
Ask HN: Simple tools/hack for small project management - waqasaday
I am looking for an equivalent of Google Keep for project management. Appreciate any help in advance.<p>thanks.
======
nagarjun
I've used [https://trello.com/](https://trello.com/) for most of my projects
even when I am working with a team. We love it. Here are some basics on how to
manage a project with Trello: [https://trello.com/inspiration/project-
management](https://trello.com/inspiration/project-management).

~~~
pankajdoharey
Absolutely, With Trello you can always scale from small beginnings to full
fledged system with plugins. And if you have a DIY nature you can write your
own plugins the same isnt true for say JIRA.

~~~
samat
Is there somewhere a plugin to make shortcut buttons for filtering? I label my
cards, but filtering by labels is real pain in the ass process.

I've had a look at their API but it does not seems too straightforward. :(

~~~
pankajdoharey
You can always program something if you want. Their client ibrary is excellent
[https://trello.readme.io/v1.0/reference#client-
library](https://trello.readme.io/v1.0/reference#client-library) There are
assortment of ways to get data which you can filter and show the cards that
you want.

------
gkya
Org mode. I put a Readme.org in every project I start, and it can help with
most project management tasks. You can also hook these files up to your Org
agenda, so that issues (i.e. TODO items) show up there.

Edit: I should also mention the Dired mode in Emacs, which is a directory
browser. I use "% g" quite frequently, and it has useful extensions like
wdired and dired-hacks.

~~~
terminalcommand
Org-mode also offers tagging support.

If you add it to your agenda, you can filter things out by tags.

Org mode also has excellent mobile support. All your todo items, schedules
etc. can also be viewed in your phone.

Another plus-side is that it is completely text based. You don't have to worry
about internet access, operating system, age of the machine, the medium you
want to use.

You can quickly export org-mode schedules as pdf/tex/html/txt etc.

If you cannot meet your schedules, you can make a note yourself on why you
couldn't meet it and simply reschedule.

The core functionality of org-mode is actually simple. I'd suggest giving org-
mode a chance.

1) Create an org document 2) Set some tasks as headlines 3) make them todo
items by typing C-c C-t 4) schedule them to a certain date with C-c C-s 5) add
the org-file to your agenda by C-c C-[

And you've got a working project schedule. M-x org-agenda to view your
schedule.

~~~
TeMPOraL
Could you and GP share more about your project management setup (and ways you
use it) in org-mode?

I do use org-mode quite a bit, but for project-specific notebooks, I usually
quickly get mentally overwhelmed with the volume and mix of
finished/unfinished tasks. I can feel the problem is in the way I use it.
Somehow the same content, put in a crappy kanban-style web board, doesn't seem
_as_ overwhelming (even though it's an order of magnitude less efficient to
work on than it is with org).

~~~
unhammer
I keep all paid work in a work.org file and clock in/out of headings there.
The basic structure is

* Projects __Customer X __* TODO issue 42 breakage SCHEDULED: <2018-02-12> __Customer Y __* subproject foo __ __TODO fix slow frobnication SCHEDULED: <2018-02-09> * Ideas * Misc

When I get an e-mail or something about a new task, I use org-capture to turn
it into a TODO with a link back to the e-mail and a default SCHEDULED value,
and I hit C-c C-w to refile it directly into customers/subprojects (otherwise
they end up under Misc and I'll refile later). I always clock into the task
I'm doing, and I use the clocktable (limited to a time range) to figure out
how long I've worked on what for my invoices. Since I switch tasks a lot, and
didn't like how the recent-tasks-lists was emptied on restarting Emacs, I
ended up writing a little helper package at [https://github.com/unhammer/org-
mru-clock](https://github.com/unhammer/org-mru-clock) to let me quickly clock
in to recent tasks (also lets you navigate to recent tasks if you use ivy).

I do something similar to user terminalcommand, where I schedule tasks in my
agenda, so when I open my work-agenda, the stuff that needs doing is always
there. I might leave "sometime-maybe" tasks/ideas unscheduled (like "try shiny
new library"), but anything people are actually asking me fix will be
scheduled. It's really easy to push things towards the future in the agenda,
so it's not really overwhelming, even though my work.org file is now at 11677
lines (and I see my work.org_archive is at 6403 – maybe I should archive more
things, but it's not like I notice the size).

