Replacing Mantis with something other?
- Alex
Imported From: http://groups.google.com/group/in-portal-org/browse_thread/thread/dc17ebc3e483b7d8#
There are lots of bug tracker systems out there. The issue tracking
software we use right now is called Mantis.
We use it because it is:
- open source
- written in php (=we can extend our selves)
- we used it before
After using it for a while I've found that these things in particular
doesn't make me any happier while using it and even slow down whole process:
1. list of tasks (50 tasks per page) opens slowly and when you apply
search filter to it, then it becomes even slower;
2. complete page reload after form submit;
3. no ajax at all and if you had made an error on a page you need to
reload whole page again;
4. random, but frequent, "invalid form security token" errors on bug
reporting resulting in loss of all data entered on bug reporting page;
5. all data displayed on task detail page (e.g. change lists, history,
comments, related tasks) no matter if I need it or not and slow downs page
load time;
6. doesn't search through attached file content (or filename) and
therefore not possible to find a task based on attached patch contents;
7. advanced filters are very hard to use: always need to open search
div, which is very large and close it to be able to see tasks;
8. task advanced search interface is too complicated to use quickly
(e.g. versions of different projects are mixed together in dropdowns and
sorted in random order);
9. opposite button placement in task list: search button in left corner
of the page and search reset button in right corner of a page, which makes
it hard to use on 22'' monitor;
10. no (or not very useful) graphs - no way to see how issues are
evolving (e.g. rate of new bugs comparing to bug fixing);
11. no reports at all - you just enter and fix tasks and don't see
evolution of tasks per project;
12. no shortcuts - can't use shortcuts (as Mac users do) to access
common feature from any place in a system (I use them a lot in PhpStorm);
13. limited custom field creation possibilities (e.g. if you need
dropdown, then option value always matches option title);
14. old UI, which doesn't user full power of current browsers;
15. plugin system, that prevents plugin from altering system behavior as
needed;
16. useless e-mail notifications, since ALL task content is sent in each
e-mail and you need to read whole e-mail to get idea what's changed;
17. no activity feed, where all actions, that happened from last user
visit are displayed;
18. fixed set of fields on all form (e.g. bug reporting, bug editing).
this way you see field all the time, even if you don't need it on a project;
19. due fixed set of fields on a forms you need to report bug using one
form and then go edit bug and change 1 field because it was absent on bug
reporting form;
20. no field inline edting - if there is a need to only change 1 field,
then you need to edit whole bug and risk getting nasty "... security token
..." error for unknown reason and nothing gets saved;
21. strange 2 second redirects between form submits - after bug add/edit
you see "you will be redirected after 2 second" message and you either need
to wait 2 seconds or need to click on a shown link;
22. absolutely non-usable user selector and when you either need to
assign a task to different user or change user, who reported it you're
faced with 100 of community registered users (only nicknames) and no way to
search as you type;
23. when sending task to testing I type same phrase each time "Will test
all together later" and no way to save it as draft and use by default as
comment during task testing;
24. unknown logic behind input escaping results html entered in task
fields/comments to be displayed as is instead of being properly escaped.
25. need to type [url] ... [/url] around each link to make it clickable
26. in some cases there is a button, like "close", which changes task
status, but in all other cases I need to choose next task status from
dropdown and click button next to it; this not only allows me to escape
task workflow, but only adds 2 extra clicks to a process;
I can write like this forever. I've used Mantis a lot already to know the
worst sides of it.
--
Best Regards,