Hey,

Has there been any talk of developing a Project Management Module? I have been looking at a few of the other open source project management applications. 1) There are lots of stuff that overlaps with other content management issues, so it would be better if I didn't have to use a seperate system for project management 2) These systems also seem to be very modular, and I have noticed that a few components that would be required for this type of site somewhat exist for Drupal already, but nothing to tie a bunch of it together.

Below are some ideas of what I think would need to be there for a project management type interface to work

1) Contacts Directory - Clients/Vendors/Sub Contractors - linked to projects and tasks
2) Define/Manage Projects which is mainly a list of tasks & phases/stages, but those tasks can have sub-tasks (tasks might also need to have categories)
3) Ghant Charts as a very basic or some sort of time-line display
4) Assigning Tasks to people
5) Simple reporting on status of tasks by various criteria
6) Publicly Viewable Page(s) - A place for posting publicly viewable description/status of project
7) Issue/Ticket Tracking system for problems
8) Shared Files Management
9) Calendar
10) Discussion Forum for each Project - might need categories within each project if big enough (this should also be tied to a mailing list)
11) Basic Budgeting/Accounting?

Optional Basics
1) Project Gallery for pictures
2) Notes
3) wiki

Advanced Abilities
1) integration with CRM functionality (probably civiCRM) which should also add lots of advanced communication and tracking abilities
2) Extending Tasks to have dependecies and priorities - allowing for Critical Path planning
3) Resource Allocation / Management including advanced task delegation
4) Advanced Reporting - hopefully exporting to pdf would be nice
5) Advanced Shared Files Management with "checkout" and/or simple versioning
6) Time Tracking (Punch Card Type system for keepign track of hours worked on different projects)
7) Project Log of Activities
8) A wizard for helping to jump start the setup of a project and its various aspects - maybe a few project templates
9) Advanced budget/cost management - maybe include export/import/synch with outside data like Quickbooks

One of the things that really is needed to make this system work is some good ways of organizing/managing the priviledges for the various things. You obviously need a project leader/manager for each project. But there may be some other issues like having clients only access high-level outlines of the schedule or having people able to update tasks delegated to them but not others. I'm not sure if there has been any talk of integrating the various ad-hoc tweaks to the access control system into the core for the new version. Anyways, this is turning into a long post. What are everyone else's ideas and thoughts?

Comments

rcross’s picture

I should've added that if someone is interested, they can look at opensourcecms.com for some examples such as PHProjekt, eGroupware, and dotProject. Also you can look at Microsoft Project for some good information.

intel352’s picture

another good project management application might be SugarCRM http://www.sugarcrm.org

More of Sales + project management

rcross’s picture

Yep, definitely more focused on the CRM aspect of things. There is a lot of stuff there though, which might not be neccesary for some people. I notice there is a project that is porting/integrating it with Mambo. Maybe we can get a project started to port some or all of this into Drupal. Anyone interested? I wonder how this sugarCRM compares to what the people at CiviCRM are working on.

intel352’s picture

you can add/remove all the unneeded fluff from the administration. :-)

the project to integrate with mambo isn't that great, btw

rcross’s picture

Have you checked out basecamphq.com ?

likoma’s picture

rcross,

Thank you for posting what I was just about to post! I've been looking at PM software (open source, preferably PHP and SQL) for months now. I used dotProject for several months, but I spent more time working on it than have it work for me, so I went back to a combination of (1) pen and paper, (2) Outlook, (3) QuickBooks, and (4) my memory. The combination of the four is basically worse than nothing ... ;-)

I've been trying to get Drupal's Project Module (together with Issues) to be my PM tool, but I think I'm trying to squeeze a circle out of a square. It might also have something to do with the fact that I'm relatively new to Drupal. I'd much prefer a Drupal module as then I could just keep my project info in one place: forums (help topics for clients), clients could just be members/users of my main Drupal install, etc. Currently, I have some clients using Drupal for the help forum, I use QuickBooks to keep track of billing, Outlook for contact management, and there's that pen and paper ... if I have to use another piece of software to manage projects, it's just one more place I have to repeat similar information.

Anyway, I did see the last comment about Basecamp and it's the best one I've seen yet and I'm about ready to plop down cash for it, but I have a ton of projects and that would get expensive quickly.

I just came across WebCollab and it looks promising at first glance.

I'm not a programmer, but I'm more than willing and happy to help in this project in any way I can.

For those of you looking for non-Drupal options, here are some lists I've found:

-- OpenSourceCMS Short list, but has reviews and demos.

-- DMOZ's list

-- cHBs list of open source and free

-- Hotscripts

rcross’s picture

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that would like to see some stuff like this. I am also relatively new to Drupal and I haven't done any module development, but some of these things seem like they would be really helpful. I am really hoping we can get some of the other module developers to look at this and see how difficult something like this would be. I have also noticed there does seem to be a VERY VERY basic "project" module for Drupal - but it seems more to be aimed to be a ticket tracking type thing. Maybe we can start by looking at the various things that are already available and start pulling together features/ideas that would be the most important to a module like this. For example, work-flow and interfaces that would make this work. One of the things that I noticed about basecamphq.com is that the interface is pretty simple and in that regard is really good. But for any type of larger (ie. more than 2-3 people/project) it doesn't offer the basic ability to delegate tasks, or have multiple stages in a large project. Plus, having only the one permission set clients/project-personel seems a bit limiting. Any other ideas? comments?

rbrooks00’s picture

I've been using a hosted software package called Ace Project for quite a while and it is adequately suited for large projects. It costs money to use but there is a live demo you can check out to get an idea of how things work.

finch’s picture

I have also been looking for a good Project Management module that is/can be integrated with Drupal. Actually we started out with basecamp before using Drupal. Indeed, basecamp has a very nice UI and it is easy to work with. However it does become a bit pricy when you have multiple projects and its limited roles and content management functions just does not scale well.