For collaboration, I use whatever other people use (trello, wikis, meeting
notes in etherpad checked into SVN).

~~~
unhammer
ugh, my line breaks got lost. Trying again since I can't edit:

    
    
        * Projects
    
        ** Customer X
        *** TODO issue 42 breakage
            SCHEDULED: <2018-02-12>
    
        ** Customer Y
        *** Fooproject
        **** TODO fix slow frobnication
             SCHEDULED: <2018-02-09>
    
        * Ideas
    
        * Misc

------
retSava
Not Google Keep, but part of "Simple tools/hack for small project management".

I do a lot of work from the commandline, and have a few simple macros to do
simple timestamped tags. Eg "ttag started on proj ABC", "ttag debugging this",
"ttag stopped for today". The tags are stored in a text file. Some work when
going back to sum up hours spent on project X, hours on Y etc, but very
simple.

Here:

    
    
        alias ttag='/cygdrive/c/Dropbox/tools/ttag/ttag.sh'
        alias ttagcat='cat /cygdrive/c/Dropbox/tools/ttag/ttag-logfile.txt'
        alias ttago='open /cygdrive/c/Dropbox/tools/ttag/ttag-logfile.txt'
    

and

    
    
        >cat /cygdrive/c/Dropbox/tools/ttag/ttag.sh
        #!/bin/sh
        LOGFILE=/cygdrive/c/Dropbox/tools/ttag/ttag-logfile.txt
        TIMESTAMP_NICE=$(date +"%F %H.%M.%S - %s:")
        echo $TIMESTAMP_NICE "$@" >> $LOGFILE
    

works well enough for me.

------
sriku
I wholeheartedly recommend WorkFlowy -
[https://workflowy.com](https://workflowy.com)

For me, its focus on text and deep hierarchical breakdown, in combination with
tagging is potent. You may need to figure out your own way to adapt to your PM
style though. For example, some common tags I use are "#next", "#someday",
"#2018-02-08" and such.

~~~
thecatspaw
the landing page is horrible though. Literally no informations apart from
"these guys use it"

~~~
IronCore864
I would not use it simply because of this

------
nickjj
I just keep a text file near the project and jot down notes / other things
accordingly in free form.

This even includes recaps for freelance work. Like I would have an entry of:

2/7/2018: 3 hours

\- Did such and such

\- Implemented this and that

\- Fixed foobar to return foo

I keep to that exact date / hours worked format so when I invoice clients I
just grep the file and cut / sum the total hours (if I'm not doing project
based pricing).

It works really well for the solo developer / freelancer. No time is wasted on
BS and there's a log of work rendered + notes + TODOs + etc..

I like it because I can do all of this from within my code editor which is
where I'm doing the work. The efficiency level is very high.

~~~
hboon
I do this too, but I have 1 file for everything, with each project having a
section. At the end of the day, I rotate the file and archive it in a
directory. I can run a script and figure out how much time I spent on a
project over several years.

~~~
rkhassen
hboon - that ability to run a script and see time spent from a text file
sounds like a fantastic combo of simplicity to use and the ability to mine
data. I'd love to see an example of your file format and script to see exactly
how it all works together, if you are up for sharing.

~~~
jason_slack
I would love to see this as well. My workflow would benefit greatly from this.

~~~
hboon
Replied above.

------
jcadam
Here's my project: [https://www.contabulo.com](https://www.contabulo.com).

It hasn't gotten any love via Show HN, but it's relevant to the thread, so :)

Basically I wanted something sort of like Trello, but more geared toward
Knowledge and Content management and collaboration. I was unaware of the
existence of Google Keep at the time, but it does look vaguely similar,
doesn't it?

Oh yea, example (read-only) board:
[https://app.contabulo.com/boards/a5e413d1-8fe3-4b42-a8f1-b4f...](https://app.contabulo.com/boards/a5e413d1-8fe3-4b42-a8f1-b4f83cd1aff5)

~~~
faitswulff
Little bit of feedback: "Contabulo’s flexibility enables a wide variety of
uses" would be a lot stronger if it specifically named a use for a problem
that I encounter.

~~~
jcadam
Thanks for that. Yea, I need to work more on the landing page. Being too close
to the product myself (having built it) of course _I_ think the utility is
obvious (and I don't think it's an outlandishly new concept), but I definitely
need to work on my marketing-speak and salesmanship (not my forte,
apparently). :)

------
vaughan
I recommend Asana. It is simple when you get started, but can also grow with
you as your project increases in complexity with numerous task organization
options.

Useful features:

\- Browse tasks with keyboard like a text file.

\- Tasks can be in multiple projects.

\- Tasks can have sub tasks.

\- Big ecosystem - lots of integrations with other tools.

I use the following alongside it:

\- Everhour for time tracking.

\- Unito to sync my tasks to Github to track commits.

\- Github issues.

\- Instagantt for gantt charting the Asana tasks to see how reliable your time
estimates were and plan ahead.

------
paulgb
I'm a fan of OneNote for this. It's not perfect but it checks all the boxes I
need and it's free.

Rather than making a list of tasks I have a whole section of them, and so I
can attach files or notes to each one. This makes context switching between
tasks fairly efficient.

------
binaryapparatus
[https://kanboard.org/](https://kanboard.org/) as self hosted trello
alternative, very good and obviously completely private.

Org-mode or [https://github.com/jceb/vim-orgmode](https://github.com/jceb/vim-
orgmode) if you are using vim (I do).

[http://tailordev.github.io/Watson/](http://tailordev.github.io/Watson/) for
cli time tracking. Works beautifully.

------
mobitar
I use (and develop) Standard Notes
([https://standardnotes.org](https://standardnotes.org)). It's dead simple,
but that's good enough for me. I use the task editor to keep track of todos
for updates and other projects.

------
BobBagwill
Fossil is cool: [https://www.fossil-
scm.org/index.html/doc/trunk/www/index.wi...](https://www.fossil-
scm.org/index.html/doc/trunk/www/index.wiki)

