PHPPM - Project Management Made Easy
by Jules · 03/28/2011 (6:30 am) · 18 comments
Now that I'm now half way into my next project, it was about time I blogged a little about it.
Things are starting to get busy around here and I really need to make sure that I can keep track of everything that is going on, so it made perfect sense to create a project management tool that can be used by anyone remotely and while doing so I'll be making this available to the public in the next few weeks.
PHPPM is an easy to use web based project management software, without too many bells and whistles to frustrate and confuse you or the teams that you manage. Having managed teams for other companies in the past I've had my fair share of project management tools and finding the right one for the job has always been key to making sure that everyone involved in the project can use it.
"Keeping it simple but effective"
With access control you can switch off areas that are not meant to be accessed by certain users and with the ability to assign user priviledge levels for Project Manager, Administrator, Read Only, Read/Add, Read/Edit, Read/Add/Edit giving you greater control over what people in your teams can do.
PHPPM is not just for game or web development, it has been created for any project in mind. Whether this be a House move or Building work - it will help you to manage and keep track of your project with ease.
BUG Tracking for game, software & web development projects is an optional feature that can be switched on for each project that needs it and will help you assign bugs to teams or specific users in a team to fix.
That's it for now...
I'll blog on this a bit more once I have finished it, as it will be good to get your feedback.
Things are starting to get busy around here and I really need to make sure that I can keep track of everything that is going on, so it made perfect sense to create a project management tool that can be used by anyone remotely and while doing so I'll be making this available to the public in the next few weeks.
PHPPM is an easy to use web based project management software, without too many bells and whistles to frustrate and confuse you or the teams that you manage. Having managed teams for other companies in the past I've had my fair share of project management tools and finding the right one for the job has always been key to making sure that everyone involved in the project can use it.
"Keeping it simple but effective"
With access control you can switch off areas that are not meant to be accessed by certain users and with the ability to assign user priviledge levels for Project Manager, Administrator, Read Only, Read/Add, Read/Edit, Read/Add/Edit giving you greater control over what people in your teams can do.
PHPPM is not just for game or web development, it has been created for any project in mind. Whether this be a House move or Building work - it will help you to manage and keep track of your project with ease.
BUG Tracking for game, software & web development projects is an optional feature that can be switched on for each project that needs it and will help you assign bugs to teams or specific users in a team to fix.
That's it for now...
I'll blog on this a bit more once I have finished it, as it will be good to get your feedback.
#2
Then have a second solution that is also hosted on our servers with your own domain/sub-domain and database that is backed up hourly. Unlimited project managers, projects, teams, users and a set amount of file space for uploading associated documents.
a third solution to host it on your own server.
Undecided on all options at the moment. Although I wouldn't mind putting this in the GG store, so once it's ready I'll contact GG.
03/28/2011 (11:26 am)
Hi Chris. Not sure on pricing as yet, but I may go down the route of providing a 1 user (Project Manager) account with 1 Project, no teams and Unlimited tasks for free, which is hosted by us. Daily backups included. Ideal for the developer who is short on cash.Then have a second solution that is also hosted on our servers with your own domain/sub-domain and database that is backed up hourly. Unlimited project managers, projects, teams, users and a set amount of file space for uploading associated documents.
a third solution to host it on your own server.
Undecided on all options at the moment. Although I wouldn't mind putting this in the GG store, so once it's ready I'll contact GG.
#3
From what I can see they are more established probably offering better support, with more integrated features.
Are you going to beat them on price? I don't mean to offend you. I really don't. I just don't see the market share you are trying to acquire.
03/28/2011 (12:22 pm)
So.... what is the benefit to this over any of the countless other project management websites? For example., Assembla, iTeamwork, etc.From what I can see they are more established probably offering better support, with more integrated features.
Are you going to beat them on price? I don't mean to offend you. I really don't. I just don't see the market share you are trying to acquire.
#4
edit:
Forgot to add - USP will be price and ease of use.