My idea Project Management module would be a combination of Drupal architecture + Basecamp UI + PHPProjkt features.

You asked about ideas/comments on how to move forward, I’m thinking if each interested party can come up with top 10-15 features that they are looking for, as some of us are willing to chip in for development cost, perhaps with a combined list we can have developers to comment on what is doable and how long it will take etc. etc. This will help us to narrow down the discussion scope, also someone may willing to pay extra for a feature that is #20 on the combined list but extremely important to them.

Rcross – I assume the top 11 items on your initial post are listed somewhat in priority orders and must have items? I will try to come up with my list in the next couple of days, but just want to get some reactions on whether this is a viable suggestion or not?

rcross’s picture

Actually the items that I listed in my intial post were the very basics of what I think is necessary to make a PM module useful/work. I also added a few "advanced" features that would be great but would obviously be expansions on the basic features. But I like the idea of putting together a feature list.

rcross’s picture

I will check Ace as well, but I'm still trying to get some comments from any of the module developers to see about getting this type of functionality from a Drupal powered site. Part of the idea behind CMS is being integrated. If I wanted to use a site to publish my news, and a site to do project management, and a site to do my blog, and a site to do... blah. (and I currently can/am) then I wouldn't be looking for an integrated solution. Anyone else agree?

rbrooks00’s picture

My point wasn't to say "use Ace Project." My point was that I don't use Drupal for this because the project module is inadequate (and doesn't even work in 4.7 anyway). I cited Ace Project as a good example of what we should be shooting for, although many of the things should probably be considered advanced functionality like gantt charts.

In my opinion Ace Project does everything that a web-based project management tool should do and it is worlds better than using Microsoft Project or any other solution I've seen to date. The downside is that it costs money to use.

likoma’s picture

I'm not sure how these things work at Drupal, but how does a module get started? When demand becomes great enough? When a programmer has the time, need, cash or all three?

I need a PM module to help me save time and stay organized (... get organized!). If it takes time (and/or cash) to build the module to save time, I'm happy to contribute.

Do we put in a request (feature request)? Are there votes or something? Rcross, you have put together a fine list of features at the top of this post, would it help developers if you/we prioritized them and maybe a developer could pick which was best to start with (as a module core, e.g. "project") and it could be added to later with more features (e.g. "trouble ticket")?

Just wondering aloud.

Best regards,

- Bradley

P.S. Rcross, Which PM are you using now? I just stared WebCollab and it's doing the basic job I need right now, which is basically a To Do List.

silurius’s picture

Dunno about the process to get this going, but please count my vote! I'll even tip the developers if something good gets rolled out in the near term!

robertDouglass’s picture

I've worked 1 day on a project management system that will support my needs (which are basic and simple). Here is what it will do (and what it won't do):

1) Create issues
2) State changes on issues (open->closed etc.)
3) Time tracking. Developer logs in and says "start work". Later they say "end work". Thus you can generate an itemized list of how much time was spent on that issue.
4) Can add log messages to any issue (like follow ups on Drupal's issue tracker), but since these log messages are nodes, you can do things like use taxonomy or upload files.

That's what it can do (will be able to do, rather).

What it can't do is run on 4.6.*. This will be completely non-backward compatible and designed for 4.7. Sorry. Oh, and it can't do anything I didn't mention above.

ETA.... hopefully next week. We'll see.

- Robert Douglass

-----
My sites: HornRoller.com, RobsHouse.net

merlinofchaos’s picture

I might be willing to backport it if it's not a major undertaking.

-- Merlin

[Point the finger: Assign Blame!]
[Read my writing: ehalseymiles.com]

-- Merlin

[Read my writing: ehalseymiles.com]
[Read my Coding blog: Angry Donuts]

robertDouglass’s picture

since I've already begun using some of the finer points of the Forms API. But I need to get finished first, and given my schedule, that's far from a certainty :-(

- Robert Douglass

-----
My sites: HornRoller.com, RobsHouse.net

ica’s picture

I can see a project management compilation- distro which Drupal already has with the modules like;

events.module
attachment.module
bookmarks.module
chatbox.module
evaluation.module
forms.module
filestore2.module
ldap_integration.module
profile.module
og.module
project.module
simplenews.module

---------------------
missing modules to make a Project Management distro

mailbox.module
gannt.module
timetract.module
and you an add up to list more ...

finch’s picture

... and very helpful, thanks!

