web-based project management and time keeping software?

Question

I work in a web shop where most of us aren't programmers. (I am.) Structure is almost non-existent. The biggest beauracratic construct is logging our time since that is essential for business. A few of us are project managers but everyone has their own system. Now lately customers want estimates for all of our work and reconciling the bill with jobs done is a nightmare. We need a better way to get organized.

I would prefer a web-based, open source tool that we can use to manage clients, projects, list time, and allow project managers to assign tasks to us developers. Would also be nice if we had some kind of tracking or hooks into source control, but we still don't run any in our office, I'm pushing for SVN.

It just would be nice to have one place where everyone logs in and all the notes and info for the work and client are right there, along with emails exchanged. It would help us in having clearer specs and estimates.

I'm looking for something simple with the smallest learning curve since we aren't programmers, and we're short on time for training. Elegance is key, and if I had the time I'd build a minimalist thing that we need in house, but instead I'm being smart and asking what's out there.

It would be great if it could be PHP since that's what we run.

Answer 1

The best one i know of written in php is activecollab

Answer 2

Since my personal review of project management web-apps in 2007 I've been using http://www.dotproject.net/.

I'm currently interested in alternatives, though. 2 years is a long time, and links to recent PM web-apps comparisons would be highly appreciated.

Edit 1: activeCollab isn't free - it used to be, though; I believe I still have sources of that free version ;)

Edit 2: there are also http://webcollab.sourceforge.net/ (which has a demo and looks nice) and https://www.aceproject.com/demo/server01/login.asp?lang=EN.

Edit 3: for bug tracking and tickets I'm using (git+)trac, and that works perfectly for me; dotProject is not really suited for ticketing (although each log entry may have "Problem" status).

Answer 3

.. or hooks into source control, but we still don't run any in our office ..

Argh!

Regarding your question: Keep in mind that there are a lot of tasks that overlap: Project management, issue tracking, time logging, customer relationship management etc. There are tools that solve all of these problems at once and there are tools that focus on some task. You need to cover all the relevant bases (Which is individual to your business), but you don't want tools to do to much or to get in conflict with each other.

Also keep in mind that process is more important than tools. Don't try to fix a broken process by throwing tools at it - Identify your needs first. I would recommend starting with a mostly manual approach (Sounds like this is where you are at currently) and then carefully look for tools (or build them your self) that supports your process. Don't get tempted by the shiny stuff.

Answer 4

http://www.tomsplanner.com/ is a free tool based on Gantt charts. It's still in Beta but it seems pretty robust and could be picked up easily by non-programmers. Check out their samples.

Also rescuetime will automatically log and itemize what you are working on.

Maybe sometime in the near future Google Wave will be the end-all in collaboration. Maybe.

Answer 5

Check out Unfuddle. It's not free, but it is an all in one solution of the kind you're talking about. It might not be advanced enough for you, but it's definitely worth a look.

I'm also working on my own time tracking tool for the Mac that will eventually integrate with a lot of other web time trackers out there. It's called Lapsus.

Answer 6

I'm a bit late here, but hopefully someone will find this useful.

Open Atrium is a pretty good choice since it's Drupal based and pretty much any business needs can be accommodated by the 1000s of drupal modules. http://openatrium.com/

Another good choice is redmine, a RoR application which has scm integration time tracking, tasks, gnatt charts and all the bells and whistles. http://www.redmine.org/

I would avoid activeCollab at all costs. It's lacking simple features. Tickets can only be in one category. The tickets overview page is absolutely useless. Doesn't show any information about the tickets, just the ticket name, nothing useful like who assigned it. Their are no filters on teh ticket overview page! People get sucked in by their fancy website. In reality the product is mediocre and the support is lazy. Redmine has an ugly website but their software is far more useful. It's a little like basecamp really, quite dumbed down and useless when the tickets build up or you need to add extra data to your tickets. OMFG the tickets don't even have a status. Activecollab Sucks.

Answer 7

Our shop uses "redmine", and it hooks up with svn quite nicely. Say we have a bug number 123, When we commit, we put Refs: #123 in the svn message, it will show up the related revisions in the ticket.