Web developers are often guilty of devoting too much time to their core work, at the expense of effective project management and admin. It’s all very well building an amazing website, but if it’s not delivered on schedule and within budget, you’re going to end up losing money and repeat business. Project management apps are key to streamlining your operations and improving productivity.
The invaluable apps explored below detail below are all of great use to web developers specifically, although many were not designed with web developers in mind. Some are ideal for freelancers who tend to work alone, others are great for those who work in small groups, and others still are suitable for bigger web development companies with a large, decentralized, often project-specific workforce.
Keeping close tabs on your projects can be very difficult and time-consuming, especially if you’re working on several simultaneously. These 16 apps will save you hassle, heartache and numerous wasted hours by performing a range of useful functions, from planning to document sharing, time and expense tracking, communication and reporting.
1. Assembla
Assembla offers the whole package: repositories, ticketing, collaboration and management tools. Assembla’s repositories, stored in Amazon EBS, keep your code safe, while allowing specified users to view and edit it in a secure fashion. Tickets, which can be posted and assigned to team members within seconds, help users accomplish tasks more quickly and efficiently.
2. Central Desktop
Central Desktop offers users an online workspace where they can share files and documents, manage tasks and discuss projects in a group without the need for constant email writing and checking. It’s free to use in a limited capacity.
3. @task
@task is web-based project management software that helps companies get work done. You’ ll love how easy it is to get more from your teams and bring your projects in on time and on budget. Use @task to plan your project life cycle and provide your teams with the project management tools they need to succeed.
4. 5pm
5pm is a project management tool suitable for any web developer, regardless of team size. This web app consists of two instantly understandable panels. The panel on the left lists your projects. Once you’ve selected a project, any files, discussions or other activity related to this project is displayed in the right panel. It couldn’t be easier.
5. Ta-da Lists
Ta-da Lists is perfect for those who write so many “to do” lists, stickies and notes that they can hardly keep track of them all. It’s far superior to an ordinary text editor that you may or may not keep open on your computer while working, as Ta-da List information is on the cloud and accessible from anywhere.
6. Basecamp
Basecamp is the world’s leading project collaboration tool, with thousands of very satisfied web developer customers. Write communal and personal “to do” lists, store and share files (up to 75GB) effectively between team members, write on your group’s message boards, add milestones to keep track of what’s due and who’s responsible, and track your own and others’ time.
7. SpringLoops
Designed specifically for web developers, SpringLoops enables groups to code together and safely share code between each other. It ultimately saves time by eradicating repeated activities performed on a day-to-day basis. It even backs up old versions of code, allowing users to quickly undo poor decisions.
8. Tenrox
Tenrox is perfect for web developers who not only have to manage their own work, but that of a small workforce, which might even spread around the world. Tenrox eliminates time wasted constantly constructing and circulating emails, letting a whole team view and edit all necessary documents. With Tenrox, you can keep track of time and expenses, perform cost and revenue accounting and track everyone’s progress.
9. Genius Project
Genius Project helps users manage every stage in the web development process, from project selection to execution. Group, compare and rank actual and potential projects, plan with interactive Gantt charts, maximise utilisation of human and other resources, track time and expenses, manage costs and budgets, generate invoices and much more.
10. Eclipse
Eclipse is a web application which deals with three key areas: portfolio management, project management and resource management. It lets you consolidate information from various projects in one accessible place, organise your schedule and prioritise every activity, track and report in a consistent manner and keep detailed tabs on all resources. Eclipse is simple to use and can be integrated with existing project management software.
11. workspace.com
workspace.com provides eight distinct applications, useful for all web developers, especially those who work as part of a team. These eight applications include “Requirements”, which ensures that you’re constantly working with the most recent version of a project; “Plans”, for planning schedules, budgets and resources; and “Tests”, which tracks and manages your testing process. The price you pay depends on which of the eight applications you require, as well as the size of your team.