~~~
gglitch
Do you know whether its ticket management functionality is available from the
CLI?

~~~
thunderbong
[https://fossil-scm.org/xfer/help?cmd=ticket](https://fossil-
scm.org/xfer/help?cmd=ticket)

------
annywhey
I open a Gdocs page and start writing a project diary. It serves the same
purpose as the recording of transactions in accounting: rather than try to
skip to a summary of tasks, bugs, or features, first I have to develop a
"primary source of truth" about the project as a narrative - what I am
developing, why I should prioritize something right now, and the feedback I
hope to get from developing it.

As aspects of the project turn into specific tasks and data I can consider
making formal artifacts for them, but it's unwise to do it too early in a solo
project because of the added overhead and distraction from overall priorities.
Structurally, coding on your own is really different from having a team to
communicate with and leads or managers to specialize time allocation. You have
the freedom to automate everything you are working with, and that's your
biggest advantage. Where formality is added, it should be done with the
support of a script that takes care of the technical details and keeps your
friction down - it is not hard to automate turning TODO or FIXME source
comments into a report, for example.

------
smnscu
A simple GitHub or Gitlab repository is all that I need. Gitlab has the added
advantage of a free CI (with 2k free build minutes per month), but for me git
hosting + issues and boards + wiki pages are all I need for any project. I
have used many, many project management solutions before, but if you use a
sane methodology you don't really need anything else.

------
jongpieter
I'm using [https://www.paymoapp.com](https://www.paymoapp.com) for time-
tracking and project management.

Next to that using [https://trello.com](https://trello.com) for setting up
Agile boards.

~~~
mariust
If I am not wrong you can have Agile boards in Paymo as well, it's called
Kanban boards.

------
hashmal
For small/solo projects I prefer to use a notebook with the first few pages
reserved for an index. I complement it with a kanban board on the wall (post-
it notes).

What I like about it:

No procrastination in a management tool (over-planning, formatting, etc).

No illusion of order (technology/computers have a tendency to make you appear
disciplined, or to pretend you will be more disciplined by using them… I think
it's bullshit. Discipline is a core skill, not the ability to use a tool).

No software can provide the feel of moving a post-it note to the "Done"
column. Physical data (pages) is also supposed to help memorization.

~~~
a3n
> For small/solo projects I prefer to use a notebook with the first few pages
> reserved for an index.

You might consider starting your index on the back page, and let it grow
"backwards" toward the content, sort of like stack and heap do in memory.

I think I first saw this suggested by the Humphrey/PMP people, where a
notebook is (used to be?) a prominent tool.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_Maturity_Model](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_Maturity_Model)

------
rodolphoarruda
We have been using Teamwork for a couple of years. It offers kanban card based
paradigm as well as PERT/CPM. Our PD teams like the former while we in
Consulting services like the latter best. One can project delivery dates in a
timeline and with that do more refined risk management. Currently there are
455 running projects and 1603 stakeholders using the system including
internal, customer and partners teams.

------
osrec
We built [https://usebx.com/app](https://usebx.com/app) for managing a small
business. It includes a simple to do list type of project manager. Most of our
users love the simplicity and the fact that it integrates with time tracking
and invoicing. You may find it useful too.

~~~
osrec
Also, we're adding the ability to add files to tasks soon. If there's any
particular functionality you're looking for but can't find, let us know - if
we think it can make the app more useful, we'll build it. We're only at 30k
active users, so are still small enough to be able cater to specific needs!

------
z1mm32m4n
If it was just me, I’d use plain text files like people are suggesting in this
thread. In particular, if you want to be able to track and do retrospectives
of what’s been done, consider using jrnl[0] to log what you’ve done.

For small teams, I really like Dropbox Paper. It’s better than text files here
because it’s real-time collaborative, but retains nearly all of the
flexibility. It supports Markdown syntax, checkboxes, etc. You can tag members
of your team, comment in the margins, and link to one doc quickly from
another. For small teams that don’t need a heavyweight process, Dropbox Paper
fills fits my needs here rather well.