03/28/2011 (12:41 pm)
That's ok, not offended at all. Firstly, this software is developed for internal use, and being adapted for public use. I wanted a solution that was easy to use without having to go through too many options to use it by switching off what you don't need. I also wanted it to be generic for any type of project so I could use it for a few other projects like property development with the option to switch on Bug Tracking for technical projects. Some of my other products I've developed for game development I wanted others to benefit from this, so it'll not be expensive at all. I was looking at a ballpark figure of between $30-40 for it to be hosted on your own server. I'm not out to make lots of money from this, and I will spend a bit of time marketing it but if it is a huge success and covers the costs/time to develop it and maybe some business overheads then great I'll expand on it further and hire someone to support it full time. Support will be there for as long as I'm in business (since 2005). Those that do use the product will also be my testers and bug finders, which will then help me to fix and improve the product further. However, I will not release it for money until I know that it's working 100% and is feature complete for a 1.0 version release.edit:
Forgot to add - USP will be price and ease of use.
#5
If that were the case I would purchase it to run on my web server as I've kinda been looking for a simple solution (the others are too complicated) to do project management but I want to run it myself and I don't want to pay a lot of money.
This could fit the bill nicely.
Keep me updated and I will likely purchase it on release. You can email me with any updates if you'd like (email in profile).
Good work man!
03/28/2011 (12:58 pm)
Would the $30 - $40 be a lifetime license to run it on my own server? If that were the case I would purchase it to run on my web server as I've kinda been looking for a simple solution (the others are too complicated) to do project management but I want to run it myself and I don't want to pay a lot of money.
This could fit the bill nicely.
Keep me updated and I will likely purchase it on release. You can email me with any updates if you'd like (email in profile).
Good work man!
#7
Even though I'm running this on my own server I would expect the software to be impervious to attacks and not make any of my info public.
Any plans in that regards?
03/28/2011 (1:04 pm)
What are your plans for security?Even though I'm running this on my own server I would expect the software to be impervious to attacks and not make any of my info public.
Any plans in that regards?
#8
md5 hashing on password, or sha1 encryption.
IP locking (single or multiple IP addresses) for remote access (providing everyone that uses it has static IP addresses).
Specify your own database port number.
SSL support (as an option).
and encryption of all data within the database (as an option).
I have a whole list of things to implement, but I'll blog about it a bit more once it's done, including the recently added collaboration tools that also include (Public discussion and Private Messaging).
It will have a nice set of security features but for the price I wouldn't expect the world. Larger companies would probably spend a nice tidy sum on the top of the range project management software and have it accessable via a DMZ or VPN / SSL solution with token keys.
I may add token key support as a future update if there is demand for it as a hardware bolt-on solution (cost involved) but I very much doubt there will be. At most my target market will more than likely be single developers/project managers/small business owners. I'll be happy if some medium sized businesses use it, but they may require custom changes.
03/28/2011 (1:23 pm)
yes. security is important.md5 hashing on password, or sha1 encryption.
IP locking (single or multiple IP addresses) for remote access (providing everyone that uses it has static IP addresses).
Specify your own database port number.
SSL support (as an option).
and encryption of all data within the database (as an option).
I have a whole list of things to implement, but I'll blog about it a bit more once it's done, including the recently added collaboration tools that also include (Public discussion and Private Messaging).
It will have a nice set of security features but for the price I wouldn't expect the world. Larger companies would probably spend a nice tidy sum on the top of the range project management software and have it accessable via a DMZ or VPN / SSL solution with token keys.
I may add token key support as a future update if there is demand for it as a hardware bolt-on solution (cost involved) but I very much doubt there will be. At most my target market will more than likely be single developers/project managers/small business owners. I'll be happy if some medium sized businesses use it, but they may require custom changes.
#9
03/29/2011 (2:59 pm)
Julian, will you setup a demo site for this ? I am ready to fiddle! ;)
#10
03/29/2011 (3:33 pm)
yes eb. I'm in the process of designing the website for it. It'll be on I'll post a follow up blog when it's ready to go. 