This will be similar concept as what has been discussed here: http://drupal.org/node/31896, we can add a chapter for: Site Configuration Challenge: Project Management :-)

ica’s picture

workspace.module (exist)
e-commerce.module (exist)
forum.module (exist)

overview.module
notes.module
reports.module
invoice.module
tasks.module
(trouble)tickets.module

challenge is to integrate those modules to work with eachother - i am not a coder to elaborate on coding issues

existing groupware projects can be model to see through Drupal can rollout as a project management distro

http://demo.opensourcecms.com/dotproject/
Username- admin
Password- passwd

of course civicrm is also good starting point
http://sandbox.openngo.org/civicrm/

rcross’s picture

I am aware of several of these modules, and I agree that I don't want to re-invent the wheel. But In addition to needing the "additonal" modules for things like gantt and such, to be really useful it needs to have a unified interface - which I THINK could/should be done via a module with these various other modules as prerequisites. I also think this it is very important to clarify something. Somepeople think confuse and blur line between Project Management and Issue Tracking/Management. From what I can see the current "project" module is much more oriented towards Issue Tracking, and thus doesn't really seem to fit the bill for pm at all. However, in almost any type of project there is a need to have issue tracking integrated with the project's development. Also, a little plug - while I know many of us are software developers, which has a certain specialized set of needs, a project management module should really look outside of that and be robust to many different kinds of projects. One example of this is simply calling a ticket tracker "Issue tracking" instead of "Computer Helpdesk".

Also, as a side note - i haven't really used the actions.module before, but it sounds like it takes alot of work/configuration to get a site to operate the way you want. Is there any way to develop some default workflows - or integrate some workflows into a module - so that someone could very simply install a "publishing workflow" or "publishing module" that would setup all the necessary actions that are necessary? We could then apply this to a pm workflow or pm module. Thoughts?

venkat-rk’s picture

Merlinofchaos proposed a workflow module, but it seems some work is already going on in drupal.org on such a module. You can read the details in this thread, including the link to the drupal.org workflow effort:
http://drupal.org/node/35156

rbrooks00’s picture

The thing I've learned about the actions module is that it doesn't really do a whole lot out of the box. What it is really great for is giving you enough to show the potential - it is essentially a framework.

With the combinations of the actions module and the workflow module the framework is there for you to march something through a workflow and have whatever you want happen along the way whether that is something as simple as sending an email or as complex as inserting/updating rows in the database.

So what it does is completely up to you and if you want to do something advanced you'd have to be code savvy and create your own functions to be invoked.

rcross’s picture

Yes, i understand that its a frame work and I could probably even take the time to figure it out and set it up. I even have some basic coding skills that I could attempt to fuck it up with. BUT, the point is to not rebuild the wheel everytime. What we need is to have something can can automatically setup/configure a default workflow for a particular purpose. For example, a publishing workflow is somewhat standard that lots of people would want to use. My suggestion would be that in a PM module, there should be some unification of these various dependent modules including installing a default workflow. Default workflows could be customized - but it takes the guess work out of getting started. Plus, for something as complicated as PM can potentially be, it not only saves alot of work for setup but also can potentially take advantage of the experience of others' setups.

dekkeh’s picture

In response to RobertDouglass' post:

I tried to pitch this system to a client once, I think it pretty much does everything you described and in a very professional way. I did an interview with the author - I'm afraid it's in Dutch though - because I was so impressed with the software. I've done a few such interviews - it's my little PR-contribution to the open source movement because I don't code (well enough). In real life I'm a journalist.

The software is multilingual, don't worry. Only thing is, of course, integration with Drupal.

Problem is, going back to the topic of the thread, this is more issue-management than it is project management. Phases, milestones, planning, budgeting, et cetera are not there.

It's still a very professional package that I would highly recommend to anyone with helpdesk- of softwarebuilding activities.

Hans
http://www.hansdekker.com

venkat-rk’s picture

Looks good. Not sure how this would measure up against CiviCRM.

ShaiHulud’s picture

This CRM-CTT looks very promising..

I was wondering whether it would be able to integrate this with Drupal as a module. I'm not sure whether it would require a lot of coding to do this. I'm currently working on a project from which we could have some resources available for somebody being able to do this job. Or it could just be used as a blueprint for designing a new drupal module..

rcross’s picture

Hey,

I just happened to see this thread - no body has answered him yet, but it looks like a several of his needs would be filled by a PM module. Comments?

http://drupal.org/node/36077

ShaiHulud’s picture

You guys already looked at GANNT (http://ganttproject.sourceforge.net/)??

It is the first project app that provides a clear structured timeline to show the various projects and issues. Could it be considered to add this functionality to the module as well..?

rcross’s picture

In my original post i mentioned that ganntt would be an important part of this "module"

cboshuizen’s picture

Hi guys, this is an interesting thread. There have been various suggestions on how to get started, so has anyone made a start? i would be interested in supporting development of this module.

Chris

rcross’s picture

Hey Chris,

we're still going i think, but we aren't very organized. You mention being able to help supprt this, do you mean financial incentive or contributing code?

I think something we should do is post a "design challenge" as was suggested earlier to see what else we get.

On another note, I came across this today - its not web based, but it sounds like it is a popular which usually means at least moderate functionality with good interface for low learning curve and could serve as a start for us. http://www.openworkbench.org

cboshuizen’s picture

I meant with coding and cracking the whip when it is needed (my main speciality ;-) I am a bad coder but I can certainly make something workable.

