create subcases to represent lower-level tasks."

(*) IssueTrak - issuetrak.com
Solid issue-tracking system that I can recommend.

(*) CounterSoft's Gemini - countersoft.com
Feature-rich, much like Jira. Looks very promising.

Look also for project management systems for developers - these systems handle "projects" with "tasks".

/Kristoffer :-)

Kristoffer Bohmann
I can't see subtasks in IssueTrak and Gemini.
Michal Czardybon
IssueTrak: Issues can have tasks ("sub-tasks").In Gemini you create a project ("task") with related issuse ("sub-task").
Kristoffer Bohmann
Ok, IssueTrak has something I am looking for. Unfortunately my overall first impression about this system is that it is one of the worst I have seen.
Michal Czardybon
A: 

I tend to use ToDoList for my personal tasks list, since it is a very simple and focused tool.

I know it doesn't exactly fit what you're searching (one application that does everything), but I use it effectively in coordination with our enterprise-grade bug tracking system.

Steve Schnepp
A: 

you could also use mantis:

  • you can relate issues, including as sub-issues
  • sub-issues can block a parent issue from being set to fixed until all sub-issues are fixed
  • you could have feature/ parent issues in a separate project
Ingvald
A: 

CounterSoft Gemini -- free.

FredFlint
A: 

Yes, Jira and Fogbugz have subtasks. I have found however no application, where subtasks were something smaller and quicker than tasks - I still have to repeat all the fields of the main task.

I ended up using Project Kaiser and I am satisfied with it. It has quite nice hierarchical subtasks.

Michal Czardybon