#11
I've been using Assembla myself to manage about 10 different projects, but my overall storage requirements are getting beyond the point where the Professional package at Assembla will handle it. I'm looking at self-hosted solutions that I could keep on a co-located server with a terabyte or so of storage space. But I'd need at least git support. I'll keep an eye on this.
03/30/2011 (12:39 pm)
Do you have any plans to include support for creating/managing svn/git repositories and granting access to project members?I've been using Assembla myself to manage about 10 different projects, but my overall storage requirements are getting beyond the point where the Professional package at Assembla will handle it. I'm looking at self-hosted solutions that I could keep on a co-located server with a terabyte or so of storage space. But I'd need at least git support. I'll keep an eye on this.
#12
I know that was a bit off topic.
03/30/2011 (12:41 pm)
Assembla makes your SVN commits public. I've found clients diff for svn commits when googling my name (don't ask why I did this)I know that was a bit off topic.
#13
edit: Do you use this sort of thing to keep track of your project timelines or do you use a schedule based system?
03/30/2011 (1:06 pm)
@Gerald - I'll be looking into svn/git once I've finished the first version as it will be useful for my own projects. Currently tackling basic Gantt charts at the moment, without making them too complicated to read for project task lists. edit: Do you use this sort of thing to keep track of your project timelines or do you use a schedule based system?
#15
I've used project management tools (not by choice) that have so many bells and whistles, you need to go on a course to use them, and half the time you may not use all of the features anyway.
04/02/2011 (3:40 am)
PHPPM has similarities, especially with additional products that will interface with this, such as a Helpdesk system where 1st line support can increase the priority level to 2nd line which is then taken over by the project manager to assign tasks/bugs to be fixed by the development teams. Never seen DotProject so I don't know what the interface is like, but keeping PHPPM and any add-on product simple but effective is key.I've used project management tools (not by choice) that have so many bells and whistles, you need to go on a course to use them, and half the time you may not use all of the features anyway.
#16
Not sure if this is what you mean, but I use the Milestones system on Assembla. We set milestones with certain feature sets, due dates, and relevant members, and then create "tickets" in the ticket system, assigning the tickets to the relevant milestone and track each piece of the milestone that way. Then we can sort the tickets by different criteria and determine if we need to step things up in certain areas, or if we just need to adjust the milestones... or in the rare case where it appears we will finish a major milestone on time or early, we can schedule a party ;)
04/05/2011 (9:34 pm)
Quote:edit: Do you use this sort of thing to keep track of your project timelines or do you use a schedule based system?
Not sure if this is what you mean, but I use the Milestones system on Assembla. We set milestones with certain feature sets, due dates, and relevant members, and then create "tickets" in the ticket system, assigning the tickets to the relevant milestone and track each piece of the milestone that way. Then we can sort the tickets by different criteria and determine if we need to step things up in certain areas, or if we just need to adjust the milestones... or in the rare case where it appears we will finish a major milestone on time or early, we can schedule a party ;)
#17
That's another part of the reason why I want to go with a self-hosted system behind much stricter security, though I've done some extensive Google searches and never found any of my stuff public. I think Git is a bit more secure on there than SVN. 99.9% of what I have on there isn't too sensitive, but the other 0.1% includes some fairly sensitive stuff... first commercial NDA I've signed where they actually called my lawyer to find out how to sue me first.
04/05/2011 (9:41 pm)
Quote:Assembla makes your SVN commits public. I've found clients diff for svn commits when googling my name (don't ask why I did this)
That's another part of the reason why I want to go with a self-hosted system behind much stricter security, though I've done some extensive Google searches and never found any of my stuff public. I think Git is a bit more secure on there than SVN. 99.9% of what I have on there isn't too sensitive, but the other 0.1% includes some fairly sensitive stuff... first commercial NDA I've signed where they actually called my lawyer to find out how to sue me first.
#18
09/27/2012 (3:54 pm)
Hi, all anyone who has been following this will be pleased to know that this will be launched sometime in 2013, but will be free under a new brand name. 
Torque Owner Chris Labombard
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