I need this for a project, and I know we all need it, so lets just start!

I'm new here so I'm not sure how it all works, so please forgive the stupid questions. Apart from just writing code, what else should we do to get started? Can we set up a new project here?

As for development, should we start from scratch or look at porting another open source product?

What about the project module used for software development here? Can that be modified for this?

rcross’s picture

Ok, great! a coder! i am also new (to drupal development), and am not sure the best place to start. I was hoping to get a few of the more experienced module developers to comment in this thread and give us their insight. We should try to consolidate who all is actively interested and contributing and then I think there are a few things we need to do

1) First, put together a "proposal" or such that outlines what we want from the module, which will probably include alot of the material in this thread. I think it would make sense to decide what our initial attempt aims to do, and then how we want it to be extended in later. This will help us determine how code the first part.

2) We should contact the developers of the "project module" and some of the other related modules and see what their input on the proposal is. I think it might also be useful to contact the Ecommerce module developers, for 2 reasons. First, some of the billing might be somethign we want to integrate with and Secondly, they seem to have a good module with sub-modules as I expect this idea would too, so getting their advice would be helpful.

3) From there we probably need to start coding and open a "project" on drupal.org for maintaining it. Hopefully we will be able to get the 4.7 api established before we start coding, so that we won't have to develop something and then upgrade it.

4) Once we have our objectives, and advice on how to start, i think from there we will make a crucial decision to go down one of two paths. The first path would be to create a module and sub-modules that will do what we want them to do within the framework of drupal (potentially porting some parts of existing projects). The Second path would be to find an opensource project management package that we all find promising such, and create a module to integrate the two. Similiar to the gallery2 integration module.

5) Get a prototype up and running and figure out what the drupal world has to say.

Anyone else have some comments? Who's in?

dekkeh’s picture

I can't code php - I'm script kiddie level - but I can do PR, can contribute somewhat financially (I'm a Very Small Business Owner) and would be willing to do menial tasks.

In daily life I'm a project manager and business consultant...will that help?

does anyone know how the people of the Project Module are faring? They seem to be pretty active, and it may just be better to join forces with them. I'll try to get one of them to read this thread. I'm going to install their module now to see what it's like.

If task-management is where they are at, we'll need to think of another strategy. I'd start here:

1. Make a short list of available PHP-packages

2. Evaluate ons the basis of ease of integration, quality of coding, functionality, long run possibilities

3. Fork and integrate into drupal -> you've got v1.0

4. Do functional analysis and create a road map for v2.0 etc based on number of developers.

Also consider a long run partnership with the people who make the original PHP-package.

grtz

Hans
http://www.hansdekker.com

cboshuizen’s picture

I had a look at open source project management about this time last year and was rather disappointed with the offerings.
I could find three kinds of things:
- Software dev/bug tracking tools a bit like sourceforge
- expensive fee based project management from some companies
- open source, partial implementations of MS Project-styled tools.

None of these seemed particularly suited to what I need, which you could say is "free, generic project management". Has anyone had any better luck?

If there are, then attempting to port one as Hans has suggested is a good idea.

Chris

cpotter’s picture

I am looking since a long time for a good PM software, and a good Groupware software, and at last a good CMS software.

After a lot of tests, I have the strange feeling that one of the best combination could be Dotproject integrated into eGroupware itself integrated in Drupal

What do you think ? Is it impossible to achieve ? All these products use at least to same core technology (php, mysl,...)

Regards

bilgehan’s picture

It seems like this thread and hopes for a good project module is abandoned.

I wish in 2006 we can carry on talking and start implementing the module.

rcross’s picture

Hey,

I'm still around and interested in this module, but unfortunately I'm also trying to finish my phd so most of my contribution is in the setup and brainstorming. I don't have alot of time to contribute code. We did have some interested coders I believe. We just need someone to get the ball rolling and take a bit of control. Interested?

-Ryan

judah_fc’s picture

We started a project like this at drupal-support.com. We we're both interupted and have not been able to work on it since then. But most of the code works.

I need this system going again for my current job so I'd be willing to support this.

http://drupal-support.com/

It has a ticket system, email support, based off of project module and tickets are hidden by user.

jiangxijay’s picture

I manage groups of people on a large number of interrelated tasks, rather than discrete, complex projects, so I am *very* interested in using Drupal to manage, assign, and track a hierarchical set of tasks.

For that, I have been using TasksPro (http://www.taskspro.com/) for over a year, and it has been a good match for my needs. The interface and workflow are easy to use. The thing I'd love is an integration with Drupal content and profiles.

So, is this thread active? Is anyone else interested in this?

rcross’s picture

Hi,

I'm still lurking around a bit and watching any developments on this topic but unfortunately I don't have time to actively develope any code for this. As for your question about taskspro, I looked at the website and it looks like a nice piece of software. However, since its proprietary code its probably unlikely to get any opensource developement on that mainly for two reasons. 1) proprietary systems like that don't want people to look at their code, which makes it very difficult to get inside the system to actually do the integration and 2) its proprietary so it doesn't really contribute to the community at large, its more likely to get module developed in-house for something like that.