12. Klok
Ever find yourself performing unnecessary tasks just to fill the time? Does each project end in a mad rush to get things finished? If the answer’s yes, then Klok is the app for you. It’s a simple work timer which lets you time manage each project in fine detail. Compare recent with past projects to make sure your efficiency is improving.
13. Less Time Spent
Another time tracker, Less Time Spent does exactly what its name suggests: it enables users to organise themselves more efficiently, saving hours and minutes which, after all, equate to potential dollars and cents! It tracks your operations in real time and supports Google ID login.
14. Nozbe
Nozbe is a great time and project management web app suitable for individuals and small teams. It lets users arrange their tasks into projects, focus on what needs to be done next, group tasks by context (home, office, phone etc) to maximise productivity, and collaborate with a team. What’s more, you can send notes to Nozbe from Twitter and Gmail, and manage Nozbe from your Mac dashboard.
15. Google Apps
With all the excellent project management apps currently available, it’s easy to forget that Google Apps offers a range of tools for web developers who want to move everything to the cloud. Google Groups and Google Sites can be used in conjunction to ease communication and encourage secure sharing of calendars, documents, videos and lots more. Admittedly, Google Apps is unlikely to be as suited to your needs as some of the other apps in this list, but it is highly accessible, well designed and completely free to use.
16. Redmine
Redmine offers a host of really useful tools. At its simplest, it lets users manage a great number of projects simultaneously, defining personal roles and assigning tasks to specific team members. At its more complex and customisable, it lets users manage tasks as subprojects of main projects, automatically creating Gantt charts and calendars.
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December 16th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Thanks for the useful list of project management tools and descriptions.
For those of you interested in similar lists of online (or desktop) project management software, I’ve compiled lists and reviews at the Task and Project Management Software List.
Note: also includes task management, to-do list and GTD software.
December 17th, 2009 at 4:29 am
I suggest adding LiquidPlanner to the list (http://www.liquidplanner.com). LiquidPlanner has a robust scheduling engine, allowing you to build a project schedule that you can rely on. This is done by creating work estimates in ranges. It’s impossible to predict with 100% accuracy how long a task will take, so LP allows for that uncertainty in the project schedule.
LiquidPlanner has excellent collaboration tools, with a twitter-like commenting feature, detailed notes, links and shared documents for each task, project folder or project root. LP also has integrated timesheets, making it a perfect tool for a team of web designers or a single worker logging time to freelance projects.
LP also just launched a holiday release with some awesome features: http://www.liquidplanner.com/blog/2009/12/14/liquidplanner-holiday-release-something-for-everyone.html
Oh, yeah…and a free iphone app!
December 17th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Awesome list of tools. Do have a look at http://xp-dev.com as a project management tool as well. Its pretty packed with features.
December 17th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Also consider CounterSoft Gemini @ http://www.countersoft.com
December 17th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Another tool to look at is DeskAway. We have a basic free plan and reasonable upgrades. Good reporting and analytics features, tasklisting, issue tracking and a lot more!
December 17th, 2009 at 10:44 am
hello, this may be relevant to the readers.
The Marathon List of Project Management & Collaboration Tools
http://decode10.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/the-marathon-list-of-project-management-collaboration-tools/
December 17th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
+1 for 5pm (http://www.5pmweb.com). With a mobile version introduced lately and a desktop time tracking widget included in the price – it’s a great deal.
December 17th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Don’t forget to glance at our pm tool http://www.cominwork.com featuring powerful customization features.
December 17th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I’d also like to add http://ocpsoft.com/scrumshark/ to the list – It’s an opensource tool for simple agile project management. The community is invited to try it and make suggestions, or even modify the code and make improvements.
December 17th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
There’s another one I found called toTdo (http://www.totdo.com). Very simple functionality GTD app. Might be useful to someone.
December 18th, 2009 at 6:14 am
really helping apps for project managements.
