Bug tracker thing, but for tasks
Discussion
Hi .
As database editors we have a clunky system where users submit updates/additions to a VB forum. The problem is we have no easy way of knowing if another editor has already processed the submission, leading to valuable time being wasted. The forum does have a 'like' button which we have been using as a very rudimentary 'flag' to show it's been processed, but unfortunately this button can also be pressed by normal forum users too. It doesn't help that the forum runs at the pace of a snail so you can't even make a very quick reply to say it's been processed, either.
I'm thinking a better solution would be to do away with the forum completely and instead use something similiar to a bug-tracker, but for tasks. Users could submit a "bug" (task/update) report which they gets assigned a unique number and added to the list of "bugs"/tasks to do. The reports then have options to add comments if the data needs to be queried with the submitter and once processed you can click on a check mark which removes it from the 'to do' list and shows the name of who processed it. I'm sure you get the idea!
Can anyone recommend me some freeware program/app that would be perfect for this job please?
As a temporary 'make do' solution we have been considering creating a Discord channel as I use exactly this set-up for a hobby project, however the above needs to be accessible to people worldwide and Discord is banned in a bunch of sandpit countries as well as a China, and we have a sizeable amount of customers based in those areas that would be locked out from submitting updates, so it's not ideal.
As database editors we have a clunky system where users submit updates/additions to a VB forum. The problem is we have no easy way of knowing if another editor has already processed the submission, leading to valuable time being wasted. The forum does have a 'like' button which we have been using as a very rudimentary 'flag' to show it's been processed, but unfortunately this button can also be pressed by normal forum users too. It doesn't help that the forum runs at the pace of a snail so you can't even make a very quick reply to say it's been processed, either.
I'm thinking a better solution would be to do away with the forum completely and instead use something similiar to a bug-tracker, but for tasks. Users could submit a "bug" (task/update) report which they gets assigned a unique number and added to the list of "bugs"/tasks to do. The reports then have options to add comments if the data needs to be queried with the submitter and once processed you can click on a check mark which removes it from the 'to do' list and shows the name of who processed it. I'm sure you get the idea!
Can anyone recommend me some freeware program/app that would be perfect for this job please?
As a temporary 'make do' solution we have been considering creating a Discord channel as I use exactly this set-up for a hobby project, however the above needs to be accessible to people worldwide and Discord is banned in a bunch of sandpit countries as well as a China, and we have a sizeable amount of customers based in those areas that would be locked out from submitting updates, so it's not ideal.Sounds as if you want a ticketing system?
The normal open source one I see used is https://osticket.com/
The normal open source one I see used is https://osticket.com/
We tend to use Jira for this sort of thing in the past especially in a kanban project template where an item can be picked up, assigned and moved into different states etc. and it's clear who is currently assigned to the item.
Not free on more than 10 users but your mileage may vary on acceptable costs depending on how many actual users you have.
Not free on more than 10 users but your mileage may vary on acceptable costs depending on how many actual users you have.
Edited by eltawater on Saturday 22 July 21:27
xeny said:
Sounds as if you want a ticketing system?
The normal open source one I see used is https://osticket.com/
Thanka xeny, ticketing system is the description I was looking for ! The normal open source one I see used is https://osticket.com/
I will have a look at that site. Keep suggestions coming please . We use Jira.
I'd also suggest looking at Notion:
https://www.notion.so/
It's really flexible so you can basically use it however you want for project management.
I'd also suggest looking at Notion:
https://www.notion.so/
It's really flexible so you can basically use it however you want for project management.
We use Bugzilla at work, it’s free but you have to host it yourself and set up a database like MySql to run it on.
https://www.bugzilla.org/
https://www.bugzilla.org/
durbster said:
We use Jira.
I'd also suggest looking at Notion:
https://www.notion.so/
It's really flexible so you can basically use it however you want for project management.
Thanks all.I'd also suggest looking at Notion:
https://www.notion.so/
It's really flexible so you can basically use it however you want for project management.
Re Jira, what is the definition of "10 users limit" ? There's less than 10 editors who will need control to the reports to mark them as processed etc, but does this limit of 10 also apply to people submitting the requests to add entries to the database, amend them and such, or are these people not considered to be "users" and don't count?
I’ve used plenty of ticketing systems, some free right up to very expensive ServiceNow deployments.
I’m a big fan of Request Tracker - https://bestpractical.com/. There are free, paid support and fully managed options available. It’s not one of very well known systems, but it’s very easy to customise and it can be deployed to manage all sorts of business processes by adding custom fields etc - but it’ll be fine out of the box for a typical ticketing requirement.
I’m a big fan of Request Tracker - https://bestpractical.com/. There are free, paid support and fully managed options available. It’s not one of very well known systems, but it’s very easy to customise and it can be deployed to manage all sorts of business processes by adding custom fields etc - but it’ll be fine out of the box for a typical ticketing requirement.