It does look like it could be a good system to model a project management module on though and maybe replicate features/etc

-Ryan

mwu’s picture

I tried basecamp. it doesn't seem good for tracking issue. I didn't see a place for lengthy threads for discussing bugs. one review said it's mostly a to do list.

I tried Drupal's project module. It's good for lengthy discussions of issues, but I don't see a place where one can see at a glance all outstanding issues for all modules. (If each module is a project, I have to look at issues for each module.)

Is there a place in the project module to see all open issues for all projects on one page?

thinkcast’s picture

Why not give Activecollab a try, its basically base camp without the pricetag, locally hostable and written in php/mysql, plus an api is in development. http://www.activecollab.com . Been using it for a while internally and has the makings of a great PM tool.

venkat-rk’s picture

Thanks for the tip:-)

Firewolf’s picture

Hello,

I am quite new to Drupal and up till now it filled my needs for settings up an information sharing and content managment system. Except for a project management module. As a project leader I need this, and as already mentioned by others, I do not want to use several systems next to each other.

I have read this thread completely and found some very interesting information. But it seems no implementation or coding action has been done. I think this needs to change. A real project management module would enhance Drupal a lot.

... and I am not talking about the issue tracking modules project and project_issue_tracking.
I propose to change this modules names to software_project_*.module so every misunderstanding is gone.

Anybody still interested in a project_management.module?
Coding is not my core business, but I can find my way around in PHP and MySQL and I can definitely help to start with specifications and stuff.

Firewolf’s picture

I have been looking through the modules to see which one can be a good basis voor a project management module. I believe the tasklist module is a good start.

The only disadvantage I see, is that only 1 "main" task can be created. All other tasks (type: project or action) are subtasks of this master task. Probably there is a reason for this, but I do not know yet.

I have installed the 2 tasklist modules on my test system to find out the details about them.

In general I am missing some specification documentation on the various parts of Drupal. Specification which tell the purpose, the functions, ... In such a specification, it would be possible to describe the direction in which a module has to evolve.
Perhaps I can start with a first proposal for such a specification. I will tackle this issue in general for Drupal too.

rcross’s picture

I'm still interested in this idea/functionality, but i feel that a "solution" is much more than a generic task management module (issue tracker etc). I also feel that we might need to clarify the various purposes/needs of this module, since people tend to have different ideas of what exactly project management is. I see the potential for a suite of modules similar to the e-commerce module(s). I also see a lot of existing functionality in drupal the could be used, and it might just be a matter of working through some work-flow & user interface issues. Do you have any ideas about these issues? or are you just interested in building up a generic task management module?

--Ryan

vjordan’s picture

I'm interested in this area. I'm currently on the hunt for software tools with the following capability:

  • dashboard-style summary information from a set of projects ('programmes')
  • a variety of perspectives into the portfolio of programmes
    • segmented by organisation (e.g. business unit 1, business unit 2)
    • segmented by high-level business objective (e.g. "cost reduction", "customer satisfaction")
    • segmented by scale (e.g. very expensive, expensive, less expensive)
  • status (green, amber, red) at project, programme, and portfolio level
  • drill-down reporting into project details, for which the initial feature list given by rcross would be available
  • tracking stage authorisation requests and permissions (eg request to proceed to design / implementation / commissioning)
  • producing canned project and programme level reports based on information recorded

With a reasonable underlying project management capability and an open architecture/toolset these features will be relatively easy to layer on top. Good use of Drupal's taxonomy capability would actually make this really simple, after the underlying work is done. It may be something of a commercial conundrum though: an organisation needing these capabilities would in all probability want a good partner for process development, customisation and deployment and would (still) be nervous about an open source solution, possibly more at the database level than the CMS. The efforts towards getting Drupal working on Oracle might help a bit.

I've seen some commercial software in this area including ProjectVision from www.corasystems.com (which pretty much does what I think I need). Of course there's also Microsoft Project Server.

This thread has been gathering views, primarily from project managers of one sort or another, for 14 months. I'm like many others in that I'm happy to add to a burgeoning list of requirements. I can also offer assistance with brainstorming, my knowledge of other possible tools, I might even stretch to doing some of the project management of this project. I might even be able to hack a bit of code here or there. But the coders who have some chance of successfully building this are actually staying well away.

Although veering off topic somewhat, I might venture a guess at why this is so. Few good coders like project management because they can do a whole lot without it. I guess a lot of the developers on open source projects, Drupal included, contribute because they get a lot out of working without being 'project managed' to death.

Take a look at the Drupal approach to releases. No release dates, no testing plans, no market launch dates, no training materials ready to hit the streets when the product does. "It will be ready when it is ready" works for most of us. It would be enough to drive a project management "professional" to distraction all the same. We all could imagine the apoplectic response of the project manager to such a "plan" if this was a commercial ¦ well managed ¦ profitable ¦ successful ¦ (your favourite) ¦ business enterprise. Yet we have a highly functional, stable, inexpensive, well maintained, well documented and well supported content management system that we've seen people work wonders with.

Why would these open source developers step up to craft a tool to allow some project manager and his boss to ask unanswerable questions? The part of me that doesn't have to earn its living say "dead right".