December 18th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I would recommend checking out http://www.Gtdagenda.com for an online project/GTD manager.
You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
A mobile version is available too.
Also, there’s an article on the website on how it can be used for software development.
December 18th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Free and outstanding: http://www.pivotaltracker.com/
December 18th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Really? No, Atlassian JIRA?
December 18th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Fogbugz
December 18th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
May I also suggest taking a look at Intervals. It is in the same arena as many of the examples given above, and was developed specifically for web design and development.
December 19th, 2009 at 5:20 am
For anyone wanting to take their project management up a notch I recommend taking a look at Clarizen. http://www.clarizen.com
Its got really solid scheduling / gantt features.
December 21st, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Great article Tom!
Wondering what Klok’s business model is if they intend on offering their software for free…
December 22nd, 2009 at 2:23 am
All these tools are great, but what if you could manage Projects, CRM and Billing with the single web application? WORKetc is designed as a total small business management software solution, combining project management, billing, CRM, document management, timesheets and more into the single tool.
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:25 am
Have you seen Wrike? Our tool is used by many development teams, e.g. http://bit.ly/4BWGQn In Wrike you can keep all your projects in one workspace, that saves you loads of time, as there’s no need to jump between the project spaces like in Basecamp.
December 22nd, 2009 at 3:12 pm
This is a great list. Please also check out WizeHive (www.wizehive.com), a flexible online collaboration tool that allows you to streamline project management and increase productivity. With unlimited secure, private workspaces, groups can upload, edit and comment on files, create MS compatible files, post notes, organize email, share conversations and calendars, manage tasks, and send updates to your workspace via email, Twitter and mobile devices. Form builder, data utilities, and workflow tools enable collaboration around business processes such as managing projects, processing resumes, evaluating funding requests, scheduling development releases, and more. A free plan offers 1 workspace for unlimited users. Increased storage and greater capabilities range from $9-$39/month. 30 day free trial on all plans.
December 22nd, 2009 at 6:05 pm
“Staction”:www.staction.com is a great option for simple, fast, effective project and people management…
December 24th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
If concerning the ideology of the services there is one more – KommandCore. It’s developed by managers and destined to managers. You can check it in Demo http://demo.kommandcore.com/ at web-site http://www.kommandcore.com/ What’s important that the web-service and website are available on 5 languages, that’s why much more people can get pleasure from its innovative interface. Note that you work always on one screen, according to the slogan “Why to manage in more complicated way than if just with a pen and a piece of paper?” (Find about ideology here: http://www.kommandcore.com/vision.html).
All your questions and comments are welcome!
Best
December 24th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Good collection. Basecamp is great.
January 1st, 2010 at 8:11 pm
This is a great list. Please also check out WizeHive (www.wizehive.com), a flexible online collaboration tool that allows you to streamline project management and increase productivity. With unlimited secure, private workspaces, groups can upload, edit and comment on files, create MS compatible files, post notes, organize email, share conversations and calendars, manage tasks, and send updates to your workspace via email, Twitter and mobile devices.
January 15th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
I would also consider Collabtive, the open source platform app. This is installed on your our server and you manage the info and database. I think having the security and ability to add function to the app is a plus.
http://timskaggs.net/blog/2010/01/collabtive-collaborate-project-manage-open-source/
February 1st, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Thanks for sharing the list.
However, all the tools mentioned above are kind of basic tools for planning. Sometimes, when you have a larger team and a larger project you must have a tool that allows you to calculate overtime, level resources, track costs and similar features that can be crucial to a successful project.
It is too bad that most of the online tools do not support such “heavy” project management features. However, desktop tools such as Seavus Project Planners let project managers exploit these features to achieve a better project management.
Cheers,
Biljana
February 8th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
I would also recommend AgileZen (http://agilezen.com) if you are looking for a simple project management app. It’s flexible and cost-effective, so it works well for small teams.
March 3rd, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Good reporting and analytics