Ask HN: Is there a need for a bug tracker for freelancers? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Is there a need for a bug tracker for freelancers?

6 pointssdotsen12 comments

There are PLENTY of bug trackers out there, but I haven't come across one that caters to an individual freelancer. Github has a simple issue tracker but it's more for those who want to share their code. I'm thinking of creating something that a one-person (or one w/ a designer+developer) could use to interact with their clients (non software developers).

I understand a project management software might be better suited for those that juggle a handful of clients, but many of these software also contain a bunch of features that just get in your way.

I threw some HTML together just to see what it would look like. It's the only page I've made thus far.

www.echoio.com/issuebox.png

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I love the simple UI.

I don't know where you plan on heading with this, but there are a couple things you could probably do with this, as well. As a part of your standard "adding their project to the tracker" process, you could also register their e-mail address(es).

You could then have your app listen for incoming e-mail messages in order to auto create tickets, etc. I have always had a hard time getting clients (back when I freelanced) to actually visit a bug tracking tool and input information. It usually involved them e-mailing me and me manually adding the bug.

Github integration (at the project level) would allow you to target your bugs with commit messages and then see which code was committed to resolve each bug (much like it works with github issues at the moment, but with your private solution.)

Sorry for rambling. Caffeine.

+1 for the simple design.

I'd say: You know very well what you need, so go ahead and create something that fits your needs. You'll end up with a solution for yourself, and I'm pretty sure there are people out there for whom this solution fits too. (Unless, of course, this is primarily about creating and selling a product.)

By the way, despite there being PLENTY of bug trackers out there, most of the people I talk to are not satisfied with the bug tracker they use.

By the way, despite there being PLENTY of bug trackers out there, most of the people I talk to are not satisfied with the bug tracker they use.

I've noticed this as well. In general, there seem to be some kinds of tools which are very personal. Issue trackers, TODO-lists, notebooks. I'm pretty sure it is impossible to satisfy everyone with a single tool. Everyone wants to optimize it for themselves.

In these cases I think a decent solution would be to make a general backend service and well-defined data format (for interchangeability) but make it easy to add customized (their own or third party) frontends/skins by individual users.

It _is_ impossible to satisfy everyone with a single tool. But still, I'd expect some of them to satisfy some people.

Next time I meet somebody who's unhappy with their bug tracker, I'll ask if customizing it would be an option for them.

Don't know if you have seen this or not: http://bugherd.com -- I've been using them to work with our developers. Really simple, just click anywhere on the page where the bug is and input the problem.

I have, hwo does it work? Do you need to install something on the client's website?

I built http://trackjumper.com with freelancers in mind. The "features" that make it work are unlimited projects for a freelancer-friendly price and a "simple enough for clients" UI.

When I freelance, it's usually at places that already have their own bug tracking, and I use theirs. Would this be for people working for clients who aren't software developers?

EDIT: I like the simple design.

Correct, this wouldnt be for anyone who works in a large team or corporation. I have a couple of friends who work exclusively with ordinary folks and small businesses. Everything is communicated via email when it comes to feature requests and bug tracking.

EDIT: Keeping it simple is the key. A ticket to me is either "urgent" or "normal." Why should there be 4 priority levels, it never made sense to me.

I think it's a good idea.

It seems like you would be competing with things like Google Docs.

Even in my scenario I often have higher-level "stakeholders" reporting bugs to me via email, skipping over their own bug tracking systems.

One challenge would be making it more appealing to those bug reporters than using email. Maybe you can have it receive email and parse it into a bug? For people who won't sign into a separate web app.

Yup! That was the first thing I thought of, how to make the process easy for the clients.

Screenshot: http://www.echoio.com/issuebox.png

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