How big is your team and user base? Jira would be my go to tool for project management, bug tracking, roadmapping, reporting and service desk. Free for 10 users and price scales up from there.
Alternatively Trello if you can live with something a bit more basic but you may run into limitations with the free version too (I remember there being some features locked behind paywall)
Some of the tools you are already using might have issue trackers:
GitHub has a basic issue tracker.
Team Foundation/ Visual Studio has its own equivalent to Jira.
Alternatively Trello if you can live with something a bit more basic but you may run into limitations with the free version too (I remember there being some features locked behind paywall)
Some of the tools you are already using might have issue trackers:
GitHub has a basic issue tracker.
Team Foundation/ Visual Studio has its own equivalent to Jira.
Bryanwww said:
How big is your team and user base? Jira would be my go to tool for project management, bug tracking, roadmapping, reporting and service desk. Free for 10 users and price scales up from there.
Alternatively Trello if you can live with something a bit more basic but you may run into limitations with the free version too (I remember there being some features locked behind paywall)
Some of the tools you are already using might have issue trackers:
GitHub has a basic issue tracker.
Team Foundation/ Visual Studio has its own equivalent to Jira.
Database editors - less than 10 people. Site user count not sure, but quite probably 7 figures now. Essentially all we want to do is have a 'submit correction' button or link on the front-end database records and have that populate in a list in the back-end somewhere that all the editors can read, reply to or mark as 'done'. It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that.Alternatively Trello if you can live with something a bit more basic but you may run into limitations with the free version too (I remember there being some features locked behind paywall)
Some of the tools you are already using might have issue trackers:
GitHub has a basic issue tracker.
Team Foundation/ Visual Studio has its own equivalent to Jira.
If you’re looking at Jira then it is Jira Service Management edition you’re looking for. It’s priced a bit differently. Your two types of users you’re describing in JSM language are called “Agents” and “customers”. Customers are unlimited but agents are limited to 3 in the free edition. 10 would cost you $210 a month but go to a reseller to get it for less.
BigTZ4M said:
If you’re looking at Jira then it is Jira Service Management edition you’re looking for. It’s priced a bit differently. Your two types of users you’re describing in JSM language are called “Agents” and “customers”. Customers are unlimited but agents are limited to 3 in the free edition. 10 would cost you $210 a month but go to a reseller to get it for less.
Thanks for the explanation TZ.I think the significant consideration is your style of "community" with respect to how you use any software, vBulletin included.
Im an IT consultant and interestingly we are now in the 2nd business where we have used vBulletin to manage incidents, work requests and projects. We use it because it is so easy for new users to understand and is (largely) completely transparent allowing stakeholders at all levels of the business to have insight into where work is up to. We use topic prefixes to manage workload in a very flexible way.
We've tried Trello, Microsoft Project, Jira and a plethora of other tools and none managed to have the community feel we were looking for which I think is critical when dealing with stakeholders, end users and developers in a single platform. We used to use vB4 and wrote some SQL queries to generate reports:
1. Selected specific channels.
2. Listed all the "tickets".
3. Grouped them into status (New, In Progress, Complete, Blocked, etc.).
4. Grabbed the creation date.
5. Grabbed the date of the last reply.
6. Included the comments from the last reply.
I've no MI team to do the work for me in the new business so I'll need to look at it myself, but I've promised my business partner who is contract CTO that I'll have a crack at it again.
If you are using vB4, then there are lots of opportunities for customisting the templates, integrating with (for example) PHP using Ajax and achieving what you want. We are now using vB5 which is far more difficult to customise but I guess still possible.
TL;DR
Don't write vBulletin off immediately. If it is working well its possible you could achieve what you want and don't lose existing content.
Im an IT consultant and interestingly we are now in the 2nd business where we have used vBulletin to manage incidents, work requests and projects. We use it because it is so easy for new users to understand and is (largely) completely transparent allowing stakeholders at all levels of the business to have insight into where work is up to. We use topic prefixes to manage workload in a very flexible way.
We've tried Trello, Microsoft Project, Jira and a plethora of other tools and none managed to have the community feel we were looking for which I think is critical when dealing with stakeholders, end users and developers in a single platform. We used to use vB4 and wrote some SQL queries to generate reports:
1. Selected specific channels.
2. Listed all the "tickets".
3. Grouped them into status (New, In Progress, Complete, Blocked, etc.).
4. Grabbed the creation date.
5. Grabbed the date of the last reply.
6. Included the comments from the last reply.
I've no MI team to do the work for me in the new business so I'll need to look at it myself, but I've promised my business partner who is contract CTO that I'll have a crack at it again.
If you are using vB4, then there are lots of opportunities for customisting the templates, integrating with (for example) PHP using Ajax and achieving what you want. We are now using vB5 which is far more difficult to customise but I guess still possible.
TL;DR
Don't write vBulletin off immediately. If it is working well its possible you could achieve what you want and don't lose existing content.
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