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I am looking for a really basic developer task/todo app or system. Are there any good ones out there? What are you using? All I need is a good overview and being able to add time and priority to my tasks.

JeffH
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Mattias
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10 Answers10

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I've found that a pen and dedicated project notebook works best for me. I maintain a priority by putting keeping a page for each priority level. If something changes priority I cross it off and move it to the new priority.

Time could be tracked with a written time estimate.

I've done the same thing using Emacs ORG mode, or a folder of .txt files, depending on how complex my project gets.

TicViking
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I just found what I was looking for. A really nice and simple todo app called Wunderlist. Thanks for all the answers though.

Mattias
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I was just checking for one last week. Didn't want to go for a commercial app also hosted web apps like FogBugz had a limit on the free option of 2 users (3 would be smarter).

Most of the open source projects are bloated or in bad shape.

Finally settled on Project Pier and for a week it's been working out really well. The project is active but more importantly it does a fine job of what its main goals are.

EDIT for tasks/todos I highly recommend tasks jr

zaf
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  • tasks jr download page is not working... 404 error – Dr. Rajesh Rolen Feb 08 '14 at 11:54
  • im not sure this is the best answer, because this is more like a ticket system, it is very complicated. i came to this thread looking for something very simple, is it zillow that im thinking of that is similar? wunderlist was a good suggestion i think. – blamb Apr 28 '15 at 20:21
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I write tasks on an index card. When I'm done with the story, I tear it up. Very satisfying. Of course, this means only working towards one thing at a time, which is a great discipline anyway.

Lunivore
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Pivotal Tracker

sjt
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  • Pivotal Tracker looks nice, but the task implementation was well hidden and you can´t assign tasks to a team member. – Mattias Dec 02 '10 at 20:57
  • Agreed. Pivotal Tracker is not the best tool for tracking task hours and self assigning tasks for Team Members. I personally use ScrumWorks which is great for what you are looking for but it is a java app (free) which needs to be hosted on a server. I used it for over 4.5 years and still love it! If you don't mind the hosting part, then it is great. It does not take more than a few minutes to set up, and is compatible with a variety of OS's. The company's name is Danube just in case you are interested. – sjt Dec 03 '10 at 06:48
  • Tasks will soon become enabled by default (according to http://bit.ly/m0EEWG). Whilst you can't assign individual tasks to people, you can assign stories using the 'owns this story' feature. It's then a question of breaking down your stories and tasks appropriately. – Squig May 05 '11 at 09:52
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KISS: Emacs org mode if you are already an Emacs user, perhaps even if you are not; ff that doesn't suit you, Excel or another spreadsheet.

High Performance Mark
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I use toodledo. It contains almost all imaginable functionality for a to-do list, while being simple:

  1. Priorities
  2. Contexts
  3. Tags
  4. Folders
  5. Reminders
  6. Ability to add new tasks by email
  7. Ability to share tasks if necessary
  8. Open API, which allows multiple third-party apps integration (a number of iPhone/Android applications, Outlook integration, browser plug-ins etc.)
lkurts
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Really basic system what I've used besides paper is to

% grep TODO *
Data.py:  # TODO!
Data.py:  # TODO normalize tag priorities so that Up/Down would work the best

If you like to TODO multilinely, give grep some context:

% grep -C 2 TODO *
Data.py-    self.con.commit()
Data.py-  
Data.py:  # TODO!
Data.py-  # Make the given tag go up or down in the list: find the next priority
Data.py-  # in the sorted list of tags and set new priority

If you git,

% git grep TODO

works well and searches from the project files only.

In an IDE, I'd use its TODO features.

mike3996
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I know this has been answered already but Asana is an amazing, flexible to-do list with time tracking via integration with Harvest. Combined with Trello as needs arise, this is a 1-2 punch to the face of inefficiency. Hopefully this helps someone else.

Michael Paul
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If your company provides you with Outlook, it's more than capable of managing a TODO list, along with alerts.

Failing that, a powerful text editor like VIM or EMACS will get the job done; they both have good plugins.

Mike Clark
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