Simple Project Manager and Bug Tracking Software

[durangod]

Well so far i have been through 5 different offerings of Bug and Project Trackers and did not like any of them:
1. They were too complicated to customize.
2. They included AI (Artificial Intelligence) which i dont need or want.
3. The development has stalled and still running on old PHP versions.
4. I did not like the layout, the font was way too small, the menus were confusing, the colors were horrible.
5. They were not coded in PHP but some other language which i am not familiar with (example pearl).
6. They were online projects only so i could not host my own data.
7. I dont mind slow support, i cant complain too much when its open source, but i see questions that are 6 months old with no answer but they say they are still in development.
8. When i cant even figure out how to change text on the page or fix a simple issue, its not for me.
9. Too many warnings and errors that i cant fix.
10. They use frameworks, im old school and i hate frameworks.
11. Too many options which means a high learning curve (i want simple).
12. If i cant figure out how it works then i cant check to be sure its safe to use.

So far i have looked at or tried OsTicket, Mantis, Webissues, Traq, and Bugs.

Well i think that means i will have to code my own. All i want is to track bugs and simple project tracker, i dont need graphs, or reports, or any other breakdown of data. I just want to keep track of the reported by user bugs with simple notes and resolve. Then i want a simple project manager to manage where i am on the project, target date, TODO list, and by project. So ill maybe code my own, or i am sort of thinking maybe i can just use a simple forum program to do this rather than recreate the wheel.

Thoughts or suggestions, i know there are tons of projects out there i have never heard of.

Thanks...

 

[BorkedSystem32]

Have you maybe tried Bugzilla? It hasn't been updated in a while, though it still is being updated, just very slowly at the moment. It's only a bug tracker, but a lot of major open-source projects use it for keeping track of bugs.

You could use GitHub or host your own GitLab - sure, they offer AI tools, graphs, reports, notes, project management, etc. The thing is, even if you don't like these features, you don't need to use them. Nobody is forcing you to use them.

This table here shows you a bunch of different bug trackers, both open-source and proprietary. See if any of these float your boat.

 

[durangod]

Thanks for the link. 🙂 Yeah i read last week about bugzilla, its written in perl and no way for me to customize it since i dont know the language. However, it is on my plan B list at the top in case i cant find anything else. The issue with the feature rich scripts is that even though i dont use the features i still have to understand them because many of them require input or knowledge base to work with the rest of it.

I also feel as if i need to clarify about my ability. I am pretty good at figuring out how things work and moding them to fit my needs. There have been many times that i want to use a script that uses a framework and i can manage to use it as i wish and figure out how to do that. But there are other times that using a framework is outright madening, trying to follow the data from one file to the other and from one package to another drives me nuts. That is why i said no to some of those on the list, the data was so hard to follow even with a script search utility. As i said i am old school i code with no helpers, no framework, just pure html, php, css, js, ajax from a blank page hand created, and that is the way my mind works. So when i see data bouncing all over the place instead of just doing the output right off i get frustrated. I know how to use the console and alot of other tools to do what i need to do but when that does not work then i give up and delete the script and look for something else.. 🙂

Yes i know that is the new way of coding, just add packages and done. But to me that takes away the "Art" of coding and makes it much less personal. I dont care about coding fast, i care about coding properly as much as i can, so i dont need the packages and composer stuff to code. I also feel it is much easier to troubleshoot and work with if i do it by hand.

I guess my point is that im not looking for perfection in a script, i just want something i am able to mold for my usage as part of a bigger project without a bunch of errors and fussyness to get going.

I did find some scripts in github last night but none of them are really workable as many of them have security issues or the coding is horrible.

Thanks... 🙂

 

[BorkedSystem32]

Thanks for the link. 🙂 Yeah i read last week about bugzilla, its written in perl and no way for me to customize it since i dont know the language. However, it is on my plan B list at the top in case i cant find anything else. The issue with the feature rich scripts is that even though i dont use the features i still have to understand them because many of them require input or knowledge base to work with the rest of it.

I also feel as if i need to clarify about my ability. I am pretty good at figuring out how things work and moding them to fit my needs. There have been many times that i want to use a script that uses a framework and i can manage to use it as i wish and figure out how to do that. But there are other times that using a framework is outright madening, trying to follow the data from one file to the other and from one package to another drives me nuts. That is why i said no to some of those on the list, the data was so hard to follow even with a script search utility. As i said i am old school i code with no helpers, no framework, just pure html, php, css, js, ajax from a blank page hand created, and that is the way my mind works. So when i see data bouncing all over the place instead of just doing the output right off i get frustrated. I know how to use the console and alot of other tools to do what i need to do but when that does not work then i give up and delete the script and look for something else.. 🙂

Yes i know that is the new way of coding, just add packages and done. But to me that takes away the "Art" of coding and makes it much less personal. I dont care about coding fast, i care about coding properly as much as i can, so i dont need the packages and composer stuff to code. I also feel it is much easier to troubleshoot and work with if i do it by hand.

I guess my point is that im not looking for perfection in a script, i just want something i am able to mold for my usage as part of a bigger project without a bunch of errors and fussyness to get going.

I did find some scripts in github last night but none of them are really workable as many of them have security issues or the coding is horrible.

Thanks... 🙂

I get what you mean about frameworks, but I don't think the major ones(Bugzilla, Traq, etc.) are made using frameworks, just the language and that's it. Bugzilla shouldn't be too hard to make any needed modifications to it if you already know JS and PHP - all of these languages are influenced by C, so the syntax between them should be pretty similar and if you know, you should be able to pick the other up pretty easily. It's annoying having to learn another language just to modify something, but if you can even grasp the basics of the language, it should be easy to do.

I think it will be hard to find one that satisfies both of your needs - I would recommend you continue searching and experimenting to find one that suits you. If you can't find any then in that case I would suggest trying to implement your own or revert to using a forum or mailing list if that makes things easier for you(forum would be easier as you can make and use add-ons for them to get the features you want).

 

[durangod]

I have decided for now to code my own.. 🙂 Thanks for all the info and replies. Guess ill see how this goes, i have all the construction plans in my head, just need to get it down in code... Everything there is to do i have already done in another project so its basically just moving code from several places and changing names.

 

[IVtaras]

Before building your own solution, you might also explore tools like Trello or Asana. They are simple and user-friendly, allowing you to track tasks and projects with ease. Additionally, ClickUp offers a lot of flexibility and can be tailored to your specific needs. For something straightforward, consider using monday project management. It’s easy to customize for tracking bugs and managing projects without the extra features you don’t need.

 

[williamharry]

If you need something simple, self-hosted, PHP-based, and highly customizable, a basic forum program could work well as a tracker. Otherwise, coding your own lightweight tracker with just the essentials—bug notes, progress tracking, and to-do lists—might be your best option.

 

[Tyrsson]

Uhm, GitHub and GitHub projects already does everything you are trying to do….

 

[Malcolm]

Uhm, GitHub and GitHub projects already does everything you are trying to do….

Nothing wrong with that. Just because something exists, it shouldn't mean you don't make it.