[0] [http://jrnl.sh](http://jrnl.sh)

------
hermitcrab
If you want a card-based planner, take a look at our Hyper Plan software:
[http://www.hyperplan.com](http://www.hyperplan.com)

Where it differs from most other card-based planners is:

-any number of custom properties per card

-powerful visualization (layout and color your cards automatically by their properties or connectivity)

-powerful filtering

-supports dependencies between cards (including support for PERT type project scheduling)

-store different combinations of layout, coloring and filtering as 'views' you can swap between with a mouse click

-highly customizable appearance

-runs locally on Windows and Mac (which makes it very responsive) but plays nicely with DropBox

------
latte
Telegram's Saved Messages feature (which is basically a chat with oneself)
helps me a lot - it loads in the web interface instantly and works like an
ultra-light notes app, where you can also post files and images, search your
notes, edit and delete items. Everything is instantly shared between web and
mobile.

The drawback is that you can have only one Saved Messages chat and no way to
tag messages by project - it becomes messy when you use it for several
projects at once.

For a small team, per-project chats are also very helpful - you can easily
recall what you were discussing or planning to do several months ago.

~~~
eitland
You can add a #hashtag or even a bunch of them to every post though.

Makes it easy to filter by topic.

Another quick tip: you can have multiple chats with the exact same recipients.
Nice if you have a running chat with someone and you also have one or more
shared projects.

------
katelynsk
I'm from a small remote team of 8 employees, we use Riter
([https://riter.co](https://riter.co)). It provides a basic set of necessary
features for project management, time tracking, estimation and control. Here's
an existing demo company for quick review
[https://demo.riter.co/login](https://demo.riter.co/login)

~~~
biggerfisch
Might want to disclose that your company creates this product.

~~~
katelynsk
Yes, it does, I had to mention that. However, it's free now. We tried to use
some existing tools earlier, but the own one is always better suited for
particular team needs. So Riter was developed primarily for personal use, not
for sale. Maybe someone will also find it useful.

------
dswnnpa
VivifyScrum - [https://www.vivifyscrum.com](https://www.vivifyscrum.com). It's
free for smaller projects (and very feature-complete) but robust enough for
the largest of projects (and very affordable @ $8/user/mo.). They also have a
native app for both desktop and mobile. I'm not affiliated with them in any
way. I'm just a very satisfied user.

------
indescions_2018
I design the workflow first. Starting sparingly with Github and G-Suite.

You can build your own webrtc-enabled video chat room in under 100 lines of
javascript with PeerJS or the Twilio API. Or use Talky, Cyclops, etc.

If you need invoices, time tracking, and reports. You can always jump into
something like Avaza

[https://www.avaza.com/](https://www.avaza.com/)

Keep it simple. And don't be afraid to roll your own tools. Good luck!

------
beckler
So what exactly are you looking for?

If Google Keep is what you're looking for, then use Google Keep.

If you want to share to-do lists, then use Asana or Trello.

If you want to manage tasks, I'd recommend
[http://clubhouse.io](http://clubhouse.io)

It's hard to say what would fit your needs without saying what you need or
want from a product other than "project management".

------
z5h
Invite URL for my project:
[https://ixberg.com/#/invite/2018-hn-1](https://ixberg.com/#/invite/2018-hn-1)
(click sign in to do anything)

Make (sharable) projects. Add tasks. Break into subtasks (recursively). Defer
anything you don't want to see yet. Focus on what you can do next and get
things done.

------
soneca
I am happy enough with Github's Project feature. I create a simple kanban
board and keep the tasks updated.

------
david90
Not sure if you are working on a software related project or not. One of my
favourite tool is GitHub Project Boards

[https://help.github.com/articles/about-project-
boards/](https://help.github.com/articles/about-project-boards/)

------
gilfoyle
Use Quip for documenting features, ideas, check-listing, task tracking
[https://quip.com/](https://quip.com/)

Having one place for chats, documents, tasks is great. Its fast, simple and
real-time!

------
dharma1
[https://www.getflow.com/](https://www.getflow.com/) is pretty nice. But
almost any kanban tool will do the job

------
jgamman
excel/LO as a list of @#@#-that-needs-to-get-done. next column over is a r/b/g
traffic lights. move them around in rough order. highlight those that are
fixed dates. scribble on post it notes. lots and lots of post it notes and
physically screw them up and throw them away. you'd be surprised how robust
this is for single owner projects. managing a team? need different tool. i've
used basecamp and was v happy.

------
tedmiston
If you're on a Mac, Things.app is great.

[https://culturedcode.com/things/](https://culturedcode.com/things/)

------
nanch
How large is the team? Specifically, is it project management for 1 person or
more than 1 person?

------
chunkyslink
Evernote is a lot like Google Keep. As you've mentioned GK I thought this was
relevant.

------
shalabhc
Also check out notion.so

