Online Project Management Software
January 5, 2011
I swear, it’s not for me.
I’m not one of the people who worship at the alter of MS Project (or any other PM solution, for that matter). I’m much more of a list person. Task lists, check lists, todo lists. For instance, I adore our issue tracking software (we use FogBugz, but I liked bugzilla almost as much, and a lot of people swear by Request Tracker (RT)), because it’s essentially a list of things for me to do, and when I find something wrong, I can put it on someone else’s list of stuff to do.
Of course, I’m not in the situation where I have to manage a lot of “resources”. In the project management world, “resources” is the nonhumanizing term used when referring to people. It makes you feel better about saying things like, “The sarlacc is getting hungry, do we have any more resources?”. Because I don’t have minions (or a sarlacc), I have no need for the software.
That being said, other people in my organization do, and as the wrangler-of-bits, it’s nice to be able to offer the occasional solution to problems they have. Yesterday, I started looking around for online, collaborative project management solutions, and I asked on twitter what other people used. Apparently, some people are REALLY into project management.
Basecamp
The most frequently mentioned solution I heard was Basecamp. There is a tour available on the home page, and if you decide to dig in, you can create a free account to work on.
Basecamp is made by 37signals, who actually offer an entire array of business solutions (most of which are named with camping references). Incidentally, if the whole project management suite thing is too much, 37signals offers an entirely free To-Do list software called Ta-da. Even if we don’t end up using Basecamp, I may set myself up with a Ta-da account to take advantage of that.
One thing that I found confusing is that Basecamp, despite having all of the underlying data to generate them, refuses to create Gantt charts. Apparently they don’t believe in them. A lot of people do, though, which is why there’s a large selection of Basecamp extras written by other people that provide missing functionality (sometimes for a price).
Tom’s Planner
On the other end of the scale, if you’re all about the Gantt charts, you might want to look into Tom’s Planner. So far as I can tell, Tom’s Planner does Gantt charts, Gantt charts, and more Gantt charts (with some checklisting thrown in). There’s a free version, but if you want to try it out without signing up, they’ve got a great demo example.
I did spend a little bit of time with it, just because it’s a well written app, and actually kind of fun. Maybe I’m ill. Either way, if this is what you’re looking for, then go for it, because it seems well done, and it can even export to MS Project (though to my knowledge, you can’t import from Project).
Liquid Planner
As far as I can tell, Liquid Planner is the closest that you get, functionally speaking, to a full out online collaborative project management suite. It seems to be very full featured and has an attractive interface. There’s no free pricing tier, but there is a 30 day free trial (I didn’t sign up).
The downside is that it is more expensive than Basecamp (and is licensed per user, not per company, as Basecamp is). This makes it prohibitively expensive for us, but there are probably some companies out there who could take advantage of it.
I don’t know which one we’re going to end up using (if we even decide to use one at all), but if I have to get my hands dirty with it, I’ll make sure to write about it.
I’m sure that I missed the one you use, though. so please take a second and leave a comment to tell us about your favorite!
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January 5th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Try out ClockingIT. We have used it for few years and have really liked it. There is also more actively developed fork of ClockingIT called Jobsworth. I haven’t tried Jobsworth yet, but I have in it in my todo.
January 6th, 2011 at 3:53 am
Hiveminder is a web-based task-tracking system from the folks who wrote RT. It’s free, but you can also pay to get more features (graphs, IMAP, time-tracking, etc.). It’s not a full project management app, but it does task management for individuals or groups pretty well.
January 6th, 2011 at 8:32 am
Thank you for the heads up! Looks really good. We’re looking forward to its release next year and easing the burden on our hard drives!
January 10th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
One thing I love about this blog is that is always seems currently applicable to what I am implementing in my own world. This post, though, it seems I am reading it a week late, is no exception.
I personally also have a similar desire. I currently use a pen-and-paper to-do list, but have trouble leaving my to-do book at home, then, I experience a major drop in productivity, because I cant remember exactly what was on my to-do list. (Thats why I wrote it down in the first place right?)
I have tried several things in attempt to get my to-do list more under control and more accessible. I should note that I have an Android phone, and think that it would be beneficial to be able to pull up my to-do list from my phone if needed. I should also note, that I am trying to make this either free of cost, or very very cheap.
Ok. Things I have tried. I have tried putting all my tasks in “remember the milk” (http://www.rememberthemilk.com/), then syncing them to my phone with “Astrid”. Overall, this wasnt a bad solution, I just didnt care for the format that remember the milk saved my projects in. More my personal preference. I suppose I could re-organize my to-do list around remember the milk, but hey, with tons of open source options, gotta try something else.
Next I tried a simple idea. Create a word or text document, entitled To-Do, and put it in the root of my Dropbox folder. I created a shortcut on my desktop for my To-Do list, and since the path never changes, its easily accessible. I also have dropbox on my droid, so the file is in both places. Automatic sync between the two, web accessible via the dropbox website in the unlikely event I am not near my phone or any of my computers. I should note… this is the one I am currently using. I can format it anyway I want, which I like..
I also set up “Tracks” (http://www.getontracks.org). I like the idea that Tracks is web based, as well as the idea that I could port my tasks into a rss reader, though I havnt tried that yet. Tracks also can sync with an application called “Shuffle” on my Droid. The sync is good/easy to set up, and ports in all the data correctly. Still complaining about how I need to organize my tasks though.
I am curious to hear what others are using, or if the crowd all agree on something.
May 30th, 2011 at 12:43 am
We use WorkforceTrack’s Project Management tool and found it suitable for our business needs and budget limits. We chose this system because of its being multifunctional (Project Management, CRM, Accouting, and other 20+ business tools) Another reason is its flexible prices and available discounts for small and mid-sized organizations