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[Netsu]

I never used any software designed to keep track of task division in development, but I think we'll need one now. I'm looking for suggestions, as I'm not even sure what the thing I need is really called...

What I need:
- a tree view of task hierarchy (tasks, sub-tasks, sub-sub-tasks and so on)
- deadlines on tasks
- assigning people to tasks
- marking progress on tasks (in percentages?)
- task priority

Would be great if I could view for example the root of the taks tree, see the total percentage of all things done, then expand that node, see the most general tasks, progress on each of them, expand a given task, see the sub-tasks that belong to it along with progress and so on.

Anyone been using anything like that? Online would work great, otherwise would be good if it was multiplatform (Windows and Linux).

PS: I'd like it to be as simple as possible, the less features it has beside the ones I mentioned the better.

[motorherp]

We've been using Jira on our latest project.  I don't really have any complaints about it so it might be worth a look.

[oahda]

I've just been doing it manually in text files with this sort of branching structure using tab indentations. I'd be interested in finding a proper software for this too. I'll give Jira a look.

At work we use Trello. I haven't seen any branching structures in it, but that may simply be because we haven't had a need for it here. Maybe it does still have it. I should check that out too since I have direct access to it anyway.

[BatFastard]

I really like Asana - https://asana.com/start

Very nice task tracking features, not sure if it has a tree view structure. But it has everything else and more that you need.
Did I mention free for small teams?

[Netsu]

Thanks!

Jira seems to not have a free version so it's out of the question.
This Asana thing looks nice although I'm afraid it's too bloated for what we need, I think I'll try it out and see for myself. Can it be used in a browser? Does it use their servers or do I need my own?

I'm currently trying out using todo list for this purpose. Todoist has hierarchical tasks, deadlines, assigning people to tasks and priority, but the filtering ability is rather lackluster and you can't mark progress on tasks. I think being able to define dependencies between tasks would be cool too.

[jscottmiller]

We used to use Trello for this, but have moved over to Pivotal Tracker.

Rather than give you a freeform tool, Pivotal prescribes an light agile workflow to go along with the tool. You can get an overview of that workflow here: https://www.pivotaltracker.com/flash/flvplayer.swf?file=http://tracker.screencast.s3.amazonaws.com/pivotal-tracker-concepts.flv&image=https://d3jgo56a5b0my0.cloudfront.net/images/v7/application/screenshots/storyview.png&autostart=true

You could do the same thing with Jira, but I've found that Pivotal is far less cumbersome.

You're going to need to pay to add collaborators, but I think you'll find that most decent tools (aside from Trello) will charge a fee.

[Netsu]

Pivotal Tracker also seems way too big for us. Maybe I should have mentioned right away that our team is just two people...
This Trello thing on the other hand, it looks really awesome! Seems super flexible, real simple with only a single view and has all we need. I think I'm gonna try it, thanks

[Siilk]

Check out Assembla. It's not unlike Jira and it has a free access option too(even though it might be limited).

[Jonathan Burroughs]

I know this is an old thread, but it seemed worth rejuvenating as I'm in a similar position to Netsu. Looking for a task tracker for a team of 5 people, all working remotely.

We've used Trello in the past and I love its simplicity and how powerful a tool it can be. It's great for coordinating sprints or short milestones. But it doesn't seem so great for tracking time estimates or comparing relative complexity of tasks. Or for maintaining a backlog of tasks. At least I've not yet been able to figure out a good workflow that achieves this.

I'm looking at Jira right now, but as other commenters have observed it has a cost attached. And it seems a bit overkill for our needs. I used Pivotal on a previous project, but it too might be too expensive.

I'll take a look at Asana (thanks for the tip, BatFastard) and Assembla (thanks, Siilk). But if anybody else has other recommendations for tools which have worked well for them I'm all ears!

[bauer]

We're mostly using a Google Spreadsheet with tabs for each discipline / structure, for a group of ~8 ppl.

For example, the start tab is the general milestone + related tasks listed with a brief explanation, with estimates and priorities for each discipline (code, art, audio, design, etc).
The second tab is a Gantt chart with the overview plan, when deliveries are due etc.
Each discipline then have their own tab with further breakdowns for each task so that, for code, "Implement boss" might be split up into "Implement boss movement" and "Add boss score mechanics" and for art it might be "Create boss model" etc. Each task has columns for priority, who is assigned, whats the status of the task, amount of percent done etc.

With a bit of spreadsheet-fu (simple "add everything in this column and divide by the value in that cell, etc) and conditional formatting (stuff marked as done gets a green background automatically etc), it gets quite handy to work with and it's easy to see the amount of remaining workdays until an upcoming delivery next to the amount of estimated work remaining. Except for the somewhat clunky handling of moving stuff around, I think it works great for something that is free and extremely easy to get started with.

[Jonathan Burroughs]

We've decided to go with Jira with the Agile add-on, at least to evaluate it and see if it genuinely helps us. It's bafflingly complicated and has taken the best part of this week to get my head around, but I've managed to corral it into a state where it probably serves our needs. The Agile add-on in particular seems to give us many of the niceties of Trello, but with more control over prioritisation and time estimation. Plus a controlled workflow for moving tasks in and out of the backlog and in and out of sprints. We'll see how it goes! Regarding pricing, Jira + Agile is $20 for a 10 person team to host your own server or the same amount monthly if you want Atlassian to host it for you.

[ProgramGamer]

Why do you guys not just program the darn tool? You seem to have a better grasp of what needs to be in it than most people making these kinds of softs. Plus, it can't be that complex to make as long as you have a DropBox or something like that.

[Hastouki]

I tend to use Wunderlist for to-do type stuff.

https://www.wunderlist.com

[Cheezmeister]

For your first bullet, check out workflowy.com

Not sure which of the other features it has.

[Mittens]

you might like Trello, I think it doesn't all those things, it's the new kid on the block

[InfiniteStateMachine]

Trello has been decent for me. The nice thing is the less techy artists I've worked with tend to figure it out quickly.
 

[Jedic]

I use pivotal tracker to track mine. It is a little overkill for a single developer but it's been great to track my progress as well as track larger tasks.

[bexsella]

I'm taking some time out of my current project to write a simple task manager for myself, for smaller projects. The scope is basic, all it does is display a list of tasks that I've set myself with a set priority. Within those tasks you are able to add subtasks with their own priorities. It outputs something like Prinsessa has been doing:

Code:

=======================================================================
== TODO
=======================================================================

[HIGH] Make Game
    [MEDIUM] Do something, just generally
    [LOW] Do something with Pascal

[HIGH] and now for something completely different
    [HIGH] A man with three buttocks

[MEDIUM] Make this post

It might be a waste of time, but I'm happy programming. Note that the [HIGH] [MEDIUM] [LOW] thing is probably going to change to something a bit better. As well as keeping track on things that have been done.

[InfiniteStateMachine]

^^ I know the feeling, I often have the urge to try to make my own task/project management software.

For some reason task/project management software software is always the software I feel could be improved on the most despite the staggering amount of options out there.

[Cheezmeister]

That phenomenon is because they interface so closely with your own memory and reckoning, and brains come in so very many shapes and sizes.

At least, that's what I chalk it up to.

@bexsella, consider using the todo.txt format as a starting point instead of rolling your own entirely from scratch. It's quite similar to what you've got listed. You can (I do) use indentation for subtasks, though most existing software won't "understand" it.