Now I must go and find out why my current projects are running behind schedule!

chrisivens’s picture

We recently landed a nice new contract to develop a system including all manner of functions. Drupal has shown some promise as a starting point for realising this goal we are short on a project module among other things. Providing we actually go ahead and use Drupal, I will be in touch with our progress.

On a side note, we're probably going to need to employ someone on a freelance basis to do the coding on this. If you have a good grounding in Drupal and the time to spare, please get in touch and we'll be happy to consider you. While we are based in the Midlands in the UK this does not necessarily mean you need to also although it would be helpful.

rcross’s picture

Hey,

I"m still following this stuff and have actually just recently gotten back into this stuff again since i had to try to set up something that works. I'm currently setting up activeCollab, and it is really good - especially considering its basically an opensource version of BaseCamp. However, I'm finding that there are definitely a few small holes in it that I'd really like to see fixed and it seems like its development has been fairly slow lately. The main reason for bringing this up is that I also realized that the feature set of activecollab/basecamp seems like it is actually fairly simple. So, I'm currently wondering what it would take to build a system like that within Drupal natively. Reviewing my original post, I think we could basically trim this down a bit to a few simple things

-Projects
-Milestones
-Task-List & Tasks
-Clients & Permissions
-"Messages" (seems like a very basic node with commenting enabled)
-Whiteboard
-Files

Alot of this sounds like it would be fairly simple to create the basics within drupal, and then use some additional code to string the interface together. Hopefully now with the new support for dependencies in 5.0, this could be fairly achievable. I'm really interested in your project - would you expand a little more on whether this is something you're trying to do and I guess if (or if not) you've decided to use drupal yet.

--Ryan

roland woldt’s picture

Hi,

I am also an aC user and a litte bit disappointed about the way that project works. Currently I am in the phase of setting up a collaboration workspace for a new company and we need a CMS too (*oh boy, this is hard to set up for a Drupal newbie*). But nevertheless I strongly support Ryan's idea. How can I help in an non-coding area? Use cases or (later) documentation/how-tos?

What I really would like to see is to see "Ryan's" features combined with the organic groups module. In this combination you could set up different workspaces for each project and get the permissions right, when people from various companies work together.

As far as I see the discussion on other Drupal pages this is one of the beauties of Drupal - the system allows the combination of the various modules and by renaming some stuff you can "brand" special focused solutions for different target groups. Nice.

Greetings from Frankfurt
Roland

PEpe’s picture

I agree with you at all. I use aC also. But I'm now realy disquietude by last message about a change of licence in next 1.0 release. And that's just it I thing is realy good idea build something like aC or basecamp on Drupal. Drupal has realy a lot of features which may be useful (users, permissions, events etc.). I'm able to help with UI building.

rcross’s picture

you may have noticed me on the activeCollab forums. There are quite a few of us that are not happy and are trying to figure out what to do. We are looking a possible fork or (ideally for me) would be to try to port the system over to Drupal. I'm also somewhat keen on the idea of building a system like CiviCRM or something where it can stand on its own or where it can be installed as a plugin to drupal.

--Ryan
www.ryancross.com
www.jamescrossinc.com

TruDru’s picture

Hi,

I am happy to announce that a project management module has been developed by our company using DRUPAL, named .

This project management module is currently being beta tested to manage the projects of the company with a window to some of our customers. I must say that initial feedback is very encouraging.

Major work has been done on:

- Access privileges amongst projects and project managers of a company.
- Statistical analysis of projects on a single dashboard
- Issues and Ticket management system for internal as well as for customer use
- Project details dashboard. This includes a separate implementation for the customers and another one for the employees.
- Required features for the administration of the project management system

This module will be turned to the community within a month.
Please feel free to mail me if you would like to participate or have something added to the system.

Best regards,
Avi

Halosys Technologies Inc.
408-200-7468
http://www.halosys.com

kevinwalsh’s picture

subscribe!

Eddt’s picture

subscribe here too - I'm real interested in seeing something like this - thanks, Avi!

rcross’s picture

Hey Avi,

i emailed you through your contact form, but haven't heard back. I'm also quite keen to try out this module. Thanks!

--Ryan
www.ryancross.com
www.jamescrossinc.com

nejko’s picture

:)

roland woldt’s picture

me too, please

Shane Birley’s picture

w00t!

---
Shane Birley
Left Right Minds
http://www.leftrightminds.com

---
Shane Birley
Left Right Minds
https://www.leftrightminds.com

PEpe’s picture

me too, thx

Beltanin’s picture

*raises his right hand*

nopixies’s picture

Toss me in the ring as well... I would love to add my 2 cents as well...

can't wait to take it for a spin.

regards

No Pixels

kesmeby’s picture

I look forward to checking it out.

I have a client that's hot for something like this and it would be nice if I could avoid installing other software.

Thanks for investing your time in this and for sharing it with us unwashed masses.

rcross’s picture

I hope this doesn't this doesn't turn into vaporware. I'm getting really anxious since i haven't heard any response at all from this poster (and this is the only post he's made).

Also, I just found the case tracker module. Its supposed to be a generic issue tracking module based off of the core projects module. I'm going to check it out tomorrow, but has anyone else tested it and found out if its any good? maybe as a component of a pm system.

