ProjectBench 0.4 review
DownloadProjectBench is an issue, bug, and incident tracker with a mild flavor of project management
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ProjectBench is an issue, bug, and incident tracker with a mild flavor of project management. It is based on Stuart Wigley's excellent workbench and has improved issue tracking features and some project management enhancements.
ProjectBench came into being as at the time I found no equivalent app that what flexible, powerful and easy to use. Check out projectbench's Features and see how how projectbench stacks up against similar applications.
And it gets even better. projectbench is 100.00% free. And even better, it is Open Source under GPL. And even betterer (hey, it worked for Dumb & Dumberer!) - it'll cost you $0.00 to run it, as all software requirements are Open Source: PHP and MySQL.
ProjectBench can track issues. And can help you manage your project better. And it achieves all that by providing a flexible friendly interface. It's a tool which aims to be low maintenance while at the same time allowing for advanced features you can find in similar commercial packages.
Here are some key features of "ProjectBench":
Issue Tracking
records issues by project, module, version, screen
supports various issue types (bug, RFE, task, etc)
you can even define your own types!
helps you manage your issues better by tracking targets, deadlines, time estimates
tracks issue dependency both as dependent and as child-of
allows users to enter time spent on issue for time tracking purposes
powerful filtering of issues allows you to see exactly what you want
multiple filters so you can switch to another view on the fly
sports both a simple display of the list of issues as well as a detailed one
display only the columns you want to see
choose between a simple issue entering/editing interface with the bare minimum of fields and a complete interface with a lot of fields for fine tuning, recording and tracking
define your own severity for issue (or use the built-in ones)
customize the stages of issue reporting (development, build time, in production, etc)
printer friendly version of issues and issue list
tab separated version of issue list
get email notification when new issues are assigned to you or something happens on any of your issues
Project Management
manage projects better using versions and milestone
manage issues better by defining project modules/subprojects for more accurate tracking and workload distribution
set target dates for versions
save requirements with each version
each user accesses only projects you want them to
use project notes to keep track of everything: database modifications, requirements changing
you can probably even blog using the project notes :)
powerful filtering and search feature let you zero-in on exactly the information you were looking for
project summary gives you a quick idea of where you are and what's next - numbers only
use the project roadmap to see the list of issues fixed or planned for each version
see the project load of each of the members of your team - by version!
use the Gantt chart to see a graphical evolution of the project, including forecasts
Gantt chart attempts to infer estimates even when it doesn't have complete data
each project has its own project manager
Friendly, Powerful, Customizable Interface
customize the information you see on the homepage
choose to display the list of issues changed since your last login, the highest priority issues, dashboard/overview of issues, issues you have opened, issues due in next X weeks
use jscalendar for fast date picking
see how overlib reduces the interface clutter by displaying large information in tooltips
let users customize the level of details and the information they want to see
feel you're working faster as a lot of pages remember the last combination of filters you entered
feel you're more efficient customizable colorful and graphic interface, yet simple and easy to use
use powerful, customizable filtering features
printer friendly version of issues and issue list
customize your email notifications
guest users can enter issues even without having an account (customers?)
a lot of pages have very verbose (like -vv verbose!) instructions and details on what do those settings/options/actions help you achieve
What's New in This Release:
Improvements to the Printable list of documents. Now it's a combo (less space on the screen) and it supports two extra options: Text - Comma Separated (CSV) and XML Format.
You're gonna like this one I promise: on the Edit Issue page, the Description and the Resolution fields are now collapsable/expandable. What that means to you is that if you have a really long description or a long resolution, you can click on the image to the right of each field and toggle the display. Even more the fields are now capable of displaying richer markup.
Fixed several issues related to the Module field not getting saved when creating an issue and to the settings of the Edit Issue page not getting saved either.
ProjectBench 0.4 search tags