
Show HN: Phaser – Trello for software development, with Vim built in - hpvic03
http://phaserapp.com
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nedwin
"it's trello for software development".

I think that's called Trello.

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hpvic03
Phaser does some nice things that Trello doesn't do that are specifically
related to software. For example you can group Stories into "Arcs", which are
like feature sets. This way you can filter stories by Arc and quickly see the
progress of each individual Arc.

Additionally, Phaser allows you to quickly create many stories in a single
text box, which is great for when you need quickly add a new feature set.

There are more examples which I'm sure you'll see if you actually try the
product.

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notJim
I think Trello's not being process-specific is an advantage. Every company
I've worked at has had fairly different processes, so a tool that's tightly-
coupled to one wouldn't work that well, just in my experience. It's also not
clear to me that the coupling is essential. For example, what's the difference
between a phase in Phaser and a column in Trello? They seem like the same
thing, but with a very specific name.

You're also using a lot of terminology specific to your process in the pitch,
which I don't understand, because I'm not familiar with your process.

The arcs seem like a nice idea, if I understand them (basically a way to
filter tasks horizontally across all phases), but again I think you're usage
of process-specific terminology is hampering your ability to pitch the
feature.

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hpvic03
A phase in Phaser is equivalent to a column in Trello.

You aren't tied to a specific process in Phaser. You can create a different
set of phases for each project and you can change them at any time.

I understand your point on the terminology. There may be a way for me to make
it less complicated.

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fishtoaster
It's interesting, but the vim editor has the same problems that most near-vim
tools have: my muscle memory (trained with my vimrc) is all wrong. Escape is
an awkward key, so I exit inset mode with jk and kj. $ and ^ are weird, so I
jump around the line with L and H. My leader key, my plugins, etc are all
sorely missing, and trip me up here way more than a purely non-vim interface.

What I'd really love would be a web tool like this with a plugin for actual
vim. I currently use a TODO.txt file (kept on dropbox) that I open with
<leader>et for my personal task managment. If there were a plugin that would
let me edit tasks like Phaser (indentation-based) in real vim, but then could
be displayed and further managed by your web interface, I'd love it.

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hpvic03
I understand where you're coming from.

Keeping a text file synced with the web interface would be super cool. It
would certainly be a fun engineering challenge. I'll keep that idea in mind.

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encoderer
I think naming Trello is a dicey move. Trello is a great product. It's
incredibly simple -- a huge asset for most users -- and very well implemented.

I spent about 60 seconds looking at your homepage. I didn't convert. Here's my
impression:

You say it's like Trello. So I like that. And then I see a screen that is much
more complicated. I glance at it. Then skip past. Ok, phases. Phaser. Ok. So
it's like, a way to keep tasks separate without just using a separate task
board. Ok.

Moving on, now there's "arcs"? I see what you did there, with "story arc" and
all. But wait, now my super simple trello issues are grouped into phases and
arcs? And if I use this as part of my bigger process, then my phases and arcs
are split or spliced into my sprints. Also, there's already an agile term for
what you're calling "arcs" \-- epics.

But I don't give up. I want to get it. I go back up to the top screenshot. Ok,
it's 3 lists, just like Trello. But wait. Why is the first column green? And
why is the top option bold? Do you select it? And then it changes what happens
in the other 2 columns? But that's not like trello at all. And it's also not
intuitive I don't think. And one list is "arcs" but the other 2 are "phases"?

And what are the "This week: 18..."? Number of stories completed? created? Why
do I need to see that on every single page?

Also, I skipped right over the Vim section. It seems pointless to me. That is
solving a problem I do not have. But hey, I can see others may use it or it
could even just be a bit of a gimmicky feature that does get it some
attention.

Anyway, and more important than all that, congrats on shipping!

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owenversteeg
Hmm. A few comments:

\- I love Trello and have used it for years. It's probably my favorite piece
of software. You couldn't pay me to switch. I use it for software development,
by the way, and it works fine.

\- I don't use Vim. (I use ed, and yes I'm serious.)

\- The site not being responsive is a turnoff. Trello is responsive.

Other than that, I think I'd use it if Trello didn't exist.

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siegecraft
Would be nice if there was a more frictionless way to try it out, either via
some sort of oauth login or a demo link

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hpvic03
That's a good idea. Thanks for the heads up.

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hpvic03
Developer here. I built Phaser to scratch my own itch. I took inspiration from
both Trello and Pivotal Tracker, and I think the result is pretty good.

Please let me know what you think.

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akkartik
I signed up just to play with the in-browser vim, which is cool.

1\. I can't bring up the editor on firefox. Clicking the '+' in a phase
doesn't bring up the editor, etc.

2\. :w doesn't work on chrome either, it gives this error: "cannot call method
set of undefined" [http://imgur.com/hnS1AMA](http://imgur.com/hnS1AMA)

3\. But still it looks like the story arc was saved:
[http://imgur.com/JUiuKbw](http://imgur.com/JUiuKbw) and there was a
'saving..' message on the status bar suggesting that there's an autosaver.
However, after reloading the page, sad face:
[http://imgur.com/aLSMgsE](http://imgur.com/aLSMgsE)

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hpvic03
Give me a sec to check it in Firefox. It's very alpha and I've been doing
everything in Chrome.

Second Edit: Use the tab key instead of spaces to create indentation. That's
what is causing the "set of undefined" error.

Edit: If you reload, then click "New Stories +", it should work. The + button
on the individual phases is not working right now in Firefox. Willfix.

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wavesounds
What did you use to integrate vim? Is it something open source or proprietary?

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hpvic03
I used Code Mirror to get the Vim functionality:
[http://codemirror.net/](http://codemirror.net/) . It's open source.

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mattl
So, its Vim keybindings, not actually Vim?

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hpvic03
That is correct.

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joebo
To target a broader market, you might consider dropping the "Vim built in" and
explain it as "Create stories efficiently in plain text with our editor that
uses familiar key bindings from Vim. Alternatively, use your favorite editor
and paste the text in. Phaser's story parser will slurp them up for you."

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codebeaker
Trello, that tool my company has been successfully using for software
development for years, which already supports vimish (forgive me!) movement
and edit keybindings?

I'm not seeing the point here, Trello is excellent, and already great for
software teams.

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bitJericho
Maybe this product makes sense if you know what trello is?

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hpvic03
Sure. Or if you know about kanban boards, which have been around for a long
time.

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cjdulberger
I love the minimalist design, it's a truly beautiful product. Congrats!

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tmock12
I like the ability to slurp in stories from VIM. Thats very slick.

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kiernan
It wasn't clear to me what the 'I prefer vim' option in the signup form is
for. Does it control a setting or is it just a survey?

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gedrap
I love the idea and it wakes my inner nerd up.

It looks cool. However, I really wish there was some tour. It's quite
confusing initially.

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mushishi
Didn't try yet, but would you mind considering to provide this as product that
is installable on private network?

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hpvic03
That would definitely be an option.

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rMBP
I second that request. It looks really nice, but SaaS - free or not - is a no
go for projects that involves sensitive or classified data.

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memming
I'm getting "TypeError: Cannot call method 'set' of undefined" when trying to
save...

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softbuilder
I skimmed (busy day, sorry). Is this a web front end for Cucumber stories?

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hpvic03
Basically, yes. It's like Pivotal Tracker as a custom kanban board.

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softbuilder
It's an interesting concept. Good luck!

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baseh
Please consider adding SSL page for signup and login

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rwz
Love the design.

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devniel
phaser? [http://phaser.io/](http://phaser.io/)

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udkl
No. Why !?

