On my to-do list these past several months: look at bug-tracking systems, pick one that does what I'll be needing for various projects for various clients, learn to use and configure it, and get it set up.
And I looked at various of them, and found them to have all manner of advanced features for which I had no near-term use, and to be an almighty pain to configure the way I wanted for the immediate future.
In the meantime, a client had started passing around an issue list in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. Noooooooo....
So, this past week, I decided to do it the easy way, IMCFT. I structured up a simple little SQL database, and threw together a small collection of PHP scripts, dragging in a little bit of Javascript (mainly to invoke TinyMCE for the "describe the problem in excruciating detail" box) and some CSS adapted from samples I had lying around. Probably put in about 12 hours on it (not that I really bother tracking hours on non-revenue work). 'Tain't all polished, but it covers the immediate needs, and provides the groundwork for a system that'll do exactly what I need for future, more complicated projects (and entwined projects, and compartmentalized projects).
And, what with the web interface and PostgreSQL backend, it doesn't require passing a file around and wondering who's got the master copy at any given moment.
Looking at UI stuff that could use improvement, I start pondering frameworks, like jQuery... and it looks like jQuery doesn't really do the kind of stuff I want, at least no more easily than doing it myself... and I notice that, back in, um, 2005, when I had some time on my hands, I started writing a wildly generalized database webapp thingy... and that includes some Javascript bits that seem to be just what I'll be needing here, or that can be adapted easily.
Anyway, it's currently in the "plan to throw one away" phase; I figure I can get good use out of it in the current form, adding features as needed, and then rewrite the web interface properly without messing up the database in the process. Being far more specific than the '05 effort (and there being an immediate use for it), it should even be finishable.
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