--Ryan
www.ryancross.com
www.jamescrossinc.com

kesmeby’s picture

He said in a month and it will only be a month tomorrow. Also, keep in mind February is a short month. If the poster releases it to the public at all, we can only be grateful since there is really no obligation for him to even do that.

pamphile’s picture

Is this a different module from what Drupal already uses to manage modules and themes ?

Marcel

PEpe’s picture

I suggest not wait on TruDru return - I'm realy sceptic because how rcross said - there is only one TruDru's post on drupal.org. We may be nice surprise, but... I need project managment now. So let's go to work. My position is, that I haven't experience with module development for drupal. But I study IT university and I am ready to get new skils :-) I'm going to think about this project and try to get some use case and ER diagrams. It will be good start in my opinion. Of course then it will need co-workers - anybody?

rcross’s picture

i'm currently involved with making changes to the activeCollab code base, which is based on the basecamp interface/structure which i think is pretty good and flexible for most project management needs. This could be a start for something to port into a drupal module.

--Ryan
www.ryancross.com
www.jamescrossinc.com

P.S. I wasn't trying to doubt TruDru (though its now mid march) I was just getting anxious. Still hoping it will come through.

PEpe’s picture

I have been thinking a lot about this Drupal - Project management project problem. I have got a contrast.

#1 We can use all Drupal resources - CKK, Node Relativity, View and other modules ... and actually make a special installation profile. But future will depend on future of this modules and it cause problems with upgrades ...

#2 We can make a very BIG module for Project management, but there can be Drupal framework a little bit needless in my opinion.

I am not confident about it. Some Drupal guru's suggestion?

activeCollab port into a drupal module - it can be good idea, after it will be "one big API". Ilija Studen write about it there: http://www.activecollab.com/blog/37/status-update-followup/ . I am not sure that API is already over whole aC.

// I am sorry for my English.

PS: I personally make a decision continue aC use. It's probably best for me now. When it will go to commercial hell, we can start build new and better one from actual 0.7.1 free version.

nopixies’s picture

BTW-- aC -- ActiveColab is going to be cross commercial.. hopefully they will release the 1.0 base code and it can be pulled into Drupaldom... This has been very tough going. For the last year I have started and stopped on 3 separate systems and none have pulled it together.

Hopefully Drupaldom is a better community. The only thing I dislike about open-source is that to truly have the toys do customized work, you have to pay. In my 7 years I have yet to pay less than it would have cost to buy customized commercial.

We're off the see the wizard now...

rcross’s picture

What other systems have you worked on? Also, Would you be interested in developing for this?

--Ryan
www.ryancross.com
www.jamescrossinc.com

chrisivens’s picture

We've been thinking a fair amount about it and for the sake of ease and time, we're sorting a single sign-on for drupal + sugarcrm. It'll do exactly what the customer ordered so that's good for me.

Our usual programmers prefer to write from scratch (as do many) but I do like the thought that many people are collaborating and testing a system. It's more than we can do in the time we have normally. I'm kind of new to drupal over the past 6 months or so but I already feel like it could make some seriously good sites with a little shoe-horning here and there.

I've been developing a few bits myself over the past few weeks so you may see a fair amount of new projects crop up with my name on in future.

rcross’s picture

Hi,

I remembered your post above (http://drupal.org/node/34425#comment-192144). Is this what you decided to do for the client that you mentioned? Or did you come up with something else?

Also, I'm kind of curious - when you talk about doing the single sign-on, at what level are you doing that. Are you simply combining the users table? are you using a joint session/cookie to make the transition more seamless? are you actually doing any integration of the two?

Not sure if what you're doing will be able to be contributed as a module or something, but I'd be interested in at least seeing what you came up with after you're finished.

--Ryan
www.ryancross.com
www.jamescrossinc.com

hecon5’s picture

Progress?
anyone have more info? Has anyone gotten a single sign on capability? I'm actively setting up a dual system (I don't want most people who come to my site to be able to see the project tracking info, it's ugly and not always carefully worded, but I'd like a single sign on system with drupal + dot project (or egroupware, both are very promising).

rcross’s picture

I'm not sure of your needs, but you might want to also check out ProjectPier for your project management piece.

--Ryan
www.ryancross.com
www.jamescrossinc.com

KrisBulman’s picture

Ryan, are there any Drupal integration solutions (SSO/LDAP) in place or documented for Project Pier?

.. wait, nevermind.. this post on PP pretty much answers that: http://www.projectpier.org/node/623

lourenzo’s picture

subscribe

cardell’s picture

If anyone is still tracking this and interested, you might check out what looks to be a new drupal module being developed, Storm (SpeedTech Organization and Resource Manager). It looks like it's headed down the road many have mentioned here. I haven't tried it yet, but looks promising.

KrisBulman’s picture

Roberto, the author and contributor of STORM, is looking for a new maintainer for this awesome module.

If you are a developer interested in picking this module up, there's a large user base waiting to rally in support for you;
Post your interest here:
http://drupal.org/node/410784

=======

Subject: Looking for a new maintainer

Date: Roberto Gerola - March 23, 2009 - 05:43

Description:

Hi.

For personal reasons I'm no more able to continue the development of this project.
It is too much work for a person only and I'm not able to find sponsors to continue
the development.

I'm looking for a new maintainer whom to pass the project.

Thanks, Roberto.

========

ShannonK’s picture

I've only just installed it, but in playing around with it and testing, it is a very basic, intuitive, clean program that is working wonderfully so far. You can use permissions to enable/disable the different functions for the different users on your site. We're going to use it like an "intranet" at work, so I've renamed most of the "Storm" references to "Intranet" just so it makes a little more sense to the user. You can do Projects, Teams, Tasks, Timetracking, etc., all with Storm. It's definitely worth checking it out...I think it's a great module.

juliangb’s picture

For those still reading this (old!) post, be aware that the Storm module is now called Project Management.

The name change is active from the Drupal 7 version onwards.

InternetDevels’s picture

subscribe

InternetDevels.com

HansBKK’s picture

subscribe

Summit’s picture

Subscribe, looking for Prince2 pm tooling with drupal.
Greetings, Martijn

scarer’s picture

Has anyone tried integrating Storm and CiviCRM? Just wanted to map the storm organisation data to organisations in CiviCRM. Has anyone achieved this?

badzilla’s picture

There is a modestly priced Project Office/Project Management module available at http://www.dprojectoffice.com

* Three Dashboards - for Project Office, Project Managers and an additional Reporting dashboard
* Traffic light colours for Overall Project, Timescales, Budget and Scope
* Period Reports, Milestones, Issues, Risks and Dependencies
* Ring-fenced read-only period reports preventing Project Managers from rewriting history
* Manual override from Project Office for editing historic period reports in special circumstances
* Automated saving of period reports after reporting period cut-off - for example after last Friday of month
* Project Manager updates 'working copy' of the period report during the reporting period, and has sole access
* Configurable automated email reminders to be sent to Project Managers when period reports almost due
* Project Office report showing a list of 'offending' Project Managers who failed to file period reports

This is not a ticketing/bug tracking/task assignment type of module - purely project reporting for environments where a project office assign projects to Project Managers and need to track a project's progress.

Sree’s picture

subscribing ...

-- Sree --
IRC Nick: sreeveturi

johan@linuxcore.net’s picture

Hi ya all!

I've been customizing a PM-tool for a client of mine the last 2 month or so (projectfork) thats actually for joomla but either way i think the guy who invented it was on the right track.

ofcause we could make a port of it but that would not be fare, so I suggest that all devels that want a true open-source PM-tool would chip in with time and effort, but try to build our solution on "projectfork" (i think that tool is extremely good, if you think about layout...) and since most of my clients wants that kind of solution (small to medium size). Why not, do the same through Drupal.

Im sorry i have not read every post here since it was quite a few :). So the flames could perhaps wait a while, atleast until we get to know one unother :)

Brgds

Skabbio

strands’s picture

A late subscriber ...

reempleo’s picture

me too!

thomasmurphy’s picture

I noticed there wasn't a link to the drupal project module in this page.

http://drupal.org/project/project

NTCP8’s picture

Is Open Atrium an option to work with?
Have little experience with Basecamp but OA seems to be albe to cover that?

scarer’s picture

Hey,

I've just started developing a PM module that utilizes the JISC framework. This is because I mainly work for educational sectors and these templates are very suitable. It's in the very infant stages right now but I've been posting code to github and will post something up when it's more progressed.

I've found with project management for software projects there are three things that I am looking for:

1. A way to easily create necessary documentation with re-usable data as many document templates require you to re-create the same data over and over again forcing you to revise things you have already done through the relevant paper trails.

2. A way of tracking progress on code for projects i.e. using an agile project management tool e.g. Pivotal Tracker, Trac etc.

3. A way of hosting a code subversion and revision system. In my case I prefer a distributed system where users have a copy of their own code and submit major commits to a shared repository through required branches. I am currently using github for this as we don't have our own server to host on and subversion doesn't suit our development style.

At the moment, I am using storm for a basis and ripping the guts out of it to build something that works to support the JISC PM document templates. The templates will also feed into permissions and roles in Drupal so physical copies can be exported with correct file-naming conventions. I also want the module to interact with civicrm to use contact data. Anyway, that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'll post something up here when it's in a more useful stage.

Cheers,

Sarah

Summit’s picture

Hi,

May be you can integrate your work in the project flow & tracker from Victor: http://awebfactory.com.ar/node/461
Would be great to have some more functionality in this to be able to admin a project on certain framework etc..

Greetings, Martijn

snovak’s picture

subscribing.

Vincent-Liew’s picture

Hi,
Vtiger is a great open source CRM and it has all the features project management features you mentioned above; and Drupal is a great open source CMS. Go here to learn how to integrate vtiger with drupal
http://drupal.org/project/vtiger

Hope this help.

Jumoke’s picture

subscribing

truyenle’s picture

+ Subscribing

Jumoke’s picture

subscribing

sahaj’s picture

Suscribe

.sahaj

mheinke’s picture

but yes. i am actively working on a module to build a PM tool mimicing the functionality of Basecamp

zeezhao’s picture

Hi - please let us know when there is a dev version to try out. Thanks.

mheinke’s picture

i may need some UI/UX help if anyone is interested

SusK69’s picture

Have you ever finished that project? Anything that is